Brandiandwe

What is your sister doing? When is she being growled and snapped at? If Lois on her bed/ in her crate/ lying down? Is she asleep? Is your sister getting in her face, being rough with her, poking her, pinching her, even accidentally? Lois isn't doing this out of nothing. Something is happening with the interaction.

Definitely GAP. Go to gap.grv.org.au and look for the fact sheet. Your council are wrong - it is state legislation. The FB group are very active and includes people who are affiliated with GAP. I don't agree with everything they say about dog training etc - this is a much better group for that kind of information, as well as health care etc - but off the Victorian context they are very good and you can probably meet some local grey owners. It might be worth seeing if your friend could put your pup through GAP so it could become muzzle exempt, but three of my four must be muzzled (I'm in NSW) because 2 couldn't pass the assessment and one hasn't yet been assessed, and it makes absolutely no difference to them. They've worn them all their lives and muzzle = going out and having fun.

Get in touch with GAP Victoria. There's also a Facebook group Friends of Greyhound Adoption Program Australia which is mainly Victorian based. They will be able to give you more information about muzzling and being off leash. But in Victoria, I believe you won't be able to run your grey off leash unless it's on private land.

Funkypaws, where are you in Australia? In one, possibly 2 states here greys cannot be let off leash in public places. Where are you getting the puppy from? Is it coming through GAP or another group? Greys are great but it is important to know that Australia has some quirks relating to greys which aren't shared by the rest of the world and the laws do vary state to state (and even council to council).

I was actually thinking that with 18 acres, you could fence off a really big section as your own dog park which might work really well (and is definitely what I would do in a heartbeat! Keep it relatively clear and maintained and you could run your grey without an issue. As for the rest, I currently own four and none of them have reliable recall. They only run in fenced areas. They do look great in custom collars and I do love the way they look, but they're also awesome dogs who fit my life. And that's the important thing. In some ways they are like dobes, but in important others they aren't. I'd also caution you against going for a grey because you feel sorry for them or want to 'rescue' them (not that you're saying you are but....). Many greys come from very good places, some need rescue but once they're in your home they cease to be a rescue and become a dog who is special for many reasons but not because they need help. I speak to a lot of people who are involved in rescue in many different ways and being a rescue dog is their main excuse for allowing their dog to misbehave. It allows them to feel good about themselves, but does nothing at all for the dog.

Excellent! Thanks for that. I'm going to follow my gut (or theirs) and they're all going on chicken for a while. I also have to bump up Brandi's intake cause she's lost a little too much while continuing to trim Hermon down. This whole feeding thing can be a full time job.

So we've put everyone on a raw diet and they've all been having a mixture of lamb and chicken. All was well until last night when Paige and Hermon both refused to eat the lamb. No problems with the chicken. But I've noticed that Brandi is beginning to pee in the house more again (le sigh) and I'm wondering if it's all connected. Has anyone else had a reaction to a protein which has involved increased urination and/ or a refusal to eat? I'm pulling everyone off the lamb and moving to a whole chicken/ turkey diet for a bit but I'm curious.

From memory, Paige took about 18 hours from her last one. I brought her home from the vet ASAP and she was still disoriented. Let her pee, put her on a bed beside me, took her out again on a leash, pee, then took her to bed over night. Next morning she was basically back to normal and she seemed to have slept it off. She is 4.

Mornings are more flexible - anywhere from 7 ish to 9.30 depending on whether I sleep in. Evenings are usually at 7 - 7.30.

Great update! The changes won't stop at a year. After 2 years, my two girls are finally starting to greet DH when he gets home and approach him for affection. It just took them that long.

If it ain't broke..... We just put our new boy straight onto a raw chicken and lamb diet. No problems at all. It depends on the dog.

Do you muzzle him? Might be worth considering while you work through the issues.

No. It's based on a law from about 1927 to prevent injuries in the track, resulting in the law that they must be muzzled while in a public place. To be unmuzzled, greys are assessed, here at least, to be fine specifically with other dogs. They are not assessed with cats, or wildlife. And cats are the biggest killers of native wildlife here. Greys are just the victims of BSL as they need to be muzzled by default. For the OP, the ONLY loophole there might be is if you have a puppy which has not been registered as you might then be able to claim it as a greyhound cross which do not need to be muzzled. I would also suggest contacting you state branch of Greenhounds to find out at what age a grey needs to be muzzled from and what age they can be assessed for a Green collar. It might be that they are exempt until puberty or whatever, until their level of prey drive can be more accurately assessed.

With mine, the two who never raced both need to be muzzled. Ex-racer Hermon doesn't. It's not about racing vs not racing. It's about instinct. Where in Australia are you? Where are you getting the puppy from? Puppies are puppies are puppies. I wouldn't go for one personally, but did end up with two adolescents who were plenty of work.

As for scars, all I can say is that I started off with a relatively scar free black dog with a few little nicks. In the 2.5 years I've had her, she has now added considerably to her total by scraping against the house, rocks and other dogs, running into things, walking down the street..... Their skin is very thin and fragile, so I would sooner ascribe the scarring to general 'being a greyhound hunting, running and living' than to human abuse.

Do make sure that your boy isn't lactose intolerant though. I can tell you from first hand experience that, although you may not believe it, yoghurt in a lactose intolerant dog will make your problems exponentially worse.

You're not going to like this but the only fight we've had (as opposed to snarks and redirected aggression) was 3-4 months after we introduced Hermon to our pack. It was between the two girls. We've had no issues like that since but put it down to everyone coming off best behaviour and sorting pecking order out. You may find that things settle, of things could escalate. I'd muzzle and maybe separate when you're not there.

In bed this morning. Right now, he's in my office lying on the floor. His nails have been trimmed and he's finally able to have a rest after a long walk, poop, no breakfast (tried, failed, will keep trying), long car trip then a ride in a lift, lots of attention from people and a trip to the vets for the nails. That's a lot for only 10.30!

DH has gone to work so we've had a quick pee (Benny is a little constipated), and we've come back to bed. Brandi is in Bennys bed, and Benny has snuggled in with me. We'll have another 20 minutes or so before getting up. His nose is wedged under my arm and there are a lot of contented wuffles. Photo later!

Well he wouldn't eat dinner. Just some kibble soaked in water. I'm going to try to teach him about raw, but I'm thinking he's still so stressed, food isn't that important. He's eaten some. I'm also trying to decide whether to take him to work with me. I'm tempted because he's been here less than 24 hours and I've no idea about sa or anything else. A decision for the morn.

I'll need to check his ear tattoos. A job for tomorrow. He's very alert and very agile - a young 11 year old. He pulled all the way on his walk, and has bopped around since. He's definitely a pet. He'll be well looked after now!

So there are a couple of threads where I talk about Benny's arrival. Very unexpected. We heard about an 11 year old grey who had been surrendered to a pound. Good with kids, not cat safe. So after some debates and discussions online, we established that it would be better if we pulled him out and got him back to a couch till we worked out what to do with him. So we (myself, and a few others known on a dog forum), got together. Others provided a few $$$. I'm providing the couch. DH and I drove down to get him today. It was a bit tense as we didn't know whether he'd still be there - a 'rescue' group was also after him. We took Hermon with us just to make sure. As we walked up the drive, we could see the staff's faces fall. They thought we were there to surrender Hermon. After we explained, they walked off and got Benny. He came out of a shed full of barking dogs. From 15 metres I could see the whites of his eyes and that his hind legs were shaking and collapsing so badly he couldn't walk properly. He was terrified. But he let me handle him, sniffed Hermon, and began looking happier. Teeth pretty bad, nails very bad (over 2 cm long), abrasions on his legs. But a lovely dog inside. So we took him home, via the vet (where he must have thought a not great weekend got worse as the temperature was taken!) and the pet shop for a bath. Home, out for a walk with the gang and now he's home, on a bed, sacked out and waiting for dinner. His original owner, an elderly woman, died. He was then taken by her daughter who had cats. So its a pretty sad story really, although why one of the greyhound groups wasn't contacted rather than him being dumped at a pound I don't know. He was surrendered on Friday and had till Tuesday before being PTS. As an older dog, his chances were very very slim. And I have to thank you all for this. Had I not the support of this group for advice and encouragement I would not have taken a punt on an older dog. So, ladies and gentlemen, here's Benny. My senior foster who may well end up staying. As you can see, he knows exactly what the bed is for. Now I need to get him a harness (probably a WWW one) and a couple of collars.....And beds. And coats.

What a great update! Thank you so much for coming back and telling us, and for reminding me that we get the dog we get, and not the dog we 'wish for' so we need to accept and respect them for them.

At the risk of sounding ignorant, would it not be more helpful to treat the dog? The cough/ sneeze thing sounds like what Hermon does from time to time. But he's done it since we've had him and he's been vet checked. He'll be checked again soon, so we'll see then.

I'm late to the party, but welcome! Baron looks gorgeous. I know what you mean especially about the size. It's what most people seem to coo net on: they're bigger than I thought! My usual response is that many things look smaller on TV.