Brandiandwe

Deal! It's just SO frustrating!!!!

Dear Other Dog Owner, I'm writing this in the hope of making both of our walks more pleasant by raising a few minor points with you regarding our dogs' behaviour. We both leash walk our dogs at the same time in the same area. We both want all parties to go home safe. With this in mind, please keep your dog on the leash at all times in leashed areas. When I walk my dogs there, I expect to be able to walk without the danger of an unleashed and unknown dog rushing up to my dogs. If your dog is off leash and rushes at my dogs and is snarling or growling, please do not get upset if I put my dogs behind me and kick at your dog, shout at your dog, shout at you, or otherwise stop your dog. Believe me, your small puppy can hurt my hounds, both of whom are muzzled, and I don't want to deal with the vet bills. (NB I won't do this with genuinely vicious dogs, only those who are all bluff). If your dog is on the leash, but rushes at my dogs barking and yapping, please do not be surprised if my dogs respond in kind. Of course, the difference is that my dogs will also be growling, tend to be bigger than your dog, and there are two of them. This means your dog is likely to get a fright. If he doesn't back down, my two will attempt to bowl him over, and stand over him, growling and 'nosing' him until he submits and/ or backs off. I do understand that seeing your dog like this is upsetting, and believe me, I try to avoid it occurring. This avoidance would be greatly helped if, at the start of the confrontation, you stopped your dog from rushing at mine. The phrase 'Don't worry! He just wants to make friends!' sung out happily while making no attempt to stop your dog's behaviour is NOT a get out of jail free card. It only confirms to me that you can't see that as far as my hounds are concerned, your dog is being incredibly rude at best, aggressive at worst. Poor socialisation and training on the part of your dog does not constitute aggression and viciousness on the part of mine. I know this because I can walk my dogs with and allow my dogs off leash with other dogs who have been appropriately socialised. It is ONLY the dogs who rush at them barking that we have problems with. Finally, if we do meet and your dog does react inappropriately, and mine begin to respond, when I say 'Could you just wait there for me for a sec?' it is because I'm shortening my dogs leashes, beginning to try to redirect their attention towards me, and move them out of your way so we can all go on our way. What I need you to do is to stay where you are and not come any closer. I know my dogs - you are on the edge of their comfort zone there. What I don't want you to do is to walk closer. With your barking lunging dog. Doing this just causes an escalation, because my dogs now think that I'm under threat of attack. They will try to defend me. So stand still, let me sort my dogs out and we can all have a nice walk. Sincerely yours, A stressed out hound owner who is tired of other dogs - can you tell it was a bad morning?

I've been noticing this with Indy, too! I wake up to a bath occurring sometime about 4am, usually! On the up side, they don't usually lick us.

AND we get the very annoying 'lick, pick' noises which I associated with cats as well. Usually at 2 a.m and accompanied by a crash as one of them overbalances and hits the wardrobe door.

Then don't crate him. If you don't want him to chew the kids' toys, keep them out of his reach and put away. FWIW we never crated either of ours. It just isn't the norm here in Australia. BUT we've houndproofed the house (as well as we're able), so hardwood bowls, remote controls, shoes, boots, flip flops, the rubbish bin, food bins, clothing and so on are all out of reach. Food is not left out. We've also made sure that we've left their own toys out and about, and ensured that the curtains on the windows upstairs in our bedroom are left open (so they can see up arriving home). My precious toys (teddy bear, Hootie and Henrietta) are locked away. We also muzzle when we leave which has reduced the chewing and moving things around to a certain extent.

Just wanted to add.... brilliant idea. Will be implementing as soon as possible (and it means a trip to the saddlery, yay!)

Unhelpful for you, but we have kangaroo mince at the supermarket here.... I can investigate companies who 'may' ship overseas, but otherwise, it might be difficult.

On I-phone so apologies for typos. I feel your pain. For the first month or so of ownership it would sometimes take Brandi especially anything from 1.5 to 2 hours to go. When Paige arrived it got a bit faster but for some reason the last pee before bed would take 30-45 minutes. It just took time, and now we usually have success within the first five minutes of our walks and at night it takes more time to leash them up and find my shoes than it does for them to pee. I've a feeling it's like with horses. If you plan for something to take five minutes, it will take an hour, plan an hour, it will take five minutes. If your way works for you then go for it. People are giving ideas for the original poster. It wasn't so that others would argue and question "how do you do that?" I wasn't arguing at all. It's baffling to me. My tone was more as frustration not trying to be argumentative. I wish my dogs could walk together and successfully 'go' but it's not working. My husband just started a new job do I'm on my own in the mornings and trying to get them to potty is time consuming. I'm hoping as time goes on they'll learn the routine and just go.

Hi everyone. Just to update. today is day 10. Nothing has shown up at all - in fact, she was better today than she has been in a LONG time, really since we got her. Things are still not ideal, but are certainly better. Soft, but not foul smelling and no blood. Just finished 5 days of intensive worming and 10 days of anti-biotics, so we have the all clear (as she was passing worms for a day or two and then nothing.) So, after consultation, we are trying to wean her back onto some kibble. It;'s just impossible for her to eat enough pasta and chicken to put the weight on, and I'd like to get her off chicken anyhow. So, we're moving over the next week or so to TOTW, which Brandi has been loving and which is doing great things to her. If things deteriorate again, back to the vet for a more invasive series of tests. I'd like to thank everyone here for your advice and patience. It's great to have a supportive forum which is welcoming and patient with newbies. Forgot to add, we've been in touch with her trainer/ breeder about her diet before adoption. It included Box 1 4x2 greyhound biscuits (not the most nutritious, but a great chewing treat which is good, because pigs ears and rawhide bones caused problems and Kongs are apparently for licking), a working dog kibble which I don't want to buy at all (too high in energy for the amount of work she does now), chicken wings, brisketbones, milk and weetabix occasionally, a stew with meat and vegetables and occasionally cheese flavoured snack bones. She was fed pretty well, and the trainer's dogs do well as well, so I'm thinking about adding a few of these sorts of things into her diet as well. With the chicken, it might just be that right now she's getting more than she's had in her life. We'll see.

Another timely thread! Thank you GT! We are struggling with ongoing soft stools and D in Paige. Vet thinks its food related, so she's been on chicken and rice. No change. Chicken and pasta, a small improvement.... so maybe if we try eliminating the chicken........ Do I substitute it with roo meat? Beef?

I wish! This is a dog who won't wear a little hat, dislikes her muzzle and hates having her feet handled! Lucky she's cute and it's summer.

Difficulty with nail trims and not wanting their feet touched has nothing to do with socialization. I see many dogs that are very well-adjusted and socialized who are still very resistant to nail trims. Some get this way after they have a bad experience (such as being forcibly pinned down) and/or have been quicked (very painful) during a nail trim. It's a handling issue that can be improved with positive reinforcement and counter-conditioning. that gives an example of the process involved. The dog in the video progressed very quickly and was very food motivated. Each individual will need to be approached a little differently, and this process may takes days to weeks with other dogs, and you may need to take more gradual steps. It just depends on how the dog responds. Hope both your girls are back to normal quickly! Socialisation was probably the wrong word to use. We've noticed that Paige has obviously been handled regularly and well by her breeder. She's easy to do EVERYTHING with: nails, brushing, worming (mostly), flea treatment, great at the vet. Brandi is fine to be cuddled, but handling her is more difficult - she turns into a worm. So we just need to take out time with her. She's imrpoving though. Basically, we had a little squeeze, resulting in blood and a screaming greyhound. Regrouped, sedated the hound, and he squeezed it again (I think he's probably say that he palpated it). It popped and all of the white stuff exploded out. He cleaned it out thoroughly getting rid of it all, then we've left it. Obviously we're keeping an eye on it and keeping it as clean as possible, but we're not using antibiotics at this stage. 2 days on and she's fine. It's healed up and not sore at all. When we looked at it, it looked rather like a large pimple and was kind of firmly squishy to touch - it looked like it wanted to come to a head if that makes sense?

We just had something like that on Brandi. It looked a bit like a large pimple with a bit at the top which had been bleeding (like she'd bumped it when walking). It continued to swell, and was sore to touch. She also had problems bearing weight after bouncing around welcoming us home. When we 'pushed' it to one side it looked like it was going to come to a head. At the vet, he thought it was a foreign object because it looked so inflamed. However, when he squeezed it, it popped and he ended up with blood, and this white solid stuff that looked like brains. There was a core like a wart, so we're thinking seed wart of some sort. Long and short. We went to the vet because if it was a foreign body you need to get it out before infection sets in. But it might be a wart. It has now closed over and is healing nicely (after two days), Brandi is entirely sound again and sleeping off her breakfast.

For the past couple of weeks we've been struggling with periodic diarrhea with Paige. The vet suspects a food intolerance, I've thought worms or a parasite so we're working with both. Two vet visits seven days apart and simplifying her diet (now she's on chicken and pasta: rice had no effect). She's on antibiotics and a strong wormer for five days. Today she discovered that she can spit the wormer out. Joy - now its being mixed into her food. The diarrhea seems to be slowing down a bit, and some worms were passed today. We've also been in contact with her breeder and found out what she was fed before (Box 1 greyhound biscuits, Coprice working dog food, fresh meat and chicken, brisket bones and veg, so we'll be playing around a bit). Back to the vet next week for an update and possibly bloods. Then today, Brandi pulled up uneven after our morning walk. I checked and found a small red thing beside her pad. However, she HATES have her paws touched, so closer investigation was impossible, so I went for a 'wait and see' option. When we returned home three hours later, it was noticeably larger and she had problems bearing weight on the foot after leaping around welcoming us. Sigh. Back on the phone to the vet, and we head back out there this afternoon. No sooner has he lifted the affected food, I experienced the Greyhound Scream of Death. It was loud to start with, and got louder and higher the longer it went. She was also struggling badly to get away. He managed to squeeze it a little, and blood ended up everywhere. Long and the short of it, he thought there might be some sort of foreign body lodged in there, given how inflamed it looked and how quick it came up (not there before - we had tried to clip her nails yesterday). So we could either treat with antibiotics and see where we were in a couple of days, but which time it was possible for an infection to have spread. Or we could sedate her, given how panicked she was about her feet, and have a good look immediately, working on the principle that it is better to treat earlier rather than later. So, my poor scared girl had to be sedated. When I returned, the bad news was that there was no foreign object in there. BUT there was a whole lot of white hard stuff that looked like brains (he showed me) - probable diagnosis: a seed wart. A sigh of relief. And confirmation that she hasn't been especially well socialised, so our struggles to clip her nails aren't due to our incompetence (or not entirely). So thankful for this forum which helped me understand what this was 'likely' to be, and now I know what to look out for. Brandi has been very woozy since, and is sleeping on our bed now. She's eaten a small amount of chicken and pasta and really isn't looking herself. I hated having to sedate her for such a small thing, but the alternative was a completely panicked dog. Hoping we resolve all of these issues soon and get back to normal.

Love the happy snaps! Very handsome boy. But :lol at the above. Paige has sorted Brandi's SA, but now I have two hounds velcroed to me, not just one.

Just out of curiosity, what happens on mornings when you don't have an alarm (weekends, holidays, you forget to set it)? Unfortunately for me, one of ours believes that once the sun is up, it's time to go for our walk and then have breakfast. But I'm waiting to see what happens through winter when it gets light later.

randi steals stone fruit - nectarines, apricots and peaches - off very high sheleves. We now have to keep them in the fridge. I wouldn't mind so much except that they're expensive, I like them and so does my husband, and she only takes a couple of bits then plants it on Paige's bed, trying to shift the blame. That and the pips are really not good for them

I can't imagine only having one dog. They are easy together, with the only real issue being watching out for a bit of bullying which occurs if Paige is feeling a bit under the weather. But they keep each other occupied and entertained and happy. Edited to add: the only thing I'd also say is that you need to be careful not to expect dog 2 to be the same as dog 1. Our two are very compatible but they are also very different with Paige being much more withdrawn and less demonstrative than Brandi. As a result, it took me a longer time to feel a strong bond and connection to her compared to Brandi, but for a while I seriously thought about returning her. Not fair to her, but it taught me that I needed to try to see each dog on their own merits and as individuals.

Just a quick comment about yogurt-when feeding it make sure it's whole milk yogurt--the light or fat free yogurts may have artificial sweeteners added. Whole milk, organic, pot-set, natural yoghurt with pro-biotics and no additives. The hounds eat better than I do...

I'm struggling with this exact issue with one of ours, so will be watching this thread like a hawk. We've got her on chicken and rice with yoghurt, and Metronidazole. Day five and no real improvement (though our other hound is doing really well on the changed diet.) Back to the vet soon, and definitely a phone call tomorrow. Good luck.

I know our two girls are part of a pack, and I've watched them, when running off lead, work as a pack when playing with other dogs. I'm very very cautious as a result of when and where we let our girls run (and am continually frustrated by other dog owners wanting to 'play' with ours - not a great option). Watching them communicate in terms of splitting up, herding other dogs, attempting to herd or corner birds, changes in direction and all the rest make me realise how thin the veneer of domestication really is. Even more interesting is how they respond on lead and at home, which is entirely different - much more responsive to me.

It's unusual but, sometimes too much protein (like the kind found in real chicken/meat) will cause a dog to urinate more (at least that's what happens with my boy Larry). How much chicken are you giving daily? 2 thighs a day. She's now on slightly less than that, less rice which is very well dried out and some Canidae. It seems to have worked. Fingers crossed!

We have two who are not quite two yet. Basically they are puppies but in very big bodies. So I feel your pain. What helps us is walking them together. With my two I find they need about an hour in the morning and around 45 minutes in the afternoon. As they get older, I'm hoping they need less, but right now, the more exercise they're getting, the fewer problems we have in terms of behaviour.

Today was D day. And, right on time, we had D. Not as much as normal and not as bad, but definitely there. On the up side, Brandi has been doing really well on the chicken and rice, except for unexpected urination in the house, same time on two days. I'm thinking this has something to do with too much water in the rice and chicken, and have cut hers back a bit, and added Canidae again.

Thanks for all the replies! So far, yesterday we had a bit of D. Then today, a lot of stomach grumbling but no poop at all on the walk. When this has happened before, she has wanted to eat grass and nothing else. This morning, she had her breakfast, her tummy stopped gurgling and she's now asleep at my feet. We shall see. I'm giving this the full course of antibiotics and seeing how we go before. I'm not sure which to hope for: a food thing or a parasite. Interesting stuff about salmon though We tried both dogs on a salmon based food and the results were, shall we say, ugly.