revamp

If you can manage it, avoid the big box stores for mulch. The cheapest mulch you can get from a landscape supply house is going to be much higher quality (and more finely shredded) than the best stuff at Lowes or Home Depot, plus they'll deliver it.

I'm glad you feed in a manner which you're comfortable with and which works for your dogs. The idea that you would come in here and attempt to make someone feel foolish or uncaring in regards to what they feed their dogs *is* offensive. Also, your personal opinion touted as medical information (implying that feeding kibble is what is causing weight loss and diarrhea) *is* foolish. Suggesting raw is fine. Providing information and resources is great. Judging someone else for what they choose to feed and implying they are harming their pets because they aren't doing exactly what you have chosen to do is unnecessary and unwelcome.

No thoughts here, either. Rocky has been on Iams green bad (regular chunks) for about a week now, and his poos aren't any bulkier than when I had him on flint river ranch trout and sweet potato (except now they are formed as opposed to puddles). Rocky is 72lbs and I feed him two measured cups of the iams twice daily (although I am still trying to put a little weight on him--I'd like him closer to 75lbs).

yes, interesting... http://www.iams.com/dog-food/formula/sensitive-naturals-dog-food

As already mentioned, Greyhounds make great apartment pets. What I haven't seen posted is that your life is on the cusp of great change--graduating from college, (hopefully) starting a new career with a new employer, AND finding a new place to live which POSSIBLY might include roommate(s). It also sounds like you are single (at least, not seriously attached). With all of that, I can confidently tell you that everything about who you think you are as a person and what you want out of life and how your life will look in the next 5 years will not turn out to be who you actually are, and how your life will be. This isn't a bad thing--in fact, it's a wondrous thing. But it's not a good time to bring a dog into the picture. At a minimum, you should have these steps checked off before considering adopting a dog: 1. Nailed down permanent, stable, predictable employment and have worked in this capacity for at least 6 months 2. Found a place to live that is also reasonably permanent and stable. (note--adding a roommate to the equation immediately drops the stability score) You have so much life to live--just soak it up for awhile before devoting yourself to a dog. Feel free to go out to lunch with that cute person you met at the coffee stand. Have the ability to go for after-work drinks with your coworkers, or to head out on a 3 day trip to vegas with some friends.

After Rogan has been evaluated by the other vet and you've had the opportunity to cool off a little, I would recommend calling the vet and requesting/scheduling a sit-down meeting with them to discuss what happened and how they are going to attempt to make things right (with the knowledge that they negligently removed a healthy, functional bodypart from your dog, and then further complicated the issue by not informing you or speaking with you and making the unilateral decision to then amputate the correct toe--increasing Rogan's pain and complicating his recovery). Go into this meeting with an idea of what you expect a reasonable response on their part to be--they might just ask you what you want. For starters, you shouldn't pay for his surgery or any part of his aftercare related to this procedure. You might also request a substantial credit for services provided by the clinic if you are willing to give them another chance (and quite honestly, without a credit I don't think I would ever have a reason to return and would tell all of my friends what they did, too). I don't think $1k in credit is too much to ask for at all. If, on the other hand, you have no desire to ever return to them I would ask for a cash settlement to cover his aftercare at another hospital (say, $500). If you can't come to agreeable terms or if they are not taking responsibility I would immediately contact both an attorney and the state vet board (I posted the link in a previous post).

10 days or so isn't all that long--his poo issues could possibly be related to general "settling-in" stress, or even the outrageous heat. In general, though, I've found that you'll know within 2 days if a food is working for the dog or not. I would try going with all kirkland, since that is what you have and see if it makes any difference. If not, try the Iams and if that doesn't work, I would do both another vet exam and try a non-chicken food. Also, 3 days into the Green Bag and Rocky has continued to have the best poos ever. Not "bounceable" (I love all the poo adjectives I've learned on this forum), but definitely formed into logs. No more cow patties! I haven't noticed any issues with gas or increased "frequency" in his outs, either. It's early yet, but things are looking good enough that I bought a big bag of the Iams and stopped my FRR autoships.

Omg, I am sickened and shocked! And all of this when the toe has been a long-standing, ongoing medical issue being treated by them! Please tell me, at a very minimum, that you were not charged for the surgery. That vet better be doing some serious sucking up and explaining as to how such a grievous and careless error could have occurred. Even if they are sucking up, I'm not sure that I wouldn't be contacting the veterinary medical board: http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3143&q=388948

Fiber alone wasn't cutting it. Like I said, I was adding psyllium powder to his food with little to no improvement

All I know is that as a (usually) kind and loving human being, if I had some disorder (tumor, cancer, etc) that caused me to flip out and violently attack my loved ones, I would not want them to accommodate/tolerate me if the problem could not be fixed. The worst thing that could possibly happen is for me to injure a loved one in an uncontrolled moment and never be able to live with myself. I know these are human emotions and we are talking about a canine, but if he is as kind and gentle and loving a creature as has been described I feel it is all the more cruel to abandon him (rehome) or keep him caged/muzzled (and even a muzzled dog can cause a good deal of damage and pain). As has been stated previously, dogs are sensitive and intuitive and he knows he's feared and disliked. Sometimes the most loving, responsible action you can take is to relieve the suffering of your pet--either physical or emotional suffering.

This is good to know...even with his pudding poops he only goes 2-3 times a day. I'll be extra mindful the next few days of a need to 'go' more frequently... ...that also reminds me, even with the poo problems, he's never had gas. I really hope that doesn't change!

I adopted Rocky in February and he's always had pudding poops. Sometimes they would firm up slightly, other times they would be more liquid but never well-formed. When I adopted I was told that he had tested positive for hooks and was treated for those. At a introduction/wellness visit at my vet in February his fecal was negative. I transitioned him from Pro-Plan (which is what he was fed at his one-week foster stay) to Flint River Ranch "Fish and Chips" (trout and sweet potato) which is what I feed my non-grey. I thought maybe he was having difficulty with the food transition, so I transitioned slowly. I added greek yogurt, I added Psyllium. Nothing really made a big difference. A month ago, I took him back to the vet and ran another fecal--positive for both hooks and giardia. He was treated with two courses of metronidazole, two courses of Panacur, and forti-flora probiotics. No improvement. A fecal result Monday said negative for all parasites. So, on my way home I picked up a small "green bag" and fed him half and half last night for dinner. Now I swear his morning poop this morning was firmer than it has ever been! He had another half and half portion for breakfast and I plan on going 100% iams for dinner tonight, but if the trend continues I don't care how subpar I may have thought Iams food was, I will be sticking with it. Paying 1/4 of the cost of the FRR would just be an added bonus. I will monitor to ensure the positive firming trend continues, then test to make sure my other mutt can tolerate the Iams (I would prefer to avoid feeding two separate foods if it is not necessary). If everything goes well, I'll be adding another testimonial to the pile (tee hee, pun not intended) of happy customers. I just wanted to post in case the information I add can be helpful to anyone else.

Contact your adoption group. If they won't take him on as a responsibility, it is my personal opinion (and I've stated it frequently) that there are too many well-behaved and well-adjusted dogs dying in shelters to allow an dangerously unpredictable and vicious dog to injure people and further damage the reputation of dogs and dog-owners. In my view, after all reasonable attempts have been made to medically treat and professionally train the dog and they have not benefited in a trustworthy, or at a minimum predictable dog, then the humane thing to do is to euthanize. Attempting to rehome a dog that doesn't merely snap or nip, but violently and repeatedly attacks, is just asking for some kid to be permanently mutilated, or the poor dog to live out the rest of his life in a cage.

That is odd, considering he just ate and no kibble (or even color from the kibble) is in the mucus. This makes me think that the mucus may be from the lungs instead of the GI tract. Might want to get an opinion from your vet (a phonecall might be sufficient). I have no ideas and haven't come across these symptoms before.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the advice. I will give the paper-plate tactic a go, but I don't have high hopes. The article on giardia was very interesting, too.

Hi All, I've had Rocky for just shy of 3 months now, and long story short, he's had intermittent issues with pudding poop, but never any urgency or frequency issues. Since the issue was intermittent and he's new, and he recently changed foods, AND he had a "clean" fecal done when we got him, I was thinking maybe the food wasn't agreeing with him, or maybe he needed some yogurt of psyllium or something to help firm things up. Well, his poo this week was even a little softer than usual and was this way a few times in a row so I got a sample and trucked it into the vet just to be on the safe side. As you saw from the thread title, he's positive for both giardia and hooks. So now $300 later I've got metronidizole and Panacur to treat both of my dogs, doggie butt-wipes, probiotics, and a dosage schedule that had to be put into my calendar to remember. In terms of yard decontamination, I was told there are two methods--Borax/Salt, or "Torching"--neither of which is grass-friendly. I was also told to "decontaminate" the dog toys, which I figure is just tossing them in the wash. So, anyone that has been through this, any words of wisdom? Even when I pick up dog poo, it's been so soft that it's impossible to get it out of the grass. I also have two younger kids (12 and 8) that have been playing in the yard, especially with the warm weather the last week. Oh, there's two cats in the house too. I am now imagining little gross toothy parasites gnawing through the intestines of everyone in the family. I have no idea what to do now with my probably thoroughly contaminated back yard.

I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your beautiful girl. Try to forgive yourself--I have owned dogs my entire life and used to work as a vet tech for a number of years and would have made the same decisions you did. You made the best, most reasonable decisions you could have made with the information you had at the time. The most important thing to remember is how much you love her and the great life you shared with her.

These are the best mousetraps ever: (NOTE--this link has a customer-added photos of a mouse caught in the trap) http://www.amazon.co...37964163&sr=1-2 I lived in a house built in 1910 and had a mouse issue there. These traps with just a smear of PB on the cheese (paddle) fixed my issue in just a week's time. These traps are so good, many times you don't even need to bait them, just place them perpendicular to, but up against the wall or backsplash where the critters run.

I have a Rocky, too! Your guy sure is handsome, though...I love that face!

Recalls like this (and the one that affected dozens of other brands a number of years back) is why I switched to Flint River Ranch. (http://frrco.com) Family owned and operated with a single plant, locally-sourced ingredients, and meeting human-grade quality and production requirements. I personally feed Fish & Chips (trout and sweet potato). Fromm is another family-owned business similar to flint river ranch.

Click either the circle or star next to the thread title. Perfect, thanks! I was hoping it was something simple. In the desktop gui, I clicked on the folder icon at the far left of the thread title (Win7/Chrome). On the mobile gui, the icons appear to be chat bubbles (android). I didn't see circles or stars, but your advice helped me all the same.

If I can, that feature goes away... Well fine then!

Click either the circle or star next to the thread title. Perfect, thanks! I was hoping it was something simple. In the desktop gui, I clicked on the folder icon at the far left of the thread title (Win7/Chrome). On the mobile gui, the icons appear to be chat bubbles (android). I didn't see circles or stars, but your advice helped me all the same.

The new software looks great--I'm excited about being able to have a slightly larger avatar (that I can change myself). One thing I'm immediately missing is the ability to click on a thread and be dropped at the first unread post within the thread. Not sure if we lost that functionality or if it's a setting.