revamp

Rufus! I'm sure whatever you name him will be great. Congrats!

Overall I think the wounds look pretty good. Of course the scab isn't "pretty", but I don't think the area looks at all infected and appears to be healing properly. Burns are far more challenging to heal than an abrasion or tear due to the extensive damage to the surface tissue. Medically speaking, I would be happy with the scab and other than monitoring for concerning changes in appearance (inflammation, pus or drainage, etc) would just leave it be and give it time (like, another 3-6 weeks). As always, though, I am not a vet. If you have concerns regarding the wound or if your cat is not acting normally (eating, drinking, voiding, playing) then I urge you to either set up an appt with the vet (or if cost is a concern, see if you can get an email address for them so you could email the pic and get an opinion).

I can't answer your sizing question, but I would guess that it is easier to clean the floor (assuming solid-surface), than to clean the hairy backside of a diapered greyhound. Could you set an alarm a littler earlier to get him out sooner, or set him up in a sleeping area closer to the door?

I don't have a designated potty area, but the vet hospital I worked for did. They fenced it in and used large-size limestone gravel as the surface. It allowed good drainage and was easy to clean up. The gravel was big enough that not much stuck to the solids when cleaning. We also regularly hosed down/disinfected the gravel area. It was great because you could "clean" it regularly without it getting muddy.

I occasionally get a little teary-eyed, but I'm not a "crier". Well, now I'm sobbing. I could have handled the pics (i think), but the music did me in I'm torn by the absolute joy displayed in the pictures and the tragedy of a young life cut far too short. He couldn't have spent the time he had with a better family, that's for sure.

The words "I'm sorry" seem so small and not up to the task of relaying how my heart breaks for you--someone I don't even know. But I am. I am so very, very sorry. What a handsome, playful, well-loved hound. I know you did everything right by him.

Thanks for the update and again I am so incredibly sorry for your loss.

I'm so sorry to read this. She's so young.

I dont know if you already called your vet or not, but as long as Bacardi isn't lethargic and is able to hold down water (isn't vomiting), from my perspective there is no reason to take the dog into the vet. I simply advised to call the vet and ask about treatment for diarrhea for such a young puppy, since for adult dogs the first thing to do is withhold all food for 24hrs and I am not 100% sure this is appropriate for an 11wk old puppy. You also mentioned Parvo, but let me assure you that Bacardi does not have parvo-virus. A young puppy infected with Parvo goes from perfectly healthy to being too weak to lift its head in a matter of a day or even hours from the onset of symptoms. Additionally, Parvo symptoms are distinct and specific (profuse dark bloody and mucuous-y diarrhea with a unique, unforgettably foul smell). I am not a vet, but I used to work as a veterinary assistant many moons ago and it sounds like your girl just has an inflamed, upset GI tract. It needs time to rest and heal and the only way that will happen is to stop feeding her for a bit (again, check with your vet)

The usual advice is no food for 24 hrs, but since she's so young you may want to call your vet and ask

Bacardi's so little I wouldn't be shocked that what appears to be a relatively small amount of "new stuff" added to her diet could be disruptive to her system. If she can tolerate chicken (you said you fixed that for her), then I would use the chicken as high-value treats (in very small amounts)

Fortunately my grey settled into the life as a housedog (with kids, with cats, and with another dog) like he was raised in it his entire life. All of my research and reading, all of my prep work so that I could confidently prepare for and handle sleep aggression, resource (food/toy/space) aggression, diarrhea, gas, and a greyhound not knowing how to "play" ended up being wasted time, so to speak (any knowledge gained on any subject is never a true waste of time, but you catch my drift). Rocky bonked his head on the sliding glass door a couple times when he first arrived with the adoption team. I quickly slapped a couple strips of blue masking tape on the door and that has been the extent of my "interventions" with my retired racer. Do you have a dog you are having trouble with, or are you just trying to be prepared like I was?

I've heard about that class, but in looking at the information it seems that they are covering quite a lot of the "basics of dog and greyhound ownership" which is, frankly, a little below my level. If I were a little closer I might give it a shot anyways just for the social aspect (the dogs and for me), but it would be probably a 45-min drive for me and I would have childcare issues, too. I'm really liking the "training levels' information, which makes perfect sense to me (one of those, "It's so simple and commonsense, why didn't I think of that?"

Hi everyone! My first greyhound, Rocky, has been with us just shy of 2 weeks now. I didn't want to rush into trying to teach him things right away, since I know he needs to acclimate and get to know and trust me. But now, we're at 2 weeks and I think it's time to at least have a start at learning a common language, other than me talking to him and him continuing to do whatever and occasionally looking at me and blinking. The good: He's housebroken, he walks well on a lead, currently has no bad habits that require correction. The bad. I've never seen him sit (I know, not at all uncommon), and he only will lie down on a dog bed. A couple trips in the car (backseat of a civic w/ a seat hammock) resulted in him swaying and sliding, scrambling, and flopping around because he refused to lie down. I have owned plenty of dogs and have taken three different dogs through formal obedience training in the past. My current dog does the whole cutesy repertoire of sit, down, wait, treat on nose, give left paw, give right paw, "touch" (had him flipping a light switch at one time), roll over, "speak", etc. But here is *my* problem. Of any dog I have EVER trained, the foundation was always "sit". And rocky doesn't sit. In the past it was easy to either lure my dog to a sit, then reward...or mark the behavior then reward, or even force a sit and reward. From there I could lure down on the ground to encourage the dog into a "down" and so on a so forth. So...Rocky doesn't sit. He only lies down on his bed. I don't want to force him to do anything unless it's for his safety, so how do I change my way of thinking to work with him? I don't care if he sits or never sits, but I want to be able to put him in a down, and to teach "wait" and work on recalls and releases

Yay! Glad you're making progress. Hope the good behavior continues!

He continues to do great--got his first bath (tolerated it), ear cleaning (didn't mind one bit), nail dremeling (such a good boy!), and vet visit (she loves him too!) in the last two days. We went to Petsmart for the first time (I posted another thread on that) and he was a superstar. We also had our first naughtiness today when he hiked his leg and watered down the refrigerator! Dunno what was up with that, maybe all the excitement today? Maybe for some reason I was distracted and missed his signs that he needed out (although he had been out within an hour prior to the event). Weird, an easy cleanup but now I have to say he's practically perfect.

Almost a week home with us and he is just such a lovely, wonderful, perfect boy! He's so awesome I'm both inspired to immediately get another greyhound and also afraid to get another grey thinking no one could possibly be as perfect as Rocky. Rocky is a bit of a collector, though...he especially likes footwear, blankets, small pillows, coasters, anything to do with knitting (the wife knits), wallets, and hats of any kind. It makes me laugh! I would take pictures except I catch him 1 or 2 items into his hoard and take them away before he builds it up any further.

I spoke to GPA-Wisconsin but I ultimately adopted through GreyhoundsOnly in Chicago.

Rocky came home yesterday and OMG is he perfect! Gentle and loving with the kids, playful and goofy and gets along with our mutt (although funnily enough, our mutt LOVED Rocky when he first came over yesterday but as time has progressed and I guess it's clear Rocky is more than just a play date, Rascal is becoming an obnoxious and nippy jerk) Rocky ignores the cats, he whines to go out, he responds to his name and a simple "ah-ah!" will stop him in his tracks, no matter what he's been doing (like sniffing at a houseplant or the kitchen counters). And although I was prepared for the notorious greyhound-gas and big-D, he's only farted twice that I've noticed and any unpleasantness faded quickly (lol!) his poos are also well formed. (I'm sure you all wanted to know all that). He's got no aggression at all--not with his bed, his crate, his space, his food, his toys. He doesn't mind his feet being handled or his ears being played with. The vacuum was simply a curiosity to him. The boy from Texas even loves the snow! The only problem?? This is only his 2nd day here and every time I get up off the couch he wakes up and Velcros to me. Therefore, I feel guilty getting up because I don't want to disturb him so I haven't been doing anything around the house--I even delay trips to the bathroom! Now more pics! And one of Rascal pouting:

What I'm hearing is that you know what you need to do to fix this (crate), but don't want to so you're hoping for some new idea that you haven't thought of yet. When my kids were younger, many times they didn't want to go to sleep in their crib. They cried and cried....but it was bedtime and in the crib they went. I certainly wasn't going to let my 18 month old decide when and where she was going to sleep! Your dog is not ready to be unconfined during the night. He should be crated--crying should subside within a couple days, assuming you don't give in. If crating is absolutely intolerable for you for some reason, then he needs to be either sleeping with you so that you can hear when he gets up, or confined to a very small place in the house via gates or Xpens (which isn't a whole lot different than a crate but he may be more agreeable).

I've housebroken at least a dozen dogs and have my own methods. Unfortunately, asking for housebreaking advice is like asking for parenting advice--everyone is going to have their own opinion on it. You've got an older puppy, so there's no question that he has the physical maturity to "hold it", so that's good. My advice is to go back to the crate. If he's peeing in the crate, that indicates that your crate is too large. He should have just enough room to turn around and lay down--no excess space. Feeding and watering should be measured and on a schedule--same time and amounts every day. He should be walked first thing every morning, after every meal, after naps, and after playtime. Keep a journal of the times he "goes". Praise him when he does his business--time it right as he's committed to his squat (not too early or you'll interrupt him, but not too late because he needs to be pooping or peeing when you praise him). If he "won't go" outside when you know he has to go, bring him back in and put him back in the crate. Try again 15 minutes later. He should absolutely have NO FREEDOM if he hasn't "done both" after eating--back in the crate. At other times of the day, if he hasn't gone, he should be tethered to you via a leash. At no point should he EVER be out of your sight for even 30 seconds until he's been reliably indicating he has to go outside and has voided when you know he needs to (and you will know this from the journal you kept of his poo/pee schedule). Best of luck! I managed to housebreak a puppy mill dog who had no qualms with soiling himself, although it was the hardest most challenging 2 YEARS of my life. Eventually he got it, but it took a lot of work. Your case sounds at first blush to be far simpler. You have just given him far more freedom than he was ready for. DOgs (and especially puppies) absolutely desire structure, routine, and schedules. Oh, and one more thing--as tempting as it may be, NO SCOLDING if he goes in the house!!!! Voiding in the house means YOU messed up, not him. Scolding will only confuse him, possibly injure the trust/bond between you and does nothing to show him what he SHOULD be doing. If you catch him in the act, simply scoop him up and quickly take him outside. If the deed is done, there is nothing to do except clean it up.

I am so very very sorry. She's beautiful.

Small update: He's coming home this Friday! His foster mom says he's doing so well that there's no reason to keep him any longer. Stairs? Piece of cake. Crate training? Sleeping through the night and only a couple whimpers during the day. Cats? Who cares about cats? Housebreaking? No problem. Toys and beds and snuggles and being completely spoiled? Getting used to it.

*melt* He's ADORABLE!

There are those dogs that will injure themselves and physically destroy a crate trying to get out of it, but are fine and well-behaved if left out of the crate. In these cases it's a no-brainer to just go with the flow and ditch the crate, unless you care to spend serious time and effort (and possibly money) helping the dog through the underlying issues that cause the panic in the crate. For dogs that simply don't care for the crate...well it's my opinion that it's my house--my rules. I don't care if they are reasonably well-behaved if left alone in the house. If I feel it is safer for my dogs to be crated in my absence, then in the crate is where they will be whether they pout about it or not. Especially considering that whether they are in a crate or not 3/4 of the time they'll be sleeping what difference does it make whether they are sleeping on a bed in the livingroom or sleeping on a bed in their crate? The crate removes nearly all chances of the dog unexpectedly getting themselves into trouble in the house. In the decades I've owned dogs, I have both crated and not crated and can see both sides. I don't feel, however, that people looking for advice should be made to feel guilty because they choose to crate--no matter the reasons. I'm new here, but I have definitely seen some strong anti-crate bias which I feel is unfair to others who love their dogs just as much as anyone else here and is only looking to care for them in the best manner possible. For some, that equals crating.