RedHead

I agree with the posts above, but just wanted to chime in to say I ALWAYS introduce two dogs by walking them together (side by side). Meeting face on for the first time can cause problems for dogs who are prone to lunging or snapping. My parent's old dog was like this and every time I went to visit we immediately went for a walk altogether with all the dogs. This way they walk side by side, sniff with each other, and by the time we get back to the house and go in the door they hardly even notice each other.

I have picky pups plus the "real" meat treats are so expensive. Since I have just taken up more clicker training, I have resorted to just boiling up chicken thighs, shredding them, and freezing if needed. The dogs seem to like that the best plus I know exactly what is in them, and they are cheap! Not so practical for training, but if you bake them for a long time they kind of dry out (like when you overcook chicken ). I used to use a liver treat recipe that every dog went NUTS for, but it does contain cornmeal and a bit of flour so probably not what you are looking for.

Dogs have a fairly short, simple digestive system (the more "herbivorous" an animal is the longer and more complex the digestive tract). It would depend on a lot of things though such as the individual dog and the type of/ingredients in the food. I would have no idea which meal the poop was coming from! I do like the corn experiment though! lol

I don't know if these links will help but I am on some raw distributors lists, and here are a few links. Otherwise, most butcher stores can supply you if you ask. http://victorydogfood.com/distributors.html http://dogaware.com/diet/rawgroups.html

Personally, for how I feed both things are important. Not so much the food's "rating" as this can be subjective but for me my dog has to do well on a food and it has to have quality ingredients. If one of these is missing I personally just do not feed it. I feed almost solely homemade, as I have tried a lot of "better" end foods and they don't agree so well (from what I think is the higher amounts of processed fats). There are so many food philosophies, just look at all the ways humans feed themselves. It is up to you to pick the one you are most comfortable with that your dog does well on.

There's no harm in adding healthy extras to kibble IMO I think it benefits them to get some fresh foods mixed in. A few things I do to ensure that everything is eaten is to add a bit of water or broth with it to make a sort of gravy, or else I mix it together really well (sort of gross, but I find mixing it with my hands works the best) so that all the kibbles get the scent of the fresh foods. If she loves fish oil I would buy the pump kind or pop the capsule so the scent of that covers everything as well. Almost every dog will chose fresh meats over kibble, so she is probably not bored with the kibble, just picking out the parts she likes best. In fact, adding a variety of fresh toppings can keep the kibble from getting boring.

A lot of people will suggest to stay away from large bones as they can chip teeth. Having said that, I have always given them to my dogs and have never had a problem. I think some of the factors that might lead to problems are really aggressive chewers and also if your dog already has weakened teeth due to plaque/gingivitis. Many chipped teeth come from people wanting to clean teeth that are in bad condition and already weakened. Then they give a large weight bearing bone and the tooth cracks. Generally though, I think they are fine. I prefer the knuckle bones over the marrow bones because they have a lot of cartilage on the knuckle which is softer and great for chewing.

It sounds like the tail experience has made him leary of things approaching his space. I would keep your daughter away for now, but that is not going to solve anything unless you also work on desensitizing him. One thing I do is to throw tasty treats on the floor every time I walk by when the dog is on its bed (as long as he is acting calm and polite). You can gradually get closer and closer. You should see warning signs if he is nervous, there are usually a lot of signs before a growl that you can see if you look closely (head held back, glare with eyes, unsure look/stare etc.). Teague had a few episodes of growling on his bed at first with me and my other dog. I know some people don't agree, but I did verbally correct him when he growled and one thing I started doing was giving him massages sitting with him on his bed (which also helped to get him used to having all parts of his body handled). Now he is totally used to anything on his bed and would never growl at anything, even if startled. I think it is great you are doing some obedience, this will help to build a relationship and trust with him. Don't worry, they do a lot of strange things in the beginning but many times they can be overcome

If you really think she is too thin I would personally supplement the diet with some healthy, fresh protein/fat sources. Things like beef, heart, ground meats, eggs, cottage cheese etc. I have some recipes for putting weight on thin dogs, but I would be hesitant to give anything too high in fat to a young dog who is just growing. Some dogs really do take a while to fill in. I had a malamute who looked like a scrawny coyote until she was about 2 or 3 years. I am assuming this pup has been checked for worms or parasites as well??

Even after Teague has held his bladder all night he will usually NOT go pee if I just let him out in my small backyard. I have to actually take him on a walk before he will really go. He seems to only go in the backyard if he is desperate. I don't know if you have tried walking him rather than just turning him out, but I have yet to find a dog that won't pee on walks. Good luck!

Have you looked into Devil's Claw? It is widely prescribed and used in many European countries for arthritis and inflammation (for humans, but people also use in animals too) and is proven to be effective in many studies. I used a supplement that had both Devil's Claw, Turmeric and Bromelain, and it worked the best of any supplement I tried. I would second the fish oil too. As far as I know they are all safe to treat with vet prescribed NSAIDS.

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions! I am definitely going to try them out (I will try to get back with my experimenting . First of all, does anyone know if you can buy Tanglefoot in retail stores here in Ontario. I would prefer not to order online if I don't have to, or was wondering if you could use any sticky stuff as long as the blue was used. In terms of the horse spray, Bronco or Konk is what I have heard most people use. It's main ingredient is pyrethrins. From what I googled it is supposed to be okay for use on dogs. It just freaked me out when I saw it in the store with the poison signs and warnings not to touch it. It is supposed to kill flies as soon as they land on the animal so I hate to put such potent stuff on the pups. Maybe I will try spraying it on bandanas and putting that around their necks (haha maybe with blue cups on their head as well!!). I also read that Vicks VapoRub keeps them at bay. I guess I will have to do some experimenting!

I am pretty much the same as XTrawld. When I adopted a grey I was more concerned about winter cold over heat, but from my experience Teague can handle winter cold a LOT better than summer heat. I used to go by the "if you need a coat so does your grey" advice, but every time I ended up taking it off and carrying it on walks. So...I only coat (and it is a light one layer flannel coat) when it is -5 to -10 celcius. When it hits -15 to -25 (celcius...I can't convert!) or below the dogs tend to limp so that is the only time I shorten their walks, put on boots and put on the puffy warm coats. Other than that, I take Teague snowshoeing and winter hiking all the time and he does really well...much better than the heat that we have now! BTW the only boots I have tried that actually stay on in the snow are the disposable rubber kind.

I don't know if this is Health & Medical but since it is about sprays or repellents this is where I put it...feel free to move if needed. I hike a lot with the pups, but our hikes are literally ruined in the summer because of the nasty deer flies buzzing around and following us the whole way. I HATE these things!! I can handle mosquitos and blackflies because if you keep moving they don't bother you, but those darn deer flies are so persistent and follow you! I literally spent our whole hike yesterday with my arm in the air swinging at them with a tree branch and smacking them off the dogs. It's enough to drive anyone insane! Has anyone used anything that repells these things?? I have some of those herbal sprays and oils but they don't really help a lot. I know a friend uses a horse product (Konk?) for flea, tick, and fly control for her show dogs, but I am a little leary using them. Any suggestions?

I tried a lot of plain glus./chond. pills for my old dog and had no luck. I tried a liquid human supplement called "Nutri-Flex" (by Naka..I don't know if you have this company in the U.S.) and we noticed quite an improvement. The ingredients are: glucosamine, gelatin, MSM, Turmeric, Devil's Claw, Bromelain. Loved this stuff, we noticed a significant change if we tried to take her off of it! I also always supplement with a lot of fish oils as well, but you have to have high levels to make a notable change in arthitis. http://www.nakaherbs...flex_liquid.pdf

When I left Teague I first practiced by just leaving the house to work outside for short periods where he could see and hear me but was separated. I also did not allow or encourage him to follow me everywhere in the house and would work in separate rooms from him for part of the day. Also, if a dog is already showing signs of anxiety as you are leaving, things are not going to go well when you're gone. If things like going to the door, putting your shoes on, getting your keys, etc. trigger him to become anxious, I would practice doing this over and over without leaving the house until he stops reacting. Also, I am a big believer in always tiring a dog out before leaving them alone, especially in the beginning. Dogs are programmed to go into a rest mode after a lot of exercise and food, so you can use this to your advantage by tiring him out as much as you can, and feeding him after he has settled as you leave. Good luck!

I'm so sorry. This is a word nobody wants to hear. I hope you have some comfort in knowing that you are doing the best you can to manage things.

Neylas Mom, Yep, I totally agree about the greys acting helpless due to their different upbringing. In fact, I was going to mention that I think part of the reason why Teague won't lure to the food so well is because he is so "polite" with food and would never try to grab it out of a hand. You are right, I probably used the wrong word when I said "unmotivated" as I know that is a no-no word in clicker training. I just think he hasn't quite figured things out yet. He has made progress in the little time I have worked with him, so maybe if I spend more time he will come around. I will try some things with him and see how things go. I was actually trying to clicker train my rats the other day, I was watching some great videos on that too! I used to have a retired labrat that I trained to do all kinds of things with chaining and free shaping.

Thanks so much for your feedback! I do remember reading about a protocol change for 3 years on rabies and some other shots, I just wasn't sure about the DHPP. Since my pups have been vaccinated for this many times already, I am going to opt out of it this year and just do lepto. If the vet doesn't agree, I am about ready to go back to my old vet, even though they are 35 minutes away and this one is one block away. They seem much more "up to date" on things and are also more reasonable costwise.

Just a thought, but many dogs lose weight when carbs are removed from their diet and protein is increased. My old dog lost quite a bit of weight (in a good way) when she was switched from a kibble based diet to a raw one. I didn't expect it because I would have thought that more meat meant more fat and protein. I know my vet always recommends the "catkins" or high protein low carb diet to help overweight cats as well. If the weight loss is not the healthy kind though, you may want to think of switching foods. Maybe he isn't digesting or processing the ingredients well.

Lol Teague would be the dog who would turn down steak and chicken. So far for food I have tried liver treats, freshly cooked chicken, beef, (real) bacon, hottdogs and cheese. He will usually work for them but only for a few minutes, and even if it is doing simple things that he knows like targeting, come, paw, etc. he will just leave in the middle and go lie down even if I offer him the food. Also, I am having trouble getting him to lure, even for simple things like holding the food a foot away. Any other dog I have had will gladly follow and chew off bits of treats and you can easily get them to move or follow. I guess the key with him would be to a) do training when he is really hungry and in his active mode (evenings) and keeping sessions really short and simple. I have clicker trained a lot of dogs to do all kinds of things, and part of my undergrad was lab work in operant conditioning, but I just have never had a student like Teague (and that includes the rats I trained too!) lol To be honest though, I haven't put in a ton of effort, we just do it for fun sometimes. I am sure if I did it daily he would start to pick up on it more.

Just had a question before I call the vet back. They called for our annual vaccine/exam and I checked out last years sheet to see what would be needed. Last year was my first summer with Teague so he got Rabies, Lepto, and DHPP. This year it says both Lepto and DHPP are due again. I know the Lepto vaccine is only supposed to last for one year or less, but what about the DHPP?? I am HIGHLY skeptical that both dogs need this again. I am not against vaccines but also think that they are way over done by some vets. I like my vet now, and he has worked with many greyhounds, but he is old fashioned and I just wondered what the protocol was at other people's vet offices. Thanks!

I think clicker training is a fun option. Although I have to admit, Teague is the most difficult dog I have ever trained because I have yet to find a motivator that will keep him overly interested. I can't get him to lure very well because he just has no perseverance or food motivation, and he generally will go and lie down after about 5 minutes. lol But, he still enjoys it and has learned to shake a paw and I have taught him to target. I have also been doing some "hide and go seek" which practices his stay and come command as well as his nose. I tell him to stay in one room, go into another room and hide with a whole bunch of smelly, tasty treats. Then I call him and he has to try and find me to get the food. Again though....not a whole lot of motivation, he tends to just go and lie down after one or two rounds. I would love to do lure coursing as I think he would find this more motivating, but I can't find anything close by as of yet.

You don't need to supplement with a multivitamin if you feed raw, but depending on your philosophy, some people like to use a multivitamin or add things like vit. E, Vit. C, B vitamins. Just remember if you supplement too much it can actually be worse. If you give too much of one thing it changes how other things are absorbed. If you want to supplement and feed raw I would highly recommend ordering a few books which will better tell you amounts and supplements (Lew Olson, Monica Segal sell supplements and books for this). For me, I just give fish oil.

If you are supplementing more than half of the kibble with raw beef and don't feed any bones, you may want to look into some calcium supplementing. If you feed meaty bones a few times a week (not sure about the turkey necks? Maybe you could try something like chicken thighs or pork bones) it should be fine. From what I have read you can supplement kibble/meat up to half and half without worrying about any supplementing or calcium. It is a good way to add some fresh protein to the diet