antisense

It's been ages since I've posted because our grey has been doing so well. This weekend we started a brand new bag of kibble (Kirland nature's domain turkey and sweet potato) and he's been having watery diarrhea and needs to go out 4 - 5 times a day. Doesn't seem distressed in anyway - still energetic (as energetic as can be expected for a 9 year old greyhound), is drinking water and does not appear dehydrated, seems normal except he a bit more gassy than normal and needs to poo more often (and his poo is completely liquid). I don't see any recall notices, so I'm curious if maybe there has been a formulation change. It's difficult to find this information anywhere though.

Oh so relieved that this is normal and not unhealthy. I kinda envy his bladder holding abilities - if only I could hold it that long!

Sometimes he just doesn't want to pee. He will pee before bedtime, and then in the morning if the weather is not to his liking sometimes he just won't go. However, he is also meticulous about not peeing inside our home (or if he is, I haven't found where he's been having secret tinkles) so he ends up holding it in for a very, very long time. When he finally does go out, he isn't in a rush to pee either. Sometimes we will walk a few blocks before he finds something he wants to mark and he will pee a little bit on it. When he urgently needs to go pee, he will let us know by pacing and whining. When we take him out, he will immediately pee like a horse. But a lot of the time, it seems like there is no urgency to go. He does clean himself very frequently "down there." I'm wondering if maybe he's leaking a little bit, and then cleaning it up. I've only had girl dogs before, so I'm not sure how often boy dogs normally clean themselves. He never smells like pee, and none of his bedding smells bad so I don't think he's having any incontinence issues. Is it unhealthy for him to be holding his bladder for so long?

Well he certainly won't mind being given some liver!

I was adding DE (food grade) to my dogs meals once a day very regularly, but stopped when winter came (I figure intestinal parasites don't' spread so easily when it's cold enough that snot freezes in your nose...). I might start up again when the weather starts to get consistently warmer. I'm not sure if it made any difference but he did not have any worms last year. Most important thing is to make sure it's well mixed in with the wet food as it can be dangerous to inhale the powder. I also use DE (household grade) in the corners of the bathroom to kill silverfish. We live in a very old building on the lowest floor so we used to get a lot of creepy crawlies. After just a few uses of DE, we haven't seen another silver fish in a year.

We've finally found a good balance of food to keep JJ from having runny poops. For the most part he poops like a "normal" dog! However, once in a while he gets a raw bone to gnaw on and the next day he's terribly constipated. He goes, but he take a lot longer than usual and it comes out very dry and crumbly. Is there something else I can give him on days where he gets a bone so he doesn't get so constipated? Metamucil? Organ meats?

"He only likes greyhounds" Hey, I really like that. And it's mostly true. He either takes no interest in some dogs, or he takes far too much interest in other dogs (and cats), but he gets along great with greyhounds and his "bestest friend" in our building is a sighthound mix mutt. I originally did want to talk to her and bring her dog some biscuits and ask how he was doing, but the first time I saw her after the incident she gave me such an stink eye that I was really taken aback. Haven't had any desire to speak with her since.

I've heard that sometimes dogs can be "leash aggressive" where they only show aggression while leashed because they feel like they are more restricted. Think of it as given a choice of "fight or flight" and they know they can't "take flight" because they are leashed, so they choose to "fight" instead. At least that is how I understand it. The only time my dog has ever met other dogs off leash was with other greyhounds (and he seems to just know that other greyhounds are good dogs to be around), so I don't know if the leash makes a difference for us. What about greeting with a fence or baby gate in between?

I'm not sure that would be possible for JJ. He's made much more progress than we had expected when we first adopted him, but he's far from being CGC behavior. Mainly because he is gets quite spooked by large crowds of people and is fearful of strangers that approach him head on (vs stranger who stands in place and lets him approach them). We had a behavior consult/training when we first adopted him, and at that point our goal was just to be able to walk him down the street calmly without him growling/barking his head off at any living thing within a block from us. One year later now we have met and exceeded our goal and expectations in terms of good behavior on walks, but I rather doubtful we will manage to work through his fear of unfamiliar people. I'm probably more sensitive to people's comments now after the incident, but I overheard other residents talking quietly asking if he was "the dog that doesn't like people," which makes me really sad because JJ is so affectionate with people he knows and likes. He has a bad reputation now Ugh.

Thank you to everyone for your comments. You've given me some much needed perspective on this. I did some research into the municipal animal laws today, and it seems for dogs, for a bite infraction all that AC can do is order the dog to be muzzled (not a big deal at all!). It doesn't say under what circumstances an animal will be seized. However, there are some very violent dogs in my building I'm not sure if I need to contact the Lexus Project anymore as I don't want to bother them when they have more serious things to deal with. @jetcitywoman, I think you're totally right on with triggering something when holding an animal. We have no small animals in our home, but certainly when I'm holding a toy or other item, it becomes MUCH more interesting than if it was on the ground. So perhaps that just made the small dog so much more interesting, which pushed him over the edge? I really wish I had been right next to him at the time so I could have stopped it happening when I saw the signs, or at least have seen what happened exactly. I was looking at the woman because I was talking to her. I never even saw the bite, just heard the woman shout so I pulled my dog away. She walked away and I went in the other direction because JJ was highly aroused. I never saw what the bite looked like and I haven't seen her dog since. Crazy mix of emotions this past week. I'm no longer panicky about losing my dog, but I'm still deeply unhappy about this gossipy old woman.

What scares me is that even if an animal is on leash the owner/dog can be deemed dangerous because it "was not under control". And according to the behaviorist we saw last year, a dog can be deemed a menace for just barking aggressively. I will certainly see if the Lexus project can give any advise on what not to do/say and how to proceed Thanks everyone.

He was leashed but I had gone through the door first so I was a few feet ahead of him.

I've talked with my building superintendent after making tjis post as i ran onto him on my way out. He says this was an isolated "freak accident" as he put it. He says the authorities will take his word over a resident and JJ has never been written up before and has never received any complaints. He also says this particular resident likes to wag her lips a lot and that I should relax. Im thinking of contacting my adoption group (who is a few cities away) to see if I could let JJ stay there in case the lady does pursue this further.

I'm in a real panic about what to do. Last week I was taking JJ out to potty and a lady who lives in my apartment held the door open for us. She was carrying her pet dachshund. I stupidly let him get close to the other dog so they could sniff because he was acting calm, but curious. Unexpectedly when they were nose to nose he snapped at the other dog and bit him in the muzzle. I've been told it is not a serious bite. There was bleeding from a puncture and there was some swelling, but it has healed now and the dog is fine. I offered to pay for any veterinary costs if the owner thought her dog needed it, but so far this has not been required. I am back to muzzling when we are outside of our unit though I am only keeping the muzzle on within a one block radius (because I am still concerned about my own dog's safety if we get attacked) and I will put it back on if there is an unavoidable meeting with an unfamiliar dog. My unit is right beside the lobby and I have no choice but to overhear conversations that happen there. Today I overhead the lady telling someone that my dog was vicious and that he bit her dog and that she's been thinking of calling animal control. I've also overheard her at other times her telling random neighbors that my dog needs to wear a muzzle because he is dangerous. I am now very scared that she will call animal control. I know things usually do not go well for the "aggressor dog" when that happens. I have not personally talked to the lady since it happened. She is an elderly woman, and she likes to sit in the lobby in her spare time. She stares me down when she sees me and doesn't say anything to me. I'm a little uncomfortable to leave my unit when I know she's there. I've been trying to socialize JJ with other dogs (greeting, then treating) and it has been going well. Mainly it has been big dogs, usually friendly golden retrievers. I know JJ is not trustworthy around cats (he goes into hunt mode and wants to chase them), but I was never sure about small dogs until now. JJ is up to date on all his shots (of course). He's a registered dog with my city. I'm really, really, really scared that the city is going to take my dog. I am familiar with the dog laws in my province and I know it doesn't take much for a dog to be deemed "a menace" to the public. Even a growl at the wrong person is damming to the dog if the person who was growled at makes a big enough deal out of it. Really not sure what to do to protect myself and my dog. And unfortunately I'm going to be at work for the next 8 hours so I can't even keep up with the comments here except occasionally on my phone.

Mine tries to shake off his coat in the winter. He especially likes to do it while crossing the street. He infrequently shakes while walking in warmer weather when he doesn't have a coat, but he seems to mostly do it while in the middle of the street!

No experience with Kerasal, but I'm a little concerned about the salicylic acid in that product. It's an exfoliant, so it's good for getting rid of hard, calloused skin thats prone to cracking, but if it's just dryness, then the salicylic acid might irritate the feet. It is a fairly mild concentration though. Similar to what you might find on over the counter acne treatments. Urea is good for moisturizing! It works best when applied to slightly damp skin because it pulls and holds moisture to where it's applied, hence the damp washcloth. You should be able to find creams with just urea in them in the foot care/skin care section of most pharmacies. Just avoid the ones with fragrance.

Goodness Paws crossed and hoping for the best

We are (most likely) fine! I'm just posting this in case it's helpful to anyone else. My 4 year old grey woke me up at 7:30 this morning with "funny sounds" and when I checked on him, he was trying to eat the doormat. I shooed him away, gave him a cookie, and shut him in the bedroom with me. He would not settle and kept pacing and smacking his lips. He also tried to eat his blanket. I got really worried when he started dry retching and took him into the vet immediately in case he had bloated. He furiously tried to eat grass on the way to the car. The vet heard a heart murmur which was not in previous visits. They x-rayed his heart and stomach. Stomach is fine! But there was a lot of gas in his intestines that is the likely culprit for making him feel uncomfortable. He started passing gas at the vet, as he usually does whenever he's anxious. That seemed to help reduce his discomfort! He has a VHS 11.48, but the vet says it's normal for greyhounds to have VHS of up to 12. He's not too concerned about the heart murmur as it is relatively common in athletic breeds such as huskies (he's not as familiar with greyhounds). It is unknown whether a murmur would affect longevity. We'll just be keeping an eye on if for any changes.

I don't really have much advice, but man, what a smug look on his face in that first pic! He's adorable! I do remember to keep the cats from jumping over a baby gate, we tied balloons to the top of the gate. They were bulky and moved around so they acted as a deterrent to any kitties that were contemplating jumping. In my head I figured that if they tried to jump it, their claws might pop a balloon, which would reinforce that jumping the gate is a bad thing.

Firstly, congrats on getting a greyhound! Our dog is from Needle Nose which is located somewhere around Hamilton, though we live in Kingston. Seems like we miss a lot of the action being so far east as most groups seems to be located between Toronto and Niagara. Sounds like your pup has just been shell shocked from being relocated to a completely new environment and thinks his crate is a safe haven he doesn't want to leave (after all, the crate is likely the only thing in his new home that is familiar to him). I think once he's more comfortable with his surroundings and with you will have an easier time taking him out. It sounds like that's already starting to happen if he's venturing out of his crate on his own to explore. Do you have him on a set schedule for going out? It might help once he gets used to the idea that at a certain time, he must go out because it's part of the daily routine. Growling is not a bad thing. Growling lets you know he's uncomfortable about something. Dogs normally don't bite out of the blue, but I've heard of some that start doing that after their owners taught them that growling is wrong so instead of growling a warning, they went straight to biting. However it can be hard to correct a behavior that you don't want without accidentally making him think you're correcting him for growling. At the same time you don't want him to think he can control you by growling at you. Some of the more experienced members here might be able to help more with that.

I agree so much with what has already been said here. It can be done! I am quite optimistic about it! But it is a bit of a lifestyle change. Not just training to help the dog stay in control while out on walks, but training the owners to be strong and consistent leaders in and out of the home. If Mouse can trust that her humans will keep her safe and decide how best to proceed in situations outdoors, then she would feel less need to react and take charge of the situation herself. It's quite possible she will need lifelong training and attention, though it should get easier with time. JJ came to us very reactive and aggressive -barking, growling and lunging- at all unfamiliar dogs AND people. I followed a lot of the advice on this forum, and consulted with a certified behaviorist to come up with a training plan. We chose not to medicate, though it was presented as an aid. It took about 5 months before we could walk outdoors without a muzzle, and about 8 months before we were comfortable walking past a person on the sidewalk. He is SO much better now. It is very rewarding and I feel very proud of the progress we've made.

That's interesting about their fathers. I too have a Lonesome Cry pup and I've always thought his tuck wasn't as high as his greyhound friends and his ribs are hardly ever visible (and he now weighs in UNDER his racing weight) though his hip tips are always there. I think his line tends to have more narrow ribcages, so even though they are lean, their ribs don't show very much. Other Lonesome Cry offspring for comparison

We give backs/necks/feet only as a treat once or twice a week

Is it safe to refreeze like that?

Ooooh, good idea! Thanks!