GreytTerp

The trick with the alarm works really well, as does the basic obedience to be calm and wait patiently as the food is going into the bowl and the bowl into position. With the alarm though, Starvin' Marvin has determined that any time the phone alarm goes off or even rings that it must be time for dinner

Great job so far! We had a lot of difficulty getting our guy to learn stairs. Friends of ours had some really stinky treats, and in less than 15 minutes, they got him to go all the way up the stairs (wooden with carpet stair treads). Naturally, they didn't teach him to go down! So, he would run up the stairs and get stuck up there, poking his head around the corner with a 'please save me' look down at us. My now-husband did have to carry him for more than a week, gradually setting him down further and further from the bottom to make him go down with us holding him by the collar and close to the wall. After a few weeks, he was a pro at the stairs, though he still bounds up them with as much grace as could be described as 'rolling up stairs'. Lots of really great advice in this thread - keep up the good work!

I don't have any suggestions, but just wanted to say that you're awesome for taking in such a senior boy and working with him so patiently to help him through this really rough patch. Sending good thoughts your way.

We went through a similar situation this past January. Our hound developed this bump out of nowhere on the top of his head, but since he wasn't ready for a dental, our vet recommended just a 'benevolent negligence' approach to see if the bump changed. She did say that they would have removed it during his dental if he needed one. In our case, the bump did grow to almost a large pea over the next two months. Then, within the course of a week or so, it shrunk (naturally, just as we made him a special vet appointment to get it checked because it had grown...), and the bump is now completely gone and the hair grown back over. If the bump is large enough, I would go for the fine needle aspirate first before any GA. Good luck!

If I'm not on a baking spree making homemade dog treats, we give the Trader Joe's dog treats that are in season or the regular ones with the greyhound on the box (yes, we were suckers from the first time we saw them...). As an additional dental bonus, we also use the Hill's TD diet food from our vet - the pieces are very large for food, but they're great for treats, and the texture supposedly works like dental floss. We have noticed an improvement in breath from mixing the TD diet pieces in to the daily treat mix. We also keep some grain-free itty bitty training treats on hand for quick rewards. Congratulations on your new hound!

After 2 years of the $50-$60 per bag foods, we also 'caved' to the IAMS green bag. For us, the results have been great, and our boy's fur has never been softer. Super minimal gas, no more gurgly tummy at 5am, no more pudding (or worse) poo. I mix in some additional grain free higher protein fish-based food from time to time as a boost, but considering our guy will eat dust bunnies and dirt balls, thinking they are food, we're pretty lucky... Being a good dog parent is just finding what works best for your hound, not what the sticker price says

Thanks for everyone sharing their experiences with Bravecto - we just changed from Frontline to Nexgard, and so far, it's been great in comparison to the topical nastiness. Frontline all of sudden completely stopped working for fleas back in December... Our vet offered both options, but I went with the Nexgard, thinking the chemical dose into our hound might be less severe with the monthly dose, in case there was a reaction. Does anyone have any thoughts on Nexgard vs. Bravecto? The only major difference in effectiveness I have found thus far (quick cursory search) is that Bravecto might kill ticks that transmit Lyme more quickly (in less than 12 hours), whereas Nexgard kills ticks in 48 hours. Anyone have concerns about the strength of the chemicals in the once-every 3 month tab vs. the once-every month tab?

No problems for the IAMS green bag from Target (previous bag just finished) or Sam's Club (just opened this week). A few odorless toots when going down the stairs after a big nap or during 'Goga' (um...greyhound yoga...) are the norm in our house.

I'm envious of everyone who had their Himalayan yak milk chew last a good while...we have bought a few for our guy, but he manages to devour even the large ones in less than a hour, and he's not a big chewer...unless it's consumable. I do like that they don't seem to be as hard as an antler or other hard chew, and also that we've never noticed any output problems with them.

A few days is a super short window, and I can totally see (and know) the feeling of being overwhelmed. You guy is going through some huge changes, and it may take him longer than most to gain confidence and continue bonding with you. We were still seeing big changes in our guy's confidence and personality for about a year. I like the idea of taking treats with you and rewarding him for bravery on walks and leaving the house. His crate is his safe place, and he's also likely exhausted from the last few days. There's also no harm or ill feelings in working with your adoption group to find you a hound who is a better fit as a only-dog if it comes to that. Hang in there, and remember, your new guy is probably just as scared and anxious about your new relationship as you are!

:pepper :pepper Wonderful news! Dancing peppers to many more years together for you and Charlie!

It does sound like he might be dreaming. Our guy will be clearly awake, and then 30 seconds later, his eyes are creepily rolled back (and open), and he is growling, yipping, dream-barking, etc. It often gets loud enough that it wakes him up. We might suggest if you need to get up while he's doing his growling, try to call his name and get his attention, even if it means waking him. While it seems our hound is dreaming almost every time he falls asleep, he only does the growling thing when it's completely dark and in the middle of the night...

We also hit a wall in agility about 6 months in with Marvin. We think he just got bored doing the same circuits over and over again. Moving up to a more advanced class worked for him, as did mixing up the reward treats. I recommend trying the Bear Bites (100% dehydrated beef liver) if it's a 'food day', as the stuff is akin to 'doggy crack'. I have to be really energetic with strong directions to get Marvin going, especially if there is a jump at the start of the run - he saunters up to the jump, and I am wildly cheering him on (I'm sure he thinks I am some crazy lady...). Neyla's Mom - could I ask where you go for agility? We're buying a house in College Park later this month and would like to keep Marvin in some agility activities.

I hope it's nothing more serious than broad food allergies, but the bumps, patches, fur coming out, and skin issues sound very much like what my parents go through with their pug. After a couple of years of trying different foods and endless trips to the vet to go on and off the prednisone. Their resolution has not been 100% perfect, as the little pugger still has skin flare ups and vomiting from time to time, but they have settled on the following: 1. Food change to one with no preservatives and nothing from the poultry family (no chicken, turkey, and definitely no duck): Natural Balance Venison 2. Added the dynovite supplement mixed with canned pumpkin each night 3. During 'grass seasons', a baby benedryl each morning with breakfast Some people have also recommended the Olewo supplements We wish you and Ashe the best!

Thanks for the feedback! I put his antler and favorite nylabone in the bedroom with him, along with a variety of toys, but he's not a big chewer. He doesn't gnaw on furniture, walls, or carpet, which is a small consolation. It really has to be plastic or wood and something he can 'steal', no dog bed required. We've got down, stay, sit, shake, play dead, spin, and heel, but we haven't been doing any dedicated training time at home of late, and it sounds like we should try it to make it a daily event to wear his brain out. We've also found a way to baby-gate a short hallway for him (about a 4x8 ft area) for short periods of time with his bed and bowls where there is nothing he can chew. He destroyed nothing today - a small victory!

I say 'newly developed' separation anxiety since we have had Marvin almost exactly 3 years, and it is only over the past 2-3 months that he has started acting out when we leave. Is it common for a dog who never had any problem with his humans leaving for any length of time to just start being distressed, even after a few years? Until this last few months, he never chewed anything that was not one of his toys, and now, it is every time we leave. It used to be just some whining for a couple of minutes. Then it moved to howling and attacking tissue boxes and then on to books left on the nightstand. And then it progressed to plastic electronics and chargers...he has a thing for plastic stuff. We curbed the behavior initially by baby-gating him in our bedroom, where he has a bed and is where he sleeps every night with us. No whining, happy and comfy, settled right down. That worked for a while, and then he started destroying things in there. We have a soft-sided enormous crate, and we have started closing the flap on it to see if we can keep him in there while gone for short amounts of time. However, we are afraid he will chew/eat his way out, as he ate part of the carry bag for the crate during one of his episodes a few weeks back... We also have a plastic basket muzzle for him, but we're also afraid he may chew it up. His bottom teeth are broken (possibly from metal crate bars), so we're hesitant to do a metal crate but we are open to at least trying it. We have gone back to step 0 with alone training, with no idea where else to start, but we are open to any suggestions you all may have. Everything seems to happen in the first short while when we're gone, but I'd like to get back to a place where he does not need a Kong every time we leave, even to take the trash out, just to not start terrorizing. Some of what he's destroyed definitely took longer than a few minutes (he hand-picked a bunch of different percussion sticks and mallets out of a bag...). Another challenge is our hound's over-attachment to me vs. his level of attachment to my husband. He's very attached to both of us and is a very social-with-people dog, but he is much more attached to me and will go nuts even if my husband is still home in the same room. I don't acknowledge any of his whining, and I ignore him for several minutes before I leave and when I come home to make it 'no big deal' that I didn't see him. I think part of the problem has been the extreme cold this winter - walks are much, much shorter than he probably needs to work out all of his energy, and we are hoping that the fenced yard we just bought (we bought the house it comes with too!) will go a long way toward helping curb this new-found behavior. We would love to hear any suggestions you all may have on things we can try to get things turned around. Do people like the DAP diffuser, collar or wall-plug? I'm afraid he will eat the one that plugs into the wall since it looks plastic... The noise isn't the problem. We are just afraid he is going to eat something that will hurt him and need to protect him from himself until we work through this. Thanks!

We found out this past summer that our hound actually does like to swim a bit - he just needed to be shown how to go charging into the water. My inlaws have a Chesapeake Bay retriever, aka water dog, and our boy just following him into the sound over the little waves and down the ramp. We did keep him on his leash and were both in the water with him the whole time, about a foot or two away. It's ironic, as he detests bathtime and acts like the sorriest dog in the world every time. I think our dogs pick up on the things we enjoy and eventually are happy to join in!

Just a suggestion for what worked for us (aside from finding a field that was much too large for our guy to even think about running out of as he's not in the greatest of shape): Does he always respond to something like food going into his stainless steel bowl? We brought our hound's bowl and some dog food as a back-up, as we knew, no matter what looked or smelled good, if he heard that tinking noise of food going into his bowl, he would be bolting back toward us. We used this initially with the 'greyhound catch' game, and after a few good sprints, he was tired and ready to just hang with us for the rest of our outing.

Almost all of the TJ's we've been to have the same parking problems. We're definitely going to have to give the new beef sticks a try - thanks for the tip! We usually are just big suckers for the box of biscuits with the greyhound on the front...

Thanks for sharing on this topic - I hope your guy's glands aren't just going to fill like crazy over and over again. A resurgence beyond the normal rear licking has me thinking I should probably have guy's glands re-checked. Our vet had asked us if we had made any dietary changes, as it seems these glands tend to express themselves normally with reasonably firm poo. We haven't had any issues since a food change last year firmed things up. I'm glad to hear that they aren't infected or impacted...that can require surgery. If some butt-ointment is the worst thing on the docket, that's pretty good! Our guy licked his butt so badly that he created a sore under his tail that would not heal and we had to put him in shorts (converted boxers with an added drawstring) to keep him away from it long enough to heal. You are an awesome hound mom

We also randomly had 1 full anal gland causing some serious butt licking, which isn't terribly common in big dogs. None of the distinctive smell, but Marvin all of a sudden started dragging his rear across the carpet(!) One short trip to the vet, an awkward 'expression' from our hound, and he was back to his old self in no time. So far, it seems to have been a one-and-done thing, and there was no way I was attempting the remedy on my own, with or without youtube Henry, you're adorable.

We discovered the rather gross way that we can't use the regular dental chews (the milkbone ones or greenies) - our guy only chews them into pieces small enough to swallow, but not small enough to digest, and a day or two later, he vomits them back up. We do like the CET chews and bully sticks, though who knows how much good they do since he still consumes them so quickly. We've found just good old fashioned brushing about 5 nights a week seems to be working just fine (3 years with us and no dental). It also seems that our hounds are a bit like people in that some build up plaque no matter what, and others don't build it up at all!

I was initially mildly allergic to our hound (a few hives when he licked me or I'd get immediately congested after scratching him), and after several months, it stopped. I also had this same change in allergy tolerance with my friend's cat, and I am still horribly allergic to cats and most long-haired dogs. I still suffer with hayfever and other things I'm allergic to, but such low levels of dander and skin oil really seemed to be the difference with adapting to our dog. I still keep the benadryl and Zyrtec-D around, for when it gets bad unexpectedly, but after about 4-5 months, I stopped having any reactions of any kind to our hound. Allergy shots might also be worth looking into.

Agreed. If you know exactly what your hound ate / how large it was / did they likely chew it into smaller pieces / etc., hydrogen peroxide is great. We have to use a turkey baster to get it down, but it works within a minute or two, so give it outside, and keep a slice of bread or some kibble with you for when they're finished and looking at you like "what did you do to me?" "ooooh you have fooood!". Lucky all of you who have never had to use it!

Our 72 lb. boy gets 1 1/2 heaping cups of the IAMS green bag (large breed) twice a day, plus treats and the occasional Kong. He does poop more (between 2 and 5 times a day, depending on how cold/windy/rainy it is...) than he did on grain free food, but I know exactly what I'm picking up on the IAMS. No more inconsistent runny mess. Our dog also makes cats look "active", so he eats a bit less to maintain his weight. I will also say that once we finally switched to the IAMS green bag, we've found it much easier to maintain our hound's weight.