ramonaghan
-
Posts
4,176 -
Joined
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Store
Articles
Posts posted by ramonaghan
-
-
Sounds like he is adjusting beautifully. Welcome home, handsome boy!
So excited for all of you! -
Welcome, and congrats! He is a very handsome guy. I have a Cobblepot kid too and actually see some resemblance to my girl in Dante's eyes.
I'd echo what others have said about the names—wait a bit and see what fits and/or what he responds best to. I had a list picked out for mine as well, and the poor thing remained nameless for far too long because nothing we liked seemed to fit her as well as the name she came with (racing name Sweep Thru; kennel name Sweep). Though it's not a name I would have chosen originally, she responds to it, it's certainly unique, and I've grown to like it.
That said, I like Brego and Hugo! -
Hmm, I will have to try this. Is it expensive at the store?
I get it at Trader Joe's for $5.99 and the jar lasts at least a month. Costco is another good, cheap option.
-
Sweep (60 lbs) gets a heaping tablespoon with dinner. I didn't know I was supposed to work up to that, so I guess I am lucky she never got big D from it! I generally just dump the spoon's contents on her kibble, and then wipe the excess from the spoon with my finger, rub it between my palms, and smooth it over her fur. It's not enough to make her greasy—just makes her smell good and conditions her skin/coat a bit. People often comment on how soft she is.
Gonna have to try it as toothpaste next…
-
Sweep does this too, right after she's groomed her, uh, nether regions. Given that, it seems olfactory related vs. excitement or aggression, and as you describe it is definitely distinct from the faster, vibration-like chattering she does when excited. This is almost like she's chewing the air.
-
Thanks, everyone! I will continue working on her nails—fortunately, she doesn't seem to mind the Dremel at all—and probably pick up another runner or two.
Try some Quick Sort or Tacky Fingers you can get it at most office supply places like Staples or Office Max. Rub some on her pads. It will help with her traction. I use to keep some in the car for my bridge pup Clark, he hated the floors at Petco and it helped him. I think they make something similar for dogs but the stuff at the office supply stores was cheaper.
I love this tip! Had not heard of it, but it makes total sense and I'll definitely be trying it.
-
These training treats from Blue Buffalo are working really well for us. And their sticks—Sweep loves the lamb & apple—are great too. (Incidentally, the sticks also fit perfectly into the small end of a Kong; I use half as a plug when I am filling the Kong with something messy.)
-
After 4.5 months here, Sweep's still wiping out occasionally on the hardwood floors. Is this normal? We have rubber-backed stair treads and area rugs in the major traffic areas, but she still slips once a week or so. It's a terrifying thing to witness and hear, but she hasn't hurt herself (knock on, er, wood) and doesn't seem traumatized by the experiences. She's never exhibited any fear or reluctance to walk on slick floors (we have both hardwood and tile), but I would have thought that at this point, she'd be fairly expert at navigating them. She's a healthy three-year-old, so I don't think there's any sort of underlying medical issue here. It happens mostly when she gets excited/gets up too fast, which is understandable and something she'll eventually figure out, I hope, but just now she calmly got off her bed, walked off the area rug onto the hardwood, and inexplicably got the crazy "ice skate legs." Any thoughts, other than installing wall-to-wall carpet (not an option)? Could nail length be a factor? We got a Dremel recently and are ever-so-slowly getting those quicks to recede, but her nails are probably still a little longer than ideal...as evidenced by the gouges she leaves in the floor during these events!
-
I just posted a pic in Cute and Funny that's given me some reassurance about the whole thing.
-
I would like to add that the worst animal-caused injury our family has ever dealt with was cat-to-cat. It happened long before we had the dogs....we came home to find our male Siamese, Sammy, with a big gash in his rear leg and the leg dangling. Turned out his Achilles' tendon was nearly severed. He had surgery, and ended up recovering completely. The only thing we could figure that happened--and we are pretty sure about this--is that our other Siamese, Daisy, did it. She hated him, and he harrassed the crap out of her. I think he probably attacked her, as he was wont to do, and she defended herself--and hooked a claw into his leg.
Yikes! That's a valid point and not one I'd ever have thought of. I find the occasional mystery scab on the cats but have never encountered anything like that. Glad Sammy recovered! (And now I'm off to make bubble wrap suits for all my animals…)
-
We have several... otherwise, they'd eat not only the cat food, but also the cat turds.
I don't know if Sweep hasn't discovered the litter box or just isn't that interested, but either way I am counting my blessings on that front.
-
Adding an elevated baby-gate is very helpful.
This is something I've been thinking about. We have a somewhat challenging floorplan (very open) and the animals all seem to prefer the same room (our bedroom), but it's an option I'll likely explore down the road. I also have stairs, which I can probably use to my advantage, since I know the cats are faster on those even with the stair treads we've added for Sweep. All good food for thought, thanks.
Here's a video of an interaction between one of my greyhounds and my younger cat (who's not allowed outside as I'm afraid I'd never see him again). It's very cute, but be prepared for a snark at the very end when Wiki finally loses patience with Indy.
Love it! Indy needs to work on reading those calming signals.
(Boy, wouldn't that make life easier for everyone?) -
In the interest of cute greyhound/cat pictures, here's another.
Gives me hope, thanks! And what a good-looking duo. I miss my Siamese boy every day; they're the best!
-
Oh, not long!
George hated his crate and I dispensed with it after a few weeks, but I was really never concerned since he showed NO interest at all.
:beatheart The quintessential cat expression. All he(?) needs is a tiny Photoshopped flag between his paws to make it official that he's staked his claim. -
The first day in my new job (after all the insanity) I actually had one of those lightbulb moments where I gasped and exclaimed "I left the dog and cat with free run of the apartment."
While I haven't actually done this, I can say that I no longer worry about whether I remembered to turn off the stove, etc.—now it's always "did I lock the crate door?"
-
Thanks, all. Your responses have been really helpful. It's clearly an issue of one's personal comfort threshold and of risk analysis/tolerance. Maybe as a newb I also needed to be reassured that it wouldn't make me dysfunctional or paranoid if I never get to the point where I'm okay leaving them all out together.
I know the crate bothers me more than it has ever bothered Sweep; she goes right in at 10 p.m. and stays quiet til 7:30 or later (lucky me!). As long as that holds, I think I'll stick to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.Even outside in the backyard he shows no interest in her. All of this is to the cats dismay though since she would love nothing more than to snuggle up to him. LOL
This is so funny to me…I can't even fathom my cats wanting to snuggle with Sweep. Olive vomited daily and lived in the top of our closet for at least two weeks after Sweep arrived, and Henry is the stink-eye master. They have come a long way in four months, but I still considered it a major victory when they got close enough to sniff her feet (Fritos!).
-
...did you feel safe leaving your grey(s) and cat(s) loose in the house together when you're not home, if ever? We've had Sweep for four months now, and we always crate her overnight and when we're gone. I work from home, so other than overnight, she's rarely crated for more than two or three hours at a time. When we're home during the day, she's unmuzzled and has the run of the house, and we are just super-mindful of where everyone is at any given time. (Not too difficult when we have three velcro pets!) We feed them separately and at different times and have had no issues in that area.
Sweep mostly ignores the cats, but she isn't scared of them. She watches them sometimes and seems curious, but doesn't get fixated and has never lunged, chased, drooled, or given any signs of aggression. She play-bowed to the female cat once, but the cat wasn't having any of that and Sweep gave up easily. She has growled at our male cat on a few occasions: once when he got too close to *our* dinner--yummy, stinky barbecue--and I suspect she was either jealous or correcting him; once when she got too close for his comfort and he swatted her; and again just the other night when she had had her first dose of Comfortis and clearly was feeling rotten and didn't want him getting close. (Both cats generally keep their distance, but this was a tight quarters situation and the cat had to pass her to get into the room...not the typical setup but we had just had Easter company. She's not usually space-aggressive, but as I mentioned, she obviously felt crummy--was fine the next morning.) I recognize the growling for what it is and don't reprimand her other than a firm "no kitty" when appropriate, but I still worry about a situation escalating in our absence.
I guess as long as she continues to crate well, I shouldn't stress about it, but I am curious if there's a light bulb moment where you realize the cats are perfectly safe (well, 99%; I know there are never any guarantees). I am definitely not there yet, but would like to think I will be in time. TIA.
-
Welcome from a fellow newbie! Patsy looks like she is settling right in. Congrats to you both.
-
Welcome from Florida!!! Sweep is beautiful, and I *love* the last pic you posted of her!!!
Hi! What a pretty girl! The last pic made me LOL!
Thank you both! I think it's my favorite so far; it was the moment I knew she was finally feeling comfortable here. (My husband argues that when she's roaching it's just gravity making her smile, but I choose to believe otherwise!)
-
Thank you all for the warm welcome!
(P.S. I love Nashville! I went to college there.)
Cool; where did you go to school? We live near Belmont, Lipscomb, and Vanderbilt. I was born and raised here, left for a few years and lived in NC and Boston, and came back here in 2008. It's grown so much in the past several years!
I worked at Third National Bank. It was downtown Nashville. I lived at the YWCA which was about a block or two from the original Grand Old Oprey. (spellig?) Welcome!
Small world! I went to high school downtown, right on Broadway, and graduated on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium. My husband works downtown now right in the midst of all that stuff. (And yet neither of us likes country music…
) -
Hello, all,
I'm a long-time lurker, first-time poster. My husband and I started researching greyhounds almost two years ago, and in November we agreed to dog-sit a foster for the long Thanksgiving weekend, just to "try things out." Long story short, Sweep has been here ever since.
We went from dog-sitting to fostering to fostering with intent, and finally, in February, to formally adopting. It has been a long, at times arduous, journey since neither of us have had dogs as adults, and we have two cats we adore and (still) worry for since they have ruled the roost for so long. My female cat vomited from the stress every day for the first two weeks or so...that was not fun. But things seem to have settled into a routine finally, and Sweep's a total sweetheart and a goofball and overall about the easiest dog we could have asked for. She is showing some signs lately that she might be a bit of a breed snob, but that's about the only issue we've encountered with her thus far. Perhaps more on that in another thread if it continues. For now, I just wanted to introduce myself and her...and I've lurked long enough to know the rules, so here she is!
So excited for all of you!
That said, I like Brego and Hugo!
(Boy, wouldn't that make life easier for everyone?)
I know the crate bothers me more than it has ever bothered Sweep; she goes right in at 10 p.m. and stays quiet til 7:30 or later (lucky me!). As long as that holds, I think I'll stick to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.
)
Crating A Greyhound Overnight?
in Training and Behavior discussion
Posted
Another crate fan here. I have two cats who have always slept in the bed with my husband and me, and I didn't want our getting a dog to change that (not to mention, they'd scratch/meow/find ways to torture us all night if we tried to shut them out of the bedroom). With our current setup, Sweep can see us from her crate, the cats get their much-needed dog-free time, and my husband and I sleep easy knowing everyone's safe and sound.
Every night after her final potty break, Sweep comes inside and immediately runs up the stairs straight to her crate, where she knows her bedtime treat awaits. We have had her six months now and she has slept through every single night; she rarely even cries to be let out in the morning. (I will admit she's a little more resistant to the crate when she suspects we are leaving home without her, but nothing major; it helps that I work from home.) The more positive a place you can make it, the better—so, as others have said, treats, comfy bedding, and perhaps a sheet or blanket over it to make it more den-like will probably all help. I understand that it's not a workable solution for all dogs, but it's definitely worth a shot in your case!