rsieg

"[W]hen we go out for a walk, she’ll sometimes walk ok, and other times she just stops dead, refusing to move or make eye contact and will only walk back in the direction of home." This is called "statuing" as mentioned in a previous reply, if you search it on Greytalk you will find tons of posts relating to it. The usual explanation is they get sensory overload and their response is to just stop. Stopping, or wanting to go home, sounds like either sensory overload or just getting nervous and wanting to return to the safe place. I do have to say, greyhounds can be stubborn. My dog Logan is genuinely stubborn when it comes to turning around at the half-way point of a walk (you know, to go back to the house or car after walking for a half hour or longer). He will refuse to turn around, and it can be a 5 min negotiation to get him to turn around and even after that he seems to be pouting on the way back. I choose most of our walks to follow a circle so this doesn't arise :-)

Not to hijack the thread (and I do hope Spock is eating better), but I have to say this is really not making the breed look very good. We have: My collar tags bumped the bowl -- I can't eat. My bowl rattled slightly -- I can't eat. I'm not being petted enough -- I can't eat. Someone is standing nearby -- I can't eat. The floor is damp -- I can't eat. Is it any wonder our dogs look anorexic :-)

It is possible he is playing you. I had a problem in that Logan would come over and eat Max' food, and Max wasn't willing to challenge back. So I took Max' food into the bedroom and closed the door, and he ate fine. Now I have to do that - every - time. In my case I do think Logan would nose in again if I stopped, so I have kept doing it, but I'm quite certain part of it is that Max likes the personal attention. It could be Mr. Spock simply likes you hand feeding him, with sweet talk and coaxing. How long has he actually gone without eating? If it is only a day or so that really isn't too long. If he is not underweight, and medical problems have been ruled out, I might try going two or three days without hand-feeding, just putting his bowl down as usual, and see if when he gets hungry he eats. (Of course, if you don't mind hand-feeding him he probably does enjoy it and you could keep on doing it :-)

Maybe I'm overly wimpy about it, but I'm always worried about frostbitten feet when it gets into the teens (Fahrenheit). What I have seen is that my dogs seem to start picking up their feet and licking them when it gets below 20 F -- no problem above that temperature, it seems like a sharp cutoff. But maybe licking their feet does not mean they are at risk for frostbite? What is the temperature where that becomes a real concern? BTW, we were in the 40's today, so they got both am and pm walks, the latter in the park, so Max is a happy guy again :-)

I might try walking Max alone, but Max was actually also slowed down by the cold. Part of the problem is we have had really warm weather till now, like 40s or even 50s which is absurd for January in Cleveland. Then it dropped to the teens overnight. So no one, even the dogs, are used to it yet. Also, when they start picking up and licking their feet that soon after going outside I do worry about frostbite. So Logan is basically a canary to let me know when the ground is dangerously cold :-) BTW, Max did eat only one meal in the first week after I got him (he was a bounce after 5 years), so he does stop eating when he is upset, and can go a significant time that way.

Just curious if others see their greyhounds get depressed when it gets too cold to walk outside. In my case Logan seems fine, but Max seems very depressed yesterday and this morning, and has not eaten his food (except a few bites) since yesterday morning (i.e., 3 meals missed). He is usually a good eater which is why I noticed. He also is lethargic, moving around slowly and just looks depressed or sick, and did not sleep too well last night, getting up a few times and just standing for several minutes before lying down again. Max is almost 11 1/2, so I get concerned easily when he seems off. Weatherwise, we have been in the teens since late Sunday, so they have missed their twice-a-day walks for the last 2 1/2 days. Max LOVES his walks, so I think he is just depressed. He did perk up this morning at the time we go for our walk, and then looked depressed again when we came back after only going a couple houses down (Logan's feet started freezing up, it was 15 F). Max perked up again when I gave them paper cups with peanut butter wiped into it (another favorite of his), but it only lasted as long as the peanut butter. He has been going out back pottying ok (both 1 & 2). So my diagnosis right now is just that Max is depressed from missing walks. It is supposed to get to the 30s tomorrow afternoon/night, so hopefully it will go away when we get out again. Anybody else see this kind of behavior when it gets too cold to get the dogs out?

So you give them the whole egg, in the shell without cracking it first? I could see where that could be very fun, but also very messy if they take it onto the carpet to break it. Is there any concern about salmonella or a canine equivalent? I guess some people eat raw eggs so it should be ok, but I'm a city guy who assumes chicken comes weighed and saran wrapped so what do I know :-)

I think I lost the battle on getting held hostage when Max stopped eating in the kitchen because he is nervous Logan will come over and nose his way into Max' dish. Now I take Max' dish into the bedroom so he can eat with the door closed. Every morning, every evening :-)

Glad it worked, though I'm not sure I would want to be doing the stick enema before every walk. Hopefully Milo will catch on eventually, maybe you can get to where you can just wave the stick in front of him (aka Pavlov's dogs). Not a problem here, as my two combined poop 4-6 times on a single walk.

Just an update, and with nervousness that I may be writing too soon, looks like the Comfortis has worked. I have not seen a single flea since giving it to them on Dec. 2. We are now rounding into the last week before the next dose is due, so I wouldn't be shocked if there are still some eggs around that might hatch and hang around till the next dose, but so far so great. I have to conclude Comfortis >> Frontline Plus, at least for whatever strain of fleas my guys had. Thanks again for all the advice,

I recall reading in a dog book (don't recall which one) that dogs see the world sort of like a camera, looking at the whole picture. So the dog sees a rabbit in the back yard completely differently than a cat in the house because the contexts are different, whereas we abstract out that both the rabbit and cat are small furry critters. On the other hand, the point the book was making is that if the dog sees the cat running around in the back yard, NOW it looks just like a rabbit, so a dog that is fine with the cat in the house might act differently in a different setting like the back yard.

Logan had diarrhea last night, Max was fine. Not sure if it was the 1/2 egg, I'm guessing not since Max was fine (had the other half of the same egg) and Logan did not have that problem the couple times before that I gave them an egg. I'll hold off until Logan is normal again before trying another egg and that should let me know for sure. Wonder if anyone have ever done cholesterol studies in greyhounds :-)

Great, thanks for the responses. I think they will be getting more eggs :-)

I have been feeding Max & Logan one cup kibble and half cup BilJac, a.m. and p.m. Lately they have been getting tired of it so I switched to putting low sodium tuna in, which they like ok but not crazy about it. Then, about a week ago I tried microwaving an egg (30 sec) and putting it in (so each is getting one-half egg) and they LOVE it. But, I'm not sure how much egg they should have, so I have only done it three times so far. So my question is, how often should I consider doing the egg additive? I'm assuming one per day (which would be 3.5 eggs per dog per week) is too much, but any thoughts on how often is ok? Thanks in advance for any replies...

On the not connecting, I recall reading a story by a dog owner who would yell at her dog whenever she found a pee puddle in the house, with no effect. Then one day she was watering the houseplants and accidentally spilled some water on the floor. The dog, who was in the room at the time, looked at the water puddle and ran out of the room. She realized all she had done was train the dog to fear puddles :-)

Hard to actually see fleas on a brindle dog, and impossible on a black dog. My main visual check has been Logan's tail base, which is conveniently white, and as you say they like that spot. But I can easily see the dogs scratching when they are being hit, it would cycle with when I gave the Capstar (good for a day or two then they would start scratching again), and the vet showed me the flea dust using the flea comb. We haven't had a real cold snap in Cleveland yet, but it will come.

I doubt they'd go for even gentle vacuuming :-) They did get the Comfortis last night, and kept it down no problem. Also ordered some Adams spray based on comments I found in other GT threads, should arrive tomorrow or Saturday and I will try spraying that along with vacuuming and washing their beds again this weekend. I haven't seen them scratching tonight so hopefully the Comfortis is doing its thing. Thanks again for all the advice...

They have started scratching again, and I found a flea on Logan this morning, last Capstar was Friday night, so we are about on schedule, takes about three to four days for the next round of eggs/larva/pupae to produce next-gen adults :-( Don't think there are many though because the flea comb is not producing the "flea dirt" the vet showed me, which I understand are flea droppings. I picked up Comfortis from the vet today, will give them the pills tonight when I get home. Supposedly Comfortis kills adult fleas instantly for 30 days (versus instantly for one day by Capstar), fast enough that they cannot lay eggs. So, in theory all fleas should be gone once all the last set of eggs laid through tonight (when the first Comfortis is given) go though their cycle to adulthood and then die instantly upon biting the Comfortis-protected dogs. (Cleveland, so there will be no fleas outside for the next 4-5 months; its a closed system). My understanding is that one flea life cycle is 1-3 months, but if the adult fleas are dying as soon as they hatch and hop onto the Comfortis-protected dogs and bite then they should not be suffering many flea bites. Why do I think it will not work out this way? BTW, the Comfortis pills are *huge*, but the vet says they can be broken up into pieces, and are to be given with food. I am told the Comfortis does not poison the flea eggs, larva, or pupae, or repel fleas, just kills the adult fleas instantly when they bite.

Lupin, Thanks for the comments, especially the confirmation that Frontline Plus is having problems in Ohio specifically (I have heard it is regional, works better in some areas than others). They have been on preventative/systematic (Frontline Plus) constantly except for a couple months in the middle of last winter, and I plan to keep them on year-round at least through this winter and going forward, but I think it needs to be something other than Frontline. Comfortis seems to be getting good recommendations on GreyTalk so I was thinking of that. They are on Interceptor as worm preventative, and I don't expect ticks in Cleveland for the next 4-5 months, so flea-specific is fine at least until spring (then may be concerned about ticks). BTW, my vet also suggested the flea collar in the vacuum trick, but I have not done it for this reason. Since the vacuum expels the sucked air back out into the room after filtering, wouldn't it therefore be expelling whatever insecticide is in the flea collar into the room as well? What I have been doing is disposing of the vacuum debris in the garbage bag, then immediately closing it and putting it in the garage trash bin. I suppose some fleas could hatch and get out and back into the house, but realistically I'm sure my vacuuming is not 100% effective anyway.

Second cleaning with Nature's Miracle or something else that completely removes the urine odor. A dog urinates where he or other dogs urinate, as long as there is urine odor detectable by that fantastic canine nose, he sees it as the bathroom. (If you have it, you can even sprinkle some dog urine outside where he is supposed to go).

Good comments above. When I started walking Logan his thing was (and still is to some extent) staring -- he would stop at the driveway of any house with an open garage door and stare into it, I guess just because he had never seen it before. He was very interested, but did not show it beyond the stare. The stopping in the middle of a walk is a common greyhound thing, called statuing -- the dog gets overwhelmed with sensory input, and their response is to simply stop. Waiting it out is the best approach if you have the time. One way that might get her more interested in walking is to try walking in a park if you have one around -- mine get way more excited walking in the park versus the neighborhood. I have a ranch house, so no comment on the stairs. One slightly off-topic comment: "We go on super long walks and usually she is OK on them, tail is still never wagging but shes taking everything in." Not sure what super long is, but keep in mind that a greyhound on the track was not a long-distance walker. AFAIK, for a track dog exercise is limited to the racing (which is a short sprint) and turnout in a fenced area. A greyhound can definitely become a long-distance walker, but it might take a bit of time. That said, being tired would not explain lack of interest at the beginning of the walk, because greyhounds also don't think ahead -- she would start out strong and only become tired as the walk progresses.

Hi all, Thanks for the comments. I have given them three doses of Capstar since my first post on Nov. 6th, and it works really well except that the fleas have been coming back (at much lower level, seeing maybe one flea on Logan and noticing the dogs occasionally scratching a bit) about a week or so after each Capstar dose. Understood that is how it works, the Capstar is only good for 24 hours, but I was hoping that Capstar plus the Frontline poisoning the eggs/larvae along with the temperatures dropping in Cleveland would clean it up. So I think I may take the advice above and switch to Comfortis for the next flea preventative dose. My follow-up question is this: the next Frontline Plus dose is due Friday Dec. 4 (one week from today). Can I start them on Comfortis now, or should I wait until the Dec. 4 (next Frontline due date)? Also, if I can start the Comfortis now can I also give them the Frontline on Dec. 4 to keep working on the eggs/larvae? (actually at this point I don't have any confidence Frontline works at all, but I have some Frontline doses left so I am thinking FWIW use it). Thanks in advance for any info,

Some dogs really hate having their feet messed with, so you may just not be able to put boots on. In Cleveland I find that my dogs are ok without any foot covering down to 20 degrees F for walks of a half-hour or longer -- below that the snow starts freezing to their feet once we have gone a couple houses down, so below 20 degrees F they are pretty much stuck with going in the back yard to relieve themselves. You can watch your dog, if she starts picking up her feet or licking them they are getting too cold. If possible you may want to break up the walks more, so if you usually go for 45 minutes may try two 25 minute walks instead, that way she warms her feet up in-between. On the other hand, some of the Canadian folks on GT seem to be able to take their dogs on extended walks in much colder weather than 20 F, not sure how they do it (I guess Canadian dogs are tougher :-) Also remember that salt is bad for their feet, so try to avoid it. Easier said than done, we have a few neighbors on our walk who believe salt is meant to be POURED onto the sidewalk.

Congratulations, love the dark face on a brindle. I got both mine from GAO as well, did not know they adopt out as far away as Pittsburgh.

So, Logan and Max have had a flea infestation. I discovered it Wednesday evening, which coincidentally (maybe) was the due date for their monthly Frontline Plus. I found three fleas on Logan, three more the next morning, none on Max but looking back I think it actually started about a week or two earlier. They had been scratching more but I put it down to seasonal change/allergies. Vet verified fleas using a flea comb, said it was not a severe case and prescribed one Capstar tablet on Thursday, and I am supposed to give them a second Capstar tablet tomorrow (Saturday). I think the first pill already did the trick as they have stopped scratching and I have not found any more fleas, but it is too early to tell really. House also got a full vacuuming and all their bedding got washed with the washer set on high temperature. Questions. First, any thoughts on the fact Frontline Plus seems to be ah, deficient? My vet thinks it still works, he said it can take a few days to kill the fleas (not a repellant) and recommended continuing with it. He also says it sterilizes the fleas, which would be really good since between work and chronic back issues I realistically cannot vacuum/wash bedding more often than once/week. Main question is on Capstar. I understand I can get that anywhere (non-prescription), so I plan on picking more up to have on hand. My understanding is that Capstar only works on adult fleas and only for 24 hours, but it can be given relatively frequently. Any thoughts on how frequently? I was thinking I might just give them a Capstar tomorrow (Saturday) and then again for the next couple Saturdays to kill any immature fleas that turn into adults over time, even if I don't see any. Or would that be overkill (pun intended :-) Last question, my vet also discussed going to Comfortis instead of Capstar since Comfortis works for 30 days, but recommended against it because of the heightened sensitivity to drugs of greyhounds. Reading on GT looks like some people are using Comfortis. Since I gave Logan & Max Frontline Plus on Wednesday I figure I will not give them any preventative for a month as usual, and if the flea problem persists next month I might switch to Comfortis, unless there is some reason not to? Thanks for any information/advice.