Acadianarose

Payton has a 6 foot leash, but I only let him have a couple of feet. I learned the hard way that letting out the full 6 feet results in me losing control and popping my neck. I do not use a harness for walking, as tempted as I am, because I want him to learn to walk with just the collar. I am using a clicker and treats. I stop dead or turn around if he starts pulling and give him treats for walking next to me. He is very food motivated. He walks on my right side and I wrap the leash around my right wrist and hold it with my left hand. I hold the clicker with my left hand and give treats with my right. I could use an extra hand or two. I guess what I should do is walk a certain distance without stopping. I will have to come up with a command for that. So true – even if I just have to move the leash for some reason, they go crazy.

Beautiful!

Payton is finally learning to walk (somewhat) nicely on a leash. A few weeks ago, he jerked the leash so hard and unexpectedly that I ended up with a whiplash type injury. Anyway, while we walk, I don’t mind if he sniffs mailboxes, or whatever, as long as he is not pulling me. He prefers to walk in the road (we live in a quiet subdivision) and will just walk over to the side. If he doesn’t pull, then I will let him. But apparently, he is supposed to walk until I give him permission to sniff around. So my question - is there a way to teach him “we are walking right now. You can’t stop to sniff around” and “it’s ok for you to wander around and check things out”. I have no desire to teach him to heel. I just want him to walk without jerking my arm (or neck) out of socket. Although, staying at my side would be very helpful at Petsmart .

I don't believe dogs think children are their "masters". Although I think it has more to do with children lacking the authority to instruct a dog and the dog follow the instruction, rather than the dogs thinking of them as litter mates. At 9 years old, DD is just getting old enough to help with training and the dogs take her seriously.

Is he growling at you in bed? If so, don't let him in your bed. He may not be ready for that yet

That is my thoughts as well, but since he does not care, I just put it on the ground. I had a dog die of bloat when I was a teenager. It was horrible.

I know I am looking at this the wrong way right, but I am feeling like I wasted years of money on heartworm preventative. I know-that's is the wrong attitude. If he hadn't been on it, the worms would be much worse. But I am blown away that even with preventative he has heartworms. The vet really tried to push me into the quick kill treatment, although she admitted that just the preventative would prevent the worms from getting worse for several years. If Toby was 7 or 8 years old, I would do it in a second. At almost 12, I don't see putting him through that. The vet said he might have 7 more years, but I have never heard of an 18-19 year old lab! This vet was taking the place of my regular vet. Hopefully I don't see her again. Btw-our vet just starting doing routine tests in the last couple of years.

My lab has been on heartworm preventative year around always and he tested positive for heartworms at his annual checkup today. I have a friend whose dog was also diagnosed with heartworms and he was always on preventative also.

Initially, I had Payton's bowl elevated. However, I read "Greyhounds for Dummies" which indicated that elevating the food bowl can actually increase the chances of bloat, so I put it on the floor. He doesn't not seem to care either way.

This is the one thing that seems to be working with Payton's pulling.

I am so sorry for your loss. They were beautiful and obviously well loved.

She is beautiful! Congratulations

I don’t see an issue. Waking up and whining for a minute or two and then going back to sleep is not an anxiety attack. Don’t look for problems where there are not any…

Payton often does the same thing-by 9:00 pm, he is in a coma in his bed. If Tiger is not having accidents in the house or needing to go out in middle of the night, then I would not worry about it. If he is, try bringing outside a little earlier before he gets comfortable for the night.

There are times when Payton is in a bad mood, for lack of better word. Generally it is because the cats keep harassing him, but sometimes I don't know why he is so grumpy. My daughter has a greyhound and she said he does the same thing. It's like something happens and they are done for the day. I don't know if that is the "stressors" that Batmom mentioned, but we just leave him alone when he is in that mood. I do believe that you should consult with an expert. We don't have any experts in our area so I couldn't find anyone. But I am wondering if she is growling because she is picking up on your emotions. Also, eye contact would really scare Payton. We have worked a lot on "watch me" Hugs again.

I do not believe you are blowing it out of proportion. It is normal (I believe) to be concerned and scared if you are bitten by your dog. I am concerned about my dog just reading your story. However, I do understand what Greyt_dog_lover is saying – I have had this same argument with my DH. It is not like the dog is running around attacking people. He (in my case) was lying in his own bed, minding his own business. I walked up to him and bothered him. If he is only aggressive in his bed, then it should be simple enough to not get bitten. Also, I think what Greyt_dog_lover is saying is that your child is old enough to understand to leave the dog alone while she is lying down – unlike a toddler who probably would not. Again, I am so sorry.

I muzzle Payton when we go to Petsmart. He seems fine, but I do not know that for sure. I do not want anyone hurt. More people than you can imagine have asked him if he is mean or a biter and that is why we have him muzzled. If someone asks, I will take the time to explain, but otherwise, I don’t care what they think.

Payton and I go for training at Petsmart. The training itself is not useful to me, keeping in mind that I have been training on own dogs for years. They do teach clicker training at Petsmart, which I have never done. So I got a clicker and greyhound for dummies and starting clicker training. So obedience training is not why we go to training at Petsmart. Payton really needs socialization and that is why we go. Our class is very small and the dogs are pretty young. I kept Payton muzzled but he did nothing to give the impression that he would be aggressive towards any of the dogs. As a matter of fact, he noticed a green stuffy on a table when we walked in and that is all he could concentrate on. Anytime he had a opportunity, he was going for the stuffy. I also think the trainers you get make a big different. Some of the trainers are great. Some not so much. All of that to say-- take the class at Petsmart but be the most informed person in the class. Have realistic expectations and be your dog's biggest support and defendant. And of course, have fun! Edited to say: I taught Payton the same commands that everyone else did and I use them in essentially the same way

I am very sorry. This is a scary post because we have had Payton almost 3 months now too and he had space aggression the first couple of weeks he was here. He actually did almost the same thing to my DD and I within a day or two of each other - he did not bite either of us, but I ended up with a black eye when he jumped up.We have worked on positive training, and we have a treat bowl above his bed. At random times, when give him treats when we walk by. It did not take him long to expect treats. He has also become much more affectionate and trusting. We have a do not touch while laying down rule. However, often times I pet him or scratch his ears when I walk by his bed. He does not seem to have any issue with it all. He even looks at you imploringly when you walk by him. I watch his body language closely and nothing indicates any issues *unless he is lying down prone, then no one touches him. We also do a lot of training in his bed – like down, sit and watch me. That seems to have help him learn to tolerate us near his bed (except for the cats – he hates the cats near him when he is lying down). I would be completely shocked if he bit me. I guess it takes more than a couple of months for them to be trustworthy. Sending hugs

Prime is not just free two day shipping. It's just one of the benefits. But the few times a year that I need something quickly pay for the membership fee and it is worth to me.

I hate it when that happens!

Great article. I shared it also. I don't know how people can miss the eyes. If I see "moon eyes" I know the dog is panicked. I have Payton enrolled in the basic obedience class at Petsmart. Not for obedience training-the class (here) is completely useless. But Payton needs some socialization. There is a young dog in the class that was totally panicked and the instructor never noticed. I had to point it out to her. Of course, the family had no clue either. I printed out pictures of stressed or scared dogs so that DD would have an idea of what to look for.

I feed Merrick Grain Free to my cats. I mix a small amount in their wet food because they prefer dry food over canned. They don't like it much as the Wellness Core, but they eat it. This site has a lot of information on different dog foods. I use it to help compare the quality of food before I buy it. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

I am really sorry it is so stressful. I do believe it will get much better. Payton had issues when he first arrived and he is getting much better. And he continues to change and improve all the time. He has only been here 10 weeks. One thing I do want to say (and there may be a difference of opinion here) is that I don’t believe that retired racers were unhappy before they retired. They don’t need to be rescued. Even if they were unhappy, it will take a while for them to adjust to retired life. They led completely different lives. Every single hound I see on GT looks happy and adjusted. However, I think that sometimes we have to change our expectations of what we think happy and adjusted looks like. My greyhound will never act like my lab, but that’s fine with me. He is not a lab. Hang in there. We have all had some rough moments.