MattB

That said, there are a lot worse things happen to dogs than being given a vegetarian diet.

Just to clarify, this was just for curiosity. I give my dogs meat. (OP)

Thanks. I wasn't thinking of feeding mine a vegetarian diet (although I'm veggie myself). I'd just been looking at different diets and found a vegetarian and vegan one so was just curious. I know that vegetarianism attracts criticism for lack of balance but I always think I'm sure there are plenty of terrible diets that contain meat too! I will read that thread MaryJane - had missed it.

I imagine there are some strong opinions but purely out of interest does anyone know of anyone who gives their hounds a vegetarian diet?

Ahhh very interesting thank you very much. So she would have had this from birth? Was totally freaked out first time I found this, thought it was an horrific injury.

Hi, We got a 5yo female grey about 3 months ago and I noticed a large protrusion. I had a complete panic but contacted the centre we got her from and they told me she had been born with it and the vet had checked it several times. I'm not worried, doesn't seem to bother her and it looks like she's done quite a lot of racing with it. Just out of interest I wondered if anyone had seen anything like this before. It's difficult to photograph well. In the pic the left side is her head side. When she stretches or arches her back you can see a raised strip all along her rib-cage - looks like a muscle - which ends in this sticking-out part - the protrusion itself is completely hard and during stretching it sticks out about an inch and a half, it feels like the end of a bone. As far as I can tell it's completely painless, lets me stroke it or tickle it. Forgot about it when I was giving her a bath and caught my finger on it and she didn't bat an eyelid. I'd be very interested in any ideas! (Hope you can see the pics, I can try to take some more if it would help) Not sure if they're displaying - if not the following should work: https://www.dropbox.com/s/m0v0i7ia71i7ch5/2015-02-22%2022.44.57.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/243zv0n34wczh3w/2015-02-22%2022.45.08.jpg?dl=0

Tennis court = great idea!!

Thanks - these are very helpful. I realise that him freaking out isn't helpful from a training perspective and that training needs to take place before he passes his aversive threshold. I suppose I'm just after some practical advice because, with the best will in the world, sometimes we do encounter/get too close/get surprised by a dog who Charlie reacts to and, like everyone seems to agree - pulling and shouting may well have an effect of exacerbating his reaction, although at the same time I need to do something to stop/get him away from the other dog. So how would people go about this without making the situation worse? This last time (although I was walking 3 greys) I struggled physically to restrain him despite weighing 220 lbs (me, not Charlie!). I hope it's not making Charlie sound out of control - these incidents are rare, which is why it takes me by surprise!

Thanks (I'm also visiting MA in a few weeks time - exciting but didn't know the weather was so bad atm - Charlie is staying home in the UK though) Yes the muzzle thing is difficult as I'd hate it if he couldn't protect himself - there are some big dogs running off-leash around here and his barking usually stops them in their tracks. We've been to classes and he was pretty chilled out with the other dogs there so it's difficult to correct when they're not doing it - I guess if we got a trainer one-to-one to come on a walk with us that might be helpful.

Off topic - but looking at the greyhound-data site - DocsDoctor - did you update the photos and bio on there? very cool

+ 1 for greyhound catch, we were able to do this in a big field where it's fenced in on 3 sides and Charlie loved it. This was until he heard some sort of bang and decided to trot off home (suburban area). We've having a similar problem to you Rose, in the garden or some other 'boring' place we can have good recall but in a new place forget it, won't come for any treats.

I've posted a couple of times about my grey's (Charlie) 'aggression' on the leash and I thought we were making progress but seem to have regressed. I've been avoiding these situations as much as possible and using rewards and I thought he had become much calmer. It feels like sometimes Charlie is excited - jumping up and barking, tail wagging, and other times aggressive - more aggressive bark and pulling hard. It's frustrating because when he meets other dogs off the lead he's really gentle but at the moment I'm conscious that he's scaring other dog owners. My question is, if this happens when I'm out walking - what is the best way to correct? - I can say/shout 'No' until I'm blue in the face, pull on his leash and it becomes a tug of war which, this morning was the only way I could get him away from a dog behind the fence (that doesn't even bark at him!). Any thoughts much appreciated.

Thanks. Our other grey loves hard chews and keeps his teeth clean that way. I hope in the future we can brush or new girl's teeth but she's so nervous it's taken a long time for her to trust us at all. Yes we will go to the vets I'm nervous as we're new to the area and there's none we have an established relationship with.

Hi. Just after some rule of thumb of there's such a thing re: when to take my hound for a dental. She's been with us for a couple of months but had been in the kennel for a year. I'm assuming she's had a dental about 14 months ago. She's got a bit of plaque but doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. A small amount of blood on a really tough hard chew is hoped would help with the plaque/tartar. I'm not trying to save money, just aware of GA risks and striking a balance. Any advice much appreciated. M

Not a problem, just interested.... We got our grey about 6 months ago while my partner wasn't working. We felt terrible about leaving Charlie even for short periods (he never seemed too bothered!). We got our second beauty 3 months later and assumed they'd love the company. In the last 3 months there has been nearly no interaction at all. No one is possessive about food, toys or furniture which is great, but no playing either. It almost seems like Charlie is so attached to us he's less interested in other dogs. Just wondered what other people's experience of first and second for interactions has been?

First session really productive - Daisy wasn't sure about the noise but was fine with it on her nails. Charlie was fine as long as the peanut butter and chocolate drops kept coming. Wasn't so sure about the back feet so we quit while the going was good. It's nice to see the claws getting shorter it can feel quite stressful struggling to get them under control. Thanks very much for all the advice!

Just an update, I am concentrating on not reacting when we see another dog, giving them a wide berth but remaining calm. This has had a profound effect and Charlie is much calmer in these situations. Sometimes his tail wags and I wonder if this is a playful barking? He Still reacts to dogs when they run up to him but that is a bit more normal I think. I had to laugh as an elderly gentleman let his Jack Russell run up to us telling us not to worry he wasn't aggressive, it wasn't our safety I was concerned for!

After a 1.5 hr car ride we arrived at my mothers with our 2 greys (been there once before with the new girl) when getting them out of the car her leash slipped out of my hand and she disappeared down the road into the night (very rural location) I quickly ran in to the house with my other hound and turned around to commence the search and there Daisy was behind me she had come back!

Oh re: pet specific it's a dremel 7300 pet grooming kit. There did seem to be many inferior models according to the reviews. Like the idea of 'nail time' lol.

Fantastic page - thanks! Didn't know that about the quick getting compressed and this causing discomfort in larger dogs at all. Matt

After several previous claw cutting difficulty posts I have received my dremel in the post all the way across the Atlantic as I couldn't find the pet specific one in the UK and thought the noisy regular ones might scare Charlie. Foolishly I didn't order an adaptor so now I await this. I'm just wondering if people introduced Dremelling gradually and how they went about this? Best positions treats? On another note I've been trying to hand file Charlie's claws but as soon as he sees the file now he starts to cry then puts his mouth around my hand - very cute. Daisy, Our other hound, loves her manicure and falls asleep instantly.

Oh also motivation. We went to a class and the spaniels and German shepherds were super motivated and got their toy when they did what they were asked but, given the choice our grey would rather not have the treat and not do anything. I'd love to understand how to motivate.

Very interested! I'm really interested in training for different contexts ie more and less familiar. Thought we'd cracked it with Charlie on our usual walk, running between me and my girlfriend when we call him. However take him somewhere new and he won't come back at all as everything is much more interesting. So it would be great if progression could be covered, from front room to open space and with distractions. Also specific difficulties with sighthounds / prey driven dogs and the different challenges compared to other breeds eg collies or labs. Can't wait to read.

That's interesting. My intuitive thought on that is that as with humans, surely cleaning above the gum line is helpful for general oral health in the same way as we have scale and polishes which aren't the same as root planings. Isn't the start of the gum disease process the build up of plaque on the teeth allowing bacteria to get under the gum line? I guess as you say if there's established problems the cosmetic clean isn't going to solve so it's important that pet owners are told this. Saying that, I've never heard of anyone who does this in the uk. $5000!

We started with petplan (uk) but, after a really frustrating conversation I got so annoyed I cancelled. Our boy came with policy details with one months insurance when we rehomed so I rang up to continue the policy. I explained that I had no previous medical history at all but there were no medical conditions i was aware of. I was told I needed to answer a list of questions which went on for ages all with the same answer among the line of: Q any joint problems A not that I'm aware of Q any previous surgery A not that I'm aware of This was fine until we got to teeth... Q any dental problems A not that I'm aware of Q does he have all of his teeth A I'm not sure how many he's supposed to have. I don't know how to tell Q unfortunately due to this preexisting dental condition there will an exclusion on any dental claims... I found this really annoying, I'm not a vet so I couldn't comment accurately and I was without any medical records so couldn't give any history. I was left without confidence in them. Other people might have different experiences or I might be naive.