RachelV

Arya (my little 56 lb female) is not much of a barker. If someone approaches the front door, at the most, she will trot up and stare at the door while wagging her tail. She does the same when meeting new people and dogs. If she is super excited, she emits a high-pitched whine (the opposite of scary. Just annoying ). However, she can be downright terrifying if she thinks I need protection. No barking, but when I was at my old apartment complex's dog park near the highway at night one time, there was someone hidden back in the nearby trees that run right along the highway that I did not see. Arya noticed the hidden person immediately, however, and ran to the fenceline closest to them, froze, raised her hackles and gave the fiercest, deepest growl with an intense accompanying stare that I have ever heard. I was scared and I was still near the entrance of the park behind her. Clearly, the person got the message, because she stepped out of the shadows, raised her hands, and walked away. We never saw her again, and I have always felt safer knowing that Arya can and will protect me if she sees the need. People that do not appear suspicious to her, however, would never guess. To everyone else, she is the happiest, most wiggly, lover of a hound.

We use Bravecto with great success. Arya does well on it and it is nice only having to give it ~4x per year (I just set a reminder for every 90 days on my phone so I don't forget).

Our 2 year old girl was just taken to the vet with similar issues (8.5 pH, crystals--suspected to be struvite, WBCs/RBCs, bacteria, and thickened bladder walls from chronic inflammation), but no protein. She was put on antibiotics, anti-inflammatory analgesics, and a prescription diet for urinary tract issues. All of this following a sterile urinalysis and we have to go back 10-14 days following the start of antibiotics for another sterile urinalysis. I would highly recommend a sterile draw so that you know if there are bacteria that could be causing the damage. It is a quick procedure and could rule something more serious out in less than an hour.

Would he still refuse food if the kibble was ground up and mixed into his wet food? I have had to do that with dogs who can't chew hard foods. Maybe it would disguise it enough that he would eat it?

I agree with the above responses. That seems like a lot of food for a 60 lb girl. My similarly sized girl only gets 3 cups/day split between 2 meals. However, she would happily eat much more than that if we let her. Adding Olewo carrots and other fruit/veggies that we have on hand to each meal seems to keep her satisfied longer, so something like that (e.g. green beans, banana, pumpkin, shredded celery, etc.) might help her as well. The little girls can be drama queens!

We give Arya Zuke's mini naturals. She loves them, they are small (perfect for training), made in the USA, and consist of natural ingredients. We get them at Petsmart when they are on sale, but you can also likely find them on Amazon. https://www.zukes.com/products/mini-naturals As far as food goes, they can eat what other dogs eat. They are not so different from other breeds. Each individual dog will have unique preferences, but the same foods that are safe (or toxic) to other dogs will be the same for greyhounds. Just experiment to see what your dog prefers within the realm of dog-safe foods.

My girl, Arya, was very much the same way when I adopted her. She loved being petted and was fine with laying beside people (even if they were touching), but she objected to having a hand or arm resting on her while she was napping (usually a growl followed by getting up and finding somewhere else to nap). After months of work and positive reinforcement (and more time for her to settle in and build trust in my husband and I), she now is completely fine with arms, hands, legs, etc. resting on her while she naps. However, we aren't entirely there yet as she will still object if we completely wrap her in our arms while she is napping--the feeling of greater restraint still elicits an immediate attempt to leave, although she is improving. Essentially, just give her more time to settle in and if she objects, immediately stop whatever is upsetting her. As long as she tolerates it, provide her with a steady supply of yummy treats (Arya particularly enjoys colby jack cheese--she is VERY particular about her types of cheese for some reason... ). Eventually, she will improve and be more comfortable with increased contact. Good luck!

We give Arya 1 Tbsp olewo carrots + 1 tsp coconut oil + 1 tsp olive oil split between 2 meals, which has worked for her. We started her on 1 Tbsp carrots + 1 tsp coconut oil at each meal, but recently decreased to to current levels and it does not seem to make a difference. She does fine at both amounts.

I am so happy to hear that! We have loved working with PRH and would love to continue to do so. One hound, apparently, is not enough and it would be fantastic to have one of Arya's siblings. She is high-energy and can be a bit grumpy with other females, but seems to love all the big, gentle boys that she has met. I am hoping that she will be a good match for one of her (much larger!) brothers and they can wear each other out. Fingers crossed!

Wow! Thank you so much. I had not expected this much help! I will certainly send him an email and hopefully get a better idea of the dogs' personalities. I would love to go through somewhere like PRH again, but I did not realize it was possible to get a specific dog on a haul to a specific adoption group. Perhaps that was naïve of me. In general, how would one go about this process once the boys retire? Again, I cannot express my gratitude enough for the help!

My one has never had sleep startle even a little bit. If woken unexpectedly, the most we get is a sigh and a hopeful "am I getting a treat" look.

Hello, I recently adopted a little brindle girl (HKF Aria/"Arya") who retired early (she was less than 2 when I got her). I have been following her litter mates and am interested in her 2 brothers, Baldys on Fire and I Am For Real (both big black boys running at Sarasota). I am really new to following racing, but I think they seem to be doing well in their races???? Anyway, should I try to contact Fast Friends about the two boys or would it be better to hunt down their owner/trainer first for pre-adoption inquiries? I appreciate any and all help or additional information about Arya's brothers (e.g. Likelihood of them becoming studs, more information about their race career, etc.). Thank you so much!

We also use the 2Hounds harness and love it. Our Arya is very similar to your hound and is pretty good most of the time until she sees a small, yapping dog or a squirrel. At those times, she tends to pull. The 2Hounds harness has a tightening martingale-like strap around the chest as well as the front attachment. The two in combination have really helped us redirect Arya's attention back to us and prevents sore arms on our part if she gets too excited and forgets her manners.

I used a slightly modified version of what everyone else has mentioned. My Arya did not seem to understand that method and would quickly give up and walk away. (She is not at all food motivated and so even high-value treats like cheese would only hold her attention for 2 minutes or less.) Instead, I sat on the edge of the sofa or a chair with my knees together in front of me, forming a sort of bridge underneath my legs. From here, I would show her the treat and lure her under my legs. At first, I just rewarded a slight crouch to get the treat, but then made her crouch deeper and deeper (luring her farther underneath the "bridge") for the reward, eventually having to go all the way under my legs to get the cheese. Once she clearly understood this procedure, I slowly weaned her off reliance on the leg "bridge" by first removing my legs once she was all the way down, then while she was in the process of laying down, etc. Below is a link for something really similar to this with lovely pictures to assist. Maybe your hound would do better with something like this? Good luck! http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/greyhound-downs-101.html

I don't think you will have an issue with altering her color. It mostly helps with digestive issues and will have minimal, if any, effect on color. Arya has white patches on her chest and they have remained a lovely bright white. Just give the small (1 lb) bag a try and see if it works for you (the small bag lasted about a month for 1 hound, long enough to give it a fair chance to see if it works). If you don't like it, then you can explore other options without having a lot left over. Edited to add: Here is the link for the testimonials on the Olewo website. It shows photos of several mostly/partially white dogs. https://www.olewousa.com/testimonials.aspx