WabiSabi

These posts are very comforting to us. Thank you.

Thanks all.

Thanks @Remolacha

We've had to concede to the inevitable. Earlier in the week, we had to let Loose go back to the kennels from where we adopted her. We tried, we really did. It was too distressing for her to be indoors around me (and I work from home so I'm there all the time) and outdoors unless Mrs WabiSabi was there too. Even then, a car revving outside, or me exhaling too loudly would send her scurrying for cover. We are heartbroken. We truly believe that Loose tried harder to accommodate us than we did her but she couldn't bring herself to completely accept us. She's not a house dog and we already know that when she saw her previous kennel keeper, she trotted off towards her. We are taking some time out but will be dipping our toes in the greyhound waters again in the future. Thank you all for your time and trouble. You're a great bunch and your hounds are lucky to have you as their property. x

Thanks and thanks to you all who offer little snippets. We read and appreciate every post. Our hound is named Loose. I don't use any photo hosting sites (I used to use PhotoShelter too) and I can't seem to upload directly onto here. So can I paint you a mental picture for now? Think, "magnificent, gorgeous brindle who's trying really hard to get on with her humans" and you won't go far wrong. Thank you - that's our plan! Our vet has started Loose on Prozac which she's been on a few days. She's going through the "Prozac-induced increased agitation" phase at the moment, poor thing, but we're going to persevere - this was expected and we are sure that it will be relatively short-lived and she'll benefit in the long-term.

And this morning, for the first time, she is lying down on the bed we put down for her in the living room! She didn't go near it until yesterday when she sniffed at it and walked across it now and again.

For the first time since we adopted her, our hound is playing with a toy this morning! We've had the toy since we adopted her but she's shown no interest at all in it. Then yesterday, I started waving it around when she was play-avoiding me (I've done this a few times previously but to no avail) and this morning, there she is, mouthing and pawing it! She's still wound up in the house but is being more of a "normal dog" in the yard.

Canine psychopharmacology is remarkably similar to human psychopharmacology! A terrible day today, btw. Got off to a good start first thing with playbows and her seeking our petting by getting really close, even to me. And then, for some reason, she just stayed in her den all day, including when Mrs WabiSabi got home and then peed in in her den when she was having her evening feed. So we've had to change her bed and mats which, of course, has wound her up even more.

We're hoping so. I'm not sure of the legality of prescribing drugs without seeing the patient in UK veterinary practice. On the plus side, the behaviourist and this vet know each other well and the vet may take the behaviourist at his word that anxioloytics are the way to go. Failing that, we'd be willing to cough up for a house visit. Anything not to put her through another car journey until she's well enough.

Not that this is any way a humble brag but our fears were real. We've just had a dog behavio(u)rist visit us and he has never seen such a withdrawn, anxious dog in a home situation He couldn't do any work with her as she just hunkered down in her den and our pooch was refusing to interact with him, me and Mrs WabiSabi. Not even for chicken and rabbit. Her pupils are like saucers, she's so adrenalised. Heartbreaking. Anyway, he's given us the name of a vet who is pro-anxiolytic prescribing so we're arranging that (difficult because our hound now hates being transported in a car too). Chin up, beer down on an otherwise lovely, sunny, warm British Spring day.

Yes, this too.

To all of you who have recovered spooks and anxious hounds - are they trainable and do they ever learn to play? Our hound is so distracted that recall training for instance is out of the question. She also has no interest in playing with soft toys or lures and the like. She does a little bit of "chase me" after playbows but show her a ball or a soft toy and she doesn't want to know.

Good to know. Thanks.

So it's not so good with Mrs WabiSabi at work but my impression is that she's a bit more inclinced to trust me.

After an awful week since we took her to the vet, we had some improvement over the last few days! She hates being in a car and as you know, doesn't like being lifted - both of which we had to do to get her to the vet. Anyway, she's recovered from the UTI and although she still scratches a bit, her skin is much improved on Piriton and removal of cheese as the possible allergen. She avoided me after the vet trip and bonded a bit more with Mrs WabiSabi (fair enough). But over the last few days, she's started trusting me a bit more again although she still freaks out if I somehow end up behind her and I'm on my feet. I probably broke a few rules yesterday - when she was in her bed in her den, I lay down nearby (not in her den, just outside) and just reached up and scritched her back and flanks for half an hour, all the while making calming gestures. She was making calming gestures too and then gradually closed her eyes and got all contented. I did this a couple of times through the day and today she's following me and Mrs WabiSabi and walking up to us *face on* for petting. OK she's had a *lot* of high value treats too but it's lovely to see her not being afraid all the time. Mrs WabiSabi is about to leave for work for the day so we'll see how she goes with just me in the house but we're moving in the right direction, I think.

Thanks.

Thanks - we've already got one of those gloves but have been reluctant to use it because it means we have to approach her with it. Maybe we'll try it in the garden later. I might just leave the glove in her den so she can sniff it first. Anyway, we got her to the vet and her temp is less than yesterday though she's still pyrexial. Another shot of meloxicam by the vet and we've brought some meloxicam syrup home. Skin a lot less red though. We'll add another Piriton in the afternoon too. But I am once again persona non grata for lifting her in to the car and lifting her out again. I parked up half a mile from home to walk her from the car to try and get her to associate the car with something nice (she was refusing treats). But when we got back, she was cowering when I was trying to take the collar off. Two steps forward, eight steps back. *sigh*

She's been very poorly the last few days. We suspected an allergy - under her fur she was bright red and had been biting and scratching herself raw, especially on her flanks. We took her to the vet yesterday - poor thing has a raging temperature too (but no obvious source of infection) and the vet confirmed an allergy, most likely to the only treat that remotely tempted her - cheese Fortunately, her skin wasn't infected - just inflamed. So we've stopped the cheese, and we're giving her Piriton and co-amoxyclav and she had a meloxicam (NSAID) injection at the vets yesterday. We're taking her back this morning so they can check her temp has come down. She hasn't got fleas but we'll be putting on some Advocate later in case it's a mite thing that's affecting her skin. Belt and braces. I think her temp has come down though - she's much better today. Up at 5:15am for a pee and a poo. Lots of playbows and mad hooning around the garden, followed by sidling up for some scratching and rubs. We've swopped the cheese for chicken (which she perfers - yay!) and we found some dog-specific franks that she also likes and which make a good hideyhole for the tablets. The trouble is that she now won't eat her kibble - just gimme the chicken and franks, WabiSabi. She's less wary in the house now but still won't come too near us anywhere but outside. The trip in the car to the vet is a bit of a trauma too and getting her to the car on a lead is still a problem (our only alternative yesterday was to resort to a bit of carrying when she dug her heels in). We're getting there, though. We've also got a dog behaviourist coming in a week or so to see if we're missing anything obvious to get her anxiety down.

Admittedly, I have limited experience with this, but I think the answer from the experts here will be, "She's a greyhound". We've gone from not being able to get our hound outside to not being able to get her in. There's a happy medium in there somewhere. Perhaps through the medium of cheese. Let me know if you find it.

Amateur. I was up at 5am today for my whimpering hound. "Settling in" sucks.

Haha. Thanks guys. OK. Nothing new really. She's still scared of me indoors but seems to like being petted outdoors. She's less wary of Mrs WabiSabi but only in the sense that she doesn't cower from her. Neither of us can get near her indoors and she will not venture from her bed except to bolt through the living room/kitchen to go outside. If we approach her in her bed, she doesn't necessarily move away but there's invariably a little bit of lip-licking and avoidance of eye contact so we back off. She occasionally accepts treats from the hand but we mostly have to drop them for her. She is eating very well though, in general. I've increased the "I'm ignoring you" stuff (except to feed and let out) in the hope that it'll accelerate her acceptance. This is going to be a long haul but we're sticking with it. Hopefully she'll see that we're here for her. I suspect that as well as her anxiety, she's perhaps never really been a "people dog"

You lot are great. Thanks again. Yes we have oak flooring in the living space and slate tiles in the kitchen BUT there's a path of non-slip mats and carpet remnants in a big loop that she's fine on. We've also ordered better non-slip mats that we'll put down when the mudbath in our yard goes. Here's an interesting thing. She still freaks out in the house if she sets eyes on me but she whines to be let out which I do. She then goes to a specific area in the garden yard and stands and waits for me to crouch or sit down and pet her continuously. She won't let me do this anywhere else in the garden and certainly not indoors. It's obviously an anxiety reducing thing (she stops barking at passers-by when I do this) and I'm guessing the specific spot gives her an escape route that she doesn't think she'll have elsewhere. What makes it even more interesting is that this is now often the sole reason for going out! No toilet, no running around, just get out here WabiSabi and give me some love. Amazing.

Thanks all for your kind words and encouragement. Today has been better again. When we're in the garden, she has actually started to come near and present herself for side and back stroking. But only in the garden. In the living area, she appears very uptight until she gets to her den. But her anxiety seems to be lessening there too and whilst she'll avoid us, the gap is narrowing. Returning from the garden to indoors is still a bit hit and miss though. Fortunately, it's still a bit chilly so that gives her a reason to come in at some point. We've decided not to try anything with a leash at the moment whilst we're building her trust like this. In the next week or two, weather permitting, our garden will be getting turfed so we might start trying to just walk her round the garden and we'll turn to the other tactics if that proves a problem.

Very helpful, thank you.

Great idea, I'll try that. Thanks.