freudianslip

Thank you for both of these replies, I was wondering about a muzzle and I guess it's been confirmed that they're pretty important for the first meet. Guilty as charged!

Thank you, that's very reassuring to know about your girl tolerating a new hound. I think we're planning to meet some time this week to see if they're likely to get on, and hope for the best!

Thank you! I definitely think a meet and greet beforehand will be a good idea...and you're right about having someone nearby to help out.

Hi all, A member of a greyhound group who lives nearby has posted online asking whether anyone can take their boy on for a single night in about a week's time. Our 4.5-year-old girl Camilla is pretty easy-going and independent, and has never been terribly bothered by having other hounds around before, but we've never had one come to our home or spend an extended period of time together. I don't know much about the other hound yet, other than that he's a fairly new adoptee (about 6 weeks in). I was just wondering whether there was any advice you could give for making sure this goes as smoothly as possible?

Thank you for this tip! The little socks I managed to track down are beyond ridiculous, so this could be an easier way.

Thank you, very reassuring!

Hi all, I apologise for what seems like a very minor question, but I want to do the best by our girl. When we were out walking yesterday, i noticed that she developed a slight, inconsistent limp. When I got home I also noticed small amounts of blood on the floor - there's a very small tear on one of her front paw pads. I cleaned it up as best I could and the bleeding stopped. She doesn't seem too concerned by it, no significant licking etc. Having read through these forums, I'm inclined to try and keep the wound clean and let it heal on its own, given how minor it is (please let me know if I need to do more), but I was wondering about whether it was still okay to take her for short walks, assuming I can find a little dog bootie to keep that paw pad as clean as possible? She loves her walks and suspect we will all go crazy if we don't get the chance to go outside, but at the same time I don't want to be causing her a greater injury. Any thoughts or advice are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Thank you for this - it's exactly what I need to keep in mind as we try to work her out...and it makes life a lot more fun when you reinforce the good.

That's a very good idea actually - at the moment we don't have any crate-specific treats, just general ones. Thank you! We've been playing with that idea - I'm not sure our house set-up is ideal for that, but maybe we can be more creative Here's Camilla, very stressed out by her new living situation

Hi all, My partner and I are new adoptive parents of 4-year-old Camilla. She has been with us for less than a week but already it's hard to imagine life without her. She is an easy-going girl who is completely food-obsessed - this has been good for her recall (including learning her new name), stair and dog door training in our enclosed backyard, but she's still a bit manic when she gets a hint of food to focus on anything more subtle or complicated (my partner is determined to get her to learn to "shake" - I'm going to leave him to that one!). I have been extremely happy to find this forum, there is a lot of wisdom to share here. Apologies if this has been asked before, but my question is about crating for containment while we do certain things in our house. She is beginning to understand that we do not want her in the kitchen while we're preparing a meal, and tries really hard to stick to this, but sometimes she doesn't seem to be able to help herself but to come in and get underfoot - there doesn't seem to be a particular pattern to whether she's already eaten (and how long post-meal she is), what we're cooking, etc....some days she ignores us like a champ and other days we've essentially had to stand guard to keep her away. It's when she's less able to control herself that we feel the need to put her in the crate. The other thing she needs to be contained for is when I water the back yard (I live in New Zealand so it's summer and HOT over here). For reasons too boring to get into, we need to have the front door open while I water (this opens on to an unfenced shared area with two other townhouses) and we don't trust her not to go wandering, so the crate it has to be. I try very hard to do the cooking AND watering all in one go while she's contained so we're not shoving her in there repeatedly through the day. We also put her in the crate overnight, which she doesn't love; she would definitely prefer to have the run of the house, but she doesn't whine or make too much of a fuss once she's in. My partner and I disagree as to whether we should be providing her with a treat or something else appealing for going into the crate when we need to contain her. He doesn't think we should get into that habit and wants her to see being in the crate as a consequence for not being able to stick to the limits we're trying to set her, while I think a treat in the crate stops her from seeing it as too much of a punishment and is less likely to lead to battles when it's time for her to go to bed (I'm also more willing to be lenient as to whether we crate her at all overnight, particularly as she's gotten so good at letting herself out to do her business). Do the wise ones here at GT have any thoughts about whether one approach is better than the other, assuming my question even makes sense?? Camilla and I thank you in advance - am working hard to upload some photos, which I will attach to my next post