smt
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Posts posted by smt
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20 hours ago, HeyRunDog said:
Which country are you in?
US of A
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19 hours ago, BatterseaBrindl said:
Our Greyhounds are muzzled whenever we're not home..... anywhere from 1 to 6 hours.
I'm sure others will chime in and agree that it is not cruel. Ours never fuss about getting them on.
Did they initially resist the muzzle (rubbing against walls, pawing at it, etc.)? And if so, how long before they just accepted that they were going to be muzzled when alone? I know there are these little attachments that secure the muzzle. I think they are called muzzle keepers. Do you use those? They are sold by GEM, so I assume are GH safe.
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Hello, we sign paperwork to adopt our current foster tomorrow, and I want to purchase a pet insurance policy. I have never done this before. Can anyone point me to a reputable company that is not too much of a hassle to deal with if claims must be filed, and who won't drop us or spike the premiums if, God forbid, we run into something that requires a lot of claims or is a chronic condition in the future. FYI - she just turned 2 in Oct.
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Oh my gosh. I am so so sorry. I know your heart must be breaking.
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On 12/8/2019 at 9:19 PM, ramonaghan said:
I'll ask around for you. Even though it's not the closest option, we go to Grassmere (not just because of Sweep, but because it's been my family's preferred vet since I was a kid), so I'm not much help, I'm afraid. Are you on Facebook? If so, you might post on the GPA Nashville and Music City Greyhound Adoption pages too.
Thanks so much. I will inquire with the local adoption groups, too. Our vet, who was pretty GH savvy, retired last year. We love the clinic, and it is literally 5 minutes down the road, so I scheduled an initial consult with Dr. Cole (at Mobley Vet Clinic) next week, to get a sense of whether or not she is GH savvy. If I don't get a confident feel after bringing up concerns around hookworms, anesthesia, osteo risk, etc., then I will likely go with Grassmere. Any other medical issues I should specifically inquire around in this initial visit? After reading a recent PLE thread, I wonder if I should probe around that, as well.
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I can report that that we are also coming up on a month (this Sat) of having Bette in our home and she remains uninterested in playing with toys. She is very affectionate and obedient, loves her walks, doesn't know a human or canine stranger, and I am really enjoying our cuddle time in the bed in the mornings, but so far, zilch on play time. She will occassinsaly run a zoomie around the back yard, and once in a while will run after a tennis ball, though she doesn't quite know what to do with it once she picks it up. She is JUST NOW learning that her buns are of the steel kind, and they can propel her up onto a bed. If we could only get her to know that they will do the same when it comes to getting in a car/hopping into the back of a Subaru Forester. Now that she has learned that she can jump on a bed, we are hoping this translates to jumping in the car soon. We are using treats to coax her, but not a ton of success so far with that. We believe that it is only a matter of time before the dots connect that she is in a pet and in her forever home. If she turns out to be a dog who just is not into playing with toys, we will be a little sad to miss out on on the laughs that go along with that, but also relish in all the other delights she is sure to bring us.
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Can I get recommendations for Grey savvy vets in the Nashville TN area? We are familiar with Grassmere Animal Hospital, but hoping to find a vet a little closer to us, particularly in the East Nashville, Inglewood, Madison or Goodlettsville area.
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On 12/6/2019 at 5:15 PM, smt said:
So far, no interest in toys or the furniture. My partner says the latter is a good thing. I have a different opinion. I love snuggling on the sofa with a dog.
While there has been no headway on the toys, guess who jumped up on the bed today?!? I must admit, I have been coaxing her, and she seems to be learning that there are big soft spots that await her.
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5 hours ago, greysmom said:
Try getting toys that make odd noises - the water bottle ones or really squeaky ones. She's just never been exposed to toys before and has no idea what to do with them. As stated above, she may or may not ever develop the urge to play with toys, but she will probably want to play with her people at some point.
We have a wide variety of toys that makes lots of different sounds, but she just ignores them all. We are dog sitting a previous foster over Christmas who loved to play with troys. She is a few years older and super confident. I am hoping she will teach Bette the toy ropes. But if not, that is definitely something we can live with.
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8 hours ago, Remolacha said:
It really depends on the dog, but most don't show a lot of interest in toys right off the track. She may start to show interest sometime in the next few months, or she may never play with toys. She may start playing with something weird, like cushions, or paper towels. Hopefully not your shoes!
Its sort of like the couch, some do, some don't.
Agreed, hopefully not my shoes. All the more reason to keep them picked up. Funny you should mention the couch. I have tried to lure her onto the sofa, even going so far as to put her up there, and she promptly jumped down. So far, no interest in toys or the furniture. My partner says the latter is a good thing. I have a different opinion. I love snuggling on the sofa with a dog.
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Our foster girl (who we signed foster-with-intent-to-adopt paperwork) is not very playful, which we find a little strange given that she is only two years old. Ultimately this is not a big deal, but we are curios . . . has anyone brought a young dog home who had zero interest in toys? And if so, did they develop an interest, or remain indifferent to them? We have had her 3 weeks and got her straight from a track kennel, so she is pretty new to "pet" life. She is pretty darn easy in all of the ways that matter. Just wondering if we will ever see a playful side to her. We even bought her the ever popular hedgehog. She sniffed it then walked away. She has ready access to a wide variety of toys, and we try to engage her with them, but don't want to force or overwhelm her.
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And I agree, Liz and Mersey, those nanny cam's can exert a hold that is quite detrimental to one's psyche. If one has any inclination towards OCD or anxiety, they can certainly set it off. I know from experience. I unplugged mine too, and when the siren song to plug it back in starts playing, I remind myself that it would only be masochistic to do so, and might require me to break into my prn prescription of klonopin. I got that Rx refilled after having an SA dog, and the only time I have had to use it in the past year is when that damn camera was plugged in. So, by all means, if he is not soiling/destructive, keep the cam banished, for your own peace of mind.
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Yep, he's looking pretty happy there. And the fiddle leaf fig is almost, but not quite, as gorgeous as your pup:)
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On 12/2/2019 at 8:22 AM, cleptogrey said:
ALSO CHECK THE CALORIC COUNT ON THE FOOD THAT YOU ARE FEEDING. my 76# male with 4 miles of walkies and some soccer in the yard need 1200 K during his prime. fat should not be on the high level(gh are prone to pancreatitis) - protein around 24%. anything more than that is rocket fuel and your dog will chunk up and have huge and bountiful stools! i am a fan of purina pro plan focus- salmon and rice. no supplements needed for good coat and skin since i started serving it.
welcome to the world of trial and error and research.
She is eating Nature Select, and crude protein is 24%/fat is 12%. Her stools seem reasonable to what she is eating. But I will keep this info in mind if I switch her to another food if we end up adopting her, which seems likely.
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Thanks all. I will certainly check out Homegoods. We have several in town. Good to get the positive reviews on both the Chuckit and Kurgo beds.
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6 hours ago, EllenEveBaz said:
What kind of handles on the
pantypantry doors?The panty - I mean pantry - door handle is a simple bar pull. If you look at the pulls on the cabinet drawers, they are the exact same thing, except vertical.
Also, re: the amount of food she is getting, we are feeding her what they foster group advised, and she seems like she is at the perfect weight. We have only had her 2 weeks, but If she starts to chunk up, we will cut back on the calories, somehow, somewhere. She will NOT be happy about that, though.
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Do you have a favorite travel bed for you pup? We saw this one at a meet and greet yesterday, and although it gets great reviews, it seems kind of small for the GH's. Plus, not much padding. I'd love to find something a little larger, with a little more padding, that can be thrown in the washing machine and rolled up for easy hauling to mng's, hanging out at our local dog friendly pub, etc. I like this one, but unfortunately, I cannot find it in stock anywhere.
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8 hours ago, HeyRunDog said:
Makes the mind boggle....
I didn't know Ikea sold lingerie 
Apologies. Instead of locking the pantry is it possible to use locking food containers? Or is this any good from Ikea https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/patrull-multi-latch-white-20282051/
Oh my. Have to say, though, that if IKEA got into the soft close lingerie business, I think I would have to check it out:)
I will take a look at the other link you shared. And because the pantry is full of all kinds of other yummies, locking her food bin storage bin would not suffice.
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Our foster girl has turned into quite the food motivated pup. After not eating for the first 2 days, she now tries to convince us with her woeful eyes and by surfing the counter any time we turn our backs that we are, indeed, starving her
She gets 1.5 cups of the foster food 2x per day, and various treats and a peanut butter kong through out the day, so I feel pretty confident that she is getting plenty of calories for a 58 pound girl. Our kitchen is small and her food bowls (which are built in and cannot be moved) are actually directly across from the panty where her kibble is kept. She is pretty smart and has learned that food and treats live in there. It is a soft close IKEA panty. My question is, what kind of latch can we use to secure the door as a preventive measure? The food is in a plastic bin, but I am pretty confident she could figure out how to open that, as well. We don't have human children so all that baby proofing stuff is foreign to me. Our fist GH had to be coaxed to eat, so we never worried about this. We prefer something that is aesthetically unobtrusive if at all possible. We tried the supposedly super strong magnets. No bueno. Any other ideas?
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I know you must feel a huge sense of relief. Enjoy your trip, and hopefully you will get lots of pics and updates on how the girls are doing while you are away.
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Day 2 with the BRR experiment went well, too. Minimal barking when she went in the crate (like maybe 10 seconds), and no barking at all after that when I listened for 10 minutes outside of the house. Again, maybe it is coincidental, but I will take it.
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Our foster girl was doing a lot of barking when we had to leave her alone. We have had her 11 days now. She is crated, but when we tested her out of the crate, she did a lot of pacing and barking when left alone. We were advised to keep her in the crate bc it is such early days and she did not seem to be able to "handle" all that freedom, along with the newness of being alone for the first time in her life. She never was destructive or soiling in the house or crate, and our foster rep said as long as those things were not happening, to not worry. . . that barking and whining are normal parts of the transition. That made me feel a lot better. I started her on 2 droppers full of Bach's Rescue Remedy yesterday and her barking when we put her in the crate and walk out has dramatically reduced in the last 2 days. It may be coincidental, but whatever it is, I am happy. You might try giving him some Bach's Rescue Remedy to see if it helps him settle down. I know that there are mixed feelings and mixed reviews on it. I am just sharing my anecdotal experience. Others with WAY MORE experience with new hounds settling in may have other ideas . . .
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51 minutes ago, racindog said:
I am betting she will settle down.
Well if she does, it will be apropos . . . because her name is Bette:)
I will be curios to see if she does as well today. I will follow the same regiment - potty, dose, wait 15 minutes, crate with a frozen kong, wait another 15 minutes and leave.
And thanks for the tip to make it more economical.
Its sort of like the couch, some do, some don't.
That was AWESOME!!
I didn't know Ikea sold lingerie 
She gets 1.5 cups of the foster food 2x per day, and various treats and a peanut butter kong through out the day, so I feel pretty confident that she is getting plenty of calories for a 58 pound girl. Our kitchen is small and her food bowls (which are built in and cannot be moved) are actually directly across from the panty where her kibble is kept. She is pretty smart and has learned that food and treats live in there. It is a soft close IKEA panty. My question is, what kind of latch can we use to secure the door as a preventive measure? The food is in a plastic bin, but I am pretty confident she could figure out how to open that, as well. We don't have human children so all that baby proofing stuff is foreign to me. Our fist GH had to be coaxed to eat, so we never worried about this. We prefer something that is aesthetically unobtrusive if at all possible. We tried the supposedly super strong magnets. No bueno. Any other ideas?
Bette is STAYING in the house!
in Introductions & Biography
Posted
It is with lots of joy that I am sharing that we signed the adoption paperwork yesterday for Fly Blaze Bet, aka Bette, aka the Divine Ms. M, also know as baby girl. We have fostered her for a month, and she gave has given us no reason to second guess making her a forever part of our family.
She is just barely 2 years old, but seems like she has the soul of an older dog. She is calm, loving, affectionate, has not met a stranger (human or canine) that she does not love to greet, and so far, she has adapted well to being an only pet in a household with an unorthodox schedule. She has shown flexibility with the random nature of our coming and going, and although we try to keep her on a feeding and walking schedule, we will occasionally have to shuffle that . . . like today when it is pouring rain therefore precluding her morning walk before being crated . . . and so far, she has been able to handle those adjustments.
Here she is with our neighbors labradoodle puppy. They love to play together in the yard, but he does not stand a chance at catching her.
And here she is with a friend blue brindle girl, who we will be dog sitting over the holidays. We wanted to get them together prior to see how they would do, and it went off without a hitch, though we will keep them muzzled when playing in the yard. Better safe than sorry.
We do a lot of this:
And this:
And here is our "official" adoption pic that is posted to our groups FB page:
We feel very blessed, and like our family is complete. It is has been a long, tough year. But it is coming to a close in the best way possible. She is our little Christmas angel and we look forward to many, many years ahead, filled with joy, fun, new adventures, quiet nights, and the special love that sharing ones life with a greyhound brings.