smt
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Posts posted by smt
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1 hour ago, GreyPoopon said:
Aside: Unless you have to get her out of the crate ASAP, I wouldn't rush it. It's early days and she is getting used to both being in a house (so many distractions!) and being alone.
So very true. When I tested her outside of the crate twice today, I was a bit concerned. I was watching her on the houndcam while in my car. She paced and whined for about 10 minutes, intermingled with some wild running while playing with a toy. She tore through the living room and landed on her dog bid, skidding it into the (non functional) fireplace. She also jumped on the back door, dislodging the blinds. She is definitely NOT ready to be trusted uncrated for any extended period of time, especially if I cannot get right into the house to intervene. These were mainly test runs, and she got a C-. It could have been both a lot worse, and a lot better:)
She doesn't like to go into the crate. We basically have to shove her in. But she did pretty good today while crated. We give her a frozen peanut butter kong, which she enjoys. The first stint was 3 hours. She settled down as soon as I left the house, and was calm when I checked on her periodically. The second time was after my partner got home, and had to re-crate her for an hour when she ran an errand after work. She had to shove her in, too, but once in, Bette immediately settled and slept the whole time.
How does one know when to make the transition from crate to out-of crate, especially with a dog as young as her? Just thinking into the future . . .
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5 hours ago, 2greyhoundMINI said:
Gorgeous!
I hope she's a keeper!
Sounds like she is following the same path as our 2 year olds... they were super fine at first, then got whiny when left. Now they seem very content to be lazy when we leave for the day for work.
I hope this is her trajectory, too.
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It's early days, and we are kind of holding our breath. We want to make sure she can be happy and content as an only dog. We have debated getting 2, just so they will have a sissie to keep them company. But if we did that, it would take us out of the foster pool, and we really want to be able to keep fostering. So, we are holding out for a dog that can be happy solo, and I'd love for it to be Bette. We are on day 3, and she actually seems a little more clingy as the day has worn on, and was a little more whiny and pacing when I left for for about 15 minutes. She has been left alone, crated for the past 2 days, each for about an hour duration. Today, that gets upped to about 3 hours. We will see how it goes. I'm not sure exactly when to confidently say "she's a 100% for sure keeper". If the decision was based solely on lovableness, it would be a no brainer. Alas, there are other factors to consider. Please everyone, keep your fingers crossed for all of us.
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23 minutes ago, MerseyGrey said:
I was the same, just a big bag of worry for about the first year. Our adoption centre absolutely put the fear of god (or dog) into us and I’m absolutely certain that we wouldn’t have had so much worry bringing home a newborn child for the first time. It’s been 18 months now and I am much more laid back with him.
It's odd. With our first one, I suppose we were operating under an "ignorance is bliss" motto. There were a few things that spiked our concern, like the initial food aversion, and making sure we had the martingale JUST RIGHT, and her first little boo boo that sent us straight to the vet . . .$80 dollars later and a band-aid, and she was just fine. But this year (after losing her), we have had several pups in our home via foster (and a failed adoption), and I feel far more nervous now, mainly bc of a couple of challenging experiences with SA. I am now far more aware of a temperament that is clingy or lacking in confidence. I can tell that I am way more of a "big ole bag of worry" than the first go around, which is kinda messed up. But I am glad to hear that at this point in the process, you are feeling more relaxed.
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27 minutes ago, smt said:
ok, wow. I am going to need a lot more available time and mental bandwidth to figure out how to post pictures from my Mac.
That didn't take quite as long as I had imagined. Downloading pics from FB is far easier than resizing and uploading them here. Anyway, head on over to Introductions to meet Ms. Bette.
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We brought home this little bundle of joy on 11.16.19. Her name is Bette and she is a foster. We are assessing to see if she will be happy being an only pup, and if so, she may very well be a keeper.
She just turned 2, raced 14 times, and is ready for retirement. She came in like she owned the place. She was immediately intent on checking out all the rooms. She did not appear apprehensive about exploring the house. Granted, it's small, but still, it is refreshing to bring in a pup who seems confident enough to set out on her own for some exploring.
She has excellent house manners, walks well on a leash, sleeps through the night, navigates the hardwoods with ease, and so far, has done "ok" when left alone. She does a little whining in the crate, but then settles down. We have even left her uncrated for a few short (20minute stints) while working outside. Again, a little whining, but then she settled down and started napping.
She is on the smaller side, weighing in at 58 pounds. This means she can wear all the hand me downs from our previous girl, who we lost last Thanksgiving suddenly, from hemangiosarcoma. We were shattered.
So far, she has been a balm for our still broken hearts. She is affectionate, playful, funny as hell, and GORGEOUS, don't you think? Whether she ends up staying with us, or finds another forever home, it will be one lucky household with Bette in it.
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28 minutes ago, smt said:
Well then by all means, stand by . . .
ok, wow. I am going to need a lot more available time and mental bandwidth to figure out how to post pictures from my Mac.
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1 hour ago, EllenEveBaz said:
I always want to hear about new dogs, no matter their status.
Well then by all means, stand by . . .
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Hi all. Well I jumped the gun by about 12 hours too soon when I posted the original query. She started eating last night (at 48 hours in home), and also ate breakfast this morning. We fed her the chicken based kibble with a little chicken stock, and she so far, so good. I suppose I was overly concerned. Yes, we have had GH's before. My partner had to remind me that when we adopted our Rosie 10 years ago (wow, I can't believe it was that long ago), she did not eat for 3 days. She was our very first GH ever, and I was beside myself with worry. But, she started eating, and while she was never had a huge appetite, she also ate enough to keep it all runnin'. Our last few fosters have been pretty good eaters. Hopefully now that this one seems to have found her appetite, she will hold on to it. She is still not sure about treats. It's almost like she doesn't know how to take them from our hand. We have tried handing them to her with our fingers and palms, and she will eventually take them, but it seems like a foreign concept to her. It is VERY EARLY DAYS, so I trust that all of this will get figured out. I am just glad Greytalk is here, for all of us nervous nellies when it comes to the pups.
Re; posting an intro ~ do people do that for fosters? If we end up adopting her, most certainly I will give her a proper introduction.
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We brought a new foster home 2 days ago. She had been fasted the day before so as to not get sick on the haul. She ate a good dinner the night we got her, but has barely picked at her food all day yesterday and this morning. We are feeding her the foster food, which is salmon based Natures Select. We had some chicken based NS left over from our last foster who had some dietary issues, so we tried that this morning. Nada. What should our approach be? We have wet the kibble with both water and chicken stock. We have added plain greek yogurt and canned pumpkin to try to coax her to eat What should our approach be going forward? Our foster rep says it takes some dogs a little while to get used to kibble bc it is not what they were fed at the kennel. Do we leave dry kibble down for a period of time in the morning, then pull it and try again at dinner? Do we wet it? I assume she will eat before starving, but it is so tough to see her not eating . . . I should also say that she was given a dose of Panacur and Advantage Multi on the day she arrived. Poop has been a mix of tootsie roll (2 times) and runny (2 times). We had a tootsie roll this morning from the tiny little bit she ate yesterday. She is 58 pounds, 2 years old, and seems quite confident, affectionate and playful, otherwise.
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15 hours ago, cleptogrey said:
towels are the very very best. just layer them up if they freeze. eventually they will defrost enough so you can wash them and start the process all over again.
This certainly seems like the most efficient, economical and easy solution. And because we live in the South, we will likely not need them all winter. Thanks for such a simple and obvious remedy.
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Just found these on Costco website:
https://www.costco.com/3'-x-15'-coverguard-garage-floor-rubber-mat-xl.product.100011166.html
They might do the trick.
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48 minutes ago, greysmom said:
The other thing to do is stop them from taking flying leaps onto the deck. We have a baby gate across the entrance to the deck anyway, but it has the added help of making them stop on their way back inside if we need them to slow down.
Unfortunately, the entrance is 12 feet long. I don't think we could find a baby gate wide enough to span the distance. I am going to look at rubber mats that we can put down when the ice and snow are present. I can store them in the basement when not needed. Luckily we live in the South, so this is not a terribly common situation. The past 2 days of an icy deck made me start thinking, though . . .
Off to start googling . . . Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
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We had a 400 square foot wood deck built recently. We just had the first frozen precipitation, and noticed that as long as the temps stayed below freezing, the deck was pretty darn slick with a thin layer of ice. We are bringing home a 2 year old female foster this weekend, and are now concerned about what to do if (when) it is covered in black ice again. She must traverse it to get from back door to yard. I can only imagine what it will be like when she hits it on a blind run when coming back in to the house. There are only 2 steps down to the ground, and our other fosters have tended to leap onto the deck while running in from the yard without missing a beat. So far no issues, but if its icy, I'm worried about a bad wipe out. What do folks with frozen decks do when their hounds must traverse the deck and it is low to the ground? We were advised against salting it. Any other ideas on making it less of a hazard? Again, it's 400 square feet, so a pretty large area to contend with. Thanks in advance.
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Others with way more experience and insight can weigh in on the question of aggression (though it was encouraging to read what racindog had to say). I just want to offer up some empathy. Especially after such a great start to things, I can only guess how upsetting this must have been for you, given that it seemed to come out of the blue. Hopefully it is just Amelia having a snarky personality quirk. I know some very fine people who can be snarky at times, but are otherwise lovely and lovable. Stands to reason that the same can be said for our pups. I had a pug a long time ago who had been an only dog for many years. When my partner and I moved in together and blended the canine family, my pup was a total and annoying pill towards my partners sweet golden retriever. There was some growling and snapping but nothing ever super serious.
Given that the girls seem to have moved past it and are calm and settled, I am wishing the same fo you
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Hello, I'd love to hear some encouraging stories from those who have had success with doing a modified version of Alone Training, ala Patricia McConnell. Specifically, from those who have no other option but to leave their pups totally alone (no other pets or people) for at least a couple of hours per day throughout the training protocol. Please do not reply back with recommendations to take them to doggie day care or enlist a friend to watch them during the course of training. Those options are just not feasible. I keep getting hung up on the part where you are not supposed to leave a dog with SA tendencies alone until they are fully secure and can handle it. Given our work days, hours alone will range from 6 (one day per week) to 3-4 (4 days per week). This would begin pretty much immediately, assuming we bring a dog home on a Saturday and have to go to work on Mon. I think we could swing taking a day or two off of work, but probably no more than that, which would give us Sat-Tu to work intensely on Alone Training, but by Wed, she would be in the crate, alone, for 3 hours. I am asking ahead of getting our next foster. Fingers are crossed that it will be a non-issue, but our last foster bounced around bc of SA, and I would really like to be more prepared this time, preemptively. Thanks.
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Just asked for an update on the anxious dog thread before seeing this latest post. I am so happy for all! It must feel so wonderful for this transition to be as smooth as it has been, and for the girls to me mending your hearts as they bond with each other.
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Hi 2greyhoundMINI - how are the girls doing? In particular, how is the anxious girl getting on? Hope everything has continued to head in a positive direction for all.
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Here is a link to the thread that I started on foster girl #1 soon after we got her. A lot transpired in the interim between that thread and where she is now. She regressed in the first foster home. It was also discovered she had some medical issues (an enlarge clitoris to be exact). She responded well to the medial treatment, and the soiling in the house/crate cleared up. But she continues to TOTALLY MELT DOWN when left totally alone. It's pitiful. It's not just a little whining and barking. Its hours and hours of crying, barking, howling, pawing, digging etc. when crated, and although she is not destructive when left alone uncrated, she will not settle. She continues with the howling, barking, etc. This is after two months, and the only way she has been ok when left alone is uncrated and with another engaged female grey. Just a little more info on her.
https://forum.greytalk.com/topic/325377-new-foster-peeing-in-crate/?tab=comments#comment-6126795
Have I mentioned that we love her? I got so attached to her while she was with us. Here we are at a recent mng:
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First, let me say, I really appreciate this forum. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to sort through these kinds of questions/concerns with others who have the wealth of experience that is the norm here.
So, re: adopting 2 ~ we came to this after falling in love with a 2 yo female foster. We were her first foster home, and she has cycled through 4 homes now trying to figure out the right situation for her. Through a lot of trial and error, it appears she does best with another youngish female GH. I will go into her behavior in a moment. We are scheduled to bring another 2 yo female foster in next week, and if she seems secure, we wanted to bring the first girl back, bc our arrangement would meet her needs and we got so attached to her when she was with us. Once we had our minds wrapped around having 2, we just began feeling a joyous anticipation. That bubble was burst when we were told that a previous adopter wanted to foster girl #1 with intent to adopt. I do believe that situation would also be a great fit for her, so I am happy for her. And if it doesn't for some reason work out, we could then get her back. So, lots of stars would need to alight for all of that to work out. All of that did get us thinking about adopting 2 though. There are downsides in that our house is small, but we could make it work. We do have a very large fenced yard, and the finances are not an issue. Although we both work, our schedules are pretty non-traditional, and neither of us work full time. If we adopt 2, it would take us our of the foster pool, and that would suck for our group, as well as impinge on our desire to be of service to the pups. So, lots of ambivalence, with pros and cons each way.
Now, re: the SA behavior. It is REALLY ENCOURAGING to hear that the incidence of TRUE SA is not that high. You wouldn't know it by reading the training and behavior forum. But the biggest concern comes from having 2 SA girls that have been in our house this year. The first we actually adopted but returned after working with a behaviorist and trying lots of different interventions. When she nearly threw herself through a door with glass paned windows, we reached our limit. She was adopted by a woman with another GH, and is happy as can be now. And foster girl # 1 was peeing in the crate, had to be muzzled in the crate due to chewing the wires, would howl and cry incessantly for hours, and this would not stop until we got home. She exhibited the same behavior, except also started peeing and pooping in the house of the second foster home, who had a 9yo aloof male GH. She came back to us for a short period and we were still having issues with her in the crate, so she was moved temporarily to a home with a 6yo female. They left them uncrated with each other and she did fine. They tried leaving her uncrated and totally alone, and she could be heard howling from 1/4 mile down the road. So, onto the foster home she is currently in. She is with another female GH, and does great when left uncrated with her foster sissie, but not totally alone. So the consensus is she has to be in a home with another youngish female grey. Which is where she is headed. I think both of these girls had a degree of SA, but without another dog, it seems like the path to getting them over it would have been arduous, and we just are not up for that. It was devastating when we had to surrender our girl. That coupled with the recent foster girl is what has given us GHSA-PTSD. I say that tongue in cheek, but there is also a grain of truth to it.
That's a lot to read, so thanks!!! I almost feel like I am journaling as I engage on this site. Its greyt therapy:)
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Hi Greysmom. The group I am fostering for now is NOT the group who was reluctant to adopt 2 at one time. I think the group I foster for now would be willing to place 2 with me. My question is more about the validity of what the other group said. Just wondering if we end up with 2, will they bond with us?
Re: alone training, we could do a modified version of it, but the notion of NEVER leaving the dog alone if they hit the point of panic has not worked for us. Granted, we have only attempted alone training with 2 SA dogs. But because we HAD to leave them alone to go to work, they inevitably panicked each day. That is the part of alone training I don't get. If you MUST leave the house, and you can't afford doggie day care, how do you prevent an SA dog from reaching panic if that is just what they do when left alone? I'm familiar with the protocol, I just wonder about implementing with fidelity . . .
Thanks for the tip re: the Lurcher Project. I will check that out. I am in the South, so we do still have access to retired racers. But that will slow down for us here, too, as well. Or so I am told by those with far more experience in this world then I.
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On 11/5/2019 at 11:07 AM, 2greyhoundMINI said:
BTW they have both now discovered the couch... so they are off to a great start of being spoiled rotten!
So cute! I love thinking about them being all piled up together on the couch, just snoozing the day away, waiting for mom and dad to get home so the real fun can begin.
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And I want to add, we originally began fostering with the intent of vetting single dogs for the ability to be adopted into a home as a solo pet with an owner who works outside the home; essentially, vetting them for SA tendencies so that our group would be able to make the best placement decisions for the pups. After now having another SA foster, and with the winding down of racing (Southland in W. Memphis just announced it would be fazing out racing and word on the street is that West Virginia may be next), we are concerned that continuing to wait before adopting our own is not a wise move.
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Hello,
We have been solidly in the camp of being a one GH household, mainly because we had a fantastic experience with out first GH, who was an only pet. She was confident and easy and we assumed they would all be similar. Turns out that's not the case. We are discovering, though a failed adoption with an SA girl and through fostering, that there is a fair chance that we could end up with another SA pup. For this reason, we have reconsidered our initial "1 dog at a time" stance. When we discussed adopting 2 from a nearby group, we were told that they would only adopt 1 at a time, with a wait period of a few months before adopting out a 2nd one. The reason they gave is that if we brought home 2 at once, they would likely bond with each other versus bonding with us. Does this ring true?
Also, for those with much more experience, how likely is it that with 2 GH's together, we can avoid the dreaded SA? We have GHSA-PTSD and do not have the kind of lifestyle that can accommodate TRUE alone training. Therefore, we really need dog(s) that can handle being left uncrated (we live in a small house and barely have room for one crate, much less 2 for anything longer than a transition period). Given our work schedules, the pups would only be left alone one day per week for a 6 hour stretch. Other days would be more like 2-3 hour stretches. We are quite active and come and go, so they would need to be able to handle, on some days, us coming and going multiple times throughout the day. How realistic is it to expect that if we get 2 pups, they can handle the above scenario? To add, we would include our dogs in as many of our outings as possible, but that is not always feasible. Not all stores as as dog friendly as Home Depot
Besides work, our main outings involve going to the gym, grocery shopping, occasionally eating out or meeting friends for a beer,
Bette is in the house!
in Introductions & Biography
Posted
I just LOVE the little bitty girls. Our first was 52 pounds and would get mistaken for a whippet. Im not sure what it is, but the petite ones always capture me. It's funny, we have a friend who loves the big boys. The bigger the better, as far as she is concerned. Variety makes the world a much more interesting place.