MerseyGrey

Buddy has that hedgehog! After he destroyed his first one we bought a batch and it’s still his favourite toy! Lydia is a beauty. My brother in law lives in San Diego, and when his parents fly out from the UK to dog sit, they always take the dogs to Lake Hodges. I’m not sure what the facilities are like up there but they really enjoy the walk.

We have an area in our garden where the wall is 3-4 feet high. Buddy put his paws up when we first brought him home but has never tried to jump it. The lady who did our home check was unconcerned about the height. But I would think that your adoption service will let you know if a particular dog is an escape artist - in which case even a six foot fence might not be enough!

Our vet recommended Royal Canin and Hills. We recently switched to Hills but Buddy’s being a bit fussy with it so we are going back to RC as he rarely skipped a meal with this

We recently changed our older boy’s food in an attempt to combat his smelly bottom, but he doesn’t seem to like the new stuff (unless we put it in one of his treat toys, then he might eat it). So we started making a gravy from a bit of wet food and mixed it in with his kibble. I have just watched him suck the gravy off most of the kibble and then spit the pieces back into his bowl. We’ve also tried mixing his kibble with yogurt, which he really likes. And I frequently see my husband with kibble in his hand, sniffing at it and making it look like the tastiest food ever before feeding Individual pieces to the boy. I think the dog knows exactly what he’s doing...

Buddy broke his nail without taking it off. We took him to the vet who booked him in for sedation and removal a couple of days later, but said that if it came off on it’s own then not to worry about it unless it was giving him obvious pain. She prescribed us an NSAID for the interim. We took him for a walk the next day and it must have broken off completely when he scratched after his toilet break with not a peep from him. I would echo what’s already been said - painkillers for a day or two and keep an eye open for infection. Buddy licked his for about three weeks (he’s a champion licker anyway) but he was right as rain and running around like a lunatic within a couple of days.

We were experimenting with Buddy being off the lead up until a few weeks ago... he chased a rabbit which he didn’t catch. He came back to us afterwards when we called but unfortunately the next thing he came across was a small fluffy dog and before we knew it the dog was in his mouth . And so the experiment ended. We didn’t tell him off because we didn’t really read the signs of his prey drive properly (and we assumed, rightly or wrongly, that the dog attack was linked to his prey drive having kicked in), but to answer your second question, we haven’t found that he is more interested in chasing small animals of any kind - certainly no more interested than he was before ‘the incident’. The other dog was ok by the way. Buddy didn’t even break her skin but I suspect that was to do with three of us holding his jaws apart and stopping him from from shaking her as he does his squeaky hedgehog. Lesson learned. (I’m still feeling guilty, hence the confession).

Unnecessary panicking: an essential part of the first year of owning a dog. We adopted our boy Buddy almost a year ago and I swear that almost every tiny blip felt like a complete failure. You will relax a bit more the longer Senner is with you, and some things that feel like failure at the minute, in six month’s time, you will learn to accept are things that you can’t (and probably don’t need to) change. I am by no means an experienced owner, but have eventually realised that when we adopted Buddy, we were put through a reasonably rigorous vetting process and were deemed to be competent to have a dog placed with us. It will be similar for you if you’ve adopted. Just keep doing what you’re doing and your care, love and attention will be rewarded. And in addition, this site is brilliant for helping you to put things in perspective! I’ve only recently joined Greytalk but have read lots of threads over the past year, and these chats really help you work out what you need to be worried about (about 5% of what your greyhound does) vs. greyhound peculiarities (everything else, and then a bit more when you least expect it)

I am very late to this chat but when we first got our boy Buddy, just over a year ago, he freaked out one evening while I was cooking, then he stood in the kitchen doorway and scarpered into the garden if I went near him. We only worked out that it was the smell of lamb that did it when we cooked it again and had the same reaction. However...when we walk him near sheep he goes bonkers and wants to chase them. If only he knew that they were the meaty creatures that freak him out so much. Now we avoid cooking lamb at home (although I know I can use it as a weapon to get a bit of alone time without Buddy stuck to my right thigh!)