[Advice needed on young Grey walking stairs]

23 hours ago, greysmom said:

However, almost everybody (breeders, owners, enthusiasts) and not just from the Greyhound world, told me that it was imperative for him not to take the stairs before his legs are fully grown.

 

I've had three greyhound puppies and a few adolescents and I have literally never heard this from anyone - breeder or vet.

Yes, there are certain things you don't want to do or allow them to do before the growth plates (those nobs on the dog's legs they are talking about, I think) have closed.  Those plates are where the long bones create the material for more bone growth, they also help strengthen the bone that's there.  They operate through the absorption and release of particular hormones in a young, growing body, and if they get damaged through injury or disease, the bone growth can be interrupted or even halted.  These growth plates are generally finished with their work by the time a young dog reaches puberty.  The onset of adult hormones shuts them down and the plates naturally close and become hard bone.

This is the main reason most current thinking is to not spay/neuter puppies before they have reached puberty.  With female dogs, it's easy to tell the timing as they come jnto heat for the first time.  It's harder with male dogs because they don't have such an obvious marker for growing up and older.  However, a knowledgeable veterinarian can take an x-ray of the growth plates in a dog's leg and determine if those plates have closed or if they are still active

The main thing you don't want to do is a LOT of unnatural, repetitive stress on the joints and legs - which may be what all the people advising you are indicating.  But, personally, a puppy would need to be running up and down stairs *many many many* times a day for that level to be reached.  As long as he's tall enough to manage the stairs without tripping all over his feet, he should be fine to do them in the course of a normal day..

Here in the US a greyhound puppy at an average puppy farm would spend many hours every day just running and rough housing and playing with his littermates.  This builds muscle and stamina and uses their energy so they eat well and sleep through the night.  It's much more activity than a puppy finds in a home situation.  And there are very few instances of any puppy having growth plate issues - becoming sore, limping, muscle swelling or heat.

So I would not worry at all about an 8.5 month old puppy going up and down the stairs a few times a day.  Mine (male and female) have all gone up and down as they please as soon as they have been able to climb them, and we've had no growth plate issues at all.

If you need help in dealing with his Separation Anxiety in other situations, get the book or e-book "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell for step-by-step instructions on how to have your dog become comfortable being by himself.

Hello,
Thank you for the comprehensive response. Some of the information was already known to me, but fortunately you are never too old to learn, and there was quite a bit of new information in there as well. Well, I don't know why, but I have often heard this from vets, breeders and Greyhound (and other dog species) owners: the cartilage is not mature yet and it can lead to a life of discomfort and even pain if you put too much strain on it. We didn't want to take that risk.

Gradually I see more need in my Grey for activity. From now on I will ride my bike for a few minutes every day at a gentle trot. And also he can calmly go up the stairs once, and down the stairs in the morning for the morning ritual. And if that is an early one, he stays in his crate to sleep some more downstairs.

It is an awful coincidence that we were advised exactly that book last week. Thank you and we are diligently working on it.

All in all, some good advice and I think I'm feeling up to it now. I have seen too many times in my life the effects of neglect or at least wrong decisions in the very young stage of animals and as they get older. Both in cats and dogs. I wanted to avoid making stupid mistakes anyway and therefore inform myself well. He gets a well-balanced diet, the right amount of exercise, and apart from a lot of cuddles, a reasonably firm training. He's a little dragon at times and a lovely sack of potatoes at others.

Again, thanks for your input and in general thanks to others as well!

Greetings from the Netherlands.

[Advice needed on young Grey walking stairs]

13 minutes ago, palmettobug said:

So he won't do the stairs independently? Are they carpeted? Open back?

I have successfully trained 4 greys to do stairs, outside open back. They don't have a choice whether or not to do them, as we live on the second floor. Some super yummy treats, a little pushing and hind end moving, and a great reward at the top (lots of praise and a good meal!) and they want to drag ME up the stairs.

I am so terribly sorry, I wasn't clear enough. Our little one is very eager and capable of taking the stairs. (It's carpeted and closed) So there is absolutely no need for effort. He will take the stairs without any problems, multiple times a day since he was 4 months old.

However, almost everybody (breeders, owners, enthusiasts) and not just from the Greyhound world, told me that it was imperative for him not to take the stairs before his legs are fully grown. Especially with these long legged dragons. They told me that you can identify this by the lumps on his knees, they will go away when he reaches a more adult age. From the moment we learned that, we carried him up and down the stairs. But by gaining length and weight, it became impossible to maintain this habit. So we stopped and tried if we could keep him downstairs. That didn't work, and believe me, we've tried. O, how we tried... So the only possible solution was to move our bed into the living room. He stays in his bench but there has to be a better solution.

I hope I now definitely cleared up things.

Thanks for the answer, by the way! 

[Advice needed on young Grey walking stairs]

Just a cry for help. It has a lot to do with our Grey's separation anxiety/sticky behavior. He's 8.5 months old now. He still has those lumps on his paws. So it's not fully grown. Can anyone give me a clear answer to the following question:

Can we take our little dragon upstairs at night? He then walks independently, however with his harness on, so we lift him. In the morning when going out, eating and going out again is done, he stays downstairs in his crate until we come downstairs washed and dressed. Again, the harness with a handle.

It is a very short but very important question because now we sleep downstairs in the living room because the squeaking and screaming is not doable. We also have neighbors. Can someone please answer this?
 

Thank you thank you thank you very much for any advice.

[Harnes advice needed. Please help?]

A little update: eventually we chose the DOG Copenhagen Comfort Walk harness, in orange.
To all of you: thanks for your input! It was invaluable.

https://dogcopenhagen.com/en/dog_harnesses/29-502-comfort-walk-pro-harness.html#/2-size-xs/29-color-orange_sun

[Harnes advice needed. Please help?]

Thanks! He is (sometimes...😎)

[Harnes advice needed. Please help?]

This is a cross-posting. Sorry in advance!

Hello dear Grey lovers,
In my ongoing search for the perfect harness my final two candidates after a starting point of more than twenty, are:

https://hurtta.com/collections/harnesses/products/weekend-warrior-harness-eco?variant=39791233663125

https://ruffwear.com/products/front-range-everyday-dog-harness

Both in orange, because of the visibility on our grey Greyhound. We already have the Hurtta Weekend Warrior Collar and it is very well padded and very visible in the dark. It does get dirty quite easily, so it loses a lot of its bright orange.
My question for you is, is there anyone out there that has one of these two harnesses?

My dear Grey is now 6,5 months and it looks a bit as if the Hurtta misses out on the breast, it is just a little bit to loose. But I reckon that a 6,5 months old Grey will increase in breast muscle, right? Because with a little bit more of breast muscle it would fit perfectly. I'm leaning a bit towards the Hurtta, but for now (at 6,5 months) the Ruffwear fits just a little bit better. Both are more than capable of fitting a much larger dog, so I have to buy it on the grow.
The harness will be used as a first protection seat belt and secondly (also very important) for cycling tours (when he's old enough) with the Walky Dog Plus.
For walking the dog I use a little slipline. Any advice would be much appreciated. I have both harnesses for a couple of days and I have to make a decision without using them more than once.
Greetings, Herman Bril

 

The picture is when 4,5 months...

[Noob questions about feeding a Grey (puppy)]

On 11/23/2020 at 2:26 PM, cleptogrey said:

i tried green frozen tripe/5lb bullets(sausages) when my male was having kidney issues(p.s. his values went up, so i cut it out). it was totally gross- one needs to defrost it in a bin since the clamp at the end does not keep the blood contained. it was all over the fridge. also, one needs a separate freezer for bulk deliveries. at the time i was only purchasing 10/5lb bullets at a time. we had NO HUMAN food in the freezer. that is something to consider. living in a small small home( chateau bungalow) we do not have the space for a free standing freezer.

what does your vet say about this? i have a couple of friends who are vets- they roll their eyes at raw feeding.

Sorry, have not been well a few days.

My vet says she does not know (I called her yesterday) of any study that says that the use of dryfood is bad.

she is not a fan of raw before adulthood due to risks. If adult, then my choise but still no fan. One other vet (my old retired) thinks dry is good enough.

 

she left me very confused.

Same goes for Orije & Acana. Almost EVERY site gives Acana one of the highest scores and Purina Pro extreme low. I could give you the sites.

I haven’t a clue anymore. I want to give my new one good food with the best chance of getting through life without a nasty illness of premature death. Sounds logical, right?

I still have a few weeks of figuring out!

[Noob questions about feeding a Grey (puppy)]

1 hour ago, greysmom said:

I would not freeze the chicken legs - makes them too hard for little teeth and jaws - but raw occassionally should be fine.  My biggest issue is with the Acana kibble.  Here we are dealing with an epidemic (no, not THAT one!) of diet-induced Dilated Cardio Myeopathy (DCM) causing many dogs to die prematurely.  Currently the FDA is investigating the cause, but initially it is linked to boutique diets not containing whole grains.  The Acana doesn't have any grains, and the use of legumes as a substitute is to increase the protein levels - something a growing puppy doesn't need, as outlined above.  

Please choose a different kibble if you're going to hybrid feed.

We've raised two puppies on two different kibbles and they definitely do better on a large breed adult kibble like Purina.  Not too much protein, additional whole grains, scientifically tested and balanced diet.  A puppy needs access to all kinds of nutrients to grow properly.

FWIW, I would add in whole grains to a raw diet, commercial or home made, as it has also been linked to DCM.

Gosh, it is becoming rapidly ever so more complicated now... 
I am honestly torn between going full raw after all and kibble (the problem is that several websites say quite the contrary of what you are stating!). It is very hard to make a decision.
Just for the record: if you buy instant raw deep-frozen, you got these big sausages and I wonder how in heaven you people split these into workeable parts? Do you use electric knives? Or a plain old cleaver?
Still got a few weeks to decide!

Thanks for the input, though! Greetings, Herman

[Noob questions about feeding a Grey (puppy)]

3 hours ago, Remolacha said:

Didn’t mean to imply you were out in the sticks  I guess turkey is just as popular in Europe as over here, cheap and feeds a lot of people, but it is not my favorite bird. Dogs seem to like it though!

I was just messing around of course. However, I seldomly eat meat but when I do, I prefer a piece of turkey or a slice of turkey on my bread. Funny, right?

[Noob questions about feeding a Grey (puppy)]

Ducks is a good idea! But I reckon that in the first few months that he is able to consume chicken necks, these will suffice. But if they become too small for our little piranah, I will step it up to something bigger.

By the way, our local butchers and supermarkets and even street markets sell chicken, duck, kangaroo, and even some occasional crocodile meat. Turkey has been on European diets for decades now. Believe me, here in Europe we are not in the bush-bush... :-) 

[Noob questions about feeding a Grey (puppy)]

Indeed I will not start with bones until the little bugger is old enough! I will not cook bones, but some chicken necks maybe when he's a few months old is a fine start to see how he reacts to it.

[Noob questions about feeding a Grey (puppy)]

Hello,

 

Quite new here on this Grey forum. In a couple of weeks our puppy will arrive in our home in The Netherlands. We have had many cats and dogs, but never a puppy! So this is new for us.

That is why I have a little bit of a noob question about food for the little bugger.

 

I’m a fan of raw food; it feels natural. However, after many years of research and talks with many dog owners and veterinarians, I have come to the conclusion that there isn’t a real need for raw food.

I might be wrong, though. However, for my new puppy I am planning (he will be around 8/9 weeks) to give him a breakfast of a frozen chicken leg and a dinner of kibble (Acana puppy for the first six months), combined with an egg, some veggies, a little bit of stock and some bread. In the daytime he can have a frozen Kong filled with some peanutbutter, meat and dried fish. I have chosen Acana for the availability and the quality compared to the price. During the day he will have some Farmfood trainers (probably a lot) and a Yak cheese chew. I also will have a Nylabone for him, but only when he’s a little bit older (6+ months).

 

There is some controversy around chicken (uncooked, I know). So I would like to know when to start (if at all) feeding like this.

 

So to be thorough:

•Frozen chicken leg in the morning, yea or nay?

•An alternative for frozen chicken leg (for healthy teeth)?

•When to start with bones?

•What kind of bones?

•My choice of dinner is a good choice or not?

 

These are my questions. I do hope that you lovely people can help out a little bit.

 

Have a greyt day!