Onyfalk

I just learned about the "bucket game" today and I'm keen to give it a go with my foster hound who is very sensitive about her feet. You should look it up.

Each time it sounds like he's anxious and looking for reassurance. My girl has also been marking indoors recently and I know that giving her more attention and cuddles has reduced the frequency. Ive also been told to make sure that the dog is out of the room when you clean up so that they don't see you paying lots of attention to their pee-mail.

It takes time to build a relationship and forcing her into the car probably damaged her trust in you. I would play games and treat heavily around the van. When she's more comfortable play with the doors open, then when she's comfortable with that try tossing a treat into the van where she can reach without getting in... Keep it really fun and low pressure. If you ever *need* to get her into the van make sure there's a clear signal that this isn't the same as the usual games or she might regress.

I have tried that but both dogs got upset. At the moment my husband takes our foster out first and as soon as they are out of sight I leave with my dog and take her a different route. When my husband gets in he gives a long lasting treat otherwise our foster will stand at the door and wait for us to come home.

My foster hound has a racing injury and is supposed to rest up but she really loves her walks and doesn't want to be separated from my dog. Balancing the different needs of each is quite challenging. I don't want my dog to suffer because of my choice to foster and I underestimated how hard it would be to split my time between them. I also wasn't expecting her to enthusiastically whack my husband hard in the nuts before every walk. Im pretty sure it's ment as a sign of affection but he doesn't appreciate it.

I wanted another hound but wasn't sure how they would fit in and how much extra work it would be so I'm fostering. So far I'm finding it more difficult than expected but it's been really helpful to have a trial run.

Could you play her favourite game with her while slowly getting closer to the vent? No pressure on the dog, just lots of distraction and praise. If she looks uncomfortable you give her a bit more space and carry on with the game. As a temporary solution I would keep the heat off while she's in the house. Stick it on a timer or get an app to turn it on when you are out walking her. We did this with the air con last summer because my dog hates drafts.

You're a middle aged couple with no kids but your bedroom floor is littered with cuddly toys.

He's probably telling you that he likes to sleep naked. I wouldn't push it, my girl will wear a coat but if she thinks I'm overdressing her then she goes all wriggly and tries to escape. I made her a simple coat that's a single layer of fleece, lined with an old jersey cotton sheet. It's lighter than anything I could find pre-made and she's much happier to put it on. She won't wear anything indoors but has duvets and Sherpa blankets to snuggle into.

I've swapped from STAS to the 7 day reactivity challenge - £7 for 7 days of content. I couldn't resist at that price point given how much we love STAS. So far it's been perfectly targeted to my grey who is both nervous and excitable around other animals but it's going to take much longer than 7 days to get good at some of the games/techniques. These are a few links from rescue week. We have found the optimism building ones very helpful. https://game.absolute-dogs.com/growing-confidence https://game.absolute-dogs.com/multi-dog-household https://game.absolute-dogs.com/rescue-dog-s-and-kids https://game.absolute-dogs.com/separation-struggles

I follow a similar routine with my girl (ex racer, straight from kennels) but we do an additional pee break just before bed. She has had one accident but she had an upset tummy at the time. Now that the days are so short it's no longer possible to get a full hour in before/after work. Im sure we will be back to 3 hour sniffaris when the evenings are long and warm again.

They have loads of free resources but it's hard to find them if your not part of their Facebook group. Try this one: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://absolutedog.s3.amazonaws.com/OptimismROCKS_08.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjCo42zqeXzAhWeBmMBHdugCh8QFnoECAUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1sMcvU5kRjD2tq56lgkKQv

I'm on day 17 of the challenge and really enjoying it. It doesn't feel like a chore like traditional obedience training and the difference in my hound is incredible. She's way more playful, affectionate, trusting and less reactive to other dogs. We haven't actively worked in the recall bits yet but we do play on-lead and in the house. So far most of the games are fine to do indoors but you may want to lower the energy levels. We have made a bit of a mess while tearing through the house together. I do think they could show more training sessions with larger dogs/more reserved dogs. They mostly use very active and excitable small to medium size dogs for demos but they constantly encourage you to be creative and change the games to suit you/your dog. All the games would theoretically work with a greyhound but I'm pretty short so the ones where you need to get the dog running through your legs etc don't work for us. Even skipping those games I think we will have plenty of fun stuff to do for the next 2-3 months once you include all the free ebooks and videos and of course we repeat games. After that I suspect I will be buying another course.

Could have been a bee/wasp sting. It's wasp die off time here and those stings can be really sore. If the dog doesn't realise what happened then it's really scary for them too. You could also look up 'trigger stacking', the basic idea is that your dog can only take a certain amount of stimulation (good and bad) before he gets overwhelmed. We have been doing the 'sexier than a squirrel challenge' by Absolute Dogs with our nervous girl. It's designed to help you get your dog off lead but we are mainly doing it to build confidence and trust. It's inexpensive and my hound thinks it's the most fun thing ever.

My hound would find it very stressful to be tied to a desk in an open plan office. If there was a a comfy and secluded spot for her like a store room then she would likely slink there herself. There are no guarantees but I think you have a good chance getting this to work with a retired grey. I know some of my local group take their dogs to the office.

Have you tried distracting her as you approach other dogs? Usually I can just put myself between my girl and the other dog and try to keep her attention. If I sense trouble I call my girl to me for a treat so that her tail is towards the other dog. She will even let them sniff if bribed/fussed sufficiently and not on a tight lead. We are working one to one with a trainer but his advice is to avoid other dogs and continue obedience training which doesn't help in the short term. Watching this thread with interest as I would love to see my girl getting on with other dogs.

My hound has refused all the beds, cooling mats, toys etc I bought her. She does love her duvets and has accepted a couple of yoga mats as acceptable warm weather alternatives. Rugs are also appreciated. Keep the tags on everything you buy and be prepared for your hound to choose the most inconvenient, awkward and uncomfortable looking places to snooze.

Our dog is very similar but it's hard to complain when she spends so much time quietly waiting for us and is no trouble at all in the house. I asked the rescue for an affectionate sofa buddy but I got a judgemental fitness coach. The rescue has repeatedly suggested we adopt a second greyhound which is very tempting.

My girl completely refused to go down stairs. She went up pretty easily, I just went straight up the stairs after our walk and she followed the lead. I tried everything to get her down, all kinds of treats, holding her harness so she had support, manually moving her feet one by one, carrying her almost to the bottom of the stairs so she only had to do a couple of steps. I even put down a runner to make the stairs easier to grip but nothing worked and the more I tried to coax her the more scared she got. Just as I thought she would never do it I heard her coming down the stairs without me. I watched as she carefully went all the way to the bottom of the stairs before going back up and doing it again like she was practicing. She still isn't super comfortable going downstairs and won't do it if people are too close. I think she just needed a bit of time without me hovering over her.

Update: We had been seeing slow but steady improvements especially around feeding. No major breakthroughs until... My parents came to stay and we had a full house with me, hubby, the in-laws (who live nearby) and my parents. Daisy was shy on day 1 but quickly warmed to my mum in particular. She actually started showing affection, putting her head in our laps and wanting to be where things were happening. We all had a lovely weekend hiking and Daisy has been much more confident since then. Unfortunately her new found confidence has come with a new problem. She growls and lunges at specific dogs on our usual walks. She doesn't do it when we are somewhere unfamiliar so I think it's a territorial thing. Her targets tend to be medium to large male dogs who are shy and/or keep their distance from her. Dogs who come to greet her are fine. I have never let Daisy off lead in a public place so I don't know what she would do if she was able to approach one of these dogs

Update: Thanks for the shampoo tip, that did the trick. Daisy stopped scratching straight away and most of her coat has grown back in. She's still a bit sparse around the thighs but I think it will grow in. The vet also prescribed Apoquel but it violently disagreed with Daisys tummy and she was toileting blood every 2 hours day and night for a week. Gave me a proper scare! The vet is pushing me to swap Daisy to a soy based diet to rule out food allergies but her tummy is still delicate. While she's comfortable I don't see any reason to rush into another treatment so I'm just going to keep bathing her for the next month and see how she goes.

It's spring and she has just come in from a cool kennel to a warm house so I think shedding is normal. I'm just not sure that she should lose so much. I wanted to ask here where people are familiar with the breed before putting her through the stress of a vets visit especially as hair loss can be stress related. Also the hot spot spray is specifically for dogs so I think it should be ok for her. It does seem to be helping.

How long have you had him? My girl has been with us 2 months and she is pretty much as you described. If I'm really lucky she might snuggle into me little while I pet her but that's about as affectionate as she gets. Her behaviour is still changing so I don't know if this is her 'normal' or just a part of setting in. You are lucky your boy tail wags, I have to go on posture and facial expressions/ears.

I was expecting a baldy bum but my hound has lost all the under coat along her back. The skin underneath is dry, itchy and flaking but not red. Is this something to be concerned about? I have started adding yuderm to her food (salmon and borrage oils) and am applying a hot spot spray to the worst areas (aloe vera and teatree). I'm also using a zoom groom twice a day. Is there anything else I can do to make her more comfortable?

Update in case anyone else has similar issues: My husband has been doing almost all the feeding for the last couple of weeks and has spent lots of time lying on the floor coaxing her with bits of chicken but she still isnt comfortable with him. She is friendly with women we meet on our walks and will make a beeline for the neighbors who give her treats (all female) but shes skittish around young-ish men. I think we didnt notice it at first because she was shy around everyone. Better news on the house side of things, a few days ago she started to explore and now has a little routine where she will wander through every room downstairs when we get in from a walk or pee break. She even followed me into my husbands office today and when she realised that he was busy (and not paying any attention to her) spent some time sniffing about and then getting pets and a treat from me.