LazyGrey

My dog tolerate tooth brushing for 2 years without an issue, but one day, while brushing his teeth, he growled, then bit me (didn't draw blood) and I am not doing it again myself. I always try to be gentle but may have hit a nerve or something. Took him to the vet and got his teeth cleaned, that was $1200! and will be part of my pet care expense. But in the mean time, I have scoured the internet for a good tooth brushing toy that would actual brush their teeth and under gums. Rubber nibs cannot possibly do a good job and don't want to give him actual bones. I can't understand why there isn't a round brush toy with nylon bristles. The only toy with actual bristles is not well designed. Has anyone found something that actually works to clean teeth AND under gums?

Never occurred to me to think of getting a stretcher! Great info, I will check it out. Seems like a good thing to have even if you hopefully never need it. I have a muzzle that I would definitely use in such a situation.

Great idea on the tooth brushing! Tooth brushing was going well for us until he bit me today while brushing his teeth. He has past biting issues and I could have seen this coming - he was laying down, and I had to talk him into coming in to the kitchen to brush his teeth...so he really didn't want to. My daughter works for a vet and said to just put the enzyme tooth past on the dental chew and let it do the work. I am going to try this, because honestly I'm not willing to risk it again. I'm glad the food info was helpful! Just make sure you are giving enough calories for your dogs weight and to weigh every thing - every time to make sure he is getting enough and the right proportions. It is not the easiest way to feed a dog and certainly not the cheapest, but I feel good about it and he loves the food. And he's been consistently healthy. It costs me about $150 a month to feed him on this diet. Also, because I live alone, I have a notebook in his bag with feeding instructions along with all his quirks for my kids in case someone else has to take care of him, since changing a diet drastically can cause major issues. What we do for these strange dogs! Yes, Nordic Naturals on the sardine/anchovy oil.

My here goes out to anyone having gone through the issues with osteosarcoma. My dogs adoption papers it stated "broken leg" (at age 4) and I never got the whole story on what actually happened, but you can tell it was just above the ankle. I haven't seen any issues and the vet doesn't either. But thinking ahead, if they do break a leg, how do you handle this situation with such a large dog? My dog has bitten me before and has space issues, so I can't imagine how I would physically get him to a vet in such a situation. I do have a carry/lift belt for a large dog just in case, but when they are in pain and knowing your dealing with a broken bone, how do you get them safely to the vet?

@Toni...same! My greyhound does the exact same thing with going for a ride in the car. In the house, if I say "Go for a ride in the car?" oh man does he get excited, I put the leash on, (and now its cold out so put his coat on and my coat on etc) we go out the door and suddenly he puts on the break. When we go for a ride it's usually to the pet store, or the hardware store or the park etc, all places he loves to go, but the minute we go out the door he freezes. I have to bribe him with treats all the way to the car. He can jump into the car, but won't, I have to pick up his front end, then the back end...bit of a hassle, then we're good. I don't know if he stops and remembers something negative about the car but it's every time. Ugghh. My dog is also very lazy. He doesn't play with toys, doesn't play really. And he is the only dog I've ever had that will look at you with a blank expression when asked if he wants to go potty. then he'll come to me 15 min later and decide he HAS to go out. The other night, I tried to get him to go outside before I had to go to bed. Nope, no interest, so I put my pajamas on and got ready for bed. After I got settled in bed and ready to go to sleep, he comes in and has to go out. So I get up, change clothes and out we went. It must seem really hilarious to him to see what I have to go through - but it is a bit infuriating LOL. I think he does it on purpose or maybe he has to sit there..not wanting to bother really until it's urgent. Weirdo!

The flexi leashes on a strong dog are bad news because of how easily they can come out of a persons hand. When I see someone with a dog that pulls excessively on one of those leashes, I stay clear. I bought one a long time ago and after one use could see how bad they were with a strong dog. The Greyhound shelter where I got my dog also warned to never use them.

We were on our walk the other day in the neighborhood. I noticed a guy standing next to the open door of his truck and heard loud barking coming from the dog inside. The dog, a large black Newfoundland, leaped out of the car (unleashed)and came running toward us very aggressively barking - he got right up to my dog, my dog just stood his ground and growled, the guy grabbed the dog right as it came nose to nose with mine. It was horrifying. My dog does not like other dogs and I am constantly watching for loose dogs and have on several occasions had to yell at people to "GET YOUR DOG" when they come toward us unrestrained. I'm just so sick of it. My dog really does not like other dogs and he's been in training but he has space issues and I don't feel like I can trust him to approach another dog. Probably a big part of it is my own fear of him getting hurt or hurting another dog. I tried a behaviorist but wasn't very impressed. I am looking for another one to help with meeting other dogs while out walking - to train us both!

Ark has never apologized either! He is a wonderful dog but has these occasional issues. I did see a behaviorist with him who was adamant that I stop letting him on the bed, to reestablish that as my territory, not his. I tried that for a few weeks but in the end, I decided that our mornings together were really special times to bond and there have been no issues while we are both in the bed, it was an issue more with him being there first. I decided to try desensitizing him when he's on the bed, sitting on the corner of the bed when he's on it, and talking to him briefly. then laying down on a separate area of the bed, not close to him. He is much better now, but I still do not reach over to touch him before or after getting in. In the morning when he wakes up, he's a different dog and wants to cuddle. I'm hoping to learn more from the hip X-rays to see if there is something that is bothering him, or causing chronic pain. I've gotten a list of behaviorist from a trainer and will continue to search for one who can help him. I'm glad I adopted him, like children, they come the way they are and we just have to love and support them the best we can.

Sad circumstances with a happy ending for Gracie. Love your big hearts!

Ark has serious sleep startle and there is absolutely no touching him in his bed, asleep or awake. He started sleeping on my bed early on, which I was warned about but he has never bitten me while sleeping with him. The problem tho is if he is on the bed before me, he will growl if I attempt to lay down anywhere near him. My solution was to throw a treat to the opposite bottom corner of the bed, when he moves to get it, I can safely get into bed, and we're good after that. In the morning, he is always laying next to me, I make a playful sound and I can read his body posture that he is ready to cuddle or play. Recently he has started going to bed on his own bed and coming into my bed in the middle of the night - problem solved! He does have aggression issues and has bitten me about 4 times - non bed related. Once when pushing his rear end lightly to get him to move..snap! Another time, we were in a hall way that wasn't well lit, I put a piece of material up to the side of his leg to measure it and snap! He was returned from two homes before I adopted him for biting, I've had him for three years and I am not giving up on him - this is his forever home. He has never drawn blood and I live alone so I don't have anyone else to worry about. I have recently had hip X-rays done to see if he is protecting his back end as he often whimpers when going to lay down on the floor - we'll see. He is on Fluoxetine, the rescue group had him on canna companion but the vet does not believe it will help, it's also very expensive. Wondering if anyone else has a similar situation.

After adopting my greyhound, I tried different commercial foods, introducing them slowly into the food the agency gave me. He had loose stools to diarrhea, constantly. It wasn't until I started home cooked meals that his stools became normal and they have stayed that way. And after having several other rescue mixed breed dogs, with cancer, fatty tumors, etc, I decided to see if a good diet could help prevent some of these common issues. So now the diet is 100% organic and because of this I am very careful how it is all prepared. I steam the vegetables to not over cook them, same with the turkey or chicken. Every bit of food is weighed carefully. He is 65 lbs, stays a healthy lean weight without any problem of weight gain and he loves his food. He gets 12-14 oz. of food twice a day. This consists of 3.5 oz of meat (chicken or turkey, twice a week sardines with an egg) 6oz of A green and yellow vegetable: squash, japanese or purple yams, carrots etc, broccoli, green beans, frozen peas, smaller amounts of kale or spinach. 3.5 oz of a healthy starch like potatoes, oatmeal, quinoa (soak overnight and drain before cooking is important to remove the saponins and improve digestibility) I put the vegetables into my food processor to chop them up a bit (not to puree them). To his food I add an anchovy sardine oil, glucosamine, vitamin and probiotic. I make his treats: In the food processor I mix up 3 cups ground oats, 3/4 cup of peanut butter and 1 cup of blueberries, banana or pumpkin. Press onto baking sheet, score into small squares, and bake at 220 for as long as it takes for them to dry. He gets a handful of treats in a normal day. He also gets one Denta Stix every day. Needless to say, this is not a cheap diet, but if it keeps him healthy. My goal is better health and fewer vet bills. He recently had his teeth cleaned (it had been 3 years) - no extractions and the vet stated there was very little plaque. I do brush his teeth with an enzyme tooth paste about 3 times a week and should be doing it everyday..working on that! Hope this is helpful. This has been his diet for two years and seems to be working well for him.