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Xan

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    She's So Submissive, She's Boring. Help!

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    Oh, I've just been reminded of some of our early experiences with each of our hounds (4 total). Each one starts out with what we called "moving target syndrome". That's when they follow you around, even into the bathroom, if you let them. Since they haven't learned what your movements might end up meaning, and since you ARE the only thing moving (generally, as opposed to, say, furniture), and sometimes you dispense food, or walks ... their interest is already focused on you. They're learning you, and therefore their new environment. That's a pretty good place to start, actually. Her mind is already ready, willing and actively in LEARN mode. :)

     

    When we first got Brilly, and he was like your Circe, he wasn't even happy to go for walks. He would "give us the head" - sort of hook his head on your leg and stare up at you, like, "Where are we going? Do you realize you're walking away from HOME??" He wouldn't do his business except at home, and if he really had to go, and we were a ways off, he was obviously anxious to return. We couldn't get him off the road and onto the dirt trails around our home except with much coaxing, praising, demonstrating, celebrating and time. Step over a fallen log???? Horrors! :lol

     

    In a few months, that dog and I walked those trails two hours a day, and the only time I "got the head" was if he thought our walk was ending too soon!

     

    But he still wasn't a happy-go-lucky dog. New things would scare the crap out of him (a kid behind us on a skateboard, a train, a concrete lion on a doorstep, a trash bag that wasn't usually there ....) But, each fright that passed without his death made him that much more confident. He's pretty solid, now. Fireworks, thunder, new people, being left alone for a few hours ... Piece of cake. And then he's so happy to see us come home! :D

     

    TONS of good advice in here, and a lot of experiences to show that yours is not uncommon, and that time will make the difference. Hang in there!

    Is This A Common Greyhound Trait?

    in Food and dietary discussion

    Posted

    We've had gas, no gas, some gas, gas that could melt your hair right off, and gas we heard but never smelled.

     

    The food they eat is the first place to look, of course, once you've ruled out parasites, which can take a few rounds.

     

    We've had decent luck with a chicken based high quality kibble, but the best we've had was while on a totally vegan diet, based mostly on sprouted beans (cooked and ground, with veggies, cooked and fresh, plus enzymes). We moved to a vegan kibble, and they did quite well on that too, until the price drove us back to the chicken kibble. :( Now, their fur is greasy and I'm seeing dandruff where I never did before. :(

     

    But, the gas isn't bad, as long as they get a half-dose of enzymes. That's a self-defense supplement! :lol

    She's So Submissive, She's Boring. Help!

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    Welcome, Sillyrabbit. :)

    I hear you! As so many of us here, my first greyhound experience was like yours. I had inherited a small poodle, who was my only previous dog experience. When Brilly joined us, I thought I was making him miserable, since he rarely seemed interested or happy with anything. Like several have said, it took months before he seemed to care or understand that we were his new family, that he could count on us, and care about us; connect with us. We had to leave town for a long weekend towards the end of our first year with him, and when we picked him up from the sitters (his original foster family), he was ... THRILLED! He bounced and twirled, bumped us, wagged at us, grinning like an ape the whole time. After that, the bond continued to grow, and each year has meant more and more personality developing, and us being able to read each other and respond to each others' moods better and better. He now groans with joy to lay his head in our laps, leaps to plant kisses on my husband's cheek, tolerates the grasping hands of grandchildren, and has destroyed his share of stuffies.

    I second (or third) the suggestions to do some active positive reinforcement training (clicker training is awesome) with her. It's a great way to engage with your dog. By doing this, she'll learn how to communicate with you, that engaging with you is a rewarding thing and over time, build a strong and trusting relationship with you. You'll also be interacting with her intensely and really start to see the ways she does interact come to really appreciate it. A formal class is great, but you can also totally do this on your own. I also can't emphasize enough that it's not uncommon at all for these guys to take a long time to show more overt aspects of their personality. It's like slowly peeling away the layers of an onion over the course of months and even years.

    This is fabulous advice, in my mind. Here's an example of a lazy-quick way to start being suddenly interesting: Every time your girl goes to bed, say happily, "Good Bed! Good girl!" and toss her a treat. A few times of that, and she's going to start looking to you for these magic moments. Pick other behaviors you might want to have on command, like Sit (catch her in that moment before she's all the way down, and praise-treat), or bow (catch her when she does that big stretch with front legs down and butt in the air), or Down ..... The possibilities become endless as you watch for them. When she learns that good things can happen because of something she does, she'll have learned to learn, and start offering behavior to you so that you can respond.

     

    Speaking of bathroom breaks on the walks, she seems to get distracted easily. She'll start to squat and then change her mind. Sometimes she'll go on the first try, sometimes it will take her another block of intense sniffing and half squatting. Is this a normal greyhound thing?

    Oh, completing her business is a great one to catch as a behavior to put on command, by the way. Helps her to focus and wrap it up if there might be a treat in it for her. ;)

     

    I wish I knew then what I've learned since, but we all start somewhere, and greys can be mysterious at first. There are lots of really wonderful positive training books out, if you haven't dipped into that resource yet. Your pup is a puzzle to you, as you are to her, for now. Enjoy learning about each other! colgate.gif

     

     

    Please, Please, Please Pray For My Beau Beau

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Adding my chant to the mix!!!

     

    **Beau, tres beau,

    Your bones are whole.

    As the love is strong,

    Between you and your mom,

    Is the strength of your bones.

    Beau, tres beau!**

    coolman.gifRepeat!!

     

     

    **Beau, tres beau,

    Your bones are whole.

    As the love is strong,

    Between you and your mom,

    Is the strength of your bones.

    Beau, tres beau!**

    coolman.gifRepeat!!

     

    **Beau, tres beau,

    Your bones are whole.

    As the love is strong,

    Between you and your mom,

    Is the strength of your bones.

    Beau, tres beau!**

    coolman.gifRepeat!!

    Clark Needs Prayers Again - Tumor Removal

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    That's awesome! So fast!! :D

     

    Still chanting for good test results!

    ** Clark, to pass this test, all you have to do is not have cancer! Easy-peasy! NOT doing something is so much easier than DOing something, right? :bounce Clark, to pass this test, all you have to do is not have cancer! Easy-peasy! NOT doing something is so much easier than DOing something, right? :bounce Clark, to pass this test, all you have to do is not have cancer! Easy-peasy! NOT doing something is so much easier than DOing something, right? :bounce Clark, to pass this test, all you have to do is not have cancer! Easy-peasy! NOT doing something is so much easier than DOing something, right? :bounce **

    Kelly Update!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Poor Kelly! :( I hope the ABs do the trick.

    FWIW, I've been adding a splash of cranberry juice to my 3 cats' food (they've each had cystitis over the last few years, despite food changes, etc.), and so far so good! They don't even seem to notice it. Maybe it could be part of a maintenance thing for Kelly.

     

    Good luck!!

    Harley

    in Remembrance

    Posted

    I'm so sorry. I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face. Your description of Harley's final month, his decline, your pain ... :(

    :bighug :bighug :bighug

     

    That you were able to take him for that last sad ride, to finally ease his pain, and let him let go of his poor body, that final act of love for "your son", was a gift. He left knowing just how much you had loved him all along.

     

    :bighug :bighug :bighug

    My Badly-Behaved Child...

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    This reminds me of how often I've scolded myself with, "Good, Xan! Lead with your face!" or, "Great! Put your face in a blender, why dontcha?" :P I get scolded like this when I bend down over my pups in a moment of happy affection, and get happily smacked/bumped/knocked/shaked into, or even run over (pretty much exclusively by Pogo :rolleyes: ) I've had a near-concussion, black eye, split lip ... :P Maybe, just maybe, it was HS's face just in the wrong place at the wrong time?

     

    If, as you suppose, she was cranky getting left behind, and took it out on HS, that's just good info to have, and a basis to start desensitizing from, right?

     

    I hope you can travel with your spouse again, even without your pups. Maybe in shorter training trips, and well-managed (muzzles when in doubt?)

     

    :bighug

     

     

    Indoor Exercise

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    I kind of like the velcro idea, or some kind of break-away, though it would pretty much be a game ender the way Pogo plays. That's another reason the pvc pipe works for us. He'd break one of those whippy things in about 2 minutes! :lol He's such a bruiser (literally!) It's not too heavy, though a slightly lighter-weight version wouldn't hurt. It's just what we had lying around.

    Indoor Exercise

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted · Edited by Xan

    Lure pole!

    When walking isn't a good option, or only short walks, or just because Pogo will otherwise drive me insane not let me work, lure pole is my savior.

    P-lure-9.jpg

    DSCF2191.jpg

    As you can see, we just used a 1" pvc pipe, drilled a hole in the end, and tied a toy to it. We started with a stuffie, but getting thwacked with a muddy stuffie from time to time was really a drag! :P So then we tried a gallon plastic jug, but the wind blew it around too much. Then we tried one of those rubber honey-comb-type balls, and that has been a winner. Tough, cuts through the air, has enough weight, and isn't quite so wet when it hits you. :lol

    We've learned many ways to move with it to keep Pogo going (he's the only one that will play with it, and he's obsessed!) The latest is to just swing it along on the other side of the fence. He chases it and goes NUTS! We play in the yard with muzzles on all the dogs, so getting it back from him when he does catch it might seem easy, but no! He can pin that thing down like nobody's business! P-lure-8.jpg After a few shoulder and wrist injuries :P I figured out how to line up with his head and just take off running with the pole. I can usually get it away from him that way. :rolleyes:

    I'll leave you with a picture of my bathtub after rinsing off the spring mud off him from one of our little sessions. He did learn to jump into the bath, or hold still for the hose, with all the practice!

    P-lure-11.jpg

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