Jackandgrey

My three sleep on beds in my bedroom. Occasionally Jessie gets on my bed. The boys, never!

I can't imagine a better life than the one Kendra had with you both. Imagine how many people's lives she touched in her travels with you. How truly wonderful is that? I know the hole she will leave in your lives will be huge and the pain deep but I am oh so glad to have met her here. Run pain free Kendra.

I think part of the problem is one you identified. They are kittens and they run. That probably has him very excited to see what in heck they are. Cat testing is generally is not done with busy kittens. I totally understand your anxiety. You are quite right that there are hounds who would not even blink at them. I have had a couple of those myself. Yours may very well be fine in the end but it likely will take weeks not days if it is going to work. But you know if you feel this is not going to work that is really okay. It will take a fair bit of work I think. Do call your group and have an honest chat with someone there.

I would just like to jump in and say when doing your alone training, the idea is not to do 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes etc in ever increasing lengths of time. All you may be doing is teaching an anxious dog to hold it together for as long as they can till they can't anymore. You want to do is no rational order of time durations such that that the dog can't anticipate or figure, I just need to wait a little longer and they will be home. For example, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, 7 then 5 then 10 then 2 then 12 then 15 then 10 then 20 ........ get the picture? You ideally want your dog to NOT be anticipating your return cause they have no idea when this might be and geez I am bored silly with this game just go! With each leaving and return you would give and take away the kong and otherwise ignore the dog as mentioned earlier.

I'm so sorry Rachael. I know much it hurts. Your boy couldn't have had a better life than with you. I'm so sorry he had to leave you.

I really really wish I had done more with Jilly other than the basics. She was smart as a whip and so very willing to learn. She had the best recall of any dog I know. I am doing some beginning work with Jess now. She is doing pretty well but is not quite as focused. Still she enjoys it and so so very food motivated I call her my little trucker .

Well hell! That doesn't help much does it? I'm glad it's stopped for now and hopefully for good.

I am so very sad for you Tena. What a joy he was. That is so clear in your words. You have my deepest sympathy.

Great post above! Thanks.

I'm so sorry. We'll miss Koda, your spooky girl.

While you are training a reliable off the bed, or any other time you want to remove him it really is better to use the leash attached to the collar, turn away and an upbeat let's go, rather than tug at the collar. Then when training the off, remember, that tossing the treat for him to chase off the bed isn't really teaching him the behavior you want. The treat should be the reward for the action you want. Also I wonder if he is cold come the middle of the night? That's when Jill used to leap into bed with me and I succumbed to the jammies thing. She stopped when she was warm.

Great news! Hang in for spring Onyx!

How very sad. The greyhound world has lost much; her husband everything. What a greeting she must have had at the bridge. I know my Jilly will be lining up to audition!

Chances are if your dog is an easy going boy he will get along just fine with the girl you have your eye on. The boys generally don't mind the girls bossing them around . I am not of the school that they need to pick out their own companion unless they are unusually aggressive or have some other extreme personality issue. You also need to like the dog.If the girl in the foster home likes to be around other greys all should soon be well in your expanded family, None of mine chose the newcomers to the household but I was clear about what personality type I wanted. All the introductions were smooth as could be. And the sex didn;t matter at all. But personally, I found it fun to have one of each. Yes you may need to muzzle for a bit. You may need to watch that you don;t leave coveted toys out when you are not there. And definitely not leave chews or bones out.

I'm so sorry Heather. I'm glad he came to you. It's clear from your words how much he was loved.

Let me tell you about my Joshy . One day on a Sunday evening, for no reason that I was able to determine, his raised feeder sprung apart sending his dish flying in the air. He fled the kitchen naturally. (Jilly waited for the food to land to score extra). Of course I thought that was it for Joshy in the kitchen. But no, Monday more there he was front and centre at his station waiting for breakfast and every meal after that until Wednesday at supper. Suddenly it hit him, I am absolutely NOT going in there and I am NOT eating out of that dish. I almost died you know! Three days later!! I tried everything to get him back in there, Time, different bowls, fabulous food. Inching the bowl closer to the kitchen. Finally I gave up and he now eats in the hall.out of different bowls that sit on the floor. So frankly although it probably can be done, in the end I decided it wasn't worth the effort. Bless their little brains

Just to mention that my Jill had a grumbly growl that I worried about in regards to me when she came home as a two year old. I dutifully booted her off the furniture because it wasn't on. As the years went by I came to know that for her, it was in know way a threat. It really was just grumping. As in "do you have to move so much when I'm so comfy?" or whatever. But we knew each other very well. I used to just laugh at her and grump right back. Sigh. I miss that now. Anyway, I would never correct a growl but would try to avoid the circumstances that illicit one. As you get to know your girl better over time, you will definitely learn to understand each other's language more clearly when you are as motivated as you are.

I suppose you could be even more judgmental if you tried but it is rarely helpful in any discussion involving health and welfare to dump all over people who may not meet your standards of care.

I would order but the shipping costs as much as the boot. Sigh.

I'm so very sorry for the loss of your most special girl.

It is possible he is doing this cause there is someone in the guest room as apposed to a medical reason. It would be interesting if you could set up a webcam after your company is gone.

I would also suggest a longer course of antibiotics might be in order. Sometimes the usual length of time just doesn't do the trick. That sounds fascinating Dick. Can't hurt!

There are just no words. I am so very very sorry.

I certainly would not do an MRI. They should do bloodwork. I would be insisting on medication at this point and in that case he will need to have bloodwork regularly to monitor blood levels. I know they are terrible to watch but the chances are good you can get them controlled. Hugs for your boy.

I'm so sorry BJ. Your special boy will be missed by many.