turbotaina

So...after some time with you, a dog is not allowed give you its opinion? When hubby plays too roughly with Heyokha, Heyokha will growl to tell him to back off. I'm fine with that and so is hubby. And I think it makes for a happier dog because we are listening to him when he is telling us in the only way he knows how, that he is uncomfortable. And yeah, I'm well versed in doggie language, too. That, to me, is holding our end of the trust bargain.

Yep, all this And note that you're not looking at a breed specific issue, it's just a dog issue - any dog can resource guard. Look into Dr. Patricia McConnell's books for really good, positive training advice. When we first brought my current greyhound home, he would resource guard toys and anything else he thought was fabulous and his. He also had some very limited space guarding issues (mostly limited to when he was seriously resting, but not sleeping). We've had him not quite two years yet and he's come a long way. We had to use trading up a lot - and I still do it. In fact, he so used to trading up that now when he takes an inappropriate object, he'll immediately drop it and come looking for a treat. He has us well trained Note that while this is workable in most dogs, there are some that are just life-long guarders, so you may have to limit toys or he may never be a furniture dog. That doesn't mean that he's a bad pet, it just means you'll have to manage the environment. We do it (mostly because our naughty boy will EAT inappropriate objects) and it's become second nature. Congratulations on your boy

Valerie, I'm not sure where you're going now, but I understand that Dr. Tisches at Bush (Springfield) is very good: http://bvns.net/about/our-specialists/ I have a number of friends who have gone to her with both greyhounds and non-greyhounds, and I understand her to be very personable and involved with her clients. I hope you can get it worked out - your wishes are certainly not unrealistic. As far as "how long is too long" to be on pred - well, that depends on the dog. Long term use can certainly be problematic - I had a friend who treated her greyhound for about a year or so and he began to get skin infections and "'roid rage". He had GME and could not be completely taken off steroids or he'd go out of remission.

Poor fella. I actually met him briefly when I was at OSU this week. He was surprisingly weight-bearing and eager to go outside for his potty break. I didn't know his story when I saw him, but Christine (Dr. Kellogg) filled me in. She showed me pics of a bandage change and debriding. Ouch. She said he's doing well, but they're still not sure if he's going to keep the leg.

Is he around other dogs often? Canine influenza? Also, you may want to check for TBDs. The ticks were horrendous this year. Hope you guys can get it sorted out.

Oh, Jay. I'm so sorry I remember meeting the two of you at Expo over in Raynham and Cody hated those floors! He had all of his toes out gripping for all he was worth, and of course, making it worse. Some dogs just become such a part of us. I'm so sorry you had to lose him. Hugs to you, my friend. I know how badly it hurts.

Not true at all. Mine most recently puked up a piece of the ottoman. Roo, to teach leave it, you can start with something that the dog doesn't really want - say, a sock or your keys. Present item so that he looks at it, say "leave it" and when he turns from the item and looks at you, give him a treat. You can then work up to more desirable objects (snotty tissues , food). I never went about teaching my old boy leave it, but over the years I had said it enough he figured it out For those of you who are trying to teach a dog to leave it by starting off with a treat on the ground - that's pretty difficult. Start with lower value items and work up. Also, my trainer suggested that when we get to the stage of asking them to leave food, to not reward the dog with the very food that we asked it to leave, but with another treat we have in our hands. BTW, Roo, my dog is much like yours. As soon as he finishes meals, he seems hell bent to find yet more to eat and cruises around eating anything that even remotely looks like it could possibly be food. Or not. Like lint, or paper. Or bits from the ottoman, apparently. He's like this year round, weather has nothing to do with it. If you're looking for items to add to food, do something like greenbeans. They add bulk, but not a lot of calories. You don't want your pup to get fat Good luck! I can certainly sympathize, living with a very busy, starved dog myself

I may have missed it, but can you get him over to the vet for a look-see? Could be yeast, could be staph, could just be lick irritation, but you won't know exactly until a vet looks at it and prescribes appropriate treatment (and yeast and bacterial would require different treatments). Hope you can get to the bottom of it quickly

Aw, good wishes for sweet Cody. Hope he's back to 100% very soon!

Hm. You might want to run a PCR and see if the Erlichia is still present in the blood. NCSU does this: http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/vhc/csds/ticklab.html You may need a longer course of doxy, too. Perhaps consult with OSU for further advice? http://www.greyhound.osu.edu/ Also, I'd take your group's advice and see their vet if s/he has more experience with TBDs. You really can't play with those things.

Heh. One of our adopters got a dog with a dropped gracilis. When she took him to the vet for the first visit, the vet had never seen anything like it, thought it was a tumor and tried to take an FNA

Just a note - dogs don't sweat (except from their feet). Is he licking the area? If he is, you may want to try to keep him away from it until the area heals. You might also want to have a vet look at it and make sure it's not a staph infection. Good luck!

You say you have pain meds, but that they're bitter. Have you tried putting them in cream cheese or peanut butter? Yogurt? Liverwurst? If you absolutely cannot pill her, try using a pill gun with the pill lubricated with butter. Works really well.

Glad he's finally home with you, Kari.

Oh, I'm so sorry to read this Little Munchie fought so hard.

Aw, Beverly :grouphug

Tongs of hugs for you and Guy, Karen

Sending lots of hugs, Beverly, and hoping she's doing better today. :grouphug

I'll agree with the others here and say to return the dog. He's just not a good fit for your household. I agree with those who said to step back and reevaluate. If you do decide on another greyhound, get one that's older, a return would probably be great, or at least a dog who has been fostered for a few weeks, and preferably fostered with cats. Good luck. I'm sorry you're going through this, but is sounds like an all around bad match

Carolyn - it tends to be rapid onset and quite bloody. Here's some info: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23311.htm

Sounds like Turbo Their dad, Ace-a-Matic, was not prolific. I think he has just a few over 300 get out there, unlike the Gable Dodges of the racing world. Turbo was seriously the best dog in the world, very laid back and loving and a personality the size of Texas. I look forward to lots of Al updates (and I'm glad you're keeping his name; had I managed to get him to me, he would have stayed Algy or Al, too ).

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. Al is the rare half brother to my dog, Turbo, who passed away last year. I followed Al's career (he was a good honest racer), contacted his owner and planned to adopt him. Unfortunately, my husband was laid off two years ago and has been unable to find full time work since, so we just were not able to bring him cross country and take on the costs of another dog. His race owner is a really nice guy, so I knew he'd go into adoption no matter what. I'm so glad you are on GT!!

Oh, another thing that's great for tiring a dog out is doing training exercises. Making them use their brains is exhausting work for them, so if you haven't already, find a trainer who uses postiive reinforcement and enroll in classes. Then work with him for a few minutes every day in addition to the alone training. You can do this.

1. Wake up earlier and give your dog a long walk. Long. As in 45-60 minutes. It's cooler in the morning, so that's the best time to take a long walk. 2. Work on alone training. A lot. It works, but it's not an overnight fix. Read "I'll be Home Soon" by Dr. Patricia McConnell for instructions. 3. Write a note to your neighbors thanking them for informing you about your dog's behavior and let them know you are working on training. Let them meet him, see how wonderful he is and let them know what you're doing as far as the training goes. Ask them for feedback so you can know how you're doing. This way, they become a part of the training and will understand that you are doing your best. 4. Crating may or may not work. Many greyhounds find the crate comforting. A few do not. You won't know until you try. See if your adoption group has one you can borrow to test it out. 5. Work on alone training. 6. Work on alone training some more. Excercise alone will not "fix" an anxious dog, though it does help. You have to do alone training. A lot. Good luck