Jump to content

turbotaina

Members
  • Posts

    2,504
  • Joined

Everything posted by turbotaina

  1. Hm. OK - I'd definitely have your vet rule out diabetes insipidus. It's not a common dog thing, but it's also not that rare in greyhounds. Many vets don't think to look for it, because you don't often see it in non-greyhounds. So ruling that out, he may have what one of mine does - psychogenic polydipsia, which is basically over-drinking for no reason. For mine, drinking is an emotional response to start with, then he can't seem to stop it until we call him away from his water dish. If that's the case with your guy, and since you can't get home during the day, you can try limiting water a little (so, instead of a full 2 quart dish, maybe fill it half way). A friend of mine whose dog also had PP (heh) would just give her pup a cup of water at a time. Warning though, you have to be careful with this as it may make your dog *more* likely to seek out water if he thinks it's not an available resource. Also, you have to be absolutely sure that there's no medical reason for the polydipsia as reducing intake may be harmful. Regarding the thyroid supplementation - was a full panel (including TSH) done? Supplementing a dog who is not truly hypothyroid can have negative consequences. Start with diabetes insipidus though and see where that goes.
  2. You don't need to do exactly 12 hour food intervals. And it's perfectly fine to use a harness for walking your dog. If she doesn't go out at 9, does she get you up in the middle of the night? If not, don't worry about it. We can almost never get ours out in the evening!
  3. The low levels are probably breed normal and the TSH is normal, so no. Possible allergy?
  4. Marking and full-on urination are completely different. OP said the dog is emptying its bladder. Still not spite Marking behavior.
  5. Dogs do not pee out of spite. Have your vet test him for diabetes insipidus. Is he drinking a lot of water as well?
  6. When I had a corn dog, we did periodic hulling and in the periods in between (his corn was always super painful before it was even visible, much less hull-able), we used tramadol and a therapaw boot. (Metacam may not do anything for your dog - it's an NSAID. With a corn, imagine having a pebble stuck in your shoe - an aspirin isn't going to help (though it might assist with inflammation). Tramadol blocks pain receptors, so it's a good choice for something like this.) Even then, it was still sometimes so bad he was three-legged, but it mostly worked for us. Hope you can find a management regimen that works well for you. The dog is not 15 - he's *acting* like a 15 year old dog. He's 4.
  7. I have no clue. I'm in foothills of the Appalachians (Catoctin range - so not very high). Tolerance can be worked on - Crow already tolerates pretty much anything I do to him. Good to know re: flatter faces though. *sigh* Thanks. I don't think we would use them much right now, but we do occasionally have beach time (at Dewey) when he's out for an extended period in the sun. He's a black dog, so him + sun don't get along anyway and we generally limit exposure during the hottest months. But I'd like to get him used to them now so that if he does end up really *needing* them down the road, it won't be an issue. Hm. I saw something that had a different shape, but now can't remember where I saw them - or if they were UV protective (that's the key factor here).
  8. Crow was diagnosed with pannus recently, and while it's mild so far, the ophthalmologist recommended protective eyewear for high UV days - such as in the summertime if he's going to be out a lot. I'm thinking the Doggles size recommendations are going to be off for greyhounds due to the breed's narrower heads. Crow is not a big guy and he has a shorter head and snout than most - his head is probably slightly bulkier than the average greyhound female. Would a size medium work? Are any of the other brands out there any good? Thanks!
  9. AAAARON! Good to see you! I agree with a vet work up and it sounds like that's on the menu. I'd do a full TBD panel through NC STate. I'd also test for Valley Fever if possible, since you are in the Southwest. I have a whiner. He has to give his opinion on everything, but Speedy seems to be in another class entirely. I think Greysmom may be onto something with the anxiety. I also concur with getting off Claritin to see if that helps. What is his allergy? You might want to start him on some l-theanine to see if that helps at all. Can't hurt, might help if you're dealing with anxiety.
  10. One of mine, when he starts getting nutty in the house, I just let him out and he'll zoom in the back yard. I have a small cape cod, so there's not a lot of zoomie room - he's been known to start in the living room, run to the bedroom, jump up and slide on the bed, spin in circles, come back through the living room, take off upstairs, slide and spin on the guest bed, then come back downstairs for another loop. So if we can get him outside it's best for everyone, including our linens. My other greyhound won't zoom outside (I'll have had him 3 years next week, and I've seen him do two actual zoomies outside). He has to act crazy inside. He'll come up to me with his blank stare and just, well, stare at me, with his tail hooked up in the air (I call it his trouble tail). Then he'll bark several times, loudly, and take off. I try to distract him with toys, but he'll toss them in the air and start spinning in circles. A few minutes of this and he's done.
  11. OK - you need to train him to "out" or "give" an item so the taking away isn't traumatic for him. Start with something low value (say, a sock or a low value toy). If he'll take it in his mouth, fine, but if not, just set it in front of him, take it and give him a delicious treat. When he's giving up reliably, add a cue word (such as out or give). Work up to more desirable items. Basically, you want the act of giving up the item to be rewarding for him. I've probably over-simplified it here, but it's not difficult. If you search this forum you should find plenty of training tips for it. And then you end up with my dogs, who think it's hilarious to steal my shoes and then expect a treat when they bring them back
  12. Just wanted to second this recommendation - I responded to your comment in the other thread recommending the same booklet. It's available online; I'm sure you'd be able to get it in the UK. You may also want to see if you can set up a session with a force-free trainer or behaviorist to provide an assessment and training recommendations. In fact, I would do that before enrolling your pup in a class with other dogs, which may exacerbate her issues.
  13. You're correct to manage the interactions, but you also need to address her underlying emotional response to other/new dogs. You need to do something called counter-conditioning and desensitizing (CC&D). A great way to do this is to, when she sees another dog FROM A DISTANCE and before she can react, start shoving delicious treats in her face. Eventually you'll be able to decrease the distance and change her reaction to the unknown dog. I'm over-simplifying it here, but that's the general idea. One of my greyhounds gets very snarky and over-stimulated about strange dogs. So while we'd walk, I'd keep jerky or some other treat in my pouch for him. When we'd see another dog, I'd tell him to look at me and I'd let him nibble the treat, focusing on me, while the other dog passed. Now as soon as we see another dog, he's looking at me for the treat. He's an exceptionally smart dog, so the caught on to the 'game' quickly (he'll do anything for food), but he's also less snarky in general about other dogs. Last weekend when we went for a hike, he *insisted* we hike with some random dogs (to the point it was annoying - he kept stopping every time we got ahead of the others on the trail and refused to budge until they caught up with us ). A good resource for this type of training is a booklet called Feisty Fido by Dr. Patricia McConnell. She's awesome, uses force-free, science-based methods and it's a quick read. It's available on Kindle, too Also - see NeylasMom's post above mine here. She's a dog trainer and while her response was to the OP, her advice applies to you as well Also - your dog's not wrong to get upset about dogs in her face - it's rude behavior among dogs. Greyhounds tend to have a much better grip on doggie manners than non-greyhounds, they are not weaned and sent away to live solely with humans at 8 weeks. They stay with their littermates and dam for longer, then they stay in puppy packs, then when they go to the track, they are always among other greyhounds who were reared similarly. None of my greyhounds (well, except for Crow, but there's not much between his ears) have tolerated rude behavior from non-greyhounds.
  14. My first greyhound learned it from another male greyhound. He started doing it soon after he witnessed a friend's dog do it. Of the two males I have now, one does it (seems to have learned it on his own) and the other does not.
  15. Ugh. Thank god for insurance. I used to use a turkey baster for Turbo and he'd throw up immediately. I think I've only induced H. once and he was quick as well.
  16. Oh, yeah, the vetting - at the very least, they should have the vaccinations updated. One time our group got in a group of dogs. When the hauler would come in, we'd normally get the vet work from the driver, though sometimes it would have to be mailed to us later and we wouldn't have the current vet work on file until it arrived. Anyway, we *did* get the vet work on this group and I duly updated our spreadsheet with all the vet info, etc. A couple of weeks later, I hear from a volunteer that one of the male dogs still had one of his boys. But we had the neuter and vax certificates, so we were really confused. We made a vet appointment and the foster home took the dog in and the vet called me. She confirmed that there was a testicle there. So, we think what happened was that the track adoption sent a bunch of dogs for vetting on the same day (they'd send out like 10 at a time) and this guy was included. We think he was given vaccinations, but then they discovered he was cryptorchid , so they held him back from the neutering because that's a trickier surgery and they wouldn't have planned for it, but they didn't tell the track folks that he hadn't been done. Well, he got sent back with the other dogs and was never neutered! So we had to do him here. All that to say that yes, sometimes things get overlooked, vet work gets backed up or goes missing, so I try to give the benefit of the doubt. I hope the vetting with your dog was just an anomaly. And honestly, they should pay for the vetting (if you weren't returning him), because vetting is included in that adoption fee
  17. I have one who lied on his cat test. For the first three months I had him, he was pretty intent on eating the kitties. But. And this is a big BUT - he was distractable. Sounds like Turnip is not. For Heyokha, he loves food, so we were able to say "no kitty" he'd turn to face us, get a treat. Repeat ad nauseum until he realized that he could get treats if he didn't mess with the cat(s). For most dogs that can be distracted, yes, they are trainable, but it takes a lot of hard work. Honestly, because my cats were already seniors, I was seriously considering returning him to the group. My husband stuck it out with the training through and after 3 or 4 months, a switch flipped and he was OK to be around the kitties. If Turnip is hunting the cat (looking for him when he is not in sight), fixated to the point where nothing distracts him, trembling, drooling, etc., when he sees the cat, he is not cat safe and very likely not cat trainable. I hope your group will work with you to get you a more appropriate dog. My first greyhound would run down cats so he could sniff their butts, then he was good to go
  18. Huh. Glad I saw this - I order Fromm's from Chewy's. I just got two bags, so I'm set for a while, but this would have been a problem if I had been running out!
  19. NOTHING could be further than the truth :rotfl . Ask anyone who was on this board when she got Loca.
×
×
  • Create New...