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turbotaina

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Posts posted by turbotaina

  1. OP, there is a large and vibrant greyhound community here in the DC area (I live in Maryland, work in DC). There's even a group of folks who meet at a dog park in Gaithersburg (I think) early on Sunday mornings to run the hounds, and there's a group that rents out the indoor ring at Frying Pan Park for dog running once a month. Go to Meet and Greets and talk to volunteers. Several of the groups around here foster (Greyhound Welfare and Greyt Expectations - I've adopted from both groups and volunteered with the former for many years). Just be up front with whatever group you decide to work with and let them help you find the right dog.

  2. Zoopy - some dogs are super attuned to time. If you were gone longer than normal, he was probably just pushed past his normal potty time and that's why he went. He was also probably slightly anxious, too. I wouldn't stress about it too much. You can always get a webcam if you're really concerned. Our dogs are pretty boring, except that time we caught Crow *eating* a remote control and I was able to send over the dog walker to retrieve it from him. :lol

  3. I was afraid of that. No, wrong thing to do - that type of thing can actually increase aggression. *sigh* You want to use counter conditioning in a case like this - you want to change how she feels about strangers coming to the home. There could be any number of things going on here, so I first suggest that you consult with an actual veterinary behaviorist who can come to your home and do an evaluation. If you cannot find one in your area, I'd suggest a highly qualified trainer who uses force-free methods (such as positive reinforcement). Where are you located?

  4. Hi all, need some advice for our almost 7 year old greyhound female. We adopted her about 2.5 years ago and adopted a second female greyhound who is 2.5 years old almost a year ago. About 3-4 months after adopting the first greyhound we noticed she started becoming extremely aggressive towards guests that came in our house- I.e. Barking, growling, lunging. Around 6 months in, she actually did bite my husbands friend who came over. We had the adoption group lady come over and help show us how to correct her as nothing we were doing seemed to stop her. She showed us how to correct her on the leash and we have been trying to use those techniques since. My question is- will she ever stop being so territorial? Also my parents are dog sitting right now and she has started doing the same thing at their house as well. We prepare for guests by crating the dogs before the guests arrive and waiting until they are relaxed to consider letting them out- even then we may muzzle the older dog in case she has misplaced aggression onto the other dog. Any other tips for trying to stop our dog from being so aggressive with guests? She is really great anywhere else- we do meet and greets every month at a pet store, go on hikes where she is fine being pet by strangers, and she goes to doggy day care and has never had any issues.

     

    What exactly did the adoption group lady tell you to do? What sort of correction are you using?

  5. You can get them on sale occasionally at Chewy.com. I think I got mine for $34 each and they last 8 months, so it's worth it. I'm south of you in Maryland, but ticks are routinely bad here (and where I live are a lot of deer). I recently found a dead attached tick on Heyokha - it looked like it hadn't fed though - attached and was killed. So I think they definitely kill ticks.

  6. I would get a second opinion. By and large, greyhounds have fantastic knees and hips, so I'm always wary of diagnoses of issues there (not that they can't happen, but they're pretty rare). A good orthopedic specialist is worth his/her weight in gold. Also, by all means, do consult with Couto. He's awesome.

  7. Yeah, those plain nylon webbing collars can definitely cause baldness. Hair gets trapped in the webbing and pulled out. Leather martingales don't rub the hair off - both of mine wear them and one is a puller. They wear them for walks and are naked in the house. My old boy lived in his leather martingale 24-7 and it never rubbed the hair off his neck, either. Long Dog Leather makes excellent collars which will last forever :) Here's their Etsy store. I also use a Freedom harness for one of mine as when we are hiking or potentially running into other dogs, I need control over his body, not his head (he can be a bit...snarky with rude dogs and he sometimes gets into stuff he shouldn't on hikes. Wild animal poop. Yum.). As mentioned above, the leg parts are velvet lined and do not rub under the elbows. I have it adjusted a little loose though. My other greyhound refuses to walk in a Freedom harness, no matter how I have it adjusted. I think he doesn't like how it tightens above the shoulders. :dunno

  8. Can you go to a different vet? Get a second opinion, etc?


    Oh, and my boy Turbo would drag a nail on his walks. Nothing wrong with his legs or back at all - just his gait. If she's been doing it forever, I wouldn't sweat it. If it's recent, it might bear investigation.

  9. How much exercise is he getting? I had a foster that would wake up at 2:00 AM every night. I found that a very fast paced walk at about 9:00 PM would let her sleep a little later :) My own dogs get up super early but that's because I have to get up super early to go to work (our alarm goes off at 4:30-ish, but they're generally awake before). Of course, they do not understand weekends. If they are not walked in the evening, they will also get up in the middle of the night (and wake me up <_< ).

  10. I wonder if perhaps the previous owners were uninformed about grinning (a/k/a "submissive grin"). Our group once had a huge greyhound named Santana. He was placed to a home with two young children and one day the adopter contacted the group president and said that if the president didn't come and retrieve the dog right NOW, the dog would be left tied to the president's porch. She alleged the dog was vicious. Of course, as it turned out, Santana was merely a grinner and in his new adoptive home, he would wake his owner up every morning by standing by the bed and grinning at him.

     

    Zoopy - one of my boys will occasionally try to play bitey-face with me. He just gets really excited and wants to gnaw on me :lol When you say your dog stares and lunges at your face, what's the body language like? Is the stare "hard" (body stiff, mouth shut tight - this is an aggressive stance) or is it soft (slightly open mouth, loose body, eyes soft - this is loving/playful)? He might just be trying to play with you like he'd play with a dog.

  11. Vet put snow on galliprant for her leg problem. I know she has mild hip dysplasia diagnosed by X-ray two years ago. Her leg has gotten worse. She has been scraping her back leg for a few years now. Vet had asked about that too. She is ten now. Does anyone else have a dog that scrapes her back leg? She said if this does not work in one week do I want to pursue X-rays. I am afraid to put her out again because last time the anesthesia really bothered her. I just walked her around the block tonight. Not a lot for a dog that walked close to an hour one or two months ago. I am really worried.

     

    By scraping, do you mean dragging? Typically leg dragging or knuckling points to a neurological issue. One simple test you can do yourself is while she is standing, fold her foot on the affected leg downwards so that she is standing on her knuckles. Note how long it takes for her to right it. This *should* be a reflexive action. If it's not, you're most likely looking at a neurological deficit, in which case I would seek out a specialist.

     

    Can your vet not sedate her to do rads? I've got one that can be done without sedation and my other one gets really upset and has to be sedated for rads. I would do rads myself. If they absolutely do need to sedate her, it should be a light sedation followed by antisedan, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about the effects of a full general anesthesia (because that's not what they'd be doing).

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