GreytNut

Two greyhounds and two very vocal cats, including an Oriental Shorthair with a piercing yowl and a Heinz 57 with a meow that sounds just like a squeak. Lots of squeaky toys. The dogs have never confused the cats with their toys.

Tiny sounds like he's swallowed a pair of castanets.

I'm glad Larry got to spend his last few months with you and with Ollie, and that you were given so much in return for taking him in when he needed a place to call home. It's so hard to say goodbye.

Oh, no! What an awful, nasty surprise. That just sucks. Thank you for taking in a sad senior and making his last days joyful again. He was lucky to have found you (and vice versa). I'll be thinking of you.

I've been rotating formulas of TOTW, which is more economical than the others I've looked at. Wasn't impressed with the Wetlands formula. I had to feed more of it and their coats didn't look as good, so I cut it out of the rotation. I just rotated from Pacific Stream to High Prairie, and now they have big D. This hasn't happened before... usually I can switch them fast (over a couple of meals) and it doesn't bother them at all. Maybe they changed the formula? Might have to stick with Pacific Stream if this continues, but I like to give them a variety.

Dang. What is it about that line and osteo? My Argus (Gable Dodge pup) fell to that also, as did Gable Dodge. My (completely unscientific) theory is that Dodge/Dodgem dogs tend to be stocky, with a lot of bone. More bone = more susceptibility to osteo?

2 weeks for Argus. He went downhill pretty fast. ETA: Be generous with the pain management meds, and on the spoiling. At this point you're more concerned with quality of life than the long-term effects of the meds or whether a certain treat is good for him. Take tons of photos. They'll mean a lot to you.

Mine love raw eggs. They get one in their breakfast once a week. They avoid eating the shells, even ground up, so I've given up on that part. Organic free range eggs are better than factory-farmed on all counts... taste, nutrition (Mother Earth News did extensive research on the nutrition aspect) humane treatment of the birds and safety. Backyard eggs are terrific if you can find them. There's no real difference between brown, white, cream, green or blue eggs... shell color is dependent upon the breed of chicken and in some cases upon its diet.

Oh, wow. What a nasty suprise. I'm sorry. I'll be thinking of you and wishing Spike a peaceful journey.

My crew are bonkers for CET chews from the vet. They seem to do a nice job.

6 feet is definitely better if you can do it. Depending on where you live, you may find that snow piles up against the fence, effectively shortening the height of your fence after a storm. If you have a 4-foot fence and 2-foot snow drifts, you have a 2-foot fence. Even if that's not any concern where you live, they are certainly capable of jumping 4 feet if properly motivated. I have 4-foot chain link in the house I've just moved to and worry about it because we do get big snow drifts and because there are lots of loose cats, antelope, turkeys and deer that like to flit past the fence and drive my dogs nuts. They are allowed only into the separately fenced dog run when I can't be there to supervise, and as soon as we can afford to do so that fence is getting replaced. Ideally it would be with a solid privacy fence, but the winds tend to shove those over here so it will probably be 6-foot heavy duty chain link, with privacy slats in problem areas.

I wouldn't. How about bringing a crate?

It sounds like you're doing well, but I wouldn't take the muzzles off just yet. As Susan said, the obnoxious adolescent stage is coming. I personally wouldn't try bringing a cat home if my dogs tested not cat safe, but I also know that some groups will label a dog not cat safe if it shows the slightest bit of interest just to be on the safe side (which is understandable). It might be worth putting in a call to your adoption group and asking how the dogs reacted to the test cat to gain some insight in that regard. From your description though, your dogs sound cat correctable. Even once you're absolutely certain the dogs won't make a grab for the kitten, I would separate them when you're not there to immediately supervise, and always make sure there is a safe place in every room for the cat to go if he feels threatened. I do this even though my hounds tested cat safe and have lived with cats for years. You never know when someone might be having a bad day and/or when the cat might decide to push his luck just a little too far.

Zuke's soft jerky treats. Good stuff.

Argus and Raven - no way. They proved that when I was letting them back in the house after going potty and we realized that someone was in the living room. It was DH coming home unexpectedly late from work, but we didn't know that. Raven turned around and fled back out into the yard. Argus went bouncing merrily down the hall to go greet the intruder. If it had been an axe murderer, we'd all have been dead (except for perhaps Raven, whom I doubt he could've caught). Tiny is a different story. I think he would protect, though I can't say for certain. He does bark at strangers who come to the door. He's barked and growled up a storm when he thought someone was in our yard (it was actually a plastic bag hung up on a shrub, but the crunching noise did sound just like boots in the snow). The only greyhound I've met who was seriously protective was one I considered adopting from the prison dog program. He was in love with the female prison warden and would stand between her and the inmates. If any of the inmates got too close to her, he would snarl and give a warning snap. I ended up not choosing him because I was afraid he'd eat DH.

It seems to be worse with stress. When we first brought Argus home, he had never been in a car or in a house. He was terribly stressed. On the 3-hour drive, we were locked in a car with gaseous emissions so bad that we coughed and our eyes watered, even with the windows rolled down. It was absolutely horrible. His gas problem eventually improved as he relaxed and settled into the household, and got better when we switched foods. All of mine occasionally let off a stinky one, but it isn't constant. I think as your hound settles into her new environment and you find the right food for her, you'll find that her gas is a lot less frequent (and less lethal).

Mine have either never learned the difference between their own toys and the denizens of my bizarre stuffed animal collection, or--as I often suspect--they deliberately seek my stuff out. The collection of Assorted Stuffed Oddities is kept in a room they're not allowed in or they will snatch them quick as a wink. Must be the allure of the forbidden. Most likely you will have to do the same - keep the stuffies where Jupiter can't get at them or alas, they'll be fair game.

He seems to be all better this morning. Thank you for the help!

Water in the ear really hurts them like that? I never knew. Will go after him with another paper towel and see if we can dry things out a bit faster.

I gave the hounds baths this evening. About 10 or 15 minutes after his bath, Tiny started wailing, whimpering and crying. He was violently shaking his head and holding it to one side. I petted him, tried to calm him down and tried to figure out where he was hurt. He seemed to want me to rub his goofy ear, so I did that until he stopped crying. A cookie seemed to make him forget the pain, though he is periodically continuing to shake his head. Maybe he got water in his ear. Could that cause him pain? Maybe he just didn't like the weird feel of it? I thought perhaps he could have an ear infection, but I looked in there/swabbed it with a paper towel/sniffed and it doesn't look or smell like there's any infection. I will continue to monitor him and see if he improves as he dries out. Any ideas?

I've considered doing this and even have a tooth scaler, but when I asked the vet about it she strongly recommended that I not do it. She said it's too easy to damage the enamel and leave nicks and dings where bacteria can get in and cause cavities. It often does more harm than good. Then again, they make anywhere from $400 to $600 when I have to bring one of my dogs in for a dental, so....

They don't eat flowers, but I wish they'd help out with dandelion patrol. Mine are strawberry thieves too, especially Tiny. They would disappear right as they reached the peak of ripeness and I thought they were being eaten by birds until one day I caught them in the act. Tiny carefully plucking a strawberry from the plant. Raven inspecting the fruits for ripeness. They aren't ready yet... she'll come back for them in a couple of days.

I asked my vet about it once (back in SoCal) and he said it was still largely experimental, hadn't been proven effective and that he refused to use his patients as guinea pigs. That was 3 years ago, but I haven't heard anything more about it since then, nor do I know any vets who offer it.

If Tiny and Raven were phobic about wind, they would never leave the house. 45 mph is "breezy" here. They aren't crazy about it and when it's really strong they hurry back to the house, but they aren't terrified. I suspect Boris reacted as strongly as he did because truly windy days are such a rarity in SoCal and he wasn't used to things moving that normally don't.

Raven doesn't, but Tiny will drop into a sit when he spots something he really wants. Then he will fixedly stare at it to get his point across. If I fail to yield the desired item, he will lie down. Then he will sit up and offer a paw. Then he will stand on his back legs. If none of this works, he will run through his repertoire again, desperately trying to find some trick that will be the "magic" one which scores him the desired treat/toy as a reward.