[Conrad The "broken" Greyhound....]

We also have a broken greyhound. Riley cannot roach to save his life. Every once in a blue moon he will attempt it, but he immediately tips over and gives up.

 

You should buy a lottery ticket. What are the odds of getting two in a row?

[Training A Chewer]

It's a multi-pronged approach. Correct when she's chewing something inappropriate and redirect her to something appropriate instead. Try to keep tempting stuff out of her reach so she's not set up to fail. Use bitter apple on stuff you can't put out of reach. Muzzle or crate when you can't directly supervise.

 

She's still got a lot of puppy in her at this stage so it's not unusual behavior. Good luck!

[Petco/petsmart To Stop Selling Animal Treats From China]

Upon perusal of the chew treat selection at PetSmart yesterday, I didn't find any from China. That was good. I did, however, see a lot from India, Columbia, Argentina and IIRC also Thailand. While none of those countries have the bad rep that China does, they also aren't known for strict controls. I also don't see how it's possible for a company to keep a close eye on the quality of its product when the manufacturing process occurs so far away and out of its direct supervision.

 

Unless they made in the US or Canada I pass them all by. I couldn't find any that were, so no treats for Riley.

[How To Teach A New Hound To Jump Into The Car]

Riley learned right away by watching my other hounds get in. The first time we put him in the car he had to be lifted, but the second time he looked at me like "I've got this" and hopped in after the others. He does need some help occasionally when his hips are hurting, but when he's feeling good he bounds into the back of the car.

 

So if you have another dog--or can borrow one--who already knows the drill, it's often as simple as "Monkey see, monkey do." This is also useful for teaching the use of a dog door or stairs, BTW.

[Picking Up A Greyhound]

DH does the one arm around the chest, one arm under the butt lift.

 

I am not big enough or strong enough, so Riley and I have worked out a deal. He stands up and puts his front end into the car, and I come along behind him and push his butt end up. Tiny did the same thing.

 

Sometimes he will jump in on his own, but when his hips are bugging him he just needs the extra boost.

[Alone Training - Separation Anxiety]

Riley had big time SA for the first few weeks that he was home. I couldn't even go to the mailbox without him losing his mind and howling as if his heart was breaking. He discovered that he could stand in the garage to howl, and then his voice would echo off the cement floor so that it was like shouting into a megaphone and the whole WORLD could hear him. Oy vey.

 

I started with leaving the house for just a couple of seconds, standing on the porch and then coming back in. Then down to the bottom of the porch steps and back in. Then to the mailbox and back in. Real baby steps. The big thing I needed to teach him was that whenever I leave, I come back. I always come back.

 

The other huge help was completely ignoring him for 10 to 15 minutes before leaving. No eye contact, no talking to him. No fuss when leaving, just out the door I went. I did the same thing when I returned. I did not acknowledge him for 10 to 15 minutes after returning (it can be reeeeally hard to ignore the happy dance, but it was necessary). The object of this was to make my comings and goings completely boring and a non-event. And I still do it to this day with Riley, because whenever I start loosening up on it he starts backsliding.

 

Other than that, time and patience. It took about 2 weeks for major improvement, and about a month for pretty much complete resolution.

[Pig Ears]

Due to the fatty content of the pig ears--though we didn't have any problems--I eventually switched from those to a mix of CET chews from the vet's office, Dentastix, frozen chicken feet and frozen turkey necks. The turkey necks do the best job of keeping teeth clean. The others are fed more for chewing enjoyment. I was reluctant about the CET chews because rawhide treats can cause blockages, but the vet told me they are more digestible than ordinary rawhides and pose much less of a hazard. Riley gets one of those daily. The Dentastix are given as an after-dinner treat, the chicken feet are an occasional special treat and the turkey necks are given two days every week as a meal replacement. Riley has gorgeous teeth and REALLY strong jaws.

[Pig Ears]

I've fed them as treats before with no problems. They really liked them. Just make sure to check the label to see where they were made. I gave them up to a few times a week.

 

The only problem I can see is if your dog has issues with eating fatty foods. Pig ears do have a fair bit of fat in them.

[Insight? Dog Just Bit Someone...]

That sounds like a reaction to pain. I suspect he hit a sore spot. Many dogs will snap reflexively at something that hurts them (and that has nothing to do with viciousness). A serious bite would leave a heck of a lot more than a puncture. My first stop would be the vet's office to see if they can figure out what hurts.

 

Another possibility she felt overwhelmed and was telling him to back off. Was she licking her lips or yawning a lot? Those are signals that she may have been uncomfortable with what was going on. Since they aren't as obvious as a growl a lot of people miss them.

 

Again, it doesn't sound like a vicious attack. It sounds like she was saying, "Ouch, that hurts! Stop it!" or "Hey, I'm overwhelmed! Stop it!" If she'd really meant to inflict harm she could have ripped him open, and she didn't do anything of the sort.

[Trouble Getting Super Shy Grey To Even Stand To Go Out Or Walk]

I'm glad she's starting to come around!

 

Don't know if this will work for you, but it did for us.... Raven came to us very shy, borderline spooky. She took to me OK but at first she was terrified of DH. Men just scared the poo out of her. So we tried bribery, and it worked wonders. DH brought her a Super Awesome Toy which she loved. He also showered her with treats. It worked, almost a little too well. She became a total daddy's girl.

 

So see if bribery will help Greycie come out of her shell. If you can find out what she likes, you might be able to use that to your advantage.

[More Trouble With Cats :(]

That's a tough situation. We never allow the cats out with Riley unless it's under strict supervision. He's like your Zoe in that he's cat correctable, but not truly trustworthy. We are continuing to train him and he's gotten much better, but I still will probably never completely trust him. The cats have the run of a large bedroom and all of their food, litter and toys are in there. They spend most of the day lounging on the bed or in the window. They come out when someone can closely watch. We close the dog door, Riley goes to his bed, and then the kitties come out. If we have to leave the room for any reason the cats get put away.

 

In your case it sounds like even supervised interaction is out of the question. You will have to carefully think about how to keep your kitties completely separated from the dogs with no common areas, and consider safeguards to keep it that way (i.e., self-closing doors so someone can't forget to close one, an extra door between the cat area and the dog area that functions like an airlock, whatever works for your setup). If you can't be certain that your cats will never cross paths with your hounds, it's probably best to rehome the hounds. Your cats deserve to be safe, your dogs deserve not to be constantly tempted with prey they cannot have, and you deserve to be able to relax in your own home.

[Mom Vs. Dad]

If you trained the *cue* (command is an old school term ) using a stern voice then that's what your dog is going to respond to. If you train it using a happy voice your dog will respond to that. Dogs don't speak English, they're just learning to associate a behavior with a given word or some sort of body language. If you want the dog to respond you have to be consistent so just switching up the way you give the cue like what you did of course won't work.

 

We say all our cues in a happy voice here. I'm happy to post some short video clips if you want to see them responding to some of them.

 

This sounds like it will be as much of a retraining of the human as a retraining of the dog.

[Frozen Or Fresh Bones?]

Frozen here, straight out of the freezer. They last longer and oh boy, does he love his meatsicles.

[Mom Vs. Dad]

I will disagree just a bit. Tone has nothing to do with it in my opinion. DBF often sounds a lot more "no nonsense" than I do. I often sound laid back and playful, and my dogs respond best that way. When I do recalls it is generally in a high pitched "sing song" tone. Hardly the voice of authority. And yet the dogs come racing to me. They respond quickly not because I have drilled into them that they "must" but because I have turned my criteria (must) into their motivator (want to). The respond because they understand that doing so nets them something rewarding... food, a toy, playtime, praise, a chin scratch. This has happened enough that there no longer needs to be a reward every single time.

 

Turning on the "voice of authority" will get you nowhere. There is no special voice in training. There is just reward and consistency. And my personal opinion is that happy and playful gets you a lot further than sternness in dog training.

 

Do you use the same tone of voice to give commands that you do to call, or to praise? I might have been taught old school methods, but I always thought that you use a happy sing-song voice to call your dog to you (which I do, and for the same reason you do, and to excellent effect) and also to praise. But you use a no-nonsense tone to give a command, i.e. go to your bed. If you don't get a response you use a sharp tone to get your dog's attention. Responding to your command gets praise (in the sing-song voice) and not responding gets correction i.e., getting marched off to bed. I'm certainly not advocating that the OP yell and snarl at her dog, but I would think that using the same tone to command that you do to call or praise would confuse a dog.

 

As an experiment to see if tone really does matter I tried getting Riley to sit in the same sing-song tone I use to call / praise him. Crickets chirped. Tried it again. Nope. Tried asking "Sit?" as if it were a question. No go. Told him to sit in the usual command voice. He sat. Obviously what you're doing works very well for your hounds because you've done a lot of advanced training with them, but Riley just gave me a blank stare like I was speaking in Swahili. So now I'm confused.

[Mom Vs. Dad]

Yes, absolutely, but it's the other way around. I tend to be the disciplinarian and DH is very lax with him. Then he wonders why Riley listens when I tell him to do something, but just stands there when he tells him to so the same thing.

 

I think the difference is tone of voice and intention. If you tell your dog to do something in a voice that says, "You will do this thing and I expect nothing else" and if there are immediate consequences for not doing this thing, i.e. getting grabbed by the collar, frog-marched off to bed and told very sternly to lie down, your dog will listen. If you tell him to do something in a voice that says, "You will do this thing but only if you feel like it, and I hope I don't sound too bossy," your dog will not listen to you. It is important that YOU follow through, not your BF. Otherwise you're reinforcing the idea that he doesn't have to listen to you, he only has to listen to your BF.

 

DH struggles with it too. I know he finds it frustrating. He just needs to find the Voice of Authority. He'll get there with practice, and so will you.

 

ETA: I'm assuming you are clearly asking things of your dog that he already knows the commands for, and that he's willfully choosing to disobey rather than simply not understanding what you want from him.

[Chewy.com]

I just recently found them too. Their prices on Dasuquin are the best I've seen anywhere. They have a very nice selection of toys too.

[Raw Feeding]

Thunder loves rabbit. I'm trying to talk a friend into catching rabbits at his farm for me.

 

My Pet Carnivore has whole prey rabbits, rabbit heads and ground whole rabbit. We got Riley a whole frozen rabbit with our order today and he's going to go ape for it. We get our turkey necks and chicken feet from them too. They do ship. http://mypetcarnivore.com

 

ETA: My Pet Carnivore does not use denaturants, if that is of concern to you.

[Which Supplements Do You Give?]

Dasuquin Large Dog with MSM. Also wild Alaskan salmon oil capsules from Sam's Club and ProDen Plaqueoff.

 

Riley has bad hips and the Dasquin with MSM seems to help a lot with the stiffness. The salmon oil keeps his coat soft and dandruff-free, and the Plaqueoff (in conjunction with regular chewies and turkey necks) keeps the plaque on his teeth to a minimum. It also makes it so that any plaque that does form on his canines is very soft and easily scrapes off with a fingernail.

[Nylabones Causing Bleeding Gums?]

Sometimes the chewed edges of a Nylabone do get a bit sharp.

 

I would also be concerned about the possibility of pieces being swallowed, if it is one of the durable non-digestible chews. When I worked for a vet the most difficult surgery I saw was a Schipperke with a blockage from the end of a Nylabone. It wasn't that it was so difficult to remove in theory, but it practice it was so slippery that the vet couldn't get a grip on it. She tried and tried and was about to close the dog up and call it a failure when it finally came out. After that I threw all of our dogs' Nylabone chew bones in the garbage.

 

A more digestible treat like a bully stick would probably be a better bet. Easier on the mouth and less of a hazard too.

[Honeymoon Stage? Too Good To Be True?]

Sounds like you got a really easy first dog. FWIW most of the greyhounds I've had have been very easy to housetrain and quick to learn the rules. A couple of them presented unique challenges, such as extreme shyness or separation anxiety, but nothing that I didn't learn to handle. They have all been much mellower and easy to work with than other breeds of dog I have had. Your hound may change some as he becomes more comfortable in his new home and his personality blossoms, but I doubt you'll experience a rock-your-world behavioral change.

 

Congrats!

[Hounds And Sit-Stays]

I don't see why a down-stay shouldn't suffice just as well, if your hound finds sitting awkward. Some can do it, some can't.

 

Riley does extended down-stays for each meal, anywhere from a minute to several minutes, and he's better-behaved as a result. I can leave the room and he will remain in the down-stay position until I release him to go eat. It's a great tool for stopping him from mobbing guests and not knocking over the person doing the feeding. I don't think he could manage an extended sit-stay though, and I wouldn't ask it of him.

[Anyone Know Anything About Authority Food From Petsmart?]

I fed Authority for a while. The particular variety I was feeding didn't have wheat in it--Raven was violently allergic to wheat--but had beet pulp in it like Iams. We had firm poops. However, their coats got really dull and I had to feed quite a lot of it to maintain their weight. They just generally didn't look all that great. So it was not awful, and certainly economical, but I probably wouldn't feed it again.

[Greyhounds And Fencing]

I have 4-foot chain link and so far none of my hounds have tried to jump it but I've come up against other problems. I have found that loose neighborhood dogs can easily jump IN to my yard. The weather does a real number on chain link. The load of wind and snow has torn up the fence and it sags and has come loose in places and needs to be replaced after only 5 years. It has a smooth top rail, but the rail has bent under the pressure. Snow drifts easily bury it, meaning that after a snowstorm we have to leash walk because it's simple for them to just walk over a fence that height.

 

When we replace the fence it will be 6-foot board on board, with a small gap between the boards so that wind can pass through (solid wood fences get blown down here).

[Tragic Cat Accident]

Even my cat safe dogs have gone after outside cats (in one case, a cat that Argus was friendly with indoors - but outdoors he saw the same cat as prey).

 

Cat safe indoors does not translate to cat safe outdoors.

 

I agree that you should take your boy to the vet. Cat bites are really nasty and prone to getting infected in nothing flat.

[Seriously Fed Up. :(]

You got some good suggestions above. It might be time to go back to Housetraining 101.

 

Have you had Camo checked out by a vet to examine him for medical issues that might cause incontinence? This issue could be a matter of training and it could be physiological in nature.

 

You might also consider another possibility. Does Camo seem otherwise happy? Does he get along with his companions? Is something in his environment or routine stressful to him?

 

I ask because when we brought home our girl Fiona she fought constantly with our existing hound. She wasn't happy in our house and she exhibited some similar behaviors. She would go outside and do her business, but then come back in and pee in the house. Sometimes she would even catch my eye, then squat right in front of me and pee on the floor. She was sending a message that she was miserable. I contacted the adoption group for advice and they agreed. We returned her and she went to another home where she was the only spoiled dog. Her potty problems disappeared overnight.

 

I am NOT suggesting that you return your boy. However, our hounds cannot speak so they have limited means with which to tell us that they are unhappy with a given situation. Peeing and pooping in the house, especially right in front of you, can be such a message. It can be self-perpetuating too. You are obviously frustrated and at the end of your rope (understandably) and he has to be picking up on that. It might be that his state of mind is a factor. A canine behaviorist might be able to help you figure out what it is and how to fix it. Your vet or your group will likely be able to refer you to a good one.