inugrey

I think we should all trust that the group is doing what is best for the dog and humans now that they are involved. I am glad you will get a vet involved for drugs. I am a proponent of these sorts of drugs to help the dog relax enough to be able to improve on the behavior. I also think a xanax type of fast acting drug may be a good place to start. I'm sure the vet will make the proper recommendations for both the long term and fast acting drugs. I have xanax and prozac for Zoe. She is also a fear based dog, so I wonder if something like chlomicalm or amitriptyline would be better for anxiety? Also, if they are willing to stop using the crate that may help a whole lot. (And I'm a fan of crating).

It's funny how new dogs make experienced owners learn new things. I was in your situation not too long ago. All the other dogs who had gone through my house didn't even blink when the heavens crashed. Then I added Zoe and now I know a storm is a comin' before it hits. We've definitely become obsessive about storm tracking. We use a Thundershirt and like Wendy said it only works if you follow the training instructions. If I miss a warning I've definitely snuggle my girl to help ease the stress. It's very hard to watch them stress out so bad

Dog Sense is a great book to help understand current science on dog behavior.

After reading about Ace I am strongly against using it for dogs who are fearful. Its tranquilizes the body and does not address the mention/emotional fear. For my thunder fearful girl I use the thundershirt. It must be on before the storm or else it is useless. You also should introduce the shirt when it is a normal day and give treats. Do this a few different times to acclimate her so she doesn't always think shirt=storms and fear. I use Xanax for situational fear and anxiety to keep Zoe more comfortable. Melatonin is also a good choice that does not require vet prescription.

I don't have a cat so I didn't look into the issue. I keep them on 24/7 and do tend to wash my hands after fussing with the collar. We do look funny in the summer with a tick collar, tag collar and martingale all on their necks during walks. But neither of my girls are that social so I don't worry about it.

Which is exactly why I use trifexis. I use a preventic collar for ticks. I prefer this system because I hate the Frontline streak on their backs and my more sensitive pup is clearly bothered by the chemical when I put it on her. I will add that with the preventic collar I do have to cover the portion that hits their bald necks because it does irritate their bare skin.

Hoping for the best. When I lost my boy to the same cancer his surviving littermate ended up at the vet because I saw something. She is fine, I'm just sensitive and I really hope it's just a little sensitivity for you as well.

found it

She reminds me of a minor version of the Zoe-bird. We can chat in more detail over FB, but in general, can you keep her separated by a baby gate? We did that for months and never had the dogs interact without supervision. Although, there was some episodes of fence fighting with Salem. Also, we created a special bed just for Zoe. It was surrounded on almost all sides by some sort of barrier so you couldn't sneak up on her or casually walk by without her noticing well ahead of time. I'll go dig up that picture. That helped a lot. The twins knew to leave her alone and it seemed to help her settle down. I wonder if a lot of what you are seeing is bravado trying to establish her spot in the new group of dogs? Zoe (again) came to us emotionally "amped" defensive/reactive and always on edge. We had to give her space to simply relax a bit before we could start interacting in a meaningful way. I'm thinking let your foster hang out with you just have her gated separate from the other dogs for a while so she can relax and not feel the need to try out social options with all the new dogs. There is always melatonin or xanax to help... proud mom to a dog on prozac.

There was probably a collective exhale in Baltimore and DC as well. hoping she continues to rest while you figure this out.

Hope you all have gotten some good news for Irene!

Great update! Your day today reminded me of one of my first days with my boy when he was new. He growled and got stiff over a bone. I'd never seen such a thing or read about it in those greyhounds books adoption agencies ask you to read. I was FREAKED. I asked for help from my dog's foster mom and the adoption agency and did some of my own reading. All resources were great, but I did read a booklet that told me to stare him down, blah blah blah. The next time I gave him a high value treat I tried that stare down crap and quickly realized neither of us really understood what that was supposed to do for either of us. I still laugh when I think about me staring down at Inu and him staring up at me like "what lady, it's my damn bone." Needless to say I talked to his foster mom some more and ignored that book and picked up Patricia McConnell and Pat Miller books instead. I have since adopted a dog considered aggressive and unadoptable. We all learn with our first dog. Enjoy the ride.

Yeah, the "mighty" is a lie. I bought the bunny version and had the same experience. What a waste of money! I think of the Kong Wubba is made of the same stuff, I think. The fluffy head of the wubba is destroyed within minutes, but the squeaky kong part has survived my destructo. I would recommend the wubba with the understanding that the head would be gone within minutes.

I just learned about this idea from my local shelter. Take a paper towel tube or old sock and stuff it with a few pieces of treats and newspaper. Close the sock by tying a knot or close the ends of the paper towel tube so everything is inside and it takes some ripping to get to the treat inside. The dog gets the joy of ripping and tearing but you aren't out a nice toy. Given that he has eaten some parts, you may experiment with just a small toilet paper tube and just throw treats in there and see what he does. I also buy Tuffy toys from VIP Products those have held up for the most part. Go with tuff scale 10 and not less than 8. I own all of the Jr. line and they are all still intact.

I am so incredibly sorry. I remember hearing stories about Sully and his door opening skills back when I was a new adopter.

beautiful tribute. I'm so sorry

I never really thought about it like this. I have a compulsive licker. She's an anxious dog in some situations. About a year ago I put her on prozac thinking the licking was a manifestation of her anxiety. (She has other issues that the prozac addresses). She still licks the same area. Maybe I should think of it as a habit rather than a behavior as a result of anxiety. I can't imagine she's anxious when she's home. OP- you've been given great ideas to pursue including allergies or anxiety. Good luck

Oh Wendy and Kevin, I'm so sorry. She seems like quite the character.

Seriously, these dogs are incredibly adaptable and I haven't had a single one of my fosters look back as they walked out my door. When I was adopting my first dog it was a requirement that the dog be fostered first. I had no idea how to have a dog and I wanted the dog to have some help in understanding home life before he had to teach me how to own a dog. It was a personal opinion. I'm glad I did it that way. He did understand a great deal about home life and his foster mom's personal knowledge of his quirks helped me so much. I would call her or email and say "what about this" and because she knew him well enough she helped me figure out the behavior. I guess when you think about it by adopting through a foster program I got an automatic mentor of sorts in his foster mom. Today after having been around greyhounds for eight years, I'd take whatever greyhound came my way whether through kennel or foster.

Have you considered a blood test or fecal or something to rule out something physical that we might attribute to emotions?

I'm so sorry about Cody. I didn't realize it was lymphoma. I hate it. That cancer has so many places it can go and affect and our dogs are so good at looking happy and healthy even if they don't feel their best. Inu had lymphoma around his colon and small intestine and never once presented with a swollen node that I could see or feel. You really can't know until they really present as sick with that sort of thing. I totally agree with Aimee as well.

So he's off the keflex and rimadyl? Glad he's moved to a soft bandage, but I can imagine how scary the past few days have been. to Morky

Our vet has been prescribing metacam more often lately. I would definitely ask her if there are other options like that. I know with rimadyl there is a washout period...

Inu could never handle keflex. It would always cause diarrhea and gas. I don't recall rimadyl causing these sorts of reactions. I thought the big problem with rimadyl is the long term problem with the liver. Good luck with the visit today. Mork.

This summer I put them in a preventic collar. The girls both had a reaction to it and it made their skin dry, but Inu was fine with it.