sobesmom
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Everything posted by sobesmom
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We don't currently have a grey - but happy to be a resource for anyone near us. Sobesmom - very north-central PA, on the NY border.
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Welcome and congrats! Beautiful dog!!
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When Did You Stop Crating During The Day?
sobesmom replied to PabloDH's topic in Training and Behavior discussion
I suggest leaving him uncrated with limited access. Maybe in the kitchen, and block off the other rooms. Then.... kitchen and livingroom. Maybe not "too" much freedom all at once. Full disclosure - I'm a rental owner, so that might be influencing my opinion to be cautious- LOL! Actually, this is what I did with all my fosters and new dogs, but we only crated at night, and only for a short time, so limited access was part of the acclimation process, without the day crating step. I understand crating has its uses, and in many households it's the norm and necessary, but our goal was to ditch the crate as soon as possible. Sobe, my very first grey, did the same thing. He broke off an incisor doing it and got scraped up a lot. Thank goodness it wasn't worse. I was less keen on crating any longer than absolutely necessary after that. -
We always had the crate for fosters in our bedroom, in the open closet (that's where it fit best) but the whole front was out into the room so they weren't isolated. Used it only at night, for as long as seemed prudent, and then open door. Some fosters chose to sleep in the crate, door open, some just floopped on the floor. Of course, do what works, but I'm personally a big fan of dogs in the bedroom when it works.
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New Owner - Dog Cut While Running - Treatment?
sobesmom replied to ArrowOwner's topic in Health and Medical discussion
You'll get used to little cuts and scrapes. I'm a big fan of vet wrap for leg scrapes if they want to lick at it too much, but it's not necessary if the dog doesn't mess with it. Sometimes the vet wrap makes them mess with it, so I'd say what you did is perfect. -
I've never had a dog have any issues with it. Frozen poop of any kind was considered a delicacy. Although I certainly didn't encourage it, I couldn't stop it.
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I'd wait out the limp for a day or two. Check for any obvious injuries, pain on touch, visual inspection, etc. If nothing obvious shows up and she's not showing distress, wait. If she starts screaming, flinching, holding the leg up, biting, etc, of course, go to the vet. But if she's truly just lame.... wait it out. I ran to the vet far too often with my first.
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3 for a 25 lb dog.
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Just a reminder to newbies, if any dog ingests something deadly, you can induce vomiting with peroxide. I was reminded of this today when a coworker told the story of his dog that last night got into something and had an allergic reaction. His wife gave it Benadryl, at the wrong dosage. Way too high, which they figured out after. So they spent the night in worry, watching the dog sleep (very soundly). I mentioned peroxide and he'd never heard of it. They could've done that right away, purged it out of the dog's system and not had to fear the OD. Their dog is fine, btw. Very sluggish today, but ok.
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I do agree with that. Nobody in my area had greys before me, so a lot of people thought Sobe was a Doberman and sadly a lot of people think they're mean. Then when I got other greys, I had "a pack of wolf hounds" was "breeding fighting dogs" or "was running rabbits and deer". LOL. Over time, people learned. Even the people that said those things weren't really being mean, they just didn't know what the heck a greyhound was. The in-person encounters were often extreme curiosity, or fear and walking away. That got better over time. Small neighborhood. They got used to them.
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That's true. Our door is half glass, and Diana would stand up to it on hind legs when people would come, so she was face-to-face with them and SMILING through the glass!!!! It scared the heck outta a lot of people. The pizza delivery guy called us "the house with the dog with all the teeth". LOL!
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Great - hope it works out well.
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I just used regular generic Benadryl pills and it completely fixed my Sobe's fall allergy issues of his feet getting itchy. Simple, cheap. And it worked. The benadryl stopped the chewing and licking, which kept the feet from getting dry and torn up. See rseig's recent post. Same issue in my mind. It's Autumn. It's pretty common.
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Sobe's feet got like that every September (In PA) , and he'd start to chew them. Seasonal allergies. Maybe goldenrod, ragweed, fallen leaves, who knows. I just know it happened EVERY September. Give or take a few weeks depending on weather. I'd give him either a half or a full Benadryl every morning and night, and his symptoms completely disappeared. When it was at its worst I'd give him 1 1/2 at night because he'd make us all crazy chewing his feet at night. He was 90 lb, so adjust dosage by weight. My vet suggested it as a "try this first to see if it's the issue before we do expensive tests" - and it was the winner. I'd say - try Benadryl - generic is FINE (that's what I bought). If it doesn't work, then look further. No reason to spend money (even on a vet visit) if there's an easy answer. Just check out the dosage for weight. You might get a sleepy dog if you over-dose. It may take a day or two to see the effects, if any.
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And lord save us from the fish-farts! Jack Mack no more than once per week, we just couldn't live with more. But oh, such lovely skin, and hair. The price we pay!!
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New Greyhound - Refusing To Leave Apartment
sobesmom replied to a topic in Training and Behavior discussion
One thing I'd like to add - many new greys will often fool you by being FINE with everything for the first few days. They're perfect, they'll do anything, no issues!. And at that lulls you into thinking that everything you're doing they're cool with. And you beat the odds and adopted a grey that has NO adjustment issues!!! But... downside of this - they're kinda in shock at that point - zombies. So they'll go along with anything. Some people call it "the honeymoon period". Then - they get adjusted, confident, wake up and go "holy crap"?!? What?: And they start thinking. And thinking "um - what - what's going on? I was on autopilot, following that person that was nice to me because I was lost and clueless, but now, I know I'm safe, and gonna get fed - so what the heck is going on???" So - Back up. Re-introduce everything slowly. Go to one step at a time. Start over like it's day 1. Keep every new step short, and reward. Don't expect too much. It sounds like you're on that track - good for you. You're recovering nicely. This happens ALL THE TIME. Many new greys, in my experience, are much harder week 2 than week 1 (or day 5 than day 2). But that's NOT a bad thing. It's just the way it goes. I've adopted out multiple fosters, to have their new adopter call me on day 2 and say "This dog is just perfect" and I said - call me back in a few days when the issues start and she acts like a new dog and you have questions and concerns - and they ALWAYS do. No dog "adapts" on day 1. If they seem to - they're in zombie mode - or "honeymoon phase". When that passes, now you do the work you signed up for. But - you got spoofed, and that is a let-down. But - move on! Start again where you planned to start. You'll be just fine. You care. That's what matters. -
Gotta throw this in - Jack Mack in a can. My DH drew the line there. I could only feed it outside. Sardines in the house he could (barely) tolerate, but Jack Mack - was a no go for him. But the dogs ADORED IT. And it worked wonders on the coats. Lord does it stink!
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I never had one de-gloved, or amputated, but I did break a dog's tail, with a car door. It healed, but it was crooked ever after. Looked ridiculous, and I hated it every time anyone asked about it - but it was a source of good fun for those loved ones that liked to dig me about it. "Oh - the crooked tail, yeah - Shel broke his tail." (all in good fun, because they knew I felt so guilty about it and the dog was FINE). My human DD has a ridge in her pinky finger nail because I dropped a can of corn on her when she crawled under me when I dropped it. Stuff happens. She does take great joy in telling her manicurist when they mention it (she's now 21) that "oh yes - my mom dropped a can of corn on me when I was a baby". Brat She knows I feel guilty about it. Dogs aren't kids, but in some cases, we need to forgive ourselves for accidents in the same way. The upside is - dogs won't make a point to tell others how it happened to goad you about it and think it's funny. Trust me - in the infinite list of crap that can happen - this is not uncommon, and not a big deal. Your dog is totally FINE. Assuage yourself (yes, you) with giving extra treats, and move on. The dog already has.
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I didn't feed more at dinner if Diana skipped breakfast. If I had doubled dinner, she'd still be full the next the morning, and would DEFINITELY skip that breakfast, reinforcing the cycle of not eating in the morning, and for her - she needed 2 meals a day. If she skipped breakfast, got that same amount at dinner, and was "peckish" the next morning because she didn't get a full ration the day before - GOOD. You don't like that feeling - then you eat the right amount at the scheduled times. Hard-core, yes, but no healthy young dog ever died from skipping a meal. A senior, or health-compromised dog, totally different response. Diana was quite prone to skipping meals in the summer all her life. Probably 3 meals a week in the summer she just didn't eat. And she was FINE.
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That is such a cool idea!
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Help - Did I Traumatize My Dog?
sobesmom replied to ammerra's topic in Training and Behavior discussion
Good for you!!!! You gotta figure out what works for YOUR dog in YOUR house! Keep up the good work! -
Need Some Support And Encouragement
sobesmom replied to busfrsr100's topic in Training and Behavior discussion
OK - cool. Thanks for your reply, and thanks for understanding my comments were made out of of care and support. Your replies to others give me a little more insight into your situation as well. That said - I had a really, really hard dog. We struggled for years with his multiple issues - but I would never have given him up. And - the multiple times I posted here with "yet another" issue - I totally disregarded the people that said "give him back" - even though that was reasonable advice, and they meant well. So - knock it down. One thing at a time. The medical issues, hook and fleas - don't count, That just happens. It sucks, but it does. So in your mental "count" - disregard that. Focus on one issue at a time that is actually a dog/behavior issue. And knock those down - one at a time. If you focus on the big issue today, and fix that, you win. Yes, another issue may crop up, but narrow your mental focus. Prioritize. Don't list every thing that's been a PITA in the past 2 years and lump it together in your brain. Change your perspective. You beat hook. WIN!! You beat fleas - WIN!! You beat Statuing - WIN!! Everything you do to get a dog over a hurdle is a WIN. Focus on the wins. Fix something - be proud of that. Turn the page, fix the next thing. Soon - there will be nothing left to fix. Focus on the GOOD stuff you are doing. You mentioned furniture aggression - and you got him banned from from furniture. You KNOW what you're doing. Just keep doing it. Now I'll throw in the support - just keep on. Ask for help and support as each issue crops up, but don't compile them. The "worst" dogs, can be the "best". It just takes a lot of effort to get hem through the hard part. -
Need Some Support And Encouragement
sobesmom replied to busfrsr100's topic in Training and Behavior discussion
You DO have options. If you are truly overwhelmed - you could return him. 2 years is a LONG time to still be struggling this much. It's not the end of the world, and if he's just not a good fit for your home it could be better for you and the dog. I know you love him, but if the "fit" just isn't right - clinging to this isn't good for anyone. Greys are amazingly adaptable, and he could drop into another home that "fits" and be just fine. I know that's not what you're thinking, but it IS worth thinking about. Our goal is to put greys in homes that work. That means right dog - right home. There's no shame in throwing in the towel. Sometimes, you have to just realize, that no matter how hard you try, you got the "wrong dog". And that's OK. If you were an adopter of a dog I'd fostered, and you called me after 2 years and said this - I'd say bring him back to me. We'll place him again, and we'll find another dog for you. It's not supposed to be hard (yes, at first it's hard). But it's supposed to be happy, and fun. If it's not, think about your options. -
Agree kid's spray-on. But more importantly you are NOT a neglectful mom. Stuff happens, it's FINE. I was in TN a month ago babysitting my niece and nephew and FORCED them to be outside (they really like their computers) and they got sun-burned. OOPS!!!! I didn't realize how warm the sun was there. They lived. They next day, I made them use sun-block before I forced them outside again. I was also shocked the first time I had a grey sunburn. Crazy girl liked to roach in the yard with her nekkid belly. Oops. Lesson learned. I never had heard of a DOG getting sunburn.
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Habits. Just habits. It itches, lick it, get used to doing it, it becomes a habit. Good idea to break the habit by making it offensive.