Introducing Myself And Bb's Any Stroke

[Guest 2sm]

I'm 2sm and I live in South Carolina. Years ago (probably 12 or 13 years) I met a wonderful lady walking her greyhound on Folly Beach, and I fell in love with greys right then. Years went by, dh and I had kids, moved to the upstate, and then this spring, our two senior cats, both age 15, passed. One was sick and had to be put down; the other just gave up a few weeks later. As we started thinking about adding a new member of the family, of course the idea of a greyhound came up.

 

We had two vacations planned this summer and didn't want a new pet until we were home. So the first Saturday after we returned from our second vacation, I took the kids (who are NOT dog lovers) to a greyhound meet & greet at a pet store. But hey, who could not love a greyhound? They agreed that the dogs were not scary and indeed were really sweet.

 

Anyway, it took us a month to be sure we were ready to take the plunge, and even so, I think we may have rushed it a bit ... but be that as it may, BB is here, and we're all learning to fit together pretty well! I've spent a lot of time looking around the forum here for information (we're having a housetraining issue, which perhaps is a modesty issue—he's not pooped for us on the leash yet. Twice in the house and once running on the neighborhood tennis courts.).

 

This looks like a wonderful community and I am really so glad for the support. I haven't made a profile yet or put up a picture of BB, but I suppose I'll get to that as I learn my way around.

 

Thanks! 2sm

[Guest bowiebears]

Welcome from the MD 'burbs of Washington DC.

 

We all look forward to your being part of the group...and of course the pix!

 

--Isaac

[MauCarden]

Welcome to GT.

[Guest whatahound]

From North Carolina

 

Ace did not like to go to the bathroom on a leash either. I tried knotting two leashes together and it helped. Just make sure they are secured together.

 

Congrats on BB.

[GeorgeofNE]

Welcome!

 

Just a quick FYI, I was advised NOT to let my Grey run on hard surface tennis courts because their feet can get "torn up" because they are not accustomed to running on that sort of surface, and the speed at which they travel! I was disappointed, but better safe than sorry. I would hate for you to have a bad experience right away and end up at the vet, so I'm passing on the advice my adoption group gave me.

 

I'm new too!

[Guest 2sm]

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks, whatahound, for the leash advice. One of the books we got from the library said to try a retractable leash with an extra wriststrap. I guess if I have to buy a second leash, I'd rather get one of those. That way I can take him out with me when I want to water the plants and such, and he can roam a bit farther. We don't have a fence and don't have immediate plans to put one up. Our back yard is wooded and on a slope, and most fences would look silly going through the woods.

 

I'm trying to reach the lady who fostered him to see if she had the same pooping problem or if it's something new. She did give us the belly bands and I've stopped using them already because he has not shown the slightest inclination to pee in the house. She said three or four days would be fine with those.

 

I've never had a dog before (one that was my responsibility), so there is A LOT that I don't know. He's a big boy (81 lbs) and I'm a petite woman (5'2" and small), so I'm working on being the pack leader the best I know how. We're definitely going to get some professional training so we both (BB and I) know what to do :-).

 

Edited to add, thanks, JumpingGeorge, for the tennis court advice. We won't be going back there anyway, because we didn't see the sign that said "No Pets" until after we finished.

Edited September 12, 2007 by 2sm

[Guest IrskasMom]

 

 

 

WELCOME to GT You are on the right Place with all the other Greyhound Addict's .

Lot's of Help,lot's of Compassion and in General nice People. We love to see Pictures of BB. If you need

Help, we all went through different Stages with our Hounds and somewhere or another we can Help.

CONGRATS on BB.

[Guest Tenderhearts]

:wave :wave

 

I would like to caution you on using a retractable leash.

 

Personally I think they are one of the worst inventions ever, especially for big dogs.

 

I occasionally petsit two labs, and one of them spotted a rabbit while I was walking her on a retractable leash on a quiet dirt road. Have that leash let all the way out, a dog tries to bolt, and it can be disaster.

 

Looking forward to pictures of your new boy!

 

 

[Guest PhillyPups]

Welcome to GreyTalk. I also have a BB's dog, Zeus, and he too was not used to pooping on lead, he held it for three days his first Dewey and when he did finally go it was in the middle of the street and he yelped. He still prefers to go in the yard behind something (very modest boy).

[Guest 2sm]

I took him out after his meal; he did nothing in the back yard although I stood there for several minutes. Then I decided to walk him down to the creek, because he hadn't been there yet, and we went for quite a long walk back there. He actually did poop while we were out there, after several minutes' walk, on the 5' leash! So I'm hopeful it's not a real block for him, but that we'll get into a groove and eventually he'll do it in the back yard.

 

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and the advice. Keep it coming!

[Guest Ilse]

 

A friendly Hello from Germany

[Xan]

Welcome!!

 

Leash potty training tip: Praise and even treat for "performance" as if it were the best trick you'd ever seen! You'd be suprised how much that helps.

 

Seconding the caution about flexi leads. Even with a few feet of lead, the momentum these guys can build up can lift you off your feet like a kite. You run a real risk that he will rip that thing off your hand, extra wrist band or no, maybe taking your skin with it!

 

You might really want to start thinking about a fence, even if it's just a portion of your yard. I've lived both yardless and with a fenced dog yard, and I definitely vote for a fenced yard! MUCH easier to interact with your dog leashless, do training that needs a little more room than your house, give him the freedom to just wander at will sniffing or lounging or running around every day....

 

Good luck with the getting-to-know-you phase! How old are your kids?

 

 

 

[Guest simile]

Welcome aboard and congratulations on your pup!

[Guest PhillyPups]

Welcome!!

 

Leash potty training tip: Praise and even treat for "performance" as if it were the best trick you'd ever seen! You'd be suprised how much that helps.

 

Good luck with the getting-to-know-you phase! How old are your kids?

 

The "Yeahhh Good Poop" also worked when I lived in an apartment complex and was running late, as my Runner learned to poop on command,

[Guest 2sm]

Welcome!! ... Good luck with the getting-to-know-you phase! How old are your kids?

 

My daughter is 8; she's been bitten twice by other people's dogs and is really leery of all dogs. She absolutely loves BB. It's amazing. My son is 6. He likes BB pretty well, too. I'm finding I like BB even better now that he has pooped for me, LOL.

 

Off on a tangent, I looked up other BB's dogs since another one was mentioned above; there are like 1500 of them. It makes me think maybe we should go with another part of his name? The woman who was fostering him sounded like she said "BB Zinny Stroke" when she told me his race name. So who knows, he might become Zinny.

[Guest Linn]

Welcome and congrats from Ontario. Looking forward to pictures.

[Guest SkinnyLegDogLover]

Is this your handsome man?? (I peeked at his pedigree on Greyhound-Data...hope you don't mind)

 

[2hounds]

 

Can't wait to see pics!

[Guest 2sm]

Is this your handsome man?? (I peeked at his pedigree on Greyhound-Data...hope you don't mind)

 

 

Of course, I don't mind at all! Yes, that's our pup! Thanks for taking the time to look him up. That site is really cool. I've searched for a lot of our local available hounds there.

 

Thank you again, everyone, for the warm welcome. It's so nice to know you're all here; I've taken your advice on several matters already!

 

[Guest darlene]

Hi there. Next time your pup poops somewhere, bring some back and put it in your yard where you want him to go, and he'll get the idea. Welcome to GT.

[Guest 2FourFootClowns]

Welcome and good luck with the new baby!

[Guest crazy4greys]

Welcome! He sure is handsome.

 

You will get a lot of helpful advise here.

[Neighsayer]

Welcome from New Jersey!

Do you know anyone else with a dog? Your dog would probably love to poop where another dog has gone. Invite them over so the dogs can poop together. Sounds funny but it often works!

[Lilysmom]

Welcome and congrats on adopting a greyhound, it's wonderful!

 

Just a word of caution, please don't let your pup run on the outdoor tennis courts, they can tear their pads pretty badly and not to forget how hot they can be. One thing you have to do with your pup is toughen up their pads and that can be done by everday walks on sidewalks.

 

Be patient you'll get into a routine and things will fall into place.

 

Oh and by the way, in case you haven't figured it out yet, you are now one of those greyhound people So enjoy and again welcome to the greyhound addicts club!

[Guest 2sm]

Thank you everyone. It's been 2 1/2 weeks now, and we keep learning more about each other. It appears he needs to walk before pooping. However, he doesn't particularly like to walk, partly, I think, because he has an injured right back foot. No one at the rescue organization noticed he had an infected ulcer between the toe where he had lost a toenail and the toe next to it. He spent a week on oral antibiotics, and I'm still treating it with triple antibiotic ointment. So it's much improved, but I bet it was really hurting him at first. He still favors it going downstairs (he does the full-speed, three-legged hop/lunge; it's a bit scary!). Anyway, sometimes on a walk, he will still stop dead and not want to go any further. Then when we get back to the house, if I try to walk by and keep going, he'll not have it. He does tend to walk with less resistance at night in the dark, so we take our longer walks then.

 

We've started private lessons from a girl at PetSmart who has some grey knowledge and is friendly with the leaders of the rescue group. However, she suggested a halter for him, but getting him to stop is not the problem. It's getting him to go when he decides to stop. So the halter won't help. We had our first lesson yesterday. She worked with me on getting him to walk right next to me on a short lead (I have a traffic leash with the extra handle right above his collar). He did that pretty well last night on our long walk, but with no room or time to stop and sniff, he didn't poop. So I believe he and I are going to have to find a happy medium that works for us.

 

He needs to walk to poop, so he needs some freedom to find a suitable place to do that while we are out; and I need him to not randomly (seems so to me; I'm sure he has his reasons) stop and refuse to keep moving. We had a reasonable walk this morning, so I have hope. I'm still open to more advice! Thanks again!

 

Oh, also I've read several places that the martingale collar should not be worn indoors? No one from my rescue group has said anything about that. Is it a choking hazard or not a big deal?