What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

[mansbestfriend]

Good luck. Wishing Jasper a good 'report card'.

Kelly dog sees the vet this month for an annual checkup. Hopefully she gets the all clear.

[JudyN]

All the best for Kelly dog

That was really useful! After some walking, talking and treating (and cow poo eating by Jasper ), the physio was able to have a good feel of Jasper's back while I stuffed cheese through his muzzle. He did keep looking back to say 'WTF are you doing?' and eventually had a little snark, so we called it a day. But she was able to tell that his problem is tight muscles in the back. Lurchers and similar types have such a powerful coil/recoil action when they run that it does put quite a bit of a strain on the back. There's no problem with the limbs & joints themselves, which is good. And she's pretty sure he isn't in constant discomfort. Let's face it, he's not one to suffer in silence

She would have loved to get in there and work to release the tension, but she could see he wouldn't have been happy. So she's given me some pointers for massage & stretching & which areas to focus on, along with making sure he doesn't sleep for hours shortly after a hard run. Hopefully that will be enough to keep him ticking over. He might appreciate a heat pad, too. Nettle, if you've picked up anything else that might be useful, could you let me know please?

I could tell she wasn't that familiar with sighthounds - she though he would sleep on his belly, and she also said she was hoping to get a cuddle from him. He doesn't do cuddles, a head held against your leg or a nose in your groin is the most you can expect

They parted as mates, though he wasn't that keen for her hands to move past his head by then, and backed away. Possibly we'd have better results if we'd taken things slower, but at £57 a pop, I could spend an awful lot of money before she could actually do anything useful.

[Nettle]

Stop a lurcher sleeping for hours after a hard run? Reckon she thinks he's a spaniel!

Let him sleep but keep him warm. If he'll take a blanket over his back, that's good.

Will he allow you to massage? Even a few strokes at a time will help. So will arnica (remember - you don't have to believe in it - it will work whether you believe in it or not ) One of my lurchers has a daily turmeric capsule and I was so impressed I started taking it myself. Can't remember if you already have Jas on these.

Have you tried a magnetic collar? Works for some, not for others.

I'm not too convinced about the diagnosis, frankly. I suggest you seek out a greyhound vet - try one of the racing stadium ones - to give him a full physical. They know their stuff and are not all that expensive.

[JudyN]

I'm not too convinced about the diagnosis, frankly. I suggest you seek out a greyhound vet - try one of the racing stadium ones - to give him a full physical. They know their stuff and are not all that expensive.

Oh, now you've got me all worried again I'll think about it... I'm just not sure it's possible for a vet to give him a full physical without him getting in such a state that he's likely to do himself additional harm... but it's something to look into.

He loves me massaging him so I'll do that more and now I know the areas to concentrate on. I'm going to see if there's any dog massage courses available, or at least look for online guides. I'll investigate the turmeric, too.

My gut feeling does go along with her diagnosis, though of course gut feeling is nothing like as reliable as your years of experience. When he isn't shambling along like an old man, he moves so beautifully and fluidly I find it hard to believe there's a structural problem.

[Erica]

Finally just me and my dog for a few days! Ami's family cancelled their trip because they want me to rest and not have to worry about taking care of their dogs so I get a lovely unexpected weekend off.

also

*whispers* guess who's gonna train a pig

[MPbandmom]

It was a lovely weekend here. A little breezy yesterday and frost this morning, but glorious sunshine both days. We took the dogs to the battlefield. I bundled up against the wind and found myself shedding a couple of layers before we were done. Today I dressed more appropriately and the dogs looked like they would like to shed a couple of layers of fur. Morning temps were cool enough and the samoyed club members have started scootering on the canal. I haven't even gotten scooter or bicycle to the shop to be checked out in preparation for scootering yet. For as lethargic as Sky was this summer in the heat, she is making up for it in the cool. I need to get my act together and get prepped for running season.

Sirius snarked at OH last night. I think it may have been my fault. I finally bought some musher's secret and attempted to put some on her paws last night. It didn't seem to go very well and I'm not sure if I am using the proper technique. I smeared my finger across the stuff and then tried to wipe it onto the dog's pads. My skin tends towards the dry side and I got the feeling it was all being sucked up by my skin before getting to the pads. I considered just sticking the whole tub against the paw and twisting, but wasn't sure how that would go over or if that would contaminate the product. I wiped along all of Sirius' pads and 3 of Sky's feet at least the center pads. She was lying on the 4th foot.

After I finished, I left the room. OH went into the room a little later and was petting Sirius and she snarked at him. I guess my messing with her feet got her annoyed and he likely leaned over her and was petting her roughly as he tends to do and in her annoyed state, she snapped.

Those of you who use musher's secret, how do you get it out of the tub and onto the dog's foot and how do you know when enough has been applied?

[Shalista]

Bax and i had a lovely day, after school we snoozed together on the futon and then i gave him his last pupsicle. its not hot here but i just felt like giving him something fun. he kept nudging the bowl into hard to get places so i wrapped a fluffy blanket around the bowl and viola! no more lost pupsicles.

[JudyN]

Jasper doesn't want to sleep with us any more In the summer he often chose to sleep downstairs and we put it down to him being cooler there. But over the last couple of weeks he's chosen more and more to stay downstairs despite me enticing him with promises of his bedtime chicken strip. It's not a problem, but it means we leave the bedroom door open in case he changes his mind and then we get woken by DS1, who is nocturnal. There's also the risk that he might start his 'It's dangerous out there, you're not allowed to get out of bed, Mum' routine - when he's in with us we block him in his bit of the room with a clothes airer, which also means he can't decide to sleep between me and the door as I know how he'd react if I tripped over him

I'd love to know why he'd rather sleep on his own. The beds are almost identical, he's in a nice cosy alcove away from any draughts, he gets a treat when he settles down, and he is generally a dog who prefers to be close to us. Ideas, anyone?

I noticed another example of his proficiency in English last night - I was playing WordsWithFriends (like Scrabble) on the computer, looked at my selection of letters and said 'Now where can I go?' Immediately he lifted his head and looked at me. 'Go somewhere? Are you going somewhere?'

[Ari_RR]

Perhaps Jasper just doesn't feel like climbing stairs?

[JudyN]

Even I'm not that lazy

[JudyN]

We had another 'What is going on in Jasper's head?' moment this afternoon... In the car park in the middle of the woods a woman was trying to get her spaniel back on lead to take him home, but he wouldn't let her near him. She didn't know what was up with him, it was very unusual apparently. We all tried to help, and eventually a man managed to win him over and get hold of him. A couple of times when the woman was near us I thought I heard Jasper give a low growl but thought I must have imagined it. Then she said hello to him, and he growled much more loudly. I've never known him take against a woman that immediately (he can find some men intimidating). But it turns out she works in a vets. She thought maybe Jasper could tell she was stressed at not being able to get her spaniel, or because she smelt of so many different dogs, and I also wondered if he could sense the spaniel's fearfulness. But the simplest explanation, I suppose, is she smelt of VET!

Of course, she had to try the charm offensive to befriend him rather than just leave him alone

Even so, he doesn't growl at the receptionists at our vets, or even the vet unless she/he is doing something unpleasant. Maybe it was meeting someone who smelt of vet out of context...

[Shalista]

we had guests today and i was shocked by how well it went. the woman loved dogs so of course it helped. i waited for some time after the guests got here to let bax out and worked through some calming and focusing stuff with him before i unleashed him. he behaved himself admirably!!! very little jumping up, no zoomies, and he was only a little shy. after i gave some treats to the woman bax fell in love with her. later everyone gathered in the living room to talk and i sat on the floor with bax to prevent him from running across the back of the couches and being a nuisance. for the first time ever i successfully used his dinner as treats!!!!! normally he turns his nose up to it if its not free, today he worked with it and learned a new trick. he now puts either his left or right paw onto my hand depending on which hand i offer him. best part was when he wandered off to say hi to the woman i gave her some treats and she did his "It's yer choice" stuff that id been practicing. she must have been watching me do it with him. he was a total star and did super well even though it wasn't me with threats =)

Best of all when my sister brought her dog down i whisked bax into his room until Ki went back upstairs and there was no pottying!

[JudyN]

Well done Shalista & Bax

[Nettle]

Yes - great progress!!

[Fundog]

Congratulations, Shalista. That's an impressive report right there.