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Erny, thanks for your reply. With regards to the Kong toy, when I mentioned to her that I was planning to buy one from the vet but they didn't have the correct size in stock, she commented that it would be better to get one off her anyway because she doesn't put a 200% mark up on the price like the vets do. It's good of you to provide another perspective, and I'm sure mine is biased, as I'm merely explaining what happened from my point of view. There are always two sides to every story and the reality is probably somewhere in the middle. I just hope the letter is not viewed as blackmail, because that was absolutely never my intention at all. Most of all I hope Ivy ends up happy in her new home. The house feels awfully empty without her

Ivy was very anxious whenever I left her. She would whine and panic. Once she almost choked to death on the cords attached to my blinds (she must have been looking out the window to see where I was). Luckily my flat mate heard her making an awful sound and came into my room to rescue her. She also soiled inside on a number of occasions when I was gone, even though she had been outside prior to me leaving (I was never gone more than a couple of hours). She had no toileting problems when I was home with her. The dog trainer was not really helpful. She spent some time showing me a Kong toy and then didn't leave it with me or offer for me to buy it off her. Apart from that, she told me Ivy isn't as bad as many of the dogs she sees, we discussed the Triangle of Temptation (which she criticised) and she had fun feeding Ivy treats. At the end of the session, I felt that there were no practical, realistic or workable solutions for me to try.

Hi everyone, Thanks for your responses. Ivy has found a new home this afternoon with a cat, Greyhound and lady who has experience with Greyhounds. I really hope she'll be happy there. I miss her heaps already

Separation anxiety.

Edit: I have been advised to remove this letter. PM me if you want to see it.

You can order it from http://www.pawsonly.com.au/ but it will be expensive. I'm sure the Nutro website would send it to you as well.

Okay, so she's still whining a bit but it's much less! Also, ealier this week I was holding a treat and asked her to sit and she did so immediately! I was previously unable to get her to do this - even though she absolutely loves treats, she would just refuse to sit!

Thanks, lillysmum, I will try that if Optimum doesn't help her. Thanks Mrs D, that's very reasonably priced I think!

Excellent! I bought some Optimum yesterday and hopefully it'll help my Greyhound who is underweight with dandruff and a poor coat. I had been feeding her Supercoat for a week but the amount of waste she was producing was incredible! About seven stools a day! Then I found a thread about Supercoat and realised others were having the same problem, so I won't be feeding her that anymore. How much is Bonnie Working Dog? Where can it be purchased? I couldn't find it in the supermarket.

What about brands like Optimum and Purina? Does anyone know if they're worthwhile? I feed my cat those and his coat is very shiny.

I started the Triangle of Temptation with my Greyhound a few days ago. I have not had problems getting her to look at me - she does so fairly quickly without me needing to say her name. However, I have a problem with her whining. I wait and wait and wait for her to stop and she just won't. I end up going out to her when she is having a short break from whining. How long should she have stopped whining for before I go out to her? Is there anything I can do about the fact that she won't stop? She just doesn't seem to understand that the sooner she stops, the sooner she gets food (which thankfully she is always excited about). Thanks in advance! P.S. She bit her lead the other day because she was so upset about being tied up, so I had to tie a knot in it and put it back together. I will try to purchase a less destrucable one tomorrow!

eclecticgirl, thanks for sharing! Luckily my dog is not afraid of household noises and doesn't mind the vacuum cleaner. I think she has a very good temperament actually and I can see that she is well suited to being in the adoption program. I'm sure given some time she'll settle in. I think it's also very helpful that I can come here and get lots of advice from you all!

Ohhhhh I didn't know that!!! No wonder she doesn't like it!

Thank you for your encouragement! I can tell she's good natured but is just having a bit of trouble understanding what being a pet is all about. When I was preparing her a meal yesterday, she was very excited and sat down momentarily without me even asking her to. That was a very good sign, I think, because I've been having trouble with her being very disobedient and refusing to sit before I let her eat. This dog doesn't appear to have very good reflexes - she's always banging her head because she puts it in the wrong place at the wrong time. She's very clumsy. I've seen her jump with all four legs in the air a couple of times - like you said she becomes pretty tall! Thanks again

Greytmate, thanks so much for talking to me yesterday - I really appreciate it. Yes, I don't think this dog's prey drive is very strong. When we go for walks she only shows a fairly mild interest in birds for example, and only when they're close by. Perhaps she wasn't a very good race dog. Once I have a name for her I am going to start TOT in addition to NILIF. I took her to the vet today and now my vet bills thus far have totalled $340 I get her blood results tomorrow, so I'm hoping to find out what's wrong with her. I haven't been able to get in contact with the GAP people yet. Hopefully they'll call me back soon.

Arya, thank you for your posts, which came across as helpful, not critical. Erny, the cat's kitty litter is kept under the stairs. He is able to get under the stairs but the dog is not. This is one of the many hiding places that the cat has that the dog is unable to access. Greytmate, thank you so much for your posts. You have me worried now, though. I was extremely concerned the first time she nipped the cat (especially because she's a Greyhound) but when I talked to the Greyhound Adoption Program people, they seemed to think that it was just a sign that she wants to play with the cat. Two vets have since told me that she is asserting dominance over him. One lady from the adoption program was even extremely rude to me (to the point where I started crying after the phone call) when I was concerned for my cat's safety and wondering if I could keep the dog. She said "of course the cat is terrified - you just need to give them some time" (the cat is no longer terrified, so that's why I kept her). I have the dog on a 28 day trial until January 28. I'm really unsure what to do. Another problem I'm having is that after having her for two weeks, she had a really upset stomach. It proceeded and I rang the foster people from GAP and was told chicken would "bind her up", but that's what I had been feeding her. On the fifth day I took her to the vet and she's now on anti-biotics and a special diet. She came to me underweight and with dandruff and her coat is in poor condition. I am very upset because she is supposed to be vet checked! I have found the GAP to be quite unprofessional thus far. I don't know who to seek advice from! If it helps, I've had this dog for over 3 weeks now and she's only nipped the cat a couple of times. As I said, they mostly ignore each other. The first time she nipped him I said "no!" very harshly and she stopped immediately and had an "ohhh, okay" look on her face. They are fed separately without access to one another's food. I have read the NILIF link you sent me, which is very helpful and I will certainly put that into practice. Thank you again for your posts!

Thank you for your advice everyone. Also thank you to Greytmate for clarifying that (as I thought) Greyhound muzzles don't restrict breathing. I was actually wondering what on earth the owner of a Greyhound was supposed to do when walking their dog on a hot day! I have had a look around the house and don't think I can see anything that her muzzle would get caught on. It occurred to me that locking the cat in my room is not particularly a good idea anyway as he might be inclined to harass my fish if he's left with them unsupervised for a long time. However, I could always lock the dog in my room with a bowl of water and leave the cat to the rest of the house. My house is very small so it's hard for me to permanently move the kitty litter to a different spot. The laundry doesn't even have its own room. I am pretty sure that if I did leave them alone together without muzzling the dog that nothing would happen. Most of the time they just ignore each other and I'm fairly certain she just sleeps while I'm gone (which isn't all that often or very long, by the way). The only times the dog has nipped the cat has been when I've been holding the cat on my lap and she's been sniffing him and then become a bit carried away. I will be sure to avoid interfering in future (unless it's to stop aggressive behaviour of course). Thanks again everyone.

I don't think her muzzle restricts breathing and she is easily able to drink water through it. My dog is a Greyhound so she is very used to wearing a muzzle even though she doesn't like it. She is not able to take it off. I have never seen the dog chase the cat and the cat has plenty of hiding spots he can go to get away from the dog. The cat has also never attacked the dog. Of course, one can never know what will happen when one is not there, but I think that the most likely problem to occur would be the dog getting excited and carried away and biting the cat. I am concerned that if I leave her outside she will howl or bark and piss off the neighbours. If I put the cat in a separate room that would mean I'd need to move his kitty litter, food and water every time I leave the house.

Why is that?

Thank you for your advice! I do not trust them alone together so I always ensure my dog is wearing a muzzle when I leave the house.

Is there a way that I can teach my dog to consider my cat to be of a higher rank? I am concerned as she has nipped at him a few times and growled at him when I put him on her bed.