Maddy

Yeah she probably would remove them or become a real princess about having them on but saying that, she is really accepting of most things I do to her. She isn't fussed with her paws being touched and played with. I'll grab a pair of baby socks and see what she does. With positive rewards of course. I got some socks from.. Wagwear (I think) that are designed for bigger dogs. I needed them to encourage the idiot dog to walk on concrete (didn't work) but they were fairly cheap and he didn't seem overly fussed by them, especially considering he's a bit precious about his feet. The only problem I did notice was that the back socks seemed to slowly drag off. I'm not sure if that was bad design or because my dog drags his back feet a bit. .

I had the same problem. Maybe it works but it's hard to tell when your dog will not voluntarily ingest the stuff. And in my case, the dog in question is a filthy glutton who'll eat anything you put in front of him, which leads me to think it can't taste that good to some dogs. I had this issue too and it was our beagle that wouldn't eat it and she is a walking vacuum. I even tried mixing a teaspoon in a 200gram tub of yoghurt and giving her the whole tub - nope, totally refused the yoghurt. I persisted for a bit and she didn't get any better about eating it and I also found it did not mix into other food very well. I'm guessing it's one of those things dogs will either eat or totally hate. My disguise of peanut butter mushed up with tinned sardines is one of the old dog's most favourite things (it smells deathly and would -have- to cover the fairly neutral smell of rose hips). I still have 2/3rds of a tub left so might try feeding some to two of the other dogs. Should be interesting.

And just in case anyone is wondering what a shitty whippet looks like..

I told the OH I'd be making her some whippet-sized hobbles if he doesn't cough up for a better harness. Need to hide this thread from him now because he loves his duct tape and any excuse will do. I have a voice for calling her (you know, the silly voice you use for your dogs when no one else is at home) and the people across the road must have thought I was a bit crazy.. "Piiiiiiinnnnnnnyyy, come back, shitty whippy". She has flawless recall at home (of course) but she wanted to go to the park and that's not where we were going :| Besides being shitty, shitty whippet is a very determined little dog, apparently. I've never owned such a bendy, twisty beast before- she's like a hagfish, but shitty. Anyways, thanks for the links, people :D Now just have to make a decision..

Have you had any experience with the Ruffwear DoubleBack harness? The Web Master looks really nice but I'm worried she'd still be able to squirm backwards out of it because there's nothing stopping it from slipping forwards, if you get what I mean.

I had the same problem. Maybe it works but it's hard to tell when your dog will not voluntarily ingest the stuff. And in my case, the dog in question is a filthy glutton who'll eat anything you put in front of him, which leads me to think it can't taste that good to some dogs. My dog eats it no problem, sprinkled on her dinner. I have it mixed into my cereal & I don't mind the taste :) It gets stuck in my teeth sometimes. I tried all the usual tricks- out-stinking the powder with things he loves (peanut butter and fish) and mixing it thoroughly through his food but no go. Funny thing is, he'll eat other powdered things like Livamol (which can have big, grainy chunks in it) so I don't think it's texture.

Today, the shitty whippet figured out how to slip her BlackDog Wear harness while out for a walk I had it on as tight as I could get it without hurting her so I'm now after suggestions for brands that are more escape-proof (or, ideally, entirely escape-proof :p ). Shitty Whippet can also slip even a fully tightened martingale collar or limited slip collar so we can't even rely on one of those for backup. Any material is fine, with the exception of leather. The style of her current harness is the figure 8 and she slipped that by rearing up and back and popping her front legs straight out so.. not anything in that style. Suggestions, please!

I had the same problem. Maybe it works but it's hard to tell when your dog will not voluntarily ingest the stuff. And in my case, the dog in question is a filthy glutton who'll eat anything you put in front of him, which leads me to think it can't taste that good to some dogs.

This. If I took any of my dogs into my vet with even slightly overgrown dew claws she goes mad at me! How the hell this vet nurse can get away with rotting teeth is beyond me! Ask her how she would feel if she had unattended dental decay, nits and dirty hair next time she calls so worried about her precious dog! I watched a show last night about a lady who runs a cat sanctuary and rescue in LA. She has almost 800 cats at her rescue and her local pound puts down 200 cats a day so obviously the situation is uber crappy. She gets people who call wanting to surrender cats and kittens multiple times a day and she berates them endlessly about their animal ownership stupidity and neglect. She gets real personal and hangs up on them too. She does take whatever they want to dump and offers to free desex any cat they choose to keep but she makes them suffer her anger and dislike for it. I was cheering for her. I don't think I could do that but god, is it tempting at times. We took a dog from a woman (pet home) who "couldn't keep [dog] anymore because they were moving", I was very understanding, took the time to let her say goodbye and tried my hardest to support this woman through what must have been a hard time (the move was for work, they had kids to consider). And then a few months later.. she's got a new greyhound listed up on Gumtree that she can't keep because of some other bullshit reason. I wanted to reach through the screen and slap her. With a lump of wood. Attached to an angry bear. As tempting as it was, I didn't call her but I won't be taking the dog, either. For some people, I think they really have to understand (and live with) the consequences of their choices before they'll stop doing shitty things.

Hehe Maddy, we can get him to Tas if you want him :D . We had a call from someone about him over the weekend so fingers crossed they go ahead :) Fingers crossed for the gorgeous polar bear! :D

I only own sighthounds so I have nothing to compare them with. It does seem like the majority of greyhound boys prefer to squat and that is half the problem- urinating directly between their own front legs is bound to result in pee-paws (hence the oldest dog's nickname: Chief Peepaw of the Wetfoot tribe). Maybe if they cocked their legs properly, it'd pull the belly of the pajamas up and out of the way? All I know is that for all the boys I've had (excluding the idiot dog, for some mysterious reason), pajamas have to be changed at least every second day, and checked regularly in between to make sure they're dry.

it's probably a good thing GAP Vic doesn't foster or adopt out dogs down here anymore, he's a bit too tempting

Worse I've ever had was a dog who sort of cock-squatted and wee'd right inside the chest gap. Getting those pajamas off was a special kind of not-fun. I actually had a pair of pajamas made by a Doler (Meg) that had ties with velcro to pull the tummy up tight to stop the problem. I also got her to add velcro cuffs bits to the legs so that they'd stay up nicely. The pjs ended up being too big for the dog in question (my fault, added a few centimetres to be safe and that ended up being too much) but they would have been perfect otherwise.

Depending on the shape of the dog and the pajamas, it's quite possible for a dog to actually wee on the underside if it's a bit baggy or the dog has a really deep chest and the pajamas don't contour sharply back up. Trust me on that one, I've peeled weejamas off a few dogs

what style coat Maddy? I have the vest's that zip up along the back and am always recommending them. I and the dogs think they are greyt That's what I got :/ I wasn't sure if the styles for sighthounds were different so I actually mentioned it was for a whippet but it's almost comically baggy, it looks like a colourful sack.

We've taught two of our dogs to toilet inside in a certain place and it works well. It was necessary because neither of those two would go out to toilet during bad weather (and we get plenty of that down here, sometimes lasting for a week at a time ) so it seemed more sensible to teach them a suitable place to go than be constantly cleaning up random puddles on rainy days. What we didn't want was for the dogs to start toileting inside just because it was easier for them so they have their toilet towels (to cue them that toileting there is currently okay) that go in their separate spots only on days when it's bad outside. If the towels aren't there, they don't toilet there. It took a bit of time to get it reliable but it's turned out to be very, very useful. Much easier to wash and dry a few thick towels than it is to properly wash and dry carpet. Edit- These look like an excellent option. They would've come in very handy last week when we had all the storms.

The jammies definitely take some practice to put on but if you get the right size, it shouldn't involve too much hound contorting. All of the pjs my guys have came from Kickatinalong but I've noticed that not only has customer service taken a massive nosedive, the quality it not even close to what it used to be. Both of my newest pairs are already coming apart in places (worn by inside dogs who spend most of their day sleeping, pjs are washed in a hosiery bag) so I don't think I'd recommend them anymore. I came across these a while ago (the seller used to put up fliers in our local dog park) and although I haven't tried them, they look nice and being custom made, you could probably ask for changes to be made to the pattern if need be (like shorter front legs for boys or whatever). I also have a Wolf's Den coat for one of my dogs but I don't think I could recommend them for sighthounds- the quality was fine but it's very baggy and shapeless. I guess when it comes to coats, I prefer something that better fits sighthound contours.

We have colourbond fencing for the front fence and it's probably the best money we've ever spent on the dogs. They can't see cats, people or other dogs walking past so no barking or getting worked up. As far as anxiety goes, I'd say it's actually decreased anxiety because what goes on outside on the street is no longer their problem.

Somewhere, some alien is opening up a casket of dog ashes and wondering wtf is going on.

I assume the article is in response to Pets Domain discontinuing the sale of cats and dogs but srsly, if you're going to stand behind a decision like that (to continuing selling), you need to at least pretend to have some good reasons. I doubt the public as a whole are worried that pet shops sell to puppy farms, it's way down the list of issues. In his case, I'd guess the reason is because he has no other way of differentiating his business from other pet stores. His range is small, his staff are not adequately trained and his prices are higher than places like Petbarn. His only draw is that he sells entire kittens and puppies. Take that from him and maybe he'd actually have to put some thought into his business.

Back when the idiot dog* was 16 weeks old, I posted a photo of him on FB and someone asked if he was a JRT. Now that he's older and has very heavy ticking, people tell me that my dalmatian is too thin :/ *greyhound in avatar picture.

I'd second this. We had one for the GooberDog and it was great, looked really comfy. One thing though.. don't put things on top of them. Ours ended up breaking after the little plastic bits that basically hold the whole roof up cracked and split under the weight of some junk that was sitting on top of the crate. We ended up going back to a wire crate for the lounge room because the temptation to pile junk on top was too great

Half the time it is tap water. The other half, you're missing out on the fluoride added to help protect your teeth. Good luck to Maeby's teeth in the future, they're gonna need it.

Yep. Breeders (of dogs) are a good example there. For every one that makes the news for abuse or neglect, there are thousands of others who love and care for their animals. Unfortunately, those good breeders would not support the argument so they're not shown. You really can't rely on AR groups to offer a balanced view of the situation so for some things, you do have to do your own research. Yes. If these same AR groups came out with a video of one breeder abusing their dogs and once again told everyone to boycott all breeders based on that video, I can just imagine the outrage here on DOL. Why is it different when they do it about livestock? This quote springs to mind.. And if anyone thinks they aren't comparable situations, they really don't understand just how extremist some of these groups are behind the "we love bunnies" facade.

Yep. Breeders (of dogs) are a good example there. For every one that makes the news for abuse or neglect, there are thousands of others who love and care for their animals. Unfortunately, those good breeders would not support the argument so they're not shown. You really can't rely on AR groups to offer a balanced view of the situation so for some things, you do have to do your own research.