Skitch

It's obvious you love your pup very much and are trying to do what's in his best interests! I never pay too much mind to what I read on international forums.. sometimes the advice is good but they really do seem to have a different set of 'rules' and circumstances abroad in regards to dogs. So long as your yard is secure, the dog has somewhere to shelter and is relatively happy being out doors I dont see a problem with what you intend to do. I had a quick squiz at your youtube videos and I dont think Elbie is too young to be left alone at all. Sure, he's a puppy.. but it's not as though he's a tiny little thing who has no independence. I guess you know to possibly expect some destructive behaviour.. but most dogs go through that stage, I promise it doesn't last forever! Our elderly cattle dog mix is left outside for four hours at a time (I work 8 - 9 hour days but come home on lunchbreaks) and she has never had a problem. The only thing I do worry about is someone poisoning her with laced meat because we had someone threaten to do that once. After that happened, we underwent a bit of training to make her aversive to picking up food that wasn't in her bowl and she wont take food from strangers either. I cant guarantee 100% that she wouldn't eat something if it was thrown over the gate.. but I am fairly sure she wouldn't. I hope no one would ever do something so horrible to Elbie but if your yard is easily accessed from the street and a bit remote it's something worth considering.

It's been a week since the incident now and he's not had any further problems so I dont think I'll be taking him to a chiro.. not that we have one or even anything similar in Port Pirie anyway LOL! Our big dog is due for her vaccination in a couple of days so perhaps I'll bring him along to the appointment and get the vet to have a general feel over.. I've palpated him extensively from tip to toe and nothing has produced anything more than some agitated wiggling because he doesn't like to be held still (like any self respecting iggy pup! Lol). I think for now I'll just put it down to something that caused him a bit of pain (cramp, insect bite etc) and italian greyhound theatrics lol.

Thanks for all the helpful replies Haha yeah! He does throw a tantrum every now and then.. but nothing quite like this, this just seemed unprovoked! Boomer travels with us alot.. we live 2.5 hours out of Adelaide and make the drive with him atleast twice a fortnight. We also go camping a fair bit so he's had his fair share of time in the car.. he seems to enjoy a good ride! I was told that Boomers lines are free of epilepsy but didn't discuss it in depth with the breeder.. perhaps I will call to confirm! He really was absolutely fine soon as we got back in the car though.. the whole ordeal lasted only 3 - 4 minutes. He didn't seem out of sorts at all and stopped shaking almost instantly.. we took him round to the park and he was running about being a pest like usual. I really, really hope it wasn't a seizure.. but it's definitely something I'll look into just in case. Lol yeah I wasn't a huge fan of murray bridge either.. didn't really like the town center and didn't really like any of the houses we looked at! Boomers reaction sealed the deal though.. we wont be buying up there .

I think it depends on the dog really.. you should take into consideration how much energy the dog needs, too! Perhaps try both and see what works best? Our dogs both eat in the evening for no other reason than that's always been the routine and they're used to it.

Hmm.. a seizure wasn't something I had considered.. I've seen small dogs have seizures before and this didn't really seem like that? He was responsive and able to move.. but it was as though he was absolutely terrified. An insect bite might be a good explanation.. although I couldn't find any evidence of one! However like most italian greyhounds boomer is known to make mountains out of molehills in regards to pain.. so it wouldn't surprise me if something nipped him! Still seems like a bit of an over reaction, even for an iggy.. I'll probably never know! I just hope it doesn't happen again because it was pretty scary :/.

My boyfriend, my parents, and our Italian Greyhound Boomer went for a drive into the country to have a look at some property we were thinking of buying. We stopped in the township of Murray Bridge on the way home and something a bit strange happened.. Boomer completely lost it the second he got out of the car and had what I can only describe as a dog panic attack!? My boyfriend got out of the car with him on the lead and put him on the ground while I got out of the car.. and the second his feet hit the floor he just started SCREAMING and lunging toward the car all the while trying to twist out of his harness.. The screaming was as though someone had injured him or stepped on him but I had been watching him the entire time and nothing of the sort happened. I got out of the car and took his lead and he didn't stop.. he also pooped everywhere involuntarily (ie; he didn't squat, he just 'went') in what I'm assuming was extreme distress? It was just so weird.. I couldn't work out what was upsetting him so badly but in an effort not to encourage what I thought was neurotic behavior I decided to walk him up the street and see if he would calm. He was pretty much inconsolable and turned into a shivering whimpering mess and refused to move. After trying to coax him to walk for a few minutes I decided enough was enough, picked him up and put him in the car and we left. I didn't comfort him much because I didn't want to encourage what he was doing.. but he really was completely normal once we were back in the car and on our way. We took him to a park near by because I wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt in any way and he was fine.. jumping around and playing like normal! Boomer can be a little bit nervous around strangers and new places SOMETIMES.. but nothing like this! This was ridiculous.. I've never seen him react to anything in such a way. I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced something similar with their dog? Any idea what could have triggered it? Lucky we didn't like the house near Murray Bridge anyway !

Our big old dog always wears her collar. She seems to panic slightly and not settle when you take it off of her! She's worn one all her life and is very old now so I guess that's fair enough. I dont worry much about her choking herself because she's not a very active dog these days.. all she really does is sleep on the couch lol. Our little dog really only wears his when we're walking though.. he is crated when we're not home and I worry that because he tends to be a bit nuts he might jump and get it caught in the crate somehow.

Not neccesarily cruel.. if the dog doesn't know any better he probably isn't worried! Is there grass, garden etc? He probably sleeps there more anywhere else anyway. I understand what you're saying though.. it does seem a little mean. But maybe he destorys beds and blankets? My parents dog is like that. Lol

A puppy should have as many toys as you wish to buy it! The more the merrier I say.. cant go wrong with lots of different ones . That is a gorgeous photo, your pup looks all worn out from playing with them no doubt . Our puppy (who is leaving the puppy stage sort of at 9 months old!) has at an estimation about 30 - 40 toys. Of course he doesn't play with them all at once, they sit in a basket in the loungeroom and we're always pulling different ones out for him.. it's good to have lots of choose from so he doesn't have the same ones in his crate all the time when we're out.. doesn't seem to get so bored . I never did intend to buy so many.. but we just kept seeing cool ones online/in random petshops and people also gave us a fair few as little presents when we first got him. Alot of them are plush style ones but there's also a few kong toys and rubbery chewy sort of ones .

How funny! Silly dogs and silly you . I think we've all done things like this at some point though lol My dog once locked himself in the bathroom.. I nearly had a heart attack! I ended up smashing the door knob to get him out only to have my boyfriend come home and tell me I could have just flicked this little switch on the bottom of it.. durrrrr. LOL

Haha I'm loving this thread. I'm not a show person at current but I hope to be someday... more pics, dont be shy!

Cheeky boy.. sounds like he needs a very firm hand. Is he neutered?

Ah.. I just read that he is 8. That's pretty old for these sorts of things to still be happening I guess Not what you'd expect. Dogs will be dogs.. I'm sure he's picked up that you're very unhappy with him and is feeling quite sorry for himself . Maybe you could consult a trainer or behaviorist.. could be something underlying that is fixable with a bit of training.

Perhaps crate training or a dog run is in order.. how old is he? We used to have similar problems with our cattle dog right up until she was about three years old .. some dogs just take longer to mature than others I guess. Sorry about all of your stuff.. I hope atleast some of it is able to be salvaged .

Awww.. he's gorgeous, glad to hear he is all better. I read through your other post about him.. how scary! What an awful thing to happen . I hope it doesn't affect Morrison too much, He looks like a little darling. :rolleyes:

I taught both of my dogs to recall by taking them to a fenced park.. letting them off lead.. and then running in the opposite direction! Of course they were both like "wtf?! Where is my mum going!?" *chases* and as soon as they were close enough I would shower them with praise and reward while saying their name. Once they worked out that they got food for coming back to me that was it.. I had no problems at all! They now both have a perfect off lead recall . Some dogs cant learn it so easily though, I honestly think I got lucky.. I second the suggestion of an obedience school, very helpful and good for you and your dog.. you'll learn lots and your dog WILL have fun ! One of my dog loves the beach and the other hates it lol. We dont go that often but when we do I always let them off lead if it's the right time and no ones around.. just be careful not to get to close to jettys and such because fish hooks can be about!

Yes Wizzle it was very horrible.. he was out in the yard when all of a sudden we heard some banging and raced out to find a young man who had partially climbed over the fence holding our little iggy by the collar! He took jumped back over and took off soon as he saw me. Swear if I wasn't two seconds faster he would have been over the fence with our dog and out of sight.. so horrible to think about. He has not been outside unsupervised since. You cant be too careful in my area apparently it's pretty common.. . You can pick up coats relatively cheap on Ebay koalathebear.. you could get a few cheap ones to find out how Elbie likes them! No point buying an expensive one only to have him trash it LOL. A friend of ours has a young kelpie that wears coats almost everyday when it's cold with no problems.. a bit of training and you should be right .

An interesting point Fiery.. could be a useful marketing tool! Somehow I dont think that kind of information would be readily available though. I think it needs to be something that starts up high with governing bodies too.. I still cant believe that puppy farming is legal.. there are so many ways in which it could be outlawed but it's as though no one in government cares enough to pursue them.

I think there needs to be some tighter legislation on selling puppies right accross the board.. not just petshops but BYB setups as well. Ideally, I wish BYB was illegal.. I think all puppies should be microchipped, vaccinated, wormed and kept until 8 weeks regardless of where they come from. Asking that all dogs be desexed would be pointless because it would never happen.. but I think if it was mandatory that all dogs atleast had microchipping, vaccinating, etc it would stop alot of back yard breeders because they wouldn't be able to afford to have these things done in the first place. Then again.. maybe doing that would just create a black market for 'illegal' puppies.. *sigh*. it's a bit of an unwinnable war I think.. edited to fix my awful grammar. LOL

Get him a nice warm coat . Even my big fuzzy ACD mix gets a coat when it's cold! You could also crate him indoors until he is older. Of course this would require that someone come home on lunch breaks etc which may not be possible depending on your situation. We do this with our iggy pup because I wont leave him outside due to the weather and also the fact that we've had someone try to pinch him! You could always consider doggy day care too.. can be expensive but would definitely give you piece of mind.

Put him outside and ignore him. Persevere.. caving in to his whining and scratching will only teach bad habits later in life! Something distracting like a meaty bone or a chew toy might be good too.

Wow she is so gorgeous! I particularly love the photo of her play rushing at the crate.. very pretty, she looks just like a little wolf :D. Is Fable a reference to the computer game? We have a rat called Fable after the fable computer games because my OH is a massive geek. LOL

I own a mutt. I dont really care what people think of her.. she's mine, rescued from the pound.. has and will continue to have a perfect life with me regardless of her heritage! I've personally never experienced any dog snobbery directed at her but I sure have witnessed my fair share of it! I was thinking about doing flyball with my mutt and went along to a few classes with a friend. One of the ones we went too was an orientation sort of day and there were lots of new dogs there wanting to give it a go. There was a girl there who had a purebred whippet.. we were standing around before the class talking about our dogs and she mentioned her whippet was purebred with papers and came from a breeder interstate. She didn't say it in a condescending way AT ALL but I still noticed a number of people standing around scoffed slightly and rolled their eyes. When it came time to let our dogs try out the equipment her whippet was acting up due to being over excited and not really following her commands. She was certainly doing better than me and my dog and yet someone with an staffy mix felt it neccesary to make a comment in quite a rude way about how her dog was probably not suited to the sport and maybe it should try a show ring since it had papers. The girl left shortly after that and I felt bad for her :D. So yeah, it's DEFINITELY a double edge blade in my experience.. I think everyone just needs to chill and respect that most of the time we love our dogs for who they are not what they are :D. Of course it's okay to have a breed of choice (I know I have one!) but in the end dogs are dogs.. I love my purebred and my mutt just the same and as a dog lover I'd never look down on anyone for owning either. I do have a problem with people who buy from petshops, puppy mills etc.. but that's another story.

It's a great idea! I like to take our dogs down to the local fenced oval for a run at night and we use bike reflectors flashing lights on their collars so we can see where they are.. I dont know if there's something specifically for dogs but our bike lights only cost $4 from the local cheap shop and take one aa battery.. they just clip right on the collar, really handy. :D

The house breaking issues are true to an extent. Our iggy isn't TOO bad.. a few months ago he was 100% perfect but now that it's cold he doesn't seem to like the idea of going outside anymore lol! As long as we put him out every few hours he's fine.. but he certainly doesnt 'ask' to go! If you miss his potty break he'll go in the shower recess which I think is pretty good all things considered! He's crate trained and never has an accident in his crate either.. so all in all I dont think he's too bad. Some iggy owners have no problems though.. it's weird. I think the fact that our little guy is undesexed certainly exacerbates the problem. But yes, in short they have a rep for being difficult to toilet train.. there's actually a really good article on iggy rescue about it though . As for the fragility.. I think as long as you dont leave the iggy and the child unsupervised it should be fine! And really, what sort of person would leave ANY dog and a child unsupervised? I'm currently 4 months pregnant and not at all worried about iggy and the impending baby. I'm certainly going to be careful.. but not careful enough that I'll send our dog neurotic in the process! He's very curious about what's going on and seems to know that something is in my tummy because he sniffs it constantly. The doctor thinks he can hear the babies heart beat awww. I think as long as kids grow up with a dog and know to treat it gently there shouldn't be too many problems! And yeah I totally second what greymate says.. greyhounds aren't as big as people think they are! Often the female greys are much much smaller.. there's an amazing variance in size when looking at hounds individually.. you can get huge, big muscly ones.. and then little itty bitty petite ones only a but bigger than say a cattle dog! Whatever size they come in I've always found them to be gorgeous.. very funny dogs that are absolutely full of character .