NEVER SAY NEVER GREYHOUNDS

A Bust

2012-02-02T07:00:00.114-05:00

Riley coming out of the chute.

I took Seven and Riley to a four day agility trial in Nashville last weekend and it was a bust. The drive up took an extra one and a half hours due to thick traffic caused by an accident. That probably should have been a warning to me.

Seven jumping through the tire.

Neither greyhound ran clean on Thursday and it appeared that we were in for a repeat on Friday except Riley and I were able to sneak in a qualifying Jumpers run.

After that run, I thought the girls could use more exercise so I grabbed a Zanie Flyer and headed outside. I found a nicely manicured lawn near the parking lot. It was flat, mowed, and even had post and board fencing we had to crawl under to get inside. I proceeded to play fetch with Riley. Since fracturing her hock, I am careful not to throw it high anymore, but I still have concerns. Often Riley will overrun the toy, only to come to a screeching halt and torquing herself in all directions. A fractured anything would not be a surprise. But did it stop me......NOOOOO! Sure enough. Riley comes up lame.... dead lame. She even yelps and holds up the right rear leg. Dang it! Why am I such an idiot?

Riley remained seriously lame Friday evening and Saturday. I noticed some swelling around the puncture (remember that took 3 weeks to close and that was several weeks ago) so I iced the area several times a day. Obviously, she was unable to run on Saturday and Sunday. She was so lame that I was actually concerned about a second fracture initially. I thought about leaving the trial and getting her to the vet on Saturday, but regardless of the diagnosis, I figured nothing would be done until Monday.

Riley getting her foot iced.

A vet at the trial (thank you, Karen) examined Riley and agreed the area near the old puncture was to blame. We started to wonder if there could be a foreign body still lodged inside of the puncture. I thought we had ruled that out a few weeks ago with x-rays, but was starting to question again.

Seven coming out of tunnel.

In the meanwhile, Seven continued to compete in agility. Out of eight runs, she only qualified once. My attitude was bad, we were out of sync, and Seven was making typical novice dog errors. Here is the one run we got it together.

On Sunday, Seven and I were more in sync. Though non-qualifying, both runs were very good and I feel we ended on a good note.

Riley continued to limp, but would warm out of it and improve significantly after taking a few steps. I had already spoken to my vet and scheduled an appointment for Monday. The plan was to determine if there was a foreign body and if so, open up the area and remove it, but things just don't always go as planned.

Found Them

2012-01-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

I knew I had photos of Riley jumping to catch her Frisbee. This is how she fractured her hock. I wanted to show you guys a long time ago, but could not find them.... they were in Seven's folder.

Riley used to leap into the air to catch the Zanie Flyer frisbee and land hind legs first. I thought this was a good thing because it seemed easier on her toes... a very common source for greyhound injuries. Well, not anymore! The day she fractured her hock, she leaped up like she normally would. The landing was not at all awkward. The only difference was that I heard a little click and then she was dead lame.

Needless to say, I do not throw high anymore.

Rain Rain Go Away

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

I told the hubby not to bring this one home. He had to give Reagan a bath.

This has been the strangest winter with high temperatures, thunderstorms, and rain, rain, and more rain. We are so tired of the rain! It makes me grumpy when my agility hounds are not getting plenty of exercise and training. They are annoying and, of course, very well rested when I get home from work each day. I am Type A and it messes up my schedule when the afternoon is filled with rain.

Seven and Riley after a 2 mile slog... I mean jog.

Sometimes we hike or jog even if it is raining. It is not the most fun we have ever had, but at least we get our exercise.

I am especially tired of thunderstorms. One of my husband's greyhounds is thunder phobic, so normally we enjoy our winter break from storms. But not this year! That is my complaint for today!

Upgrade

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, so when I compared Seven to a Nissan Altima (versus Riley as a Ferrari, some people thought that was simply not good enough for Seven. Blame it on my ignorance and simple tastes. A Nissan Altima seemed like a really nice car to me. However, I think Seven definitely belongs in a luxury car category. Not only is she reliable, but she has all the bells and whistles and smooth handling. Although maybe not quite as sporty or reckless as a Ferrari, Seven is a luxury to run in agility. She has a fast pace I can easily manage, turns on a dime, and nails tricky weave pole entrances. So how about a:

2012 Mercedes Benz CL 550 Class Coupe

2012 BMW 760Li

2012 Jaguar XJ

The only mechanical difficulty I have with Seven is that the alarm system goes crazy when it is Riley's turn to come out of the garage and take a spin. Seven makes a ton of noise. Maybe one day I will be able to fix it.

Normal Agility Dog

2012-01-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

Like Riley, Seven also had a good agility trial last weekend. Her weekend started off with two clean runs on Friday. The clean Jumpers run (2nd run in video) moves her up to the final level of agility, Excellent B Jumpers.

After that, Seven became more of a normal agility dog. She did not qualify on Saturday morning in the Standard class and did not qualify at all on Sunday. The Q streak was wonderful while it lasted and I hope for many more, but it was probably time for reality to strike. However, Seven still has an impressive record of running clean 16 out of 20 times. I am thrilled whenever my hounds have a 50% Q rate and Seven is 80%.

Here is Seven's first clean run in Excellent B Jumpers. I loved running Seven and Riley on this course! So much fun!

Comeback

2012-01-11T07:00:00.045-05:00

Riley's comeback to agility competition went very well. It felt as if we had not missed a beat despite not competing in over seven months due to a minor toe sprain and then the hock fracture. We had so much fun and she was very happy to be running agility again (love her facial expression in photos).

We started off on Friday by winning the Excellent Standard class (has the climbing obstacles). Unfortunately, it was not filmed. We later did not qualify in Jumpers due to an off course.

Saturday was our best day. Riley double qualified which means she qualified in both Standard and Jumpers. We need to do that 20 times in order for her to earn her Master Agility Championship. She also needs points awarded for seconds under the time allowed, but she is so fast that we are only 87 points away from meeting that goal. Here are those two runs. First place in Standard and 2nd place in Jumpers. Both were very fun courses!

Master Agility Championship Tally: 663 MACH points, 87 to go. 4 Double Qs, 16 to go.

We also tried out the new Time To Beat class. The courses are supposed to be flowing, fast, and fun. There are two contact (climbing) obstacles, jumps, weave poles, and tunnels. There is no table. Points are awarded for speed and the course time is determined by the fastest clean run at each height. I do not understand all of the details yet. We did not qualify as Riley was a wild child and got a little carried away.

We bombed out on Sunday, but Riley and I still had a very fun time running agility. I am so happy to have her back.

Seven up next...

Warm Ups

2012-01-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

I mentioned recently that I have started warming up and cooling down the hounds more thoroughly since Riley's hock fracture. I have created a bit of a routine doing pivots, backing up, nose-to-tail stretches, and rear crosses on the flat.

Then we finish up with some running and a few practice jumps before training or trialing. I am trying to maintain the same routine for training and trialing.

Brat

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

As you know, Reagan is my extremely talented, very fast, fully trained agility greyhound that I retired just after her 3rd birthday. Remember how freakin awesome she was...

... always makes me want to poke my eyes out. It was very disappointing to retire Reagan, but she developed noise phobias to common, unavoidable things and worst of all became terrified of riding in a vehicle (especially my van). This made daily training and traveling to trials nearly impossible. I tried everything (and you can read all about it by clicking on Reagan Fears if you wish to), but it continued to spiral out of control. The bright side is that Seven has worked out well as Reagan's agility replacement.... I would not have adopted Seven if Reagan had not retired.

Well, we are having some crazy winter weather this year. Temperatures have been very warm and we have had several thunderstorms. Due to Reagan's propensity towards developing noise phobias, we have always counter conditioned thunderstorms. Thunder = Treats. This has worked well and we employ this strategy with all of our younger greyhounds since it is common enough in greyhounds and usually takes a few years to develop. The downside is that it is labor intensive. An evening of thunderstorms can have you tossing treats periodically for hours.

So as an alternative, the first clap of thunder equals everyone going to their crates for frozen, stuffed Kongs and bully sticks for the duration of the storm. Well, Miss Reagan, although patient, still thinks she deserves a treat.

Spoiled brat!

Favorite 2011 Photos

2012-01-01T07:00:00.022-05:00

Riley

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a healthy, fun, successful, and productive 2012! These are my favorite photos from 2011. I cannot believe another year is over!

Riley in the daffodils at Wills Park

Ditto for Seven

Husband's very thoughtful and sweet gift of attaching the new A-frame skin to the aluminum frame... just upside down. It makes my A-frame unique, so I left it.

Riley - The Thinker

Seven chewed up one of Stephen's socks. She found this one on the trail and brought it home as a peace offering. "Here, Daddy."

Seven - "How does a greyhound get a little attention around here?"

Riley weaving at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge. It was so cool to be on TV.

How many weave poles? 60!

Riley, the happy agility greyhound.

Riley - Airborne

Riley and I on the podium.

Seven - "OMG! This bitter flavored, No Chew bandage tastes so good!"

How can you not have a party when you have three greyhounds born on June 28th (2008, 2006, 1999)?

Beauty close to home.

Seven converting small children into future greyhound adopters.

Reagan lives, but doesn't have as many pictures taken anymore. But once in a while the hubby gets a good one when they are hiking near the house.

Riley's x-ray of a healed hock.

Riley using that healed hock.

Riley and Seven blending into nature.

Seven at the farm.

Seven's best running shot.

Riley is glad to have the splint off. Me too!

Who doesn't love a Pnutty in the pool? My sister's greyhound, Peanut.

Cool collage photo of Riley completing the A-frame.

I think Seven looks so beautiful and warm in this photo. I love it!

Happy New Year!

Million Dollar Baby

2011-12-29T07:00:00.021-05:00

"I'm worth every penny."

Well, it is no secret that we have spent a lot of money on Riley Greyhound's medical bills this year. Hock surgery, six times on the table for x-rays, splint changes, and K-laser treatments really start to add up after awhile. I don't think even Katie's bills for treatment and rehab for paralysis back in 2007 exceeded the bills of our Million Dollar Baby... okay, so I am exaggerating a little... a lot. But Million Dollar sounds better than the actual figure.

So to add more insult to our injured bank account, the Million Dollar Baby gets a stupid puncture. I have no idea what caused the wound, but it was very painful and thankfully bled generously (bleeding helps to flush it out). I do not rush out for antibiotics very often, but thought it would be wise for this one. Otherwise, I treated the wound myself. I kept it clean, soaked it in diluted chlorhexiderm, and gave her the prescribed antibiotics. The bright side is that she punctured her RIGHT hind foot. With a surgical screw on the left hock, I would have been sick with worry if she was limping on the left.

Well, it has been 13 days and the stupid hole is still there! And it is still draining periodically and occasionally she limps. Most of the time she is sound, but sometimes limps after she jogs a couple of miles, runs agility, or plays fetch... but only sometimes. So I started to worry that maybe there was something foreign inside the hole. I took her to the vet and we x-rayed it. Dr. C was concerned that maybe the joint was damaged, but nothing on the x-ray suggested any kind of joint damage or foreign body.

Riley's bone structure is a little funny looking though, so we compared it to some of her July right hock x-rays (taken to compare to the fractured hock). The top of her foot just happened to be included in the picture so we were able to compare it to today's x-ray. All was the same and normal for Riley (thank goodness for that hock fracture, right?).

Dr. C finished up by culturing the fluid coming from Riley's puncture and started her on a different antibiotic while we await the results. I will continue with the chlorhexiderm soaks. Luckily, she is sound 95% of the time so he thought it was fine to continue to do what we do. Thank goodness because Riley's return to agility trials is a week away! Another couple hundred dollars for our Million Dollar Baby and my fingers are crossed that the new antibiotic will do the trick. I hope Year 2012 is a cheap year for vet bills, but I love my Million Dollar Baby anyway.

Inspiration

2011-12-26T07:00:00.022-05:00

Kathy DeLucas and Radar are a favorite local team. I depend so heavily on my mobility that I am always in awe every time I see Kathy direct Radar, the Brittany Spaniel, around an agility course. They have become a very consistent team over the last few years, but spectators never tire of seeing them do so well. Just a little inspiration for the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:00:00.002-05:00

Holiday Break

2011-12-23T07:00:00.007-05:00

Christmas is almost here. Most of your are probably busy or out of town. But for those needing a break from the holidays or the relatives, here is a very cool, un-holiday-related video I saw the other day. It gets really neat around 2 and half minutes.

One Is Not Like The Other

2011-12-20T07:00:00.003-05:00

Can you tell who is who?

Small female greyhounds. Brindle. 50 - 55 pounds. High prey drives. Food motivated. June 28th birthdays (although different years). Both love agility, stuffy toys, and squirrels. But this is where their similarities end.

Riley was finally back in agility class last week and WOW! It was so much fun. I ran Seven in the first class and she was wonderful. She really benefited from all of the one-on-one time and training while Riley was laid up. It really gave her time to develop her skill set. Seven really has turned out so nicely so quickly. I hate to jinx anything by complimenting her too soon, but she is just so dependable. She is like a Nissan Altima. Nice car. Easy to drive. Responsive and reliable. I put my foot on the accelerator and I keep it there for the entire agility course. Seven spoils me.

And then it was Riley's turn. She is like driving a Ferrari with a stuck accelerator. If you do not tap the brakes in certain places around the course, you will drive Riley into a ditch. She may never qualify as consistently as Seven is more likely to do, but there is something really terrific about about getting to drive a Ferrari. Even though the judge may issue citations for our performance, that greyhound just makes me smile.

Blemish

2011-12-17T07:00:00.063-05:00

Well, we finally have a blemish on our record. Seven NQed (non-qualifying run). However, she still qualified 12 times in a row which is amazing! She knocked out the Novice and Open levels as fast as doggedly possible. 12 qualifying runs in a row is a rarity in my agility career. I looked back at Travis' agility record (he was my all-time agility all-star) and his best streak was 18 qualifying runs in a row... but he was also 9 years old and we had been together for 6 years (NOT 15 months!).

Seven's streak of perfection was not without errors. It just happens that the errors we made are allowable at the lower levels. Excellent is not so kind so she did not qualify in her first Excellent Standard run. In fact, we had three refusals which we have never had that many. You cannot have three refusals and qualify at any level. I figure if you are going to NQ, you might as well NQ big! Get all the errors out of your system in one run!

This is the only other run we have on video. My usual videographers were not at this trial. This is an Open JWW with one baby dog refusal.

All in all, Seven got a first place in both Open classes on Saturday and again in Excellent Jumpers. That is right! After her Excellent Standard NQ, she came back with a perfect run in Excellent Jumpers. I wish I had that run on video as it was our best of the weekend. Seven did not have any trouble recognizing the dogwalk and teeter. Her weave poles remain perfect! I could not ask for any more.

Play Day

2011-12-14T07:00:00.090-05:00

I took last Friday off from work and headed down to "the farm" for some fun and to hang out with my sister (thanks for letting me play, John and Laura). The weather could not have been more perfect. Georgia does not have brutal winters, but we normally have lower temperatures by now (the camera would have preferred more sun for the action shots).

Look at that healed left hock!

Riley had not been free to play at "the farm" since July so it was good to see her open up and to snap some photos of her running.

Riley is definitely the bully in our pack. She plays very rough and demands that the others run so she can chase and catch them... no one else seems to enjoy this game very much... especially Reagan who is often the target. However, Seven holds her own and does not wilt under Riley's pressure. In fact, Seven can dish it right back to her with a paw or two on Riley's back. Notice who is focused on the ball and who is focused on the other greyhound.

Seven says "Take that!"

Then I decided to pose the girls on this log.

"Riley, do you think you could open your eyes and close your mouth?"

"Seven, you look gorgeous with your bright eyes and perfect ears. You are always so good at posing for pictures."

"Bitch. Always sucking up to Mom, aren't you?"

And I got to ride Toby (thanks, Laura). He is super nice! I started riding when I was a kid and had my own horses when I was a teenager and in college. I always feel so rusty, but I still remember a few things.

Thanks for the ride, Toby!

Normal

2011-12-10T07:00:00.066-05:00

My crate!

Ahhhh... Things finally feel normal again. It has not been normal since Riley's hock fracture on July 26th. Riley has been rehabing for nearly nine weeks now and I dare say she is back to normal. I have raised the agility jumps back up to full height. She is weaving through poles and climbing the contact obstacles. And she does it all full tilt like she used to. I have lifted all restrictions, but am more thorough in my warm ups and cool downs now (both dogs). I also check Riley for soreness and fatique, but happily do not find any.

Since we already had a routine established, we used Riley's crate for the foster boys and continued to use the ex pen in the kitchen for Riley. Now that the foster boys are adopted, Riley is back in her own crate and the ex pen in the kitchen has been put away. Despite not being in her crate since the end of July, she never forgot that it belong to her. And our kitchen feels new and remodeled with all of the extra space.

So we are very happy to be back down to our own six dogs, to have our house and routines back to normal, and to have Riley sound again. I am hoping for a very normal 2012!

Up and Out

2011-12-07T07:00:00.037-05:00

I am so pleased to announce that Up And Over is up and out. He has been adopted! After eleven greyhounds, I had forgotten what it was like to adopt my first greyhound. Claudia and Tony were so excited to be adopting their first greyhound. Tony had seen Up And Over on SEGA's website and had felt an instant connection and even dreamed about him. When he found out that Up And Over was still available, he told our Screening and Placement volunteer that he did a happy dance. Luckily, Up And Over was a good match and the adoption was finalized on Saturday.

Are they coming?

Tony told me that the final selling point on greyhounds was the community. They attended a few greyhound meet & greets and loved the volunteers that spoke with so much passion about their greyhounds. I have to admit that here in Atlanta we have an awesome greyhound community. There is so much to do and so many ways to get invovled. There is something for everyone. I cannot believe I have been a member of the Southeastern Greyhound Club since I was 19 years old... I'm 35 now. I have a lot of good friends I would otherwise not have if it were not for the fantastic greyhound breed! Welcome to the cult... I mean club, Tony and Claudia!

Service Dogs

2011-12-04T07:00:00.109-05:00

Longtime readers know I like a good arguement. The other day my greyhound adoption group received this email:

To all Greyhound Adoption groups I know,

Please check out this short tv clip and see for yourself how much pressure this big man is applying on the poor greyhound's back. This greyhound will end up with spinal problems and pain, there is no doubt in my mind.

I cannot believe that this group thinks or believes it is okay to put so much pressure on a greyhounds back. This infuriates me!

They claim that GPA is supporting them. I cannot believe that any GPA group would support this abuse. This greyhound will have nothing but spinal problems and pain in his years to come.

Have we forgotten that we are there for the greyhounds and have to be their guardians?

Please write to this group that you are not supporting this training method or the goal they have to give out greyhounds as service dogs.

Click Here to see the video she is refering too (sorry there is a commerical). Well, I disagreed so I responded:

I'm on the board of Southeastern Greyhound Adoption. I disagree with your view. The man is not putting any pressure on the middle of the greyhound's spine. Instead, the pressure is over the greyhound's shoulders and hips and therefore the weight is being supported by the greyhound's legs. I would not expect that greyhound to suffer any spinal injuries from that.

Our group likes to see greyhounds pursue 2nd careers whether it be pet therapy, meet & greets, dog agility, obedience, jogging/hiking/walking companion, or service dog. In fact, we have one greyhound in our club that is currently a service dog. While some enjoy being couch potatoes... others benefit greatly from a new job. It is the reason we have removed "retired" from our literature and website.

Her response to that was:

I disagree with you and have several groups who disagree-this is not safe for a greyhound, you can check with greyhound savvy vets.

So I wanted to know more about their findings:

If its not safe for a greyhound, then it would not be safe for any dog. Why limit to just the greyhound?

What are the vets saying is happening to the spine when you put pressure on the shoulders or hips? What are the mechanics causing the injury and what is the injury? I think your claim needs to be backed up by something a little more substantial. I did a search for service dog injuries and couldn't find anything.

I know your heart is in the right place.

See, I was even trying to be nice! Then she says:

If you do not know about anatomy of a greyhound, you should not be into greyhounds.

Ha! New adoption prerequisit - Greyhound Anatomy classes. Seriously, is that the best she can do? When you have no facts and a baseless claim, insults are the next best thing. My response:

You are funny. :-) Due to my understanding of anatomy, I was able to explain why a greyhound is physically able to perform the service job without injury. But being open minded, I gave you the floor to explain your understanding. Instead of doing that, you insulted me... so I have to assume you know a lot less about anatomy than you think you do.

Since she still had no facts, she responds:

I have no time and better things to do than to go into meaningless e-mails. Hope you understand.

Of course, she doesn't. Hopefully she will use her time to research the facts. If you do receive this inflated, factless email, please make up your own mind before you automatically support it. It is perfectly fine to disagree with me, but you better be able to support it with something other than emotion.

Day 2 and 3

2011-12-01T11:13:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was day 2 of Seven's second agility trial and her debut at the Open level. She is still having some difficulty in discriminating between the teeter and dogwalk. We had a bobble at the teeter and I had a brief moment of forgetting what I was going to do. Then we had a refusal in Jumpers. How about those big dog weave poles!

On Sunday, the teeter and dogwalk issue continued, but so far she has not scared herself... knock on wood. I do not say much when I run, but I do warn with a verbal "teeter". I love the weave pole entrance in the Jumpers course (2nd run on video). It was a fast, long line of jumps and then a 90 degree turn to the weave poles. I told her "weave" early and she collected herself right up for the turn and nailed the entrance that a lot of other baby dogs blew past.

We are looking forward to our next trial in a couple of weeks. Seven will have 2 attempts to finish both Open level classes. If she does, she will move up to Excellent and make my life much easier when Riley is competing in the trial after that.

10 for 10

2011-11-28T07:00:00.002-05:00

The baby dog continues to qualify. Seven has qualified in all ten attempts and I am feeling pretty spoiled. This means she has completed both Novice levels and has completed two thirds of both Open levels as well. My lofty hope was to have Seven competing in Excellent by the time Riley returns to competition in January. It is much easier to deal with conflicts in the running order and I would have less courses to memorize if both dogs are competing in the Excellent classes together. Well, my hope is starting to appear achievable. Seven has a two-day trial in December for us to give it a shot.

Here are her Novice runs from Friday. Some minor hesitations at some of the tunnels, but no big deal.

Twelve

2011-11-21T07:00:00.015-05:00

Seven's weave poles have improved a lot in the last month. Most of the time she does all twelve like she is supposed to. If she does make a mistake, she will usually correct it in her second attempt. Her entrances are really good. She is very good at nailing the entrance correctly from difficult angles. This is all very good because her next agility trial is next weekend and there is a good chance she will complete Novice and move up to the Open level. There are twelve weave poles in Open.

A Little Agility

2011-11-17T12:26:00.000-05:00

Riley and I have been doing a little agility for the last week or so. I dare say we are actually doing a little training. We worked on weave pole entrances using six poles and have done a little jumping. I am trying to do things that will make her use both sides of her body and both canter leads. I have not seen any issues with the leg that had the fractured hock. Riley has just done so well that it is hard to not just get back to work. But I force myself to go slow (even though we are progressing faster than I expected).

Since Riley has been doing so well, I finally decided to let her race around outside. The last time she did this was July 26th when she fractured her hock. Remember that the fracture occurred when she landed from catching a frisbee.... Riley is not allowed to catch frisbees anymore.

Bandaging For Greyhounds

2011-11-13T15:26:00.001-05:00

I have gotten a lot of compliments on this posts and several people have told me it was very helpful. I did it two years ago so I thought it might be time to post again ...

I have noticed that my blog gets quite a few hits when "bandaging" is searched on Google. My prior bandaging posts consisted mostly of rants and complaints about my experience when vets or vet techs bandage.... those I have encountered are surprisingly bad at it, charge too much, and have even caused additional injury. Maybe I am just really anal about it.

Since I am changing Reagan's bandage every few days (she had dislocated a toe in June 2009 and had surgery on it), I thought it would provide an excellent opportunity to do a leg bandaging tutorial for greyhounds. This is probably suitable for other breeds of dogs, but I emphasize the issues in dealing with bony legs, large nails, thin skin, and short hair. I am sure there are other great ways to bandage, but here is one way:

First start with a clean, dry leg. If I am washing a wound between bandage changes, I feel it is important for the leg to be dry especially between the toes. I have used a hair dryer on a cool, low setting to speed the process.

Place a non-stick, sterile pad against wounds. Here, I have placed the pad against the surgical site because it may still bleed slightly.

Place cotton between the toes. This is very important and often neglected. Without cotton, the toes will be squeezed together inside the bandage, the outside nails will rub against the middle toes and create a painful wound. Next, I take cotton from a cotton roll found in any first aid section and wrap the leg, but not too thick. I like just enough to provide some padding.I secure the cotton with a trip of 4 inch Vet Wrap around the leg just one time. I suggest pulling the section you need from the roll (like you see below) and then wrapping. It is one way to reduce the risk of pulling the Vet Wrap too tightly.

Next, I take 2 inch Vet Wrap (or I cut 4 inch Vet Wrap down the middle).

I wrap the 2 inch Vet Wrap diagonal across the side of the foot, underneath, and then diagonally back up the other side of the foot.I take another piece of 2 inch Vet Wrap and attach a strip to the front of the leg, bring it across the middle toes and nails, and back up the back of the leg. To finish up with Vet Wrap, I then wrap the leg with the 4 inch version to secure my 2 inch sections that cover the toes. The reason I do not wrap the leg in one long continous strip of Vet Wrap is that I do not like wrinkles. Back when I rode horses, I was taught to be very partcular about bandages and to wrap without wrinkles. It is just my way now.

I have a love/hate relationship with Elastikon. Elastikon is similar to a sticky Ace bandage. Its flexible, stretchy, and has adhesive. It is great for keeping a bandage from slipping, but it also can pull off hair when removed and damage the skin. It can be especially painful if you are having to do multiple bandage changes.

To reduce the strength of the adhesive, I cut the amount of Elastikon I need off of the roll and then I stick the strip to my shirt, a dog bed, or the carpet. I want the strip to pick up some lint, dog hair, or other fibers to make the Elastikon less sticky and easier to remove later.
I wrap the Elastikon around the top of the Vet Wrap bandage and I end the strip of Elastikon on a little bit of fur so the bandage does not slip down. In the picture below, the Elastikon strip ends on the outside of her leg. Next time, I might end it on the inside or the front or the back or higher or lower on the leg. This prevents the same section of skin and hair from being abused by Elastikon adhesive.
I also use a strip of Elastikon around the foot at the bottom of the wrap. It is not necessary to reduce the strength of the adhesive if you are just sticking it to Vet Wrap (and not fur).

Again, do not pull the bandage tightly.

Lastly, I like to spray my bandages with a product called Bitter Apple to make it taste bad. It does not work for all dogs, but it does help to reduce chewing the bandage. Other products for this purpose include Anti-Lick Strips and Lick Guard. I also saw a bandage called Pet Flex No Chew which is a bitter tasting bandage. Unfortunately, it does not come in all the cool colors that Vet Wrap does..... but if it stops a chewer, it is worth it. Obviously, it did not stop Seven...

OMG... this is so tasty!

All of these products and materials listed above can be purchased at KV Vet Supply.

Let Loose

2011-11-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

Riley has been working hard for the last four weeks on regaining her fitness and flexibility. She was laid up for a total of eleven weeks for the hock fracture and surgery. I am really pleased that she has bounced back like I was hoping she would.

Along with the rehab exercises I showed you in an earlier post, we have been hiking several times a week for 60 - 90 minutes with lots of hills to climb. She has been jogging up to two miles. And we have even started back on some of the agility equipment and low jumps.

The one thing I have not allowed her to do is run freely, play, and spin like a crazy greyhound. I have tried to minimize the bursts of speed and sharp turns. Well, I figured it was finally time for her to be reunited with her Zanie Flyer and allowed to do what she does. I thought indoors on rubber mats would be the best way to start back.

I was very happy that Riley was not the least bit sore afterwards.

Pearly Whites

2011-11-07T06:30:00.000-05:00

Reagan's teeth - 4 years old, never cleaned

Greyhound people know that greyhounds are notorious for their bad teeth. They often have gross tartar build up. Receding, puffy, bleeding gums. Bad breath. And need expensive, annual dental cleanings that often result in at least one rotten tooth pulled. I have had eleven greyhounds since 1993 so I have had my fair share of greyhound dental issues.

BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!

Reagan's teeth

Yes, feeding a raw food diet can help with teeth significantly, but I have not found it to be the ultimate solution for greyhounds. Generally, eating raw meaty bones like chicken backs and turkey necks will help keep the back molars clean, but does not keep the canine or front teeth clean.

The only thing I have found to consistently work well is DAILY BRUSHING. We have adopted daily brushing into our routine and it has made a huge difference. We very rarely, if ever, do dental cleanings. Both Katie and Travis passed away with healthy mouths and all of their teeth. Their only teeth cleanings were prior to adoption. Reagan is four years old (we adopted her at 10 months), does not eat raw food (remember it does not agree with her and she is our kibble eater), has never had her teeth cleaned, and her teeth are perfect. Riley had her teeth cleaned over three years ago, but I am sure she will never need another dental cleaning as her mouth is very healthy.

Riley's Teeth - 5 years old, cleaned over 3 years ago

Brushing is very easy and should take no more than one minute. It does not matter when you brush during the day. Just pick a time that is easiest for you to remember. I tend to brush dog teeth after work when the hounds are coming into the house after being turned out and they are all confined to the dog room.

We use a soft bristle toothbrush for humans and we change it out ever few months. And we use Petrodex dog toothpaste. It must be toothpaste for dogs as it has to be safe to swallow.

You only have to brush the outside of the teeth. I add a generous amount of toothpaste to the brush and brush one side of the dog's mouth. Then I add another strip to the toothbrush and brush the other side of the mouth. See video below.

If your greyhound resists the brushing, be gentle, use lots of tasty toothpaste, keep the session less than a minute, and end on a good note (don't let your dog struggle free and then stop there, get him to relax and accept and reward by stopping there). It is best if you start with clean, pain free teeth. If your dog fiercely resists, it could mean he a bad tooth that needs to be pulled.

I wish more vets would stress the importance of DAILY brushing. Dental cleanings are such a poor substitute for daily care.

I think Katie was 10 years old when I took the photo above, but this is how her teeth looked at 12 years of age also. Her only dental cleaning was at 2 years of age. She did not stink, she was pain free, had all of her teeth, and just look at how healthy her mouth was. Brush! Brush!

Out With The Old

2011-11-03T19:11:00.002-04:00

And in with the new. I am pleased to report tha our foster greyhound, Sahara Sand was adopted about two weeks ago by a young couple that lives about two hours away. His new name is Felix and they report that they "absolutely love him".

We decided to foster another big, handsome fella so here is Up And Over. I have to admit that I was afraid I might totally fall in love with this one. Stephen and I profiled him a few days after he arrived in the Southeastern Greyhound Adoption's kennel and he was super food motivated and intensely toy motivated. He was terrible on leash. Tackled Stephen and scratch his arm. OMG! Perfect dog, right? And then to top it off, he was so calm and quiet when he was kenneled. The other greyhounds were barking and excited, but Up And Over was totally chilled out until it was his turn.

But I am happy to report that Up And Over is turning out to be a normal greyhound. He likes to play with toys for a few minutes, but he is not intense about it. He is still getting settled in, but I think he is just going to be a big, lazy lug.

Not Too Shabby

2011-10-31T18:09:00.000-04:00

Seven had a very successful agility debut! Four blue ribbons for four agility runs! You cannot beat that. You are allowed a number of errors in Novice, but Seven was flawless. She did not run past any of the obstacles nor did she take any of the wrong obstacles. She only has to do six weave poles in Novice, but she completed all four sets with no errors. She had no problems with the chute. Here are Seven's agility runs.

It will be interesting to see if Seven starts to speed up as she figures out what all of this agility trial stuff is about, but all in all, Seven did great and I could not be happier!

I would not have bought this picture if I had noticed how sleepy and unattractive I look. Ha!

Retired from Racing, Not From Life

2011-10-27T13:19:00.000-04:00

Seven - "How come I'm not in the book?

I wanted to let you know about a fundraiser. It is an art book titled "Retired from Racing, Not From Life". It contains interesting photos and beautiful artwork of greyhounds. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this art book are donated to Ohio State University's Greyhound Health and Wellness program. They research many greyhound related issues, but are well known for their bone cancer studies. I love my copy and especially the three pages with Travis and Riley photos.

Riley's favorite page

You can preview more pages and purchase the book here - Click Here.

Training Downs 202

2011-10-24T07:00:00.029-04:00

Here is a second look at training ex-racing greyhounds to down using my foster dog, Sahara. Check out Training Downs 201 if you have not already (click here). This is just more of the same and showing you his progress. This is from his third training session. I give a lot more detailed instruction in my Greyhound Downs 101 through 104 so this time I am trying to give you a feel for my thought process when I am working with a new greyhound.

The goal for this session was to get Sahara to lure into a down a few times (instead of crawling under my leg) and for me to get a little further and to move a little more while he stays down.

Rehabilitating Riley's Hock

2011-10-21T07:00:00.108-04:00

Riley and I have been working on rehabilitating her rear leg now that the hock fracture is healed. I think she is doing really well. She has had no trouble with any of the exercises. In just the first week, we hiked twice for 30 minutes (including hills) and then walked nearly two miles on another day. I thought I would have to build her up more slowly, but she is so eager for more and is not coming up sore or lame at all. I have been alternating days with hikes or walks and then rehab exercises.

If you were reading this blog over a year ago when Katie was still with us (in fact she died exactly a year ago today), you might remember me working with her on cavalettis. Katie worked very hard and enjoyed the cavalettis, but Riley is clearly bored and not impressed. The key to cavalettis is that they must step over them slowly. No hopping or trotting over them. It is more difficult for the muscles to do it slow and deliberate.

This exercise is called Snoopy. You lift a front leg and the diagonal rear leg for a short period of time. You encourage the dog to balance on two legs. It works on core and stabilizer muscles. I can definitely tell she is more out of balance when the left hind leg is on the ground.

These are turns on the forehand. They just get her to move her rear end and work the muscles that move the legs side ways.

These are all good exercises for helping to keep an aging dog's rear end strong. Too many have shaky rear legs and begin to lose mobility. These exercises will help prevent that. I also have Riley doing sit-stand-sit-stand. Sometimes she sits very tight (like in the photo at top) and sometimes she has her left hind leg slightly kicked out. She is also working on backing up and going up and down stairs. I am also trying to get her moving on a variety of footing and surfaces.

Here are some of Riley's x-rays so you can see the progression. This one was taken July 27th, 2011, the morning after the fracture.

This x-ray was taken right after surgery on July 29th, 2011.

This x-ray was taken after six weeks in a splint on September 12th, 2011. It was very disappointing to see that it did not look much different from the x-ray above. However, when you magnify this x-ray using a special program for x-rays, you could see some healing.

Taken October 11th, 2011. You can see that there is clearly a union now.

Dr. G says that he will likely never see another hock fracture like this one.

WOW

2011-10-18T07:00:00.056-04:00

"Who? Me?"

I am really excited about Seven's first agility trial at the end of the month. She is training so well and everything is falling into place. As you know, she was having a problem with popping out of the weave poles early and was hesitating with new chutes (the tunnel with the collapsed fabric). Well, these issues have been nonexistent the last couple of weeks.

Except for one error, Seven's weave poles have been perfect and without any training aids the last four training sessions.

We have included the chute in all of our training sessions. Last weekend, we trained at a field she had never been to and the chute was black and yellow. We put the black portion on top (making the chute very dark) and Seven did not hesitate at all.

Most of all, Seven has been fast, furious, and responsive. Here is a video of us running a course on Sunday. This field is smaller than mine and it is difficult to really spread out the obstacles, so Seven felt a little slower to me than she has lately, but still a nice run.

Training Downs 201

2011-10-15T07:00:00.001-04:00

Here is another look at training ex-racing greyhounds to down and down stay. Of course, this method would work on most large dogs. I always teach ex-racers to down from a stand since they may or may not have a good sit... although I think it is really silly to have to sit your dog first and then down. They should all down from a stand.

One of the big differences in training an ex-racer versus any other dog is that they rarely respond to pressure. If you try to pull or push them into a down, greyhounds resist and lock up. It rarely works.

I also think they have to "learn to learn". Their entire lives have been about routines and good habits (which is why they are often better pets than those raised by Joe Average dog owner, in my opinion). Racing greyhounds are not really asked to do anything so responding to a cue is completely foreign.

I start teaching down by luring my greyhound under one or both legs. Depending on the height of the dog, I may sit on the ground, on a bucket, or a chair without arms (you need to be able to swivel). This is Sahara's 2nd session. He had already worked for a few minutes on a prior day so you are going to see him lie down faster than your own greyhound might. Just remember he has had a few extra minutes of practice. I am also clicker training which you do not have to do, but it does make your training more precise. My goal here is to get Sahara to lie down and then to continue to reward him for staying down for as long as he offers.

Notice that I am mostly quiet. I am not giving him any verbal cues and not distracting him with chatter. He will be taught a hand signal first anyway. Remember to reward your greyhounds for poking his head under your leg and for putting his elbows on the ground. You want to reward all of his steps in the correct direction and not just focus on the full position initially. Let me know if you have any questions.

Green Light

2011-10-12T07:00:00.078-04:00

Riley has been given the green light to start rehab! I am very happy! The hock fracture is not completely filled in yet, but that can take months. Dr. G said he was not worried about it especially since it has been mostly unsupported for four weeks and looks much better than last time. He said I should not be concerned if she comes up sore some days. To just give her a day off if that happens, but to call him if it persists more than a few days. He asked me what my goals were. I told him that since she has been off for 11 weeks that I planned to spend 11 weeks bringing her back and hoped to compete her again in January. Dr. G thought that was a good plan.

After our appointment, it was great to take Riley for an honest to goodness walk. We did NOT go to the railroad bed trail although we probably would have had the place to ourselves on a rainy afternoon at 2 PM. We chose to go to a hiking spot that is private property and we spent 30 minutes on those trails. It was so good to be doing something with her.

Institutionalized - "But I am supposed to be in here"

Dr. G said that Riley did not have to be confined in the house anymore. She is not the most sensible dog so there will still be some restrictions, but it will be nice to give her more freedom.

UNBELIEVABLE

2011-10-10T07:00:00.159-04:00

On Friday, my mom and I decided to take our dogs for a walk on an old railroad bed. Normally, it is a wonderful trail because it is flat, nearly 2 miles, and you can see up ahead and behind your for a long distance.

I had brought Seven and foster greyhound, Sahara Sand. Mom had her three dogs, two small mixed breeds and an Italian greyhound. We were headed back when some noise caught my attention on the ridge to the left of our trail. It sounded like someone did not have control of a dog.

Suddenly, a black mixed breed dog comes down the hill assertively with hackles raised and begins to threaten my Mom's dogs. As one of Mom's dogs tried to get away, I pepper sprayed the unwelcome dog as he ran by me. The dog then started to go after one of Mom's other dogs and I sprayed him again.

By now the owner, her son (five years old maybe), and another dog were on the ridge trying to get the dog to come to them and finally it did, but then they ended up letting go of their other dog and it came down barking.

The woman said something about the dog being friendly (never mind the unfriendly behavior it is also displaying). It got a thump with my foot and a spritz of pepper spray too. Once her dogs were under control, I expressed that her dogs should have been on leash. That she was a stranger that had totally interfered with our walk and that it was inappropriate for her to assume we should trust her and her dogs.

She started to run her mouth and swear at at us in front of her young son who began to repeat what she was saying. Mom and I kind of laughed and said something about her being a really great parent. "KEEP MOVING" she threatened several times. (Well geez, what did you think we were trying to do when you interrupted our walk?)

Finally, my mom and I were quite a ways down the trail when Mother-And-Responsible-Dog-Owner-Of-The-Year (MARDOOTY) realized I pepper sprayed her dog. Well, duh. What did she think I was doing with it? She had even mentioned it in one of her tirades.

MARDOOTY - "You Pepper Sprayed My Dog!"

Me - "Yes."

MARDOOTY - "You Pepper Sprayed My Dog!"

Me - "Yes." (What doesn't she understand?)

MARDOOTY - "You Pepper Sprayed My Dog!"

Me - "Yes." (Is she expecting the answer to change?)

Well, MARDOOTY suddenly takes off in a sprint in my direction leaving her little boy with the two unleashed dogs. I am not sure if she expected me to run or what, but I calmly squared up to await her arrival. Now recall that I still have the foster dog's leash in my left hand (welcome to life after the track, Buddy) and Seven in my right, pepper spray armed hand. She grabs my arm and my shirt and starts to wrestle with me. I kick her in the crotch and spritz her with the pepper spray. Oh my gosh, did I really do that? Yep. I still have a heard time believing I did that, but she charged and put her hands on me. I was actually quite calm about it.

MARDOOTY let go and started to walk off. She threatened to call the police (Would you like to borrow my phone?). So off she went in the other direction while continuing to run her mouth.

I reminded MARDOOTY she could have avoided all of this if her dogs had been leashed. Hopefully that message sinks in as she washes the pepper spray off herself and her dogs and ices her crotch. I just feel sorry for MARDOOTY's son.

I am very thankful that she did not touch my dogs (Mom's dogs were fine too).... she would have a lot more than a bruised crotch to contend with. I can somewhat understand her charge and anger because I would have felt the same way if someone hurt my dogs, but she probably will never take responsibility for her role. Plain and simple, your dog should be leashed if you cannot call it away from distractions or danger.

Lastly, I have to admit I am a little unsettled about returning to that trail. Does a crazy person like that learn her lesson or does she formulate a plan of revenge? I probably will let some time go by before I return.

Hey, Happy Monday! And Happy Birthday, Mom!

Foster Dog

2011-10-07T07:00:00.033-04:00

Stephen and I are fostering JA's Sahara Sand. He is from Jefferson County Kennel Club track (JCKC). We do not foster often since we have six of our own, but that track closed October 1st for six months and their are many greyhounds at risk. Southeastern Greyhound Adoption gets most of their greyhounds from JCKC so we are trying to do what we can to take a few more.

JCKC is an awful track. My guess is that it is the lowest track in the US. Once the dogs are done racing, they have no where else to go unless they are lucky enough to make it into adoption made possible by Pam and Glen Davis, Lynn Masimore, and a few other volunteers. The good racing greyhound owners do not race dogs at JCKC.

Sahara Sand has settled in fairly well. We did take him since he is very strong and would really benefit from some training. I am trying to video some of those sessions so you can see one starting mostly from scratch.

The Latest

2011-10-04T07:50:00.000-04:00

Riley's next hock x-ray is next Tuesday. I am very hopeful that it shows a healed fracture. It will have been exactly 11 weeks of healing and no activity. The fracture happened on July 26th... exactly three years after Travis died and that Riley ran her last race. It sort of seems that good things don't happen close to home, but there might be something good happening in the universe. I think next year I will sit home on July 26th and let the universe do its thing.

"My Kong is empty."

All in all, I think Riley is doing well. I believe I see a little hitch in her walk, but I can make anything look lame if I stare at it long enough. I have seen a couple of trot steps here and there and everything looks okay. The cooler temperatures are making it more and more difficult to keep her calm. I put a coat on her most mornings and nights just to help keep her cozy and calm, but she has had a couple of explosions. She can spin three times on a four foot leash before you know what is happening. However, the good news is that none of her outbursts has caused any lameness. She carries on like nothing happened.

Riley's feet are so rough from lack of wear. She can scratch with those pads. I finally gave her a pedicure. Of course, I already do her nails once or twice a week, but I had to buff her pads to smooth them out... just for my own safety.

We are also doing cold laser or k-laser. It is suggested that it encourages fractures to heal. It just depends on who you ask. Dr. G and Dr. C said it could not hurt, but that there were no studies proving it increased the speed of healing. The price was right so I opted to give it a try since it is a painless, low stress treatment. She has had six sessions.

Riley still works hard on her tricks most days. I think we have defined them a little better now and we have added a new one I think you will all love. It is very cute.

MACH Ch Aragon Lunar Eclipse VCD2 TDX RE JC

2011-10-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

I am pleased to report that greyhound, Whisper, has earned her Master Agility Championship. She is only the third greyhound to do so and the first greyhound with a conformation championship. I am thrilled for my friend, Helen Hamilton. I know she has worked hard and does a great job on the west coast demonstrating that greyhounds can do it all. Whisper is multi-talented and excels at tracking and obedience as well.

You can see more of Whisper over at Aragon Greyhounds. Click Here.

Neglected Obstacles

2011-09-29T07:10:00.000-04:00

I have neglected a few obstacles in Seven's agility training. It might be that I have always neglected these obstacles, but my prior greyhounds were bolder than Seven and managed the lack of practice just fine. The neglected obstacles are the table, tire jump, panel (solid) jump, and the chute (photo above). The chute is definitely an issue for Seven for whatever reason.

So I am making a big effort to include all of these obstacles in all of our training sessions. My husband resurfaced my table. I made a brand new tire for my tire jump. I am draping a towel over a bar jump to create the look of a panel jump. I am dragging the chute out of the garage for every training session. And I am taking Seven to new places so she can experience the same, but different obstacles. Recently, Stephen came with me to one of these practices and videoed Seven and I running an agility course.

We still have work to do, but Seven is coming along.

Introduction to Recalls

2011-09-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is how I start all of my adult, leash trained greyhounds on recalls (coming when called). I take my hound for a walk on a regular leash and I carry a very high value treat item (preferably in your pocket and not in your hand). When my dog takes a mild interest in something and is ahead of me, I call her, and run backwards (wear appropriate shoes). This usually encourages her to run after me. As soon as my greyhound catches me, I feet a generous portion of my high value treat and I touch the collar with my other hand. The reason I touch the collar is so my dog learns that part of the recall is having your collar grabbed. A recall is not very useful if your dog cannot be caught.

For the sake of the video, I did several recalls in a short period of time. In real life, I would suggest no more than one recall every 5 - 10 minutes on your walk because otherwise your dog becomes too interested in recalls and stays at your side the entire time.

I use "come" for my recalls, but you can choose another word. "Front" and "here" are good options. Do not pick a word that flies out of your mouth all of the time. Do not use a word that you have already trained your dog to ignore most of the time. This is not a recall I use casually or around the house. When I am being casual, I use something else.

My dogs know that "come" is not optional, but it is also highly rewarded. I always pay my hounds for good recalls for their entire lives.

Obviously in the video above, the demo dog (Seven) is already trained and promptly responds to me each time. In real life, you will likely be ignored at first and this is exactly why you have them on leash. Gently tug and turn your dog around. Often he will start to chase when he sees you running backwards. Each time you practice a recall, always give your dog two seconds to respond. I often have people in my classes that get in a bad habit of jerking their dog each time they call. In those cases, we have no idea if the dog was going to respond or not, so give your dog a chance.

If you are generous in your rewards and your dog enjoys eating, this is a great way to teach an emergency recall for the day when your gate is left open or your dog slips his collar. If he has been paid handsomely for past efforts, there is no reason for him not to come bounding back to you.

Don't forget to touch the collar!

Hide and Seek

2011-09-22T07:00:00.070-04:00

Riley loves her Zanie Flyer, but of course, is not allowed to play with one until her hock fracture has healed and she has done a significant amount of rehab. When Riley was still in the splint, I happened upon a new game with her. We keep a Zanie Flyer on the outside of one of our basement windows and we use it to play fetch with Reagan on most days. Riley led me to the gate of that yard and we went inside. Using her nose, she led me straight to that Zanie Flyer sitting on the window. So I started to hide the toy in different places around the yard and it was really interesting to see Riley use her nose to find it.

Riley has not been immune to pressure sores. She has one on each side of her of her foot and then a weird blister looking thing just below her stifle. Despite changing the bandage everyday (or a couple of times a day) and giving the wounds a chance to air out, they keep getting worse.

So I am done with bandaging. Dr. G had told me not to bandage since greyhounds are so difficult with bony limbs and thin skin, but I offered that I could do it myself and frequently. We were going to try to soft bandage for 2 weeks, but it is just not working. I give up! So I am adhering to the prescription of restricted activity more than ever since the hock is completely unsupported. Unfortunately, Riley is having to wear her muzzle when she is unsupervised because she is a notorious wound licker. Hopefully, she will be willing to leave them alone in a couple of days.

Riley is slightly gimpy and the leg fatigues quickly. I hear that the stabilizer muscles are the first to go. I cannot wait until we can start working on exercises to regain strength. I am not suppose to work on range of motion, but just watching Riley I can see how it differs from the other leg, but I am also seeing that it is getting more flexible as she uses it on potty walks and gets up and down.

Keep the healing thoughts coming this way! Pray for a happy reunion!

The End

2011-09-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

How about a post about Seven? I have entered Seven into her first agility trial at the end of October. I continue to have issues with her popping out of the weave poles early. My agility trainer suggested I offset the last two poles making the ending more difficult than if they were in line. The idea is that this will make her have to concentrate and work hard to get the last two poles. I can use a clicker to mark her grand effort in getting the last two poles.

Seven did really well with four and six poles, but eight was another story. My biggest worry is that we will be in a trial and she simply refuses to weave correctly. So another strategy I will start to employ in training (so I can use at a trial) is that she gets three attempts and if she is still wrong, I say "sorry" and put her away for awhile. We got to practice this a few times while working on the last two poles being out of line.

Hopefully, we will get it consistently right one of these days.

Off With The Splint

2011-09-15T19:15:00.000-04:00

The racing greyhound orthopedic specialist in Florida looked at Riley's x-rays from Monday and feels there is a "clinical union" and that when magnified you can see healing has occured. Also, that the bone chip has been there the entire time. It has never moved and it probably is not going to move. Since the location is not one of high stress or pressure, he suggested we put her into a soft bandage for four weeks to allow for more healing.

Since greyhounds are so prone to pressure sores and even more so in a soft bandage (more freedom to move = more rubbing), Dr. G was considering that we maybe leave her unbandaged since I have done a good job at restricting her activity. I offered that I was comfortable with bandaging her myself and could proceed with the soft bandage suggestion, but change it every couple of days so we can check on sores. He liked that idea so we decided that we would try to keep her in a soft bandage for two weeks and then unbandaged for an additional two weeks. During this time, her activity needs to be strictly restricted. We will then x-ray her and go from there.

So I am feeling more optimistic and less like a crazy person now. I am hopeful I will be taking pictures likes this one again in the future.

I have decided to pull out of the AKC Agility Invitational in December though. If everything goes perfectly from here, I suppose she still could be ready, but it would be our first trial back. More pressure to do well than I need. At this point, I just want to have fun again.

Complaint For the Day

2011-09-12T19:15:00.002-04:00

Today's X-Ray

Riley's hock fracture has not healed. In fact, today's x-ray (above) does not appear that different from the x-ray taken right after surgery (below). I am truly disappointed. I was not sure what to expect, but I was not expecting that news. Dr. G (the surgeon) is sending today's x-rays to Dr. GOG (Greyhound Ortho God) to see what his opinion is. Dr. G and Dr. C (my vet), both said it surgically looks good, it is just slow healing for some reason. My vet said it happens sometimes, but that it still makes you nervous when it does. We are waiting to hear from Dr. GOG before we formulate a plan, but my ears started bleeding when he said something about four weeks.

Six Weeks Ago

At least there is one doctor that will tell me what I want to hear... Dr. Pepper. I love Dr. Pepper!

Jen: Oh, Dr. Pepper. I love you so much. You taste so good.

Dr. Pepper: No need to worry, Jen. Riley will be healed by morning and she will still be able to compete and win the AKC Agility Invitational.

Jen: Really? That is so great to hear, Dr. Pepper.

Dr. Pepper: By the way, you look really pretty today.

Jen: Awww... Dr. Pepper, you know just what to say to a girl.

Bookends

2011-09-09T07:40:00.000-04:00

"Riley"

A few months ago, a photographer was doing a project for a pet boutique in Atlanta. She needed unique photos of different breeds and put in a request for greyhounds. I offered up Riley and Seven. These photos were actually taken outside on a very cloudy day while each dog was standing on my agility table. As a thank you, the photographer sent me these prints in color and black and white. The color prints were my favorite. I will eventually have them framed for my office.

"Seven"

Photos by Stephanie Richardson.

As I type, 75 more hours until Riley's appointment with the orthopedic vet. She is being such a pain in the butt these last few days. Monday cannot come fast enough. I do not think it has helped that it has gone from 95 degrees to 65 degrees instantly. Unfortunately, she is starting to get a couple of sores around her feet. It is probably because I have been allowing too much activity. I have taken her to PetSmart and to agility class a couple of times to walk around and socialize for a few minutes. I am really going to be hard on her this weekend. No toys and no outings. The sores are very small and minor... and I want to keep it that way. It is suppose to be back in the 80's this weekend so I am hoping I can have her out in the warm sun for awhile. May my weekend fly... while yours goes slowly.

Never Satisfied

2011-09-06T07:00:00.034-04:00

Due to the sprained toe and hock fracture, Riley has missed most of her agility classes this summer. I did not want to lose my spot in class so I began bringing Seven to the class in Riley's place. Seven really was not ready for an advanced agility class with international style courses, but she has surprisingly held her own better than we all expected. Weave poles still need work, but her debut should be sometime this fall. I am trying to decide whether to just wait until November when Riley is back or if I should debut her locally in October. Regardless, this means that Seven needs to be officially named and recorded by the American Kennel Club.

I almost named her "Quit Licking Me" as it is very fitting and I use the phrase often, but I have decided to name her "Never Satisfied". Seven is wonderful to train. She loves it and would train all day long if time allowed. Even when it hot and sunny, she puts forth an effort like none of my other greyhounds.

But otherwise Seven is a big pain in the butt. She is always under foot, is always searching for something to do, is always planting herself in the middle of anything going on, and screams and yelps when things do not go her away. She rarely appears to be content with the status quo. The grass is always greener somewhere else. Her unsatisfied nature makes her tough to live with at times.

Passing Time

2011-09-02T07:00:00.164-04:00

Today marks five weeks since hock surgery with one more week to go. The disappointment though is that Dr. G is on vacation next Friday so we have to go an extra weekend splinted. Pooh! But I am taking that Monday off so we can get final x-rays taken care of in the morning.

I really have no idea what to expect. The bones should be knitted, but her hock will have been imobilized for over six weeks. It will be interesting to see the range of motion and I hope it is not too painful. We are so ready for some rehab.

The AKC Agility Invitational is in mid December and the vets believe that she should be more than ready for competition by then. This event invites the Top 5 agility dogs of each breed for the year and it is in the nearby state of Florida so I really want to go. I have earmarked an agility trial for late November as a prep trial... so much for having a whole season. I just hope everything comes together as planned.

Overall, Riley has been positively wonderful. She definitely has to be leashed or confined at all times, but she just does not complain about anything. If she makes any noise, it is because she has to go outside. Hopefully I have been making her time more bearable. Should you find yourself in a similar situation, some of this might be helpful.

Other than a chicken back for breakfast, Riley does not eat any of her meals from a bowl. Dinner in a bowl is a waste of entertainment. Most of the time, I mix her dinner with a dollop of yogurt, cottage cheese, canned dog food, canned pumpkin, and/or a raw egg and create a mixture to spoon into Kongs.

Mmmm, doesn't that look good?

I find that a cup of kibble + whatever you are adding = 4 stuffed medium sized Kongs. Then I freeze the Kongs (so obviously you need to plan ahead if freezing).

Each Kong is served one at a time over the course of a couple of hours.

Time to go off on a tangent. I HATE peanut butter as a Kong stuffing and yet it continues to be the number one thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Kongs. First, peanut butter does not rinse out. So if your dog misses a spot, you have to scrub it out or it eventually grows mold. Secondly, peanut butter is extremely high calorie at almost 100 calories per tablespoon. I cannot think of anything worse to waste calories on when my dog is in a state of buring less calories than she normally does. Third, it does not last long!

My only peanut butter exception is if I fill the Kong with dog food first and then use a butter knife to mix in a small amount of peanut butter. It works for a special occasion, but this is not my go-to mixture for a convalescing hound.

I have also been twisting bits of kibble into rope toys. It is a great way to encourage flossing!

One blessing is that the recovery period is happening during the hottest month of the year and I am taking full advantage of it. I have been taking a small, stainless steel bowl and adding a dollop of yogurt, cottage cheese, or canned dog food and some water (I used juice from a watermelon a few times).

I freeze it and then during the heat of the day, I take Riley outside in the sun and have her sunbath while she enjoys her frozen treat. The great thing about getting her hot and panting for a short time is that it burns some of her excess energy.

Last but not least, we let Riley squeak really annoying toys since she does not destroy them and stays down most of the time.

Hopefully you will never have to bed rest a hound, but if you do, maybe some of these strategies will help you get through it.

Useless Tricks

2011-08-30T07:00:00.049-04:00

As the hock fracture continues to heal, Riley has been working very hard on some tricks for her fans. Please hold your applause until the end.

Okay, you can clap now. Ha!

This is one of those times when clicker training is so helpful. Although I am not using a clicker (to avoid exciting the other dogs in the house), Riley is still very used to offering behaviors that are marked and rewarded when correct. While I had some ideas of my own, it is also fun to see what the dog comes up with as well. "Pig nose" was something Riley dreamed up and I simply marked it so she would repeat it.

Downhill

2011-08-27T07:00:00.136-04:00

Riley's hock fracture appears to be healing well. We are over the hump and it is downhill from here. We did have a little scare during one of the splint changes. Riley pulled her leg and I guess surprised herself when she flexed the hock. She yelped and leaped to her feet. Dr. C caught her rear end and kept her from putting any weight on it. I was really surprised Riley was so reactive. It was the kind of over reaction we expect from Seven when she steps on a rock (Ha!), but Riley never does that. As a precaution, we x-rayed it again and I am happy to report it was a waste of time and money. You could just barely make out the start of healing and everything looked as it should at that point in time.

I am thrilled that we have avoided pressure sores and nastiness between the toes so far. I was having the splint changed once a week, but now that I am saving money and doing it myself, I have switched to a four day schedule.

Riley's feet are really interesting. Her unused pads are rough and in need of a good buffing. They are quite scratchy and HAIRY! Obviously, being active keeps the hair between the toes and around the pads worn down, but right now they are long feathery and extend past her pads.

I recently took Riley to PetSmart to just get out of the house for some different sights and smells. I think she really enjoyed the outing and seeing the animals. Riley loves animals!

Of course, she does not love them in a way that is best for the animals. Riley said hi to a few strangers and we picked out a toy with a lot of squeakers.

"I wanted a cat."

Oh well, we cannot always have what we want, Riley. But she did enjoy her nose in the wind and her ears flapping in the breeze.

A Tribute to Katie

2011-08-24T06:30:00.000-04:00

I recently finished my tribute to Katie who passed away last October to bone cancer. I am really pleased with how it turned out. I did not want a sad song because it is not a sad story. I think "Beautiful Goodbye" by Jennifer Hanson is perfect for Katie and I.

Splints and Greyhounds

2011-08-21T07:00:00.012-04:00

What the heck is on my leg?

You have to be so very careful with bandaging and splints on greyhounds because they are so prone to pressure sores. Longtime readers know that I am a bandage snob (CLICK HERE for a tutorial on bandaging). I wrap better than most vets and abhor having to pay for it. Just tell me when surgery is over and I will come do it myself. Luckily my current vet, Dr. C, wraps as good as me most of the time so I actually will leave one of his bandages on for a few days. Ha!

But splints are new to me so I decided to let the vets have a go at it. I took Riley back to the surgeon five days after surgery so he could see the leg and change the splint.

Just say no to bone chip

He looked at the splint and began to utter words that suggested he liked the way it looked and was thinking about leaving it on. Well, I had just driven 40 minutes and had already paid for the splint change, so Riley was going to get her splint change. I told him I did not think there was enough padding and was eager to see the leg. Dr. G quickly changed his tune.

Livestrong and Love My Riley Greyhound

Sure enough, Riley had a very minor sore on her toes. Dr. G trimmed the splint and applied plenty of padding. Had we left the splint as is, I assume she would have developed a major pressure sore.

The moral to this story is that while the vet is the expert, they are not always right. Speak up if your gut tells you otherwise. I also insist on being present for bandage changes so I can see any wounds for myself.

Rooting for Toots and Screwed (cause there is a screw in there)

The hubby and I are bored too and have resorted to splint graffiti. Riley continues to do well, but her energy level is soaring.

Weave Pole Entrances

2011-08-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

Seven continues to make progress on her weave poles. I have now removed all of the guide wires except for the 2 on the end. I really do not think she needs them, but popping out a pole or two early is a common problem so I am not rushing to remove them.

I am especially working hard on Seven's entrances. The dog must enter the weave poles with the first pole on the left. Generally, a straight entry is considered the easiest for the dog. The more the dog is angled from the left or the right, the tougher the entrance. Certain angles make it very easy for the dog to just skip the first couple of poles. Entering the poles from a 90 degree angle can be especially difficult because the dog has to make a very tight turn in order to resume weaving.

Offsetting the first two poles can help the dog learn to make that tight turn by starting easy and gradually increasing the difficulty by moving the first two poles closer and closer to in line with the other poles.

Here is a video of some of Seven's progress.

And to Bloggers, Witty Angel and Amy/Layla, I do visit your blogs, but cannot comment because you have it set to "embedded below the post". I think you would get more comments if you fix.

Precious and Wonderful

2011-08-15T06:35:00.001-04:00

Riley is a third of the way through her six weeks of confinement for her fractured hock. She is just so precious and wonderful and has adapted to the new, boring routine.

Riley is confined to an ex pen in our kitchen nearly 24 hours a day. Our entire house is slippery tile or hardwood floors. I just cannot take the risk of allowing her to move about unleashed. She is simply not sensible enough. Plus I do not want her thinking that things are normal right now.

The ex pen is located next to a large window which I love. Our house does not get a lot of natural light through the windows, but Riley is in one of the few locations that is bright all day without any direct sunlight. The ex pen gives her twice as much room as her crate and affords her a few special priviledges.

One, Riley gets treats for no reason and the humans often share bites of whatever is for dinner. Mine get enough treats so I never just give treats for being cute... that is unless you have a broken leg. Second, we let Riley squeak really annoying toys. We have very few toys around the house because Reagan and Seven are destroyers and then eat their spoils. Riley just likes to squeak them so rotate toys in the ex pen.

Riley, of course, has to be on leash anytime she is outside of the ex pen. I have been taking her to the front yard to potty since there are usually more noises, smells, and sights to investigate. As you can see, Riley gets around very well with her splint.

I also let her eat grass...

... and bake in the sun. Unfortunately, she is not much of a sunbather so she is quick to say "enough".

Thank you for all the nice comments and well wishes.

Drama Queen

2011-08-12T07:00:00.027-04:00

Of course, Seven did not want to be left out of all the drama. She was in the yard one afternoon when Stephen heard one of the dogs screaming bloody murder. Stephen ran outside to see what was wrong and Seven was in a screaming, crying heap. She was holding up her paw and yelped for nearly a minute. I am sure the entire neighborhood heard her death wailing. We could see that Seven's leg was still attached so we told her she needed settle down if she wanted us to help her. We got her inside and examined her paw. Stephen discovered that she had been stung (he wants credit for that find so here it is).

Seven continued off and on with the theatrics. I gave her some Benadryl and iced her paw. I also explained to her that her sister, Riley, did not make a peep when she fractured her hock. That it was not until the next day did she squeak a little when the doctors were manipulating the painful joint. God help me if Seven ever actually gets hurts.

Surgery

2011-08-09T07:00:00.121-04:00

The next morning (Friday, July 29th), I dropped Riley off for surgery. At 4 PM, Dr. G explained to me that surgery went perfectly. The bone chip was in one piece and more substantial than he had predicted. He was able to put a mini-screw into it and post-op x-rays reveled that it was anchored exactly where he wanted it. Dr. G could not have been happier with the procedure and that Dr. GOG was absolutely right about surgery being the correct choice. Awesome!

Can you see the tiny screw in the x-rays above and below?

The titanium screw was so tiny. He showed me one and it reminded me of a screw you use to fix eyeglasses except it was longer.

I was also emailed a picture of the surgery. It was probably meant for Dr. C's eyes (my vet), but the vet tech sent them all to me as well. CLICK HERE if you want to see it. I think it looks like cloth napkins covering up some meat being pulled apart with shrimp forks. It is hard to believe someone would know where to place a screw. X-rays make bones seem so clean and white, but they are actually covered in tissues you have to work around or cut through.

Riley had an uneventful evening of sleeping mostly. We have six weeks of NO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. Activity is restricted to potty breaks only. It is hard to do when you have a very physically fit dog that is used to running, hiking, training, and/or doing agility everyday. We never sit home for more than one day at a time and never more than once or twice a month. If I am having an off day, I still take them for a 30 - 60 minute walk to take the edge off. At least by the time you read this, we will have only 4 and half weeks to go.

It Takes a Village of Vets

2011-08-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

The next morning (Thursday) we headed to Animal Hospital #3 to see Dr. G. He reviewed Dr. C's x-rays and examined Riley. He definitely thought that there was something there. He decided to take more x-rays to see if they could see it from a different angle and also took one of her uninjured hock. While Riley was having that done, the other orthopedic specialist at Animal Hospital #3 (Dr. C2) came in to have a look. He agreed that something was there.

Dr. G came back. When compared to the uninjured hock, Dr. G felt we were definitely looking at a fracture. However, it never moved. No matter what position Riley's leg was placed in, the bone chip remained in place. He decided this was not a surgical case and that we should just rest Riley for 2 months.

However, he was going to send the x-rays to Dr. Greyhound-Ortho-God (Dr. GOG for short) in Hollywood Florida for a second opinion..... actually the 9th, but who is counting? I headed home relieved that we had avoided surgery. I was sure that Dr. GOG would agree with Dr. G's strategy.

Around 5 PM, I get a call from Dr. G. He tells me that Dr. GOG has already looked at the x-rays. He has seen six fractures similar to Riley's injury and has fixed all of them surgically. The only problem is that this is the smallest one he had ever seen and he was not sure if a screw could be put into it.

I asked why they would want to save such a tiny sliver of bone. It seems like it would be easier to just remove it. The reason is that maintaining the integrity of the bone and keeping it as close to its original state as possible is the best way to minimize arthritis.

Dr. G and I discussed the options. We could splint it, but surgery offers the best bet for returning Riley's hock joint back to normal. Dr. GOG has handled more racing greyhound orthopedic cases than anyone and it is generally agreed that he is the all mighty expert on the subject. I had been willing to do surgery from the beginning. Dr. GOG said surgery... it was a no brainer for me.

Off to surgery...

Why Second Opinions Are Important

2011-08-03T07:00:00.004-04:00

Dr. C refered Riley to Dr. F, an orthopedic specialist. I was feeling very lucky because Dr. F was working out of a hospital just 2 miles from my house and he could see me in an hour. It could not have been more convenient.

We arrived at Animal Hospital #2 and waited 45 minutes to see Dr. F. I assumed this was a no brainer surgery case since Dr. C seemed to think so. I expected Dr. F to agree and we would proceed from there.

Dr. F agreed that there was something on the x-ray, but he did not think it was that cut and dry. He took another x-ray from a different angle. He did not see anything on that x-ray so he declared that the bone chip we were seeing was actually some arthritis and that she likely was suffering from a really bad bone bruise. Ice, Deramaxx, and a couple of weeks off and she would be just fine. He did not think there was enough pain or swelling to be a fracture.

Area of swelling.

I was thrilled and feeling very lucky. We had dodged a bullet. Dr. C called to find out what Dr. F had said and was not convinced. He was not satisfied with that diagnosis and called Dr. F to asked him to look at the x-rays again. Dr. F said he would call back if he changed his mind.

In the meanwhile, I have a greyhound friend in California who happens to be a veterinary internal medicine specialist (Dr. H) and she asked me to email the x-rays to her so she could consult with the orthopedic specialist in her practice (Dr. B). That was easy to do because I had stopped by my house on the way to see Dr. F so I could copy the x-ray disk that Dr. C had given me.... I knew the bloggers would want to see them.

Dr. B was definitely suspicious that the area of concern was a fracture and felt that she was far too lame and non-weight bearing (as I had described) to just be a bone bruise. I relayed the message to Dr. C who called my friend, Dr. H, to discuss Dr. B's findings.............are you confused yet?

And then my friend, Dr. A, chimed in and asked to see the x-rays too. After receiving the email, she too thought we were probably dealing with a fracture.

At this point, we had 4 out of 5 vets believing we had a fracture. I asked Dr. C to refer me to another orthopedic specialist for a 2nd opinion.

It Starts With a Frisbee

2011-07-31T07:00:00.070-04:00

As you know, Riley suffered a hock joint fracture. The story begins last Tuesday when I had quickly worked the girls on weave poles and was finishing up with a game of fetch. Riley had caught and returned her frisbee several times. I am always so cautious about toe injuries since they are so common with greyhounds. I like that I can throw the frisbee and the dogs often can catch it mid stride. But while everyone else allows the frisbee to come down, Riley likes to go after it and jumps quite high to do so.

On our last throw, Riley jumped up to catch her frisbee and came down on her hind legs like she normally does. There was nothing awkward about it except that I heard a "click". No verbal complaints from Riley, but it was obviously very painful and she was not willing to bear any weight.

I saw that nothing was visibly broken. I was hoping she would just walk out of it, but after giving her a minute there was no change. I was pretty sure it had to be a fracture since I had heard the "click". Damn it!

I loaded Riley into the van at 6:00 PM and called my vet to see if there was any chance of getting in that evening. I was too late and my vet is off on Tuesdays anyway so it was worth waiting till morning. However, I was on my way to my agility instructor's field to meet a new canine chiropractor.

Dr. N gave Riley a quick "field" examination and declared that she thought it was a torn ACL in her knee. I was very disappointed by this news as I would rather deal with a fracture (at least I thought I did) than a torn knee ligament. Bones often heal quicker and easier than soft tissues.

Can you find the bone chip?

For comparison sake, here is an x-ray of the uninjured hock joint.

The next morning, I took Riley to see my vet. Dr. C followed me out to the parking lot to get Riley and in a 1 minute "parking lot" examination stated there was nothing wrong with Riley's knee, but that her hock was the source of the problem. We took her inside for x-rays.

The bone chip is inside the "V" point.

Riley was wonderful for x-rays. Dr. C allowed me to help position her for each x-ray and to feed treats. The x-rays exposed a bone chip in her hock and Dr. C felt it would require surgery. He was not sure whether it should be screwed in or taken out so he referred me to an orthopedic specialist.

Chip Off The Old Hock

2011-07-28T16:01:00.001-04:00

When it rains, it pours.... Healed completely from her minor toe sprain, Riley now has a tiny fracture or bone chip in her hock joint. It is a huge disappointment and calls for two months of rest. She is not even allowed to swim. Luckily, we are avoiding surgery... at least so far.

It happened on Tuesday while Riley was catching her Frisbee. She jumped up to catch it and landed with her hind legs first like she always does. I heard a little "click" sound and she has been lame ever since. Here are two pictures of Riley jumping up like she does.

I will post all the gory details in a couple of days. I am just so tired and behind in life at the moment.

Oh Deer

2011-07-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

Interestingly, Seven has an interest in deer bones (I think this is part of a deer skull), but will not touch venison in her bowl. Go figure.

I cannot say that her eating habits surprise me anymore.

Steady Progress

2011-07-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

Seven is making steady progess on her weave poles. I have been able to remove 4 of the 10 guides that are attached to the poles. I have also gone back to working on the 2X2 method (Click Here for my 2X2 post) which is a great way to explain correct entrances to the dogs.

Check out Seven's progress!

That Sucked!

2011-07-19T07:00:00.004-04:00

Riley Greyhound and I headed up to Tennessee for another obedience trial. It was definitely not worth six hours of driving round trip. It turns out that Riley is quite picky about the flooring. After a couple of sits, she simple would not sit anymore. I eventually stopped asking for them as I did not want to practice being ignored. The bright side is that her attitude was very good and she was happy. So here is a nice video of us totally sucking!

One person outside the ring offered a suggestion. She thought that I might be confusing Riley with my stand signal and stay hand signal. I cue a stand with my left hand and because this was a problem for us in the past, I cue my stays with my right hand. This strategy eliminated the confusion. We have not practiced Novice exercises in awhile (including stands) so maybe I was getting sloppy. However, thanks to the video, I can confirm that I am still cuing her correctly and that it is quite obvious she is avoiding.

Luckily, the judge excused us from doing sit and down stays. There was no way we would have succeeded so I would not have done them anyway, but it was nice to have the judge's blessing as it is bad manners to just duck out.

So dang it! Greyhound sits are already hard enough. I certainly do not want to cause her any discomfort. Lengthy sit stays are already very difficult for Riley so I am not going to start a fight and insist that she sit stay on a floor she does not even want to sit for 3 seconds on. Unfortunately, most of our obedience trials are held indoors, on concrete, with thin matting. It appears to me that if the matting has any texture at all, she does not like it. Fun, fun.

Sorry, Daddy!

2011-07-16T07:00:00.004-04:00

Hurry up, Mom...

Seven has been a bad girl and ruined a pair of Stephen's socks. She seems very attracted to a certain type of stretchy fabric that is often used to make socks, underwear, and vetwrap.

Recently, I was out hiking with Riley and Seven when Seven found a sock. She was quite proud of herself and carried it all the way back to the car for her Daddy... sorry for the low budget camera phone video.

So very thoughtful of Seven.

This is for you, Daddy!

Does Peanut Swim?

2011-07-13T07:00:00.002-04:00

It is possible that my niece, Peanut, might swim if we let her sink, but this is as close as she comes to swimming. She is just way too relaxed.

But just to prove that Peanut is not a parapalegic, I wanted to share this clip of Peanut coursing a mutt. Run, Peanut! Run!

But Peanut is all in all a lazy greyhound who will take a butt scratch from whoever she can get one from.

And for Elizabeth, Travis thought swimming and retrieving was a blast! He even dock jumped (Click Here).

Swimming Lesson

2011-07-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

I could not let Riley have all of the fun so Seven had her first swimming lesson. Seven is definitely not a water dog. She is slowly starting to show signs of realizing its value when she needs to cool off, but otherwise she tends to not get wet above her toes.

Seven did really well. Sometimes my greyhounds will not eat the first time they swim, but Seven was not about to let this experience curb her appetite.

Of course, Peanut, my sister's greyhound, supervised from a comfortable post at all times.

Swimming

2011-07-07T07:00:00.001-04:00

No one kicks off summer quite like my sister's lounge hound, Peanut. She loves nothing more than relaxing by the pool and cannot wait for it to open each summer.

Since Riley is on a modified lay up for her mild toe sprain, swimming was an excellent way to exercise her. She has been in the pool numerous times over the last several summers so this is not new to her. She does not love it, but she knows the drill and swims for her treats. As always, I used the inflatable e-collar to keep ears and nose above water (click here to buy one). It is a terrible e-collar, but it works great for keeping your dog's head above water, but does not provide as much support as a life jacket. This encourages them to swim more and to use their hind legs.

Riley was not impressed.

Thanks for letting us swim in your pool, Parkers!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T07:00:00.004-04:00

Happy 4th of July! To my non-USA readers, the 4th of July is basically America's birthday and most Americans enjoy the day off!

My niece, Peanut, making the most of the day.

Of course, Riley and I were on TV again yesterday. Part 2 did air despite not ever being listed. Thank goodness a friend happened upon it and texted me just in time so I did not miss it (Thank you, Cat!). I am hoping I can pull my portion from my in-laws' DVD recordings and upload to my blog for all to see.

Lastly, I thought this was an interesting patriotic story. Not a dog, but actually a horse, but I figure we are all animal lovers here.

Suddenly Famous

2011-07-01T07:00:00.031-04:00

Well, now that Riley and I have been on TV, you must be wondering how Riley is coping with all of this fame. She is managing...

It was very cool to see us on a regular TV channel on a Sunday afternoon. The program was very professional with our names and bio included. Southeastern Greyhound Adoption got a nice mention.

It was very exciting. BUT it is very disappointing to find that the second show will not air in Atlanta. Part 2 is the show that included the 30 Down and Back Weave Pole Challenge. It did air in other areas of the country and my in-laws were able to record both shows on DVD (thanks MIL and FIL) so I will eventually get to see it.

I believe the shows will continue to air throughout July. I even heard that it was seen in Canada. Remember you can check for your local listings by clicking here. Type in your zip code and hit the return key.

Brindle Birthday Bash

2011-06-28T07:00:00.004-04:00

I am not usually the type of dog owner to celebrate dog birthdays, but we could not pass up the opportunity to have a birthday party for our brindles. Interestingly, we have THREE, non-littermate, brindle greyhounds with a June 28th birthday! We think that is way cool as we did not find out about the birthdays until after we adopted each hound (like that would really be one of my criteria anyway, its hard enough to find my type of greyhound let alone one with the "right" birthday, Ha!).

Stacker turned 12 years old.

Riley turned 5 years old.

Seven turned 3 years old.

Remember these hounds are professionally trained. Don't try this at home (regarding lit candles). Ha!

For this party, we went with party hats and "Hello Kitty" party plates. We thought "Hello Kitty" was very fitting since cats are these hounds' favorite animal only second to a squirrel. Meow!

Generally, we try to allow the hounds to live dignified lives, but sometimes you just have to earn your cupcakes amusing the humans with party hats. And as we have discussed before, its just something an ex-racer rescued in America just has to put up sometimes. Its certainly better than the alternative (click here if you have no idea what I'm referencing).

So for their pain and undignified suffering under party hats, I baked them carrot cupcakes with creme cheese icing. They all approved and gobbled them up. Here is the recipe (click here).

Of course, we invited their siblings. Here are the happy guests.

Happy Birthday, Stacker, Riley, and Seven!

Recalls

2011-06-26T07:00:00.011-04:00

Recently, we visited with my sister and played at my friend's 60 acre horse farm. It is an excellent safe place to really test out recalls. I wanted to demonstrate how good I expect my recalls to be. If my recalls are not this good, I do not give mine any unleashed freedom. We practice recalls on leash, on long lines, fenced areas, and larger fenced areas before we ever venture out into a less secure area. I also require that mine respond promptly even if we see people and/or other dogs. They also cannot lose their minds chasing a squirrel up a tree. I do not mind squirrel chasing, but they then have to come right away if I call.

This is Seven about to turn three years old with 8 months of training.

The last recall reminds me that it would be a very good idea to train a recall to a whistle. A whistle could be heard at a farther distance. I believe Seven simply did not hear my first call.

Here is another video of Seven working on recalls.

Two Stepper

2011-06-23T07:00:00.010-04:00

Check it out! Seven is finally weaving through regulation weave poles. I started to hurry her along because my training set is only spaced at 22 inches between the poles. Competition weave poles for the agility trials I attend are spaced 24 inches. I thought 2 extra inches might make a big difference and I think it did. This is Seven's very first time weaving through 24 inch spaced weave poles in line.

I am still experimenting with having Seven pull against her collar while I put some resistance on her leash. I alternate between no leash and pulling against the leash.

One thing is for certain, Seven is definitely a two-stepper. Most big dogs will swing one leg around each pole, but Seven hops her front feet around each pole like small dogs often do. The extra space between poles definitely makes it easier for Seven to do what feels more natural to her.

Me... I am super pleased to be putting away the training set of weave poles. I am looking forward to the guides coming down next.

Daddy's Girl

2011-06-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

My husband, Stephen, has been super nice to include Reagan when he takes Team Senior (his three greyhounds) to a local hiking spot. It has a nice grassy area that gives Reagan some running room to play fetch and get some additional exercise since she is 7 and 8 years younger than our seniors.

Recently, Stephen brought Reagan to my agility field. I set up some jump sequences and showed him where to cross and how to run them. Oh, Reagan tortures me so. She has not done any agility in the last few months, but she gets out there like she practices all the time. Her weave poles kill me they are just so good. Its just such a shame that all that talent goes unused.

Here is a video of their last sequence. Reagan was hot and tired at this point, but did everything that Stephen asked.

For those new to the blog, the summary to Reagan's story is that I trained her for agility. She was awesome and competed successfully several times. Then noise phobias started to set in. Noises like people closing car doors, all sorts of engine sounds, and eventually the teeter board hitting the ground started to panic Reagan. It spiraled out of control despite all I did to fight it. The main show stopper was when Reagan became terrified of traveling in our dog van and I finally gave up (no need to make suggestions, trust me, I have tried it). Reagan became a house dog and Seven is her replacement.

Time Out

2011-06-16T10:35:00.000-04:00

Dang greyhound toes! It seems inevitable that all of my greyhounds must suffer at least one toe injury per lifetime. I hope this is Riley's only time. In the above photo, it is the toe on the far right. The bright side is that this is the only time it has just been a sprain. Jessie, Travis, Katie, and Reagan's toe injuries were all dislocations with torn collateral ligaments.

I was a newbie with Jessie and treated it conservatively. On its own, a greyhound toe never constructs enough scar tissue to make up for lost ligaments. I eventually had to amputate it.

Travis' toe dislocation came next. I had learned from my last mistake and took him to Auburn University immediately to see Dr. Rob Gillette, the head of the Sports Medicine Department of the vet school and huge greyhound fan. He employed an old track trick of injecting the toe with a schleroising agent that stimulates scar tissue to form. The toe is splinted for a short period of time and then the dog is worked hard a couple of times to break up the scar tissue and ensure that the toe is not set too rigid. We had to do this twice, but ultimately Travis' toe held up perfectly for the rest of his life.

Katie dislocated her toe at the age of ten. Since she was older, retired, and neurological, I did not want to fool with splints or long recoveries as it would not have worked well for Katie. I had it amputated immediately and she bounced back as expected. If she had been several years younger, it probably would have been a big mistake as her toes were giving her all sorts of problems near the end, but luckily the amputation worked well for the last two years of her life.

Reagan's dislocated toe required surgery which my vet just happens to have a specialized interest in greyhounds, orthopedic surgery, and toes. Most small animal vets would never attempt to sew collateral ligaments back together, but that is exactly what Dr. Toby did for Reagan.

Waiting for the vet is much better with a bully stick.

So my adventure in greyhound toes brings me full circle and we are going to go the conservative route with Riley. Her toe joints are intact, tight, and have normal range of motion. The only hint of something wrong was some swelling and a little pain at the P1/P2 joint (the main knuckle). Dr. Toby says to give her 4 - 6 weeks off from tight turns and weaving. He said it was fine to work her in straight lines so it sounds like a lot of walking, hiking, jogging, and biking over the next few weeks. I am glad that I can keep her muscles fit while the toe heals.

Remember to keep toe nails short!

Drama Queen

2011-06-12T07:00:00.021-04:00

Seven: OH MY DOG! MY PAW! IT HURTS SO BAD! I CANNOT WALK!

Jen: Really? What is the matter?

Seven: I CANNOT PUT ANY WEIGHT ON IT!

Jen: Okay. Let me check out this injury...... Nothing is broken. Your toes are all pointing in the correct direction. You are not bleeding. Your pads look fine. There are no wounds. I see no swelling. Your are fine. Lets go.

Seven: OWWW! OWWW! OH IT HURTS SO BAD!

Jen: Seriously? I think you are exaggerating. If you keep this up, I am not going to believe you in the future if ever something is actually wrong.

Seven: BUT SOMETHING IS WRONG! I AM IN PAIN!

Jen: No, you are not. Suck it up because I am not going to carry you.

Seven: Can't we just stay where we are? You can feed me treats and rub my belly.

Jen: NO! You are just going to have to walk on it.

Seven: Ow ow ow.

Jen: I am not listening. Keep walking.

Of course, Seven walks just fine when I stop entertaining her delusions of lameness.

Blogger PSA

2011-06-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

Just a quick public service announcement for Blogspot bloggers. Some of you may have noticed you are getting less comments. I have found that I am unable to comment from my home and work computers if you have your Comment Setting set to "Embedded Below Post". When I try to comment, it toggles between the comment screen and the sign in screen, but never recognizes that I am ever signed in. I have tried to email those of you that have emails available, but thought I would do this post for the rest of you.

You can correct the problem, if you go to your Blogspot dashboard and click "Design" (you can see my tutorial photos in a larger format if you double click on the photo).

Click on "Settings" tab.
Click "Comments".

Change to the "full page" or the "pop up window".

Here are a few blogs I used to, but currently cannot comment on:
Apex Agility Greyhounds

Greyt Days

Hiking Hounds

4-Legged Wiums

Not So Fresh Feeling

2011-06-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Mommm... don't tell them that!

It appears that Seven has that not so fresh feeling. I noticed she had copious amounts of slightly green goo coming from..... her lady part. Being a responsible owner, I took Seven to the vet hoping a round of antibiotics would knock out the infection and we would live happily ever after.

The vet takes a look and explains that her lady part is small and "hooded". I'm thinking that is a good thing. Who wants to see that junk anyway? Well, apparently its healthier for the lady part if it is not so hidden away. Dang it!

The vet explains that Seven has vaginitis and that it could be a chronic problem due to the configuration of her lady part. He explains that getting her to drink more water so she urinates more often is beneficial. Okay, that is easy enough.

He also mentioned that in rare cases the "hood" is removed surgically. "OUCH" as I squirm in my seat. Then he mentioned that there is a douche. "What? For dogs?" Suddenly, memories of that 80's commercial rushes back into my head.

Heck no! I am not douching a dog! Dr. Toby agreed it was awkward.

We headed home with antibiotics and Seven's innocence intact.

Not Again

2011-06-03T21:31:00.001-04:00

It seems that losing our air conditioning is annual affair. We blame Blondie, the hound we are babysitting. Her real name is Ali, but we don't need two Allie dogs in our house at one time. Curiously, she was here last year when this happened. Hmmmm...

Starting bottom left going clockwise - Allie, Riley, Reagan, Stacker, Julie, and Blondie.

We are suffering because we are spoiled and temperatures are in the high 90's. I won't convert that to Celsius because the down under folks were not sympathetic last year. I think it converts to something miserable like 50 degrees or something. Ha! Plus we have high humidity which makes it all a 1,000 times worse.

Starting bottom right going clockwise - Reagan, Riley, Julie, Blondie, Stacker, Seven by the door, and Allie

Luckily since last year, I have acquired a portable air conditioning unit for another purpose. We quickly secured the office and cranked up that bad boy. It definitely has kept things bearable in the afternoons.

Our Hero (air conditioning repairman) should be here to rescue us mid day tomorrow. I hope it is an inexpensive and quick fix like last time.

Riley is very stressed about the whole thing. I bet you Australians and New Zealanders feel bad now. :-)

Of course, Seven blocked the door so I could not sneak out. That is okay. I did not want to leave anyway.

Stay cool (or warm if you are heading into winter)!

Zoom Zoom

2011-05-30T16:33:00.000-04:00

Do not let the sleepy face fool you. A Zanie Flyer quickly perks Riley up like a cup of coffee.

Zoomies can be a big problem for some dogs and greyhounds are no exception. A zoomie is when the dog takes off running laps around the ring and ignores the handler. Most often, I believe it is caused by stress. Some dogs respond to stress by shutting down and others simply explode and lose all control.

I had some trouble with Riley in early training. She would periodically start spinning and zooming if we were working on something challenging. I worked very hard on teaching her to recall out of a zoomie just in case it ever happens in the ring... Knock on wood, it has not.

I have a couple of strategies for dealing with zoomies. One, you have to have some way to take the edge off at an event. The dog needs to be able to burn off some steam if that is what is needed. This is why I love teaching all of mine to fetch a toy. It is such a great way to allow for some controlled free running and on a long line if you need the added security and there is no fenced area. Click Here for teaching a play retrieve.

Also, I think it is important that the zoomie-prone dog has ample opportunities to zoom. If the dog really runs his tail off on a regular basis, he will be less likely to explode when you need him to listen. He will be in a better frame of mind for dealing with stress.

Riley is allowed to zoom after each training session. Some folks would suggest that it is not a good idea to allow Riley to do this inside of an agility ring as she may not know the difference between when she is allowed and when she is not allowed. I disagree. Permission is granted with the verbal cue "playtime" and she is given a Zanie Flyer.

This strategy worked very well for all of Travis' life as well. His bumper granted him permission to run all of the laps he wanted to. Here is an old video of Travis zooming from February 2008 (my very first Youtube video :-). He was 9 years old.

Make sure your dogs have super reliable recalls if you allow zooming outside of a fenced area or in an enormous fenced area such as in Travis' case. At any point, I could have called him over to me. He had to prove he was extremely reliable before being given that much room to run.

So Close

2011-05-25T20:45:00.009-04:00

Riley had another excellent three-day agility trial. Three blue ribbons, but Dang It!... no double qualifiers. So very close on Friday and Sunday though. This agility trial was local with only a 20 minute drive each morning.

In Motion Photos

On Friday, we placed first in our Standard run. We had a bobble near the teeter when she turned towards the dogwalk instead, but I was able to save it and redirect her. The Jumpers run was qualifying until Riley took down the very last bar. Dang that hurts!

On Saturday, Riley placed first again in Standard. The opening had a very tight and difficult weave pole entrance. My agility instructor made a big fuss in class last week about sometimes considering the long way around. I decided to make her proud and go the long way in this instance. It was definitely slower, but it greatly increased our chances of nailing the entrance to the weave poles. I definitely plan to practice different ways of handling this opening at home.

Jumpers was just plain poohey! It was very hot at 90 degrees. Generally, I hose off my dogs in such temperatures while training or competing, but Riley has turned into a crazy dog when I have done that in the past. She spins uncontrollably and zooms all over the place. I opted not to wet her down before this run assuming that resting in front of a fan all day would be enough. Well, it was not. I knew I was in trouble as soon as she started trotting towards me (instead of running). At least she finished good.

On Sunday, we did not qualify in Standard. We were so close and it was a very good run until I made an error at the very end. Of course, not qualifying in Standard ensured that we would qualify in Jumpers with a first place.

And here is a typical scene. Riley resting comfortably. She recharges so well. On the left we have Seven who is always hyper alert and straining to see where I am. I crated them both in the van and Seven reminded me that she is still an idiot. Screaming and yelping like she does.

Shades of Grey

2011-05-22T22:30:00.005-04:00

Why is it that some greyhounds turn grey so early? Jessie, the brindle in the picture above, (Gator in the background) is the greyhound I adopted when I was 18. I hardly remember her as I think her face turned white the next day. Below, is the Jessie I remember.

I am expecting that Riley's cute white snip on her nose will eventually be a distant memory as her face is quickly turning grey. Here are a series of photos starting with the day I brought her home on September 20th, 2008 to today.

One thing is for certain, Riley will always have ugly ears... but I love them!

South Carolina Agility Trial

2011-05-19T07:15:00.000-04:00

Riley and I had a great time competing at an agility trial in South Carolina last weekend. This was a new facility for me and already one of my favorites. The footing was ideal being soft and forgiving, but not deep. The building was surrounded by acres of grass, trails, and other horse arenas giving the girls plenty of potty, fetching, and walking space. Inside the building, there was plenty of space for crating and ex pens. You did not have to be the first person there to get an ideal place for you and your dog. Once again, I separated Riley and Seven. I hate to do it, but it is much easier to ignore and avoid Seven when she is being an idiot if I am not having to attend to another dog next door. Plus she screams the most when she sees that Riley is getting the attention. So my set up goal is to keep her from seeing Riley run, warm up, or come out of her crate.

This is an Excellent B Jumpers class that we qualified in on Friday. Other than the ugly spin at the end of the course, I was very pleased with our performance. A spin is when the dog thinks she is going one direction and then finds out she needs to go in the other. So the dog spins around to correct. It is a miscommunication between dog and handler.

Best of all, Riley and I earned our third double qualifying score towards her Master Agility Championship on Saturday. A Double Q is when we qualify in both Excellent B classes on the same day. They are still few and far between for us.

This Double Q was well earned too! In the first run, I layered the A-frame towards the end of the course. Layering is when an obstacle separates you and your dog. Generally, you want to stay next to your dog as they are completing obstacles, but layering can be handy if your dog tends to work far away or you need to cue something early. If I had run around the A-frame with Riley, I would have pushed her out towards jumps I did not want her to take. Cutting in front of the A-frame allowed me to tell Riley to turn at the right time and it worked very easily. Layering the A-frame is not always a good idea since the dog and handler briefly lose sight of each other, but obviously Riley did not miss me much.

In the Jumpers Run, there is a long line of jumps with a small zig zag in it. This can be very tough because Riley can quickly get ahead of me and its hard to cue these deviations in the line when I am behind her, but again things worked out perfectly.

Master Agility Championship Tally: 481 MACH points, 269 to go. 3 Double Qs, 17 to go.

High Value Treats

2011-05-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

When training greyhounds, hounds, or other non-traditional training breeds, I cannot over emphasize the need for high value treats. I have been teaching basic obedience classes for greyhounds for about 12 years now and I learned very quickly that you cannot train with crappy dog treats. Hounds are just not wired for listening and following directions given by humans. However, if you choose a hound that likes food and you choose good food, you can have a hound as easy and motivated to train as a traditional training breed. Here are some suggestions.

First, do not train with fruit, vegetables, or bread. Yes, I know your hound loves it at home when he is doing absolutely nothing, but he will probably not work his tail off for it. Pockets stuffed with fruit and bread does not make you a very interesting dog trainer especially in public and surrounded by distractions.

The same rule applies to dog treats. If it is labeled as a "dog treat" (especially dog biscuits), find something better. The problem with "dog treats" is that they are often designed to go in your pocket and therefore lack a strong odor. Dogs often consume treats so quickly that they barely taste it... make sure the treat has a strong odor so the dog knows the food is high value. My only exception to this rule are dog treats made out of fish (salmon especially) as they tend to stink. Plato Salmon Strips and the salmon variety of Yummy Chummies have a strong odor and are easy to break apart and to train with.

All in all, the best treat I have found to train my greyhounds with is real meat. In the deli section of your grocery story, you may find roasted rotisserie chickens. I stay alert for sales and buy several when they are available for a good price.

Once the chicken cool to room temperature, I pull all of the meat off the bone and divide into small plastic containers. I will admit that this is a bit labor intensive.

The freezer section of your grocery store offers several easy pre-cooked alternatives. You can usually find grilled chicken strips, beef fajita strips, steak strips, and/or an assortment of meatballs. Remember that these are pre-cooked so you need only to thaw and they are ready for use.

If you are in the mood for cooking, fire up the grill. Maybe grill yourself something while you are at it.

I keep my eyes open for chicken breasts or thigh meat to grill that is on sale .

I buy turkey, beef, and salmon burgers in bulk so I get a better price.

Just be sure to keep your spouse away from the treats... unless, of course, you are training him too! "No, Stephen, No!"

If you get into more serious training, you will eventually want to teach your hound about jackpots. A jackpot is a longer lasting, high value reward for difficult or lengthy work (for example, three minute sit stays). I teach my greyhounds that if they are working hard for a period of time without a reward that something really great is coming. This keeps them performing with spark well into a 5 minute obedience routine. If your hound feels cheated and unappreciated, they will perform as such.

Peanut butter or creme cheese smeared on the inside of a small plastic container is a reward that keeps on rewarding. It can take a few minutes for your hound to clean out even a small smear of peanut butter and then it sticks inside of the mouth providing lingering reinforcement for another minute or two. Just make sure you are not in a hurry to move onto the next exercise.

If you feed raw, you can save your muscle meat as a reward if your dog considers it high value. I feed a mixture from Blue Ridge Beef that contains beef, heart, liver, and tripe and it makes a great jackpot reward. You can do something similar with canned dog food.

Cheese is another good reward, but do not get stuck on one variety. I have trained with cheddar, mozzarella, muenster, Swiss, and Monterey Jack.

Be sure none of the meat from your Thanksgiving turkey goes to waste. Skip the skin, but pull off all of the meat that the humans tend to skip. Last year, I even bought a couple of turkeys on sale right after Thanksgiving and roasted them in my oven.

Also, I always have my old steady, Red Barn, with me. It is a high quality dog food that comes in a meaty roll. Once you cut it open, it has to be kept in the refrigerator and what you can't use in a week needs to be frozen. I have only ever seen Red Barn for sale at dog shows, but similar varieties (Pet Botanicals and Natural Balance) can often be found at PetSmart and Petco. I use this treat for easy to perform tasks.

Lastly, train with variety. I always have Red Barn and 2 or 3 high value treat varieties with me when I train. If you always use the same thing, it will get boring. Trust me when I say that my greyhounds do not care about pleasing me. They do what I ask with enthusiasm because the food is good and it pleases them.

Happy Training!

Frolic Fun

2011-05-13T07:00:00.055-04:00

Last weekend, the hounds and I headed for "the farm". I did not have any good photos of Seven running... well I do now! The photo above was clearly the "Shot of the Day". While I tossed a toy, my sister, Denise, took pictures.

In some of the photos, Seven looks wet because she just had a bath.

Occasionally at agility trials, the photographer will capture me running alongside my dog and more often than not I appear awkward and weird looking. Well, greyhounds do not always appear graceful and beautiful either. Here are some of the funny shots.

Riley was not the best subject, but Denise captured a few interesting shots.

We also got to meet this precious fellow. Interestingly, that is his surrogate mother. She carried him, gave birth to him, and is raising him, but they are not biologically related. The mare the owner was trying to breed would not get pregnant so this was Plan B. If I remember correctly, he is a Dutch Warmblood.

And I even rode. I used to ride until I got out of college and dog agility stole me away. No need to pick on my equitation. I can see what I am doing wrong. I am just very rusty and had not ridden in a year.

Maria, my arms look good, don't they? :-)

2X2 Weave Poles

2011-05-10T07:00:00.025-04:00

Riley is already very proficient at weave poles, but could use more work on entrances. When entering the weave poles, the dog must pass between poles #1 and #2 with the left shoulder passing next to pole #1. With a straight approach, Riley has no problems nailing the entrance. However, approach from a sharper angle (especially perpendicular or 90 degrees) and she will often skip the first two poles or enter from the wrong side.

In the past, it has been very difficult to explain entrances to my greyhounds. I think the main difference between training a hound versus a more traditional training breed is that there are some things that take thousands of repetitions for it to make sense to your hound. And it simply is not worth the time, the wear and tear on your dog, or the mental stress or boredom to do that many reps. Instead, I would resort to trying to give my greyhound the straightest possible approach and sometimes we just could not get it. However, the 2X2 weave pole training method is brilliant and clearly explains entrances to your dog, so I did some retraining and introduced Riley to this method.

Below, I am going to show you Riley's progress in the 2X2 method in a series of short videos. I am in no way explaining to you all of the details. If this method interests you, please get the DVD - click here.

To start, it really helps if your hound enjoys fetching a toy for a treat. The DVD uses a border collie to illustrate the technique and those silly dogs will do anything for a couple of tugs on a toy. I have yet to meet a greyhound that will yield much effort for a tugging session. However, it still works best if you are able to throw something. Click Here for my series on teaching your greyhound to play retrieve if you need help.

First, set up 2 weave poles and determine which direction you want your dog to go through the poles and reward for only that direction by tossing your toy. Riley had already done this a time or two so she understands the concept of going through the poles in this clip. She is not very studious yet and gets silly with her toy, but this improves in future training sessions. I am trading her the toy with very high value treats (not just my everyday fetching treats).

The goal is to work from all angles so the dog can learn to enter the poles properly with only 2 poles to deal with. I tell Riley when she is wrong and ask her to repeat. Again, I am using high value treats so she is encouraged to work through her mistakes.

A second set of 2 weave poles is added. Initially, the 2nd set is placed right next to the other so that if the dog passes through the first set in the pre-determined direction with enough momentum, she will easy pass through the 2nd set as well. Right now there is no bending. Notice I do not give her a lot of help. I let Riley figure it out.

The 2 sets are gradually lined up to look more like a line of weave poles. Then a third set of 2 weave poles is added and those sets are gradually lined up. If the dog understands that she must pass through a set of 2 weave poles in a certain direction, she will have to bend back the opposite direction in order to line up and pass through the next set of 2 weave poles in the same direction.

In the next clip, we have three sets of 2 weave poles again, but this time only the first set is offset slightly. At this point, Riley has virtually no problems with entrances from all angles except for coming from the direction you just saw and will see in the remaining clips. It is important to work all angles, but this approach is usually our main focus since it is the toughest for Riley.

Eventually, you add other obstacles so the dog is approaching the weave poles with more speed and momentum. If Riley makes the same mistake a few times in a row, I will make it a little easier and I reward heavily when she does get it right. You really cannot be too generous when working on something tedious like this.

I continue to school Riley with the 2X2 method and hope to see tough weave entrances continue to improve.

Riley's Television Debut

2011-05-07T07:00:00.045-04:00

I am excited to report that the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge that Riley competed in has TV listings up! Unfortunately, I have to wait another month. For my local Atlanta friends, it appears that it will be airing on Sunday, June 12 at 1:00 PM on WSB (ABC). I cannot wait to see it!

For Riley fans living elsewhere in the United States, you can find local listings at Bark Network. Make sure you select "2011 Purina Incredible Dog Challenge" (next to first purple arrow). That will change the location to "Centennial Olympic Park - Atlanta, GA" (purple box). And then enter your zip code (second purple arrow). Click Here.

I put in some random zip codes and the first air date I found was in Los Angeles area on May 15th, Sunday at 10 AM on channel KCBS (CBS). Someone in southern California needs to be sure to watch and let me know if Riley gets decent air time.

Also, I have obtained quite a few photos from various sources of Riley at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge and want to post the photos.

Thank you for all of the pictures Guy Gauthier (Photos 1 - 5, 17 - 19), Megan Underwood (Photos 6 - 12, 14 - 16), and Jennifer Gregg (Photo 13).

Pain In The...

2011-05-04T07:00:00.119-04:00

... Back. At the last agility trial, I had Seven looked at by a canine massage therapist. It has crossed my mind that Seven may have back pain and that is the cause for her funky weave pole style. A chiropractor a couple of months ago found a very painful spot and suggested I x-ray her. I did and nothing was found. Her spine looked great so back to training we went.

The massage therapist at the agility trial, Sheila Wideman, (click here for website) also found soreness in Seven's lumbar region. As Sheila worked on the tense areas, Seven would roll over on her back and bring her paws up to her face in an adorable attempt to convince Sheila she would prefer a belly rub.

Mom, make it stop!

I thought Seven would just melt and thoroughly enjoy 30 minutes of massage, but she was quite squirrelly and difficult. Since I had access to Sheila three days in a row at the agility trial, I signed Seven up for a massage each day. I hate to admit that Seven has had more professional massages in the last month than I have had my entire life. Such as the life of a dog.

Over the three days, Sheila showed me Seven's trigger points and how to work on them. She suggested I use heat to warm and relax tense muscles.

Seven even began to relax and enjoy the massages.

OK, not so bad.

Since then, Seven is less sensitive in her lumbar region. I warm her up and massage her back before training. I believe her weave poles may be a little faster. Honestly, I am so knit picky at this point I am probably not objective anymore. If I stare at any dog long enough, they eventually look unsound to me.

Since taking the video above, I have reduced the channel space to about one inch and she continues to happily perform them and maintain a good pace. Hopefully, I will be able to close them up completely soon.

Crowd Pleaser

2011-05-01T07:00:00.080-04:00

Riley and I drove three hours to an obedience trial in Tennessee yesterday. And then drove three hours home. Six hours of driving for a less than fifteen minute obedience performance. Why the heck do I do this? Actually, I am not sure either. Pure insanity.

No, we had a lot of fun. It was Riley's debut at Open level and this was an excellent environment for her first time out. The trial setting was small and quiet. It was a one ring trial rather than multiple rings side by side with action happening all around. And I love the matting. It is very cushy for those three and five minute stays.

Riley did not disappoint her fans and was quite the crowd pleaser. We received applause, cheering, and so many nice compliments. People love to see a happy hound since they are thought to be hard to train and not popular for obedience traditionally. Unfortunately, we did not qualify, but I was thrilled with Riley nonetheless. The two errors were no biggie and we will do better next time.

I was also very pleased that Riley held her three minute, out of sight, sit stay (meaning the handlers leave the room). Long sit stays are the one thing I hate to ask my greyhounds to do. In training, I always highly reward and jackpot long sit stays. However, at a trial the reward for a three minute sit stay is a five minute down stay. Of course, I jackpot Riley after both stays are completed and we leave the ring, but I prefer for her to know that the sit stay is of utmost importance. Heck, we rarely ever practice down stays and never for five minutes... that is boring.

All in all, it was an excellent Open obedience debut.

Labor of Love

2011-04-28T07:00:00.002-04:00

I am so not a girly girl so jewelry, fancy dinners, and whatever else girls like is not something I want as a gift. The hubby learned quickly that the greatest gift he can give is unsolicited labor. For example, he once had his parents come over while I was out of town and together they painted our living room. Awesome! Another time, he filled my freezers with chicken backs... seriously, what girl wouldn't love that?

A few months ago, a friend gave me an aluminum A-frame. The skins (the surface attached to the frame) had to be replaced. A few Sundays ago, Stephen and I began the process of attaching the new skins to the frame which had been taken apart and was laying flat on the ground. We only had an hour so we finished up having attached one skin to one side at the four corners. A few days later, I returned to my agility field to resume work and discovered that Stephen had snuck back to the field and finished attaching the skins. I love such surprises and was thrilled to see it done. As I looked over the work, I discovered that one of the skins had been attached upside down. Whoops! My agility readers will understand from the photo above, but for everyone else the yellow contact zone should be at the bottom.

I have decided I am just going to leave it as is as it will always remind me of Stephen when I see it. Thanks, Snookums! It was a very sweet and appreciated effort.

ORKC Agility Trial

2011-04-25T07:00:00.045-04:00

A couple of weekends ago, Riley and I traveled to a 3-day agility trial in Harriman, Tennessee. We were three for three in Excellent B Jumpers with three first places. And in her first and third Jumpers runs, she ran them in 5.9 yards per second. My greyhounds have occasionally run a course in 6 yards per second... Riley having the fastest at 6.14 yards per second once. So I was excited to see her so close to 6 yards per second in two runs.

However, we were zero for three in the Standard class (climbing obstacles). Riley was especially naughty in this class by not holding any of her contacts until I released her and blowing past her weave poles. It is the only time I have ever not rewarded Riley for an agility run.

Later that evening, there was a practice agility course and an excellent opportunity to remind Riley that she is suppose to hold her contacts until she is released. It paid off. We were very close to qualifying on this course, but I almost ran into a jump, got in Riley's way, and it caused her to drop a bar. She was great though.

Lastly, there is going to be a new type of agility class offered at American Kennel Club trials beginning in July (I think). It is called Time To Beat. The courses are suppose to be smooth and fast (greyhound friendly in other words). They had a practice Time To Beat course one evening and Riley won. The prize was a free entry to the next trial. Not a bad deal!

Agility Progress

2011-04-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

Although I spend a lot of time working on Seven's weave poles, we do actually work on other things. Here is Seven working on front and rear crosses on jumps and tunnels. She has been in training for about 6 months now.

Face Jail

2011-04-19T07:00:00.130-04:00

Recently, Riley was sentenced to face jail. When it comes to wounds, Riley is notorious for making them worse with licking. She can turn a small infraction of a wound into a felony in just a few minutes. In this case, Riley sliced her webbing between two toes.

I am a big fan of keeping wound treatment as simple as possible with cold hosing and air. Cold hosing is a gentle way to clean a wound. It flushes it out and cools any inflammation. I will wash with a gentle soap if necessary, but mostly I allow the cool water to flow over the wound.

Once cold hosing is completed, I dry the wound using a hair dryer on a LOW, COOL SETTING. When dealing with an area such as between toes, it is especially important to thoroughly dry the wound and to make sure it gets plenty of air.

If at all possible, I try not to bandage as it often delays healing. This means you have to protect the wound from the dog in another way. Some dogs are great and leave their wounds alone (Katie and Reagan) and others are serial lickers (Riley). One of the many great features about racing greyhounds is that they are accustomed to wearing a basket muzzle without being offended. So using a muzzle for a few days is a great way to protect a wound.

No Accounting for Taste

2011-04-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

Nom nom nom

On Saturday morning, I confirmed that Seven does indeed have a strange palate. First, she turns her nose up at rabbit as if I was serving her poison, but then shows a liking for something so bizarre.

I had an unpackaged roll of PetFlex "No Chew" Bandage sitting in my First-Aid Kit. Generally, Seven has not been an inappropriate chewer around the house, but of all things to seek and destroy she chose a bandage roll described as "bitter tasting to discourage your dog from biting and chewing the bandage". I can attest that it does indeed taste nasty as I could not resist touching my tongue to it the first time I used it. It worked for me and I did not go back for seconds. It does not seem to be working as well with Seven...

OMG this is so good! And you tried to kill me with rabbit!

By the time I found Seven, she was well on her way to making a meal of it. Funny greyhound! At least I have learned that in the future, if Seven needs a bandage, I need to skip the bad tasting, "No Chew" bandage and opt to rub raw rabbit on the outside of the wrap. I guarantee she would not touch it then. Ha!

Weave Pole Dilemma - Part 2

2011-04-13T07:00:00.019-04:00

Katie, one foot weaving back when weave poles were flexible.

Ideally, Seven would learn the one foot style of weaving. All of my good weaving greyhounds have used the one foot style of swinging a front leg around a pole and then swinging the other front leg around the next pole.

Riley one foot weaving - Megan Underwood

The other method is a two foot style where the dog bounces through the weave poles placing two feet on the same side at the same time.

Travis one foot weaving.

In the last post, I showed Seven working on pulling me through channel weave poles using a mostly one foot style. I have paired that method with the 2X2 method (I will describe in future post). The 2X2 method is great for teaching the dog how to enter the weave poles correctly from any angle (left shoulder has to pass the first weave pole for a correct entry). Seven has been doing very well with the 2X2 method, but when I watched this video, I realized that she is using the two foot style.

Honestly, I do not care which method Seven chooses as long as she can do it well. So far, she becomes quite jumbled and unable to 2 foot weave when the weave poles are not offset. This makes me think that the one foot style makes more sense. For now, I will stick with having her pull me through the channel weaves until she is able to weave with the poles in a straight line. I hope to go back to the 2X2s and teach her entrances, but would prefer to wait until she has committed to a style of weaving.

Weave Pole Dilemma - Part 1

2011-04-10T07:00:00.002-04:00

Weave poles continue to be a mystery to solve with Seven. There are a variety of methods available for teaching weave poles (to learn more - click here). It has been quite a journey and learning experience to persuade Seven to drop her horrendous form and adopt one of the more efficient styles. I think we are making progress, but we still have some work to do. For reference, here is Seven four months ago:

Seven would sort of canter and bunny hop through the weave poles. If I tightened up the poles and reduced the space, Seven would not hop as much, but would lose all momentum. I needed some feedback so I took Seven to see my agility instructor and get her opinion. We settled on a new strategy.

First, we taught Seven to pull on her collar and drag me to a target.

Then we had Seven pull me through the weave poles. The theory is that Seven cannot bounce through the weave poles if she has to hunker down and pull through the weaves.

I believe I see it working and she appears to be adopting a mostly one foot style of weaving. More on that in the next post.

Tastes Like Chicken

2011-04-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

Well, apparently not! I recently found a local source for rabbit. I was hoping to feed rabbit once a week especially to Riley and Seven, but Seven will not eat it. What makes a very food motivated dog that eats chicken, turkey, pork, and beef as part of her raw food diet turn her nose up at rabbit? Is it really that offensive and different?

I love the idea of supporting a local farmer and friend that raises animals for meat in a way that is healthy and happy for the animals. They care very much about their farm animals' experience on earth. I cannot afford to feed it 100% of the time, but I love directing at least some of my dollars away from the factory farmed chicken I feed to the dogs everyday. But Seven swears it is poison.

I also offered Reagan a bite and she would not touch it either. Travis shared their sentiments. Over the years, 3 out of my 10 greyhounds would not eat rabbit and I hear similar stories from folks with other dog breeds. I wonder why that is. Just make sure your dog tries it and likes it before you stock your freezer.

Incredible Dog Challenge - Part 3

2011-04-04T07:00:00.081-04:00

Photo by Megan Underwood

Once the agility portion was over, we had a few hours to rest. We had set up Riley's crate outside of the secure area again as the crate tent was crazy loud with Jack Russell terrorists. However, Saturday brought a lot more spectators and we soon were swamped by the crowd. The PIDC staff was super nice and cleared us a spot near their equipment and we were able to move Riley's crate back into the secure area. Riley rested much better there.

Great shot of my butt. Thanks, Stephen.

Riley was not error free in the Weave Pole Challenge, but the little greyhound did 180 weave poles in a span of about 10 minutes. That is asking a lot from a hound! We don't do that many in a whole week. The first pass through the weave poles had all sorts of mishaps for both dogs, but Riley ended up winning the first heat. Michael had the best view, so here is his video.

Did you notice Riley trying to go into the Purina box at 1:06? Silly girl!

We did not win the second heat. The Lab smoked us.

Riley was then asked to turn around and do the Weave Pole Challenge again immediately for third and fourth place. I said I needed a minute as I had to feed her some filet mignon.

As we were waiting to start the last Weave Pole Challenge, Riley had a weird moment. She did not like the music that came on... notice her freak flag ears. I pressed her ears down trying to muffle the sound with my hands. She snapped out of it once she started weaving.

The DJ used the same Riley-unapproved-music for the 1st and 2nd place heat. I was feeding her steak and she started to freak out and tuck her tail so I rushed her back to her crate which was away from the speakers. She recovered and was fine after that.

We were all very tired and ready to get home after that. I am just so glad that we did much better at the event than we did in practice.

Thanks again for all the nice comments, well wishes, support, and cheers. Its been really wonderful. I will definitely let all of you know when the show airs.