Separation Anxiety

Greyhound adoption has been exhausting lately. My volunteer job consists of following up with adopters soon after taking their new greyhound home. I have access to the adoption application so I can ask specifically about how the greyhound is doing and I try to solve problems before they escalate.

Southeastern Greyhound Adoption tries very hard to match the right dog with the right home. We provide our adopters with lots of advice and focus on preventing problems and getting off to a great start. We have a wonderful greyhound adoption manual. We temperament test each greyhound and try to answer four questions.

1. Does the greyhound need a fenced yard? Greyhounds that are shy, cautious, and easily frightened need the safety that a fenced yard provides.

2. Can the greyhound live in an apartment? Greyhounds that are quiet and love leash walking are perfect for apartment living.

3. Can the greyhound live with small children? This is generally a greyhound that is easy to handle, is not afraid of loud noises, very affectionate, and tends to get into your space.

4. Is the greyhound a high separation anxiety risk?

I have been pleased that adopters have been following the separation anxiety prevention guidelines and the results speak for themselves. However, for whatever reason, we suddenly are having a rash of separation anxiety problems. I do not know if adopters are to blame or if our latest greyhounds have been extra prone to the problem. Regardless, it is frustrating to deal with.

Folks need to remember that racing greyhounds have lived a life of routine. Every second of their day is determined by a person.... a person that divides his or her time amongst many other greyhounds. Life on the farm and at the track is mostly predictable, balanced, and stable.

When a greyhound is adopted and arrives home, its best to recreate routine and stability. I believe Cesar Milan has it right when he recommends exercise, discipline, and then affection... in that order. To prevent separation anxiety from starting, I suggest the following:

1. Spend time ignoring the dog. This is especially important for the greyhound that seeks attention frequently. Ignore demands for attention and save your affection for when the greyhound is calm and not asking for it.

2. If you take time off from work or you adopt your greyhound over the weekend, spend your time together ironically by practicing separation. If you plan to crate your greyhound, the worse thing you can do is allow your greyhound to have free range of your house all weekend long and then crate him or her for 8 hours on Monday. If during the week you will be gone to work for 8 hours, then practice crating over the weekend.

3. Generally, separation anxiety is worse in the first 30 minutes, so rather than practicing an 8 hour stretch over the weekend, practice numerous 30 - 60 minute sessions throughout the day.

4. Stuffed Kongs, bully sticks, and rawhide chips are excellent ways for you to make crating and separation rewarding and fun for the greyhound. I suggest having 2 or 3 Kongs for each dog (I have 12) so you can stuff several at a time. For a newbie to Kongs, keep it easy to extract the food, but as your greyhound gains experience start packing the food tighter and freeze it. I suggest stuffing Kongs with kibble and mix it with some creme cheese, peanut butter, canned pumpkin, yogurt, cottage cheese, and/or canned dog food so it sticks.

5. Lastly, have the right attitude. Even if you are unsure, never let your greyhound see you sweat. Handle your greyhound with confidence and pretend you know what you are doing. Act as if you own the place (because you probably do). Have expectations and enforce rules. Initially, its best if your new greyhound not sleep in your bed or cuddle on the couch. Don't allow him or her to follow you every where you go...... go to the bathroom alone.

Once the new greyhound demonstrates comfort with the new routine and easily follows the rules, you can start to love him or her like the pet you wanted.

Separation Anxiety

Riley is very good at relaxing and has no separation anxiety.

Some ex-racing greyhounds are prone to Separation Anxiety (SA) because they have never spent any time alone as they have always had the company of other greyhounds at all times. Symptoms may include soiling, chewing, shredding beds, crying, panting, shaking, and vocalizing. Some dogs will become anxious as the human begins to get ready to leave (i.e. put on shoes, grab keys).  SA can be very difficult to eliminate once established so I strongly suggest prevention.  Here are several things you can do to prevent SA when you adopt a greyhound (or any other dog).

Number 1 - No bonding initially. Spend time ignoring your dog completely, refrain from giving lots of affection, and especially ignore any demands for petting. Think of your love and attention as a drug. If too much, too soon is given to your new dog, he may become addicted and suffer terribly (separation anxiety) when you are gone.

This is especially true if you adopt a traumatized dog (just being in a shelter can be very stressful). We naturally feel bad and want to soothe and love such a creature, but it reinforces an unstable mind. It encourages the dependence and neediness that leads to SA.

Your focus needs to be all about teaching routines and house rules. Make sure your new dog has good manners, is housetrained, quiet, and comfortable home alone before you start gradually becoming more affectionate. Provide your new dog with lots of exercise to relieve stress, but petting and cuddling needs to be kept to a minimum. If you plan to allow your dog on your furniture, wait at least a couple of months.

Number 2 - Generally, I recommend crating initially. Place your crate in an open area that gives the dog the largest view of the home. If you opt to confine the dog to a safe room, do NOT close the door. Closing the door, especially to a small room, can panic a dog. Use a baby gate instead.

Number 2 - Practice separation daily. This is extremely important for someone that is home for most of the day or who takes vacation days to settle in the new dog. The dog's expectation that you are not always together needs to be established on the first day. Practice putting your dog where you plan to keep him when you are away from the house. Give him a stuffed Kong while you spend time out of sight. Run a quick errand or spend time in another room. 30 minutes later return and if your dog is calm and quiet allow him to come out of the crate or safe area for a period of time. Then repeat the process. The more repetitions you can do the first few days the better. Separation anxiety is usually worse in the first 30 minutes, so the more you can practice leaving for short periods of time, the faster your dog learns that alone time is special because of the stuffed Kong and you always come back.

Number 3 - Vocalizing can be normal in the beginning. Do not return to the dog until he is quiet. If he begins to vocalize as you return, turn your back on the dog and wait for him to settle down. You can also use a water squirt bottle if the dog is extremely noisy, but often just ignoring it (even if it takes a long time) and letting him learn that it does not work is best.

Number 4 - Greetings and goodbyes should be calm and free of drama. It is best to ignore your dog 10 minutes before you leave and 10 minutes after you arrive home. Often people misinterpret excitement as love, but an excited dog is on the verge of stress and anxiety. Allowing the dog to cry, dance around, and jump on you while you give affection validates that separation was a terrible thing. A dog that greets you calmly loves you just as much, but is happy and well adjusted.

Number 5 - Kongs are an excellent tool for entertaining your dog while he is home alone.  Stuff Kongs with portions of his meals. You can mix a cup of dry dog food with yogurt or cottage cheese and spoon the mixture into several Kongs. You can also fill a Kong with dry dog food and then use a butter knife to mix in a dollop of peanut butter, crème cheese, or canned dog food. Use the knife to create a sticky mixture inside of the Kong. After some practice, your dog may learn to clean out the Kong very quickly. If that happens, you can opt to freeze your Kongs ahead of time so they are more difficult for the dog and last longer. It is helpful if you have 3 or 4 Kongs.

Prevention really is the easiest way to avoid this problem.  Even if you have other dogs, your new dog (even ex-racing greyhounds) could still develop SA for you.  So practice these techniques regardless of the number of dogs you have.

The Search Continues

I am still shopping for Ray. I was really hoping that Riley's littermate, Bob's Cane, would be a good fit, but he was not. He was not as food motivated as I was hoping and food motivation is important to clicker trainers. I was able to find out more about Cane and to give Screening and Placement a detailed profile on the boy. Unfortunately and fortunately, Cane is quite independent and aloof. This type of personality does not appeal to the person looking for a dog to "pick me", but he is absolutely perfect for someone who works full-time while the greyhound is home alone. Greyhounds who do not immediately bond and beg for human attention are much less likely to suffer from separation anxiety.





I prefer the aloof, independent types (i.e. Katie). I like a confident dog. You have to earn their affection and it is so rewarding to see he or she become sweeter over time. Katie had no use for me until she found out there was food in my pockets. Now she is such a doll. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love that greyhound!


I also looked at RJ's Skippy. Skippy has the food motivation I want, but he is a lazy boy. Ray has access to miles of logging trails, so I also want to find him a greyhound that enjoys lots of hiking and walking. I took Skippy on a 40 minute hike. He starts out like gangbusters, but was bored after 20 minutes. He is more of a stroll around the neighborhood hound.





On the bright side, Skippy was giving me a really good "family dog" vibe despite our original profile saying otherwise. At SEGA, we work really hard trying to pinpoint which of our available greyhounds enjoy the company of children. I took Skippy to Petco, hoping to find some children and I was in luck...... two little boys and two little girls. Skippy was very sweet. He sniffed their faces and got very calm and close to them. My gut was right! So Skippy fills an important need!


When I search for greyhounds suitable for living with small children, I like to find a greyhound that is affectionate and tends to get very close to people. If kids are available, I love to see the greyhound seek the children out or at least give them equal attention with adults. I also want to make sure I do not see any other red flags during our temperament test, such as food aggression, dramatic reaction to any handling, fearfulness, and excessive noise sensitivity.


Keep in mind that a greyhound suitable for children may tend to be prone to separation anxiety due to his or her affectionate nature. Steps to prevent separation anxiety are important for ANY greyhound that is going to live without the company of other dogs, but especially those that are very sweet and clingy. Even when you have a dog like Bob's Cane, why take a chance? I always tell people that they will never regret spending a few weeks doing preventative groundwork to ensure the new dog is happy and comfortable with the routines and rules.


SEGA has an excellent manual that includes information about separation anxiety prevention.


Rest assured, Jules. Despite being passed over, these two hounds will easily suit someone else. They are in no danger and will be adopted soon.

Not So Hot

Katie (age 10) is not her usual self these last few days. If she were just a house dog, I would be none the wiser, but that is not the case with a hound usually so active.

Her anxiety about traveling in the van has escalated to full blow resistance and panic attacks. Katie is not just uncomfortable, she is now panting and shaking and refuses food. Katie has NEVER refused food before now. She also resists loading and is clearly indicating that she would prefer to be left behind. I hate that she feels this way.

Katie, by nature, is sassy, confident, and fearless, but that greyhound has been gone for awhile now. Over the last year, I have seen fear and anxiety start to wash over her. Her sensitivity to noise has gone from nonexistent to significant. Her confident attitude has diminished to one of caution. I attributed the caution to her Fibrocartilaginous Emboli. I can understand how not having full control over your body's movements can be scary at times, but this is starting to be excessive.

Last week, I had blood work done. I was most interested in Katie's thyroid since that sometimes can produce strange behavior. Her blood work looked great, but her thyroid levels are low.

Today, I had Katie chase a lure on a lunge whip. Normally, she chases, catches, and hands me the lure. Its great exercise because I can make her travel in both directions to ensure she is working her muscles evenly. Unlike the youngsters, she is not a maniac for this game anymore, but she enjoys the fetching aspect of it since I trade her a treat. Her halfhearted attempts today were pathetic.

So I tried throwing the stuffy Frisbee. Normally, Katie will try to take the toy from me, chases the toy with a lot of enthusiasm, and gallops back to me. But not today. She fetched each time, but not with her usual gusto and she trotted back leisurely every time.

I am going to pursue thyroid treatment and a session of acupuncture. If there is any back pain, hopefully the acupuncture will provide some relief. Other than that, the blood work and exam gave me nothing to check further. From a physical standpoint, she is in great shape.

Compromise

Obviously, I cannot improve Seven's It-Is-Not-My-Turn Anxiety by tricking her when we are training close to home.  In a trial setting, tricking Seven has worked very well, but daily training is far too routine for outsmarting her.  So we compromise.

If Seven will stay in her crate, I will leave the door open.  Leaving the crate door open diffuses Seven's anxiety almost completely.  No more screaming, yelping, spinning, or crate chewing.  We have been doing this for couple of months now and she has only come out of the crate twice.... and was corrected for it.  The rest of the time she is rewarded for staying where she is.

The van is positioned so she can see the training field and Riley and I are able to work at the far end.  Riley can now run full courses, slam the teeter, and barrel through tunnels without Seven getting overly excited.  It has been a good compromise.

Sneaking Around

Since Reagan is recovering from surgery on a dislocated toe, I want to minimize her excitement and stress. Calm is the order of each day. Generally, the highlight of her day (besides dinner) is heading off to a training session for some treats and fun. Unfortunately, Reagan cannot participate until July, so Riley and I must find a way to sneak out.

If you have more than one dog, sometimes you need to be able to leave one home when he or she would normally expect to go. With Reagan (and all dogs), there are certain signals that start to alert her and thus get her excited. Examples include, changing clothes, putting on sneakers, and packing treats and water. Imagine her surprise and disappointment if she sees the familiar signals and then is left behind. So I change my signals. I pack treats early and placing them on the front porch.

Next, I put a leash outside of the back door. I might then take Riley and Reagan into the backyard to potty and then only bring Reagan back inside and into her crate. I give her a stuffed Kong and I leave through the back door, grabbing Riley from the backyard as I exit through one of our gates. Reagan does not expect me to leave through the back door so watching me walk through it does nothing to generate excitement.

Another option includes preparing to leave as I normally do and loading Riley into the van (I thought driving a giant van with only 3 greyhounds was kind of excessive. Now I am down to only one small greyhound passenger in my greyhound bus, go figure.) Okay, so Riley is loaded. I return to to the house where Reagan is showing signs of excitement (since she watched Riley leave out the front door). I mill around for a few minutes waiting for Reagan to calm down. As a reward for calming down, I take her out of the crate for a little clicker training on something stationary (holding a dumbbell, for example). After a few minutes, I return Reagan to her crate with a stuffed Kong and I leave through the front door. This departure does not generate anxiety because she sees me leave through the front door all of the time (without a dog), but the knowledge that Riley and our training things are loaded into the van have long escaped Reagan's thoughts.

A little planning can greatly reduce your dog's stress when being left home alone. Similar strategies can be employed for separation anxiety as well.

A Set Back

We competed at the Atlanta Obedience Club agility trial this weekend. It did not got as well for Reagan as I had hoped. On Saturday, the weather was horrendous. I really debated about leaving her home. The forecast called for rain all day and we were expecting severe thunderstorms in the afternoon. Reagan's runs were both in the morning and I decided that it would be better if we were together and I was able to give her Xanax (anti-anxiety medication) at the appropriate time. I left for the trial at 5:45 AM to ensure that I would be able to park Stephen's SUV underneath the arena roof to minimize the sound of rain (or hail) hitting the vehicle. My plan was to let Reagan chill out on some Xanax and listen to the radio when the storms blew in. Reagan's Open Jumpers run was very nice. The opening was awesome. You can't see it clearly on the video, but Reagan has been trained to collect her stride and prepare for a turn when I am facing her. So when I sent her to the tunnel and had her come over the jump to me, she did a really nice adjustment to allow her to do a very smooth turn. She blew the weaves, but otherwise it was a very nice run. She obviously loves to jump. In the Excellent Standard class, my inner voice said I should scratch. She was having a slight reaction to the teeter being slammed by other dogs in the ring. Unfortunately, I did not listen to myself. Reagan proved to not be confident about the contact obstacles. The dogwalk came first and she was very hesitant. The teeter came later and she assumed it was another dogwalk. I seriously do not understand why. Reagan practices 1,000 teeter performances for every dogwalk performance we do. Why would she assume a skinny plank is anything, but a teeter? It is very frustrating. There were other issues with the run and when she popped out of the weave poles, I dismissed us.

It was definitely a day that made me think that Reagan just might not have the mental stability for an agility career. She is so fragile. Everything has to be perfect with stars aligned. The difference between fear and phobias is that continued, but careful exposure may reduce fear, but it will increase a phobia. I am not giving up just yet, but it is something to be ready for.
As expected, the rain fell. I was thankful to have a parking place under the roof. I put Reagan in the vehicle, gave her Xanax, turned on the radio, and adorned her head with the Mutt Muffs. I have no idea if the Mutt Muffs help, but she wore them for a couple of hours. Riley and I demonstrated how to relax during a storm. I think Reagan was fine with the thunder, but started shaking during periods of heavy rain.

Later that evening, the effects of Xanax were still apparent. This was the first time I had used the Xanax and the lingering effects reminded me of her resistance to being sedated for toe surgery. Instead of sleeping it off, she is like an energized drunk. She can't walk straight, but she is alert and obnoxious. I really was not pleased with the result.

Agility photos taken by Gary Depp - In Motion Photos.

Week 34 - Scenting

I am quite impressed with Maddie's work on the Scent-A-Whirl. This is just a fun way to teach Maddie to find something with my scent on it.  Later she will have to do this with leather and metal dumbbells, but for now we use toys.  Maddie has worked up to having a toy sealed in each container and she has to find the one that has the toy we were playing with in it.

I have little symbol on each arm so I can remember which container has the correct toy. However, I do have to actually make an effort to remember.  In the first round, I thought it was a different arm.  Maddie insisted so I decided I better have a look.  Better for her to be wrong than for me to be wrong and hold out on her.  Well she was right!  In fact, she never gets it wrong.

And I love that she retrieves the toy to me!

You can thank Seven for the background noise. She cries and chews on crate bars when it is not her turn.  She sometimes has It-Is-Not-My-Turn Anxiety.

Rory - An Agility Greyt

Rory

07/01/1997 - 02/24/2009

I am sad to report that Sharon Smith's "C-ATCH 3 Subtle Breeze OAP MJP ChSN ChST ChJU ChFH ChCL ChWC PJ1 PS1 NAC NJC TDI" (Rory) passed away at the age of 11. He fought meningitis for a year and a half and even felt well enough to compete in agility periodically during that time. However, Rory was recently diagnosed with lymphoma and despite every effort, he did not respond to treatment.

Sharon adopted Rory after he was returned to the adoption group by 3 separate adopters due to separation anxiety. Sharon persevered with Rory and he repaid her by being a wonderful agility partner.

Sharon believes that Rory is the most titled agility greyhound to date and I think she is right. They competed at events organized by AKC, USDAA, NADAC, and CPE. Each has its own titling system. I only do AKC, so I couldn't begin to explain the titles from all the venues Rory succeeded at, but he was quite successful. His agility career did not begin until the age of 7.

I got to meet up with Sharon and Rory at a Harriman, TN trial and a Nashville, TN trial. It was so much fun to have several greyhounds at one agility event. Rest in peace, Rory. Hopefully you and Travis are causing some trouble in heaven. Hang in there, Sharon.

Jet Update

You may remember Ray adopting Jet back in February. I am happy to report that Jet is doing well. He had some issues with separation anxiety and is working on patience when it is not his turn for training. He sits, downs, and stays very well. He does not give Ray a lot of opportunity to practice recalls because he is always at Ray's side. The ladies of the house also enjoy Jet's company. After having mostly working border collies, they have enjoyed having a "pet" dog that chills out while you watch TV.

I thought you all would get a kick out of this video. Jet is working on jump roping with dowels. He is the first 20 seconds. His coat looks so much better too! The rest of the video is Ray's border collie and mixed breed dog. They are pretty cute and talented too!

Wait For It

I am currently teaching two greyhound clicker training classes. About three or four times a year, I offer a basic obedience class for greyhounds using the clicker.

One of the things I have noticed is that handlers are sometimes desperate for their greyhound's attention. Class is a distracting environment. The dogs are pulled in all directions by the attractive treats, the other dogs, and the sound of clickers.

This time, there is one hound in particular that is very stressed, but she is working really well for short bursts despite her anxiety. She can be very frustrating to work with because she is either jumping on her handler or pulling away from him and putting 55 pounds of pressure on the leash. The handler tries to get her attention by repeating her name and pulling her back.

I experience something similar with Riley at times, especially at PetsMart. The squeaks, chirps, and small animals smells are almost too much for her to handle. It is stressful for Riley to not be able to get to what she is hearing and smelling.

When Riley has switched to high prey mode, I know that her training has taken a giant leap backwards. Instead of asking her to do things she may fail to respond to (such as her name), I simply wait for her to come back to earth. I let her look, listen, and smell from one location (I do not let her lead me around the store). Since she is not given access to the animals or the toys in the store, the looking, listening, and smelling behavior never leads her to a reinforcement.

Eventually, Riley starts to realize that her action is not working for her and she may turn to look at me... click and treat. She makes eye contact again... click and treat. She might offer another behavior, a down perhaps. Click and treat. Now she is listening and I can start to make requests.

I much prefer to allow Riley to exhaust her curiosity and then "choose" to see what I have to offer. Some trainers teach a "watch me" command. I have never done this with my greyhounds nor have I felt the need to. I find that eventually they become quite attentive and just eventually keep their eyes on me without being asked.

I think a similar strategy would work for the greyhound in my class. Just wait for it. Let it be her idea. I am eager to see how she and her handler progress over the weeks.

Nothing To Lose

Reagan continues to decline. Just as I plot out my next strategy, the strategy becomes obsolete. I can now define the phobic trigger as motors and engines..... trains, trucks, diesel engines, lawn mowers, 4-wheelers, and so on. Also, little thuds like people closing car doors or horses tapping their feet to dislodge flies.

The idea that Reagan and I will ever compete in agility again is far from my mind. I think it would be a miracle. The truth is that Reagan's phobias have been increasing for 2 years and there is nothing to suggest that suddenly something will change for the better.

I noticed a couple of phobic reactions soon after bringing her home in February 2008. Reagan was just 10 months old and had never been off the greyhound farm when I adopted her. Being cautious of new things was to be expected, but some of her reactions were not normal, fearful, I-Have-Never-Seen-That-Before reactions. They were unreasonable and dramatic.At the time, they were few and far between. Months would pass, but I made a mental note that I needed to be very careful with Reagan as I felt she was prone to develop phobias. I managed her very carefully and made sure everything she experienced had a positive spin on it. Life went on and I think I did a pretty good job keeping the issues at bay. I almost forgot about them.

It is funny how your goals change. I used to dream about showing Reagan off at agility nationals and earning championships one day. All of it was very achievable. Now I just hope she has a somewhat normal and happy life. How much will she change in the next 2 years?

For now, we just have to take it day by day. Last Thursday, I closed the car door too many times. Saturday, clearly uncomfortable inside the house with the sound of the neighbor mowing his lawn. Yesterday, we jogged and biked. She was unsettled by the ride in Stephen's SUV and shaking in the parking lot at the trail head. All off leash privileges were revoked a couple of weeks ago. The last 2 or 3 recalls required two calls as she was trying to decide whether to listen to me or to a boat engine.... I can't trust her if she has to think about it.

Prozac has done nothing after 2 months so we are moving onto Buspar. We are also experimenting with Xanax. Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication given prior to a specific event and is not designed for daily use except in severe cases. I am keeping a journal and recording the doses, the timing, and the results so I can learn if Xanax serves a purpose in our lives. We shall see. Nothing to lose at this point.

Wonder Agility Dog

Seven continues to be the Wonder Agility Dog.  She qualified three out of her five runs.  We skipped the 6th to get home sooner since neither hound had a chance for a Double Q.... and a good day for it too.  Our camping buddy, Jerry, and his German Shepherd, Ex, qualified and won the class.  He was glad the greyhounds had gone home early on a day Ex ran very well.

Seven double qualified on Saturday so that brings her tally up to 4 towards her championship (needs 20) and  for the Agility Nationals (needs 6 before November 30th).

Another qualifying run in Standard:

I really am so glad I adopted Seven.  I honestly never would have kept her if I had not been pressured into keeping her.  I do not want to go into the details on the blog, but I never would have kept her without the "other reason".  I knew she would was a worker, but I really really hated (and still do) her anxiety about various things.  Thankfully nothing interferes with her ability to work, but she is very labor intensive to manage outside of training and competing.  She is happiest when she is working and can be very dissatisfied otherwise.  Part of that is because I am so Type A.  She is probably here to teach me to accept the things I cannot change.

My friends would like for me to admit that Seven is my favorite (it is a running joke now)... but I can't.  She might be my best, but she is not my favorite.  But I really do love her and I am glad Seven is here.

Trickery

If you can't train em, trick em.  Seven has It-Is-Not-My-Turn Anxiety.  It is the result of Seven having to wait in a crate while I set up courses or while working other dogs.  She screams, yelps, circles, shreds bedding, and chews the crate bars.  She has even damaged her teeth.

I have tried numerous things to eliminate this problem.  We did "Crate Games" (Susan Garrett DVD). I used to stuff Kongs and provide chewies... she just ignores them.  I try to always train/exercise her first.  Have her in view.  Out of view.  Closer to the action.  It does not matter.  If it is not her turn, you are going to hear about it.

I find the behavior stressful at trials because I cannot alter the running order.  If Riley runs first, I might come back to Seven having a fit and then it is her turn.  The last thing I want to do is to reinforce it by returning and getting her out.  In the past, I have actually separated them completely so Seven is not triggered by the sight of me getting Riley out.  But then I feel bad because I cannot sit by them both when I have down time.

So I came up with this solution and it has worked well at two trials.  I cover the top and two sides of Seven's crate so she cannot see Riley.  Seven has a view of a door that leads to the outside and away from agility.  So she is fine with seeing me come and go through this door because she does not think I am doing agility.  When it is Seven's turn to run, I come through the door she is watching and I take her in the opposite direction to agility.  When Seven is returned to her crate, I exit the door she can see, even if I just run around to another she cannot see.

When it is Riley's turn, I come from the direction that Seven cannot see.  Riley's things are always ready to go and I quietly grab her and go.  Seven probably hears the movement, but is not triggered because she does not get a visual. After Riley's run, I quietly return her to her crate (out of Seven's view).  If it is time to get Seven, I will exit through one of the out of sight doors and come through the door Seven is watching.  Make sense?

It is labor intensive, but it has worked really well and best of all, I can sit with both hounds when I have down time.

Everything is Fun

A youngster is a lot of work, but it is fun. Reagan needs constant supervision. Thank goodness for crates. She snarks everything with her nose. "Snark" is a fancy word for rubbing your nose on everything and leaving nose prints. I never understand why dogs with a highly developed sense of smell have to actually shove their nose into or on something to smell it. Reagan seems to use her nose more than the other greyhounds...........especially poor Katie :-). Maybe I will have to try tracking with her.

Reagan is crying much less now. I think the anxiety of being in a new place, with new people, and new greyhounds is wearing off and she is starting to have some fun. In fact, she finds everything to be fun. If I am cleaning the house, fixing dog bedding, dressing/undressing the dogs in collars and muzzles, wiping feet, etc. she is in the middle of it trying to have some fun. It just makes you smile. Its been a lot of fun to see her youthful approach to everything. Even though she is pretty much full grown, she still looks like such a soft baby to me...... immature. She has the best greyhound coat coverage.... furry neck, furry buns, and furry belly. Only one scar. I always thought that Travis looked so young and he does at 9 years old. But Reagan really shows how mature and masculine he is. She is cute, but he is still the gorgeous one, in my opinion. Katie is, of course, just the plain favorite............ once you earn a utility dog obedience title, you can do no wrong.

Yesterday, in the pouring rain we went to a dog training facility, so we could play indoors. The facility is also a day care and we were there as it was closing up for the day. It is amazing how much noise Katie, Travis, and I tune out. We do not hear the vacuums, the dogs barking, the gates clanging, and doors slamming. But Reagan does....... which makes sense when you are coming from fairly quiet, country living. At one point she was definitely concerned about all the noises coming from the other side of the wall, so I took Reagan and Travis (brave model greyhound) to investigate the noises. She immediately relaxed when she saw that it was just a person, some funny looking dogs, and nothing scary to be found. We returned to the training side and I rotated working with Katie, Travis, and Reagan. Reagan did lots of cup touching with her nose and worked on downs. Eventually, some other people came in and she earned treats while they brought in chairs and cleaned. Then she got to meet a Ridgeback and 2 border collies. It was exactly the kind of meeting I wanted. All three dogs were polite, not overly interested, and were fairly calm. Initially, she didn't have any interest in playing with toys, so I kept her on leash while Katie fetched a stuffy toy. That perked Reagan's interest and I got a stuffy out for her to play with and she had a great time. It was nice to finally let her run around with a toy for a few minutes. I don't really have a great yard for that sort of thing and I've come to realize that I do a whole lot with Travis and Katie in unsecured areas. I will be seeking out the old haunts and training grounds that I used to train at when Katie and Travis were unreliable and needed fences. Overall, I was really pleased that she went from being a little bit scared of all the strange noises to being happy and playful. She also maintained her food motivation the entire time.

Who Is She

There is just so much to write about with Katie's passing, Riley's competitions, and Seven's early training. I will just have to rotate subjects. I have so much training video on Seven that I need to share. But first, who is she?

Since Reagan became a house dog, I really missed having two greyhounds to train, but I was stuck on thinking we should not have more than six dogs at a time (I have three and my husband has three I rarely write about). I rationalized that four of our six greyhounds were 10 - 12 years old, so I did not think it was likely we would have seven dogs for years to come. How unfortunately right I was.

Once I had a discussion with Stephen and he agreed, I started looking immediately. I had remembered seeing an email about a failed small dog test so I searched my deleted files to see which dog in our adoption kennel it was referencing.

"NOT AT ALL TOLERANT. Would have killed dachshund if given half a chance!"

Some of you may wonder why I would want such a greyhound, but in my experience, I love greyhounds with high prey drive and high food drive. I looked up the greyhound - "Escape Hatch", a 2 year old female. Dang it, another brindle, but color does not matter.

I visited the kennel to check out Escape's sit and food motivation. She was wild and a terrible jumper putting her feet all over me. She was instantly attracted to the treats in my pocket and was easy to lure into a sit. I left feeling that she was worth a second look. I asked my screening and placement committee if they had any potential applicants for her. They did not and gave me their blessing to keep looking at her.

On my second visit, I took Escape for a walk with Riley, my parents, and their three small dogs. Escape was extremely interested, but an hour of exposure was good for her. I felt comfortable unmuzzling her on the next walk. She was also more that willing to eat treats and offer sits in this new environment.

I absolutely did not want another greyhound that hates my van. In fact, I want one that falls asleep like Riley does while traveling. So my last test before agreeing to foster Escape, was to drive to Atlanta and back. She did awesome and fell asleep on the interstate.

Initially, I thought I was going to pass on Escape because she has a softer temperament than I was hoping for and has some anxiety I discovered once getting her home (more on that in another post). But she is extremely food motivated, intensely focused already, seems to have the mental endurance for long training sessions and repetitions, and a comfortable sit. I have really been wanting a good, comfortable sit for obedience and I think I may have it this time.

I would have liked to have fostered Escape for a couple more weeks, but my hand was forced when they had an adoption applicant ask to see her. I could not let her go so I adopted her then and she is now known as Seven.

Seven's racing career was unspectacular like most two year old greyhounds available for adoption. She ran at Ebro a few times before moving to the dead end Jefferson County Kennel Club track. We refer to it as the arm pit of the racing world. She did break her maiden, but it is her only first place race finish. She then started figuring out how to get her muzzle off in the starting box so her last several races note that she is either running without a muzzle or with the muzzle hanging. The last interesting note is that our three brindles, Stacker, Riley, and Seven, all have the same birthday - June 28th. Sure makes it easy to remember.

Optimistic, But Guarded

Seven's appointment with orthopedic specialist, Dr. Corse, went well.  He looked at her x-ray and noted that she indeed did have arthritis in her carpal joint.  He then did a thorough orthopedic exam, but found no pain in the carpal joint.

He said that the carpal joint is a forgiving joint and dogs can have ugly x-rays and show no clinical signs of joint disease.  The truth is that Seven did not develop arthritis two weeks ago.  She probably developed it during her racing days and has since done agility on the affected joint for the last two years without any signs of lameness.

So what caused the lameness over the last couple of weeks?  We do not know. It could be an unrelated injury, but an arthritic joint is more prone to flaring up if it gets tweaked which is easy to do if the individual is living an active lifestyle.

Dr. Corse told me to put her back to work and see what happens.  He needs to see her lame in order to diagnose it.  He did not want to do more x-rays of the wrist because again they just do not mean anything to him if they are not accompanied by clinic signs of the joint also being painful.

He thought keeping her on Adequan, joint supplements, and fish oil for life is a good idea.  He did not think I should scale Seven's training schedule back at all... but I am going to.  Since Wednesday, I have been easing her back into work.  Walked her the first day.  Then an easy half mile gallop on Thursday.  Friday, we walked again.  Then on Saturday evening we did an agility course.  She was sound that night and the next morning.  Yesterday, we just did some obedience training.  So we will see...

I did get one nasty comment about my last post about Seven.  Sometimes a comment is nasty just to be mean, but other times it is a valid misunderstanding and if one person posts it, ten other people are thinking the same thing. Brad, I think your comment was a little of both, but in response, I am allowed to complain.  If your greyhound eats your favorite underwear*, has separation anxiety, or gets cancer, it is okay for you to hate all of those things and still love and appreciate your greyhound.  I would even listen to you complain with a sympathetic ear because I understand things like that can be frustrating, disappointing, and/or sad.

I am not a bad person just because I complained about things that affect whether or not my dogs could "perform". In fact, you disrespect my dogs by suggesting they "perform".  They are not circus animals.  My greyhounds are my partners, my teammates.  Your comment implies that agility is one sided and for my amusement only.  Agility is a dance and mutually beneficial. When we are flawless, the feeling is awesome.  It is addictive, but it is addictive to my hounds also.  Yes, I'm disappointed when one of my hounds retires early, but I will probably live another 50 years and there will be other dogs in my lifetime.  But I am especially saddened that early retirement is a life sentence for the dog.  Seven loves agility and I do not wish to keep her from it for the next 8 years.  To suggest that Seven only needs love is insulting to the clever, busy, hard working, tireless dog that she is.

*The underwear reference was an attempt at humor. Thought I would point it out, Brad, since you missed the humor in my "drama queen" reference.

Still Crating.......

Travis is almost 9 years old and he still crates at night and still crates during the day. I hate that he spends so much time in a crate, but he leaves me no options. In the morning, he is quick to rise and starts crying. I am definitely not one to let my dogs decide when we get up, but its an all out battle to get him to stop. I am almost to the point of thinking that he cannot physically stop himself. Its like breathing. So life is just easier if he sleeps crated in another room. During the day, I had tried to leave him confined to the dog room with Katie, but he started to chew on the window trim. I have no idea why he does this. He does not have separation anxiety. The truly unusual part of this is that instead of chewing the totally exposed wood, he wedges himself between a crate and the window and chews on the trim there. It is very strange. Bitter Apple has not detered him, so its back to crating.

Hard To Live With

I must complain.  I hesitate because I really hate to tell the world about things that make me want to choke one of my greyhounds, but my hope is that when I read this post in ten years that I will laugh because while the first year was tough, she has been a perfect angel for the last nine years.

First let me say that Seven, is extremely easy to train.  She is very motivated and focused.  Other than Katie, I have never had a greyhound become so attentive and reliable so quickly.  It is fantastic.  Her recalls are brilliant and sharp.  She works very hard.  She handles being told she is wrong very well and will keep working.  She will do repetitions over and over.  She never shuts down or becomes lazy even when her tongue is hanging out of her mouth.  Seven is wonderful to train... but she is hard to live with. 

I wonder if I have created this monster or would Seven have been an impossible pet.  You have already read about Seven's sick obsession with me (read here) and that continues to be a big problem.  Despite working methodically on this problem, Seven continues to pant, scream, yelp, bark, and chew on crate bars.  This has everything to do with training sessions and surprisingly she is worse if she can see what is going on.  Her anxiety hits the roof.  I do not have this problem at all at home. 

My approach has mostly been that Seven is ignored until she calms down and I create lots of repetitions for her to practice this.  I did a lot of gradual work in the beginning, but its been four months, I work full time, Riley has to train too, and the world simply does not revolve around Seven.  I thought things might be getting a smidge better, but yesterday she actually broke out of her crate in my van. That cannot happen at a dog show.  So I am feeling very frustrated.

After an hour or two of training, playing, exercising, and/or nervous worry, you would think that Seven would come home exhausted for the rest of the evening.  Nope.  Here are a few examples.  She continues to test her boundaries more than all of my greyhounds combined.  She does not respect gated doorways.  She ate two pairs of my most favorite underwear when I was packing my suitcase.  She is not allowed on our furniture, but she continues to get on our bed despite strategically placed laundry hamper and scat mat.  We have no idea how she is able to work through all of that, but she does (I expect great things in agility) and then lays on my nice work clothes. 

I love training Seven, but......... I love training Seven.

Lions, Tigers, and Vans, Oh My!

I really am sad to say that Katie has full blown anxiety about riding in vehicles. The new van has a well established pattern at this point. We thought she was doing well riding in Stephen's car, but recently started to show similar signs of anxiousness.


As soon as the vehicle (especially our new van) begins to move, she begins panting, shaking, and refuses food. I wish I knew what she is afraid of. Does it produce an uncomfortable sound (I'm thinking no, now that she has showing problems with other vehicles)? Do the bumps in the road scare her? What is it? What makes a 10 year old greyhound suddenly fear her second home? The van used to be a means to all the fun stuff we do, a safe place to rest, and a comfortable way to travel.


I have tried placing her in a big crate, a small crate, and in different locations in the van. I have tried letting her ride loose. I have tried giving special treats and stuffed Kongs during the ride, but she will not touch them until the ride is over. I have tried giving her an herbal supplement with calming properties to no avail.


Katie's first thyroid test was slightly low, but a second test result came back as not low thyroid. The vet humored me and let me try treating her for low thyroid anyway, but it had no effect. She has had acupuncture again and appears to be free of any pain or physical problems.


I never thought I would leave her behind, but I have started to. I try to pick her trips wisely. Minimize the drive time and maximize the exercise, play, and work time. Stephen has been great about taking her hiking with his greyhounds which is a short drive away. I never thought she would stand for me to leave her behind, but she almost appears relieved as I walk out the door without her now.