Healing continues! Training delayed...

Well, Kibeth's corneal ulcer is on the mend!  No surgery required, thank goodness.  However, our training has been delayed due to personal drama and my Mom coming to visit (completely unrelated, btw).

In other news, I have (possibly) 2 new dog-walking clients!  We also met Lisa and her 2 bull terrier pups, Brandy and Brody tonight for a play-date.  Kibeth was having nothing of the obnoxious puppy behaviors, but JoJo was tolerant and perfect.  I really want her to raise my next dog.  Her social skills are 2nd to none.

Corneal Ulcer Remains

Kibeth's checkup at the vet revealed swelling, blood vessels, but little progress in actual healing.  That she has these symptoms is encouraging, it means her body is fighting the ulcer now (it wasn't before), but the vet said it should be GONE by today; if not, significantly smaller.

Another debridement and $63 later, Kibeth's ulcer lost a few more flakes, and is hopefully on its way out.  We can continue this treatment and hope this takes care of it eventually, but if not, surgery will be required.

I think I heard the vet say that they would sew her eyelid to her eye to force it to heal.

She's 8 years old, that's $1,000 surgery.  I don't think she needs an experience like that at her age.  Without treatment, she may go blind in that eye.  Please, please heal!

CGC Certification

Well, here's my plan...

I can't afford formal training classes right now.  At least not until summer.  I've got to just suck it up, and do this myself.  Rick will be my assistant/co-trainer.  I'm going to be the "wonder trainer" who uses the knowledge she's acquired from her various books, articles, online readings, and generous outside personal expertise to compete her greyhounds in obedience and (hopefully) agility.

Step 1.  Become CGC certified for both hounds.

I will be pursuing the training required to pass the CGC test for the immediate future.  Stay tuned for daily reports on our training!  My goal is to take the test at the end of February.  That's about 7 weeks.  We've got most of the basic training and manners, just not reliable with distractions of any kind.

Tools:  clicker, squeaky/squawky stuffies, treats, squawker, praise.  I'll try to have a video up every Sunday (not tomorrow -- too soon) and feel free to offer suggestions!

Thanks for reading...

Dog Beach Pic Spam ;-)

So, I crossed something off my bucket list yesterday.  Rick, Kibeth, JoJo and I went to the Huntington Beach Dog Beach and had a blast.

 Here we are, walking by the water!  Kibeth is a water dog.

 I think it's super cute how they're in step almost.

 You can see our footprints.

 Haha:  JoJo was afraid of those evil white waves!

 Greyhound footprints!

 Beautiful day.

 Happy pupz. 

 You cannot get that girl out of the water.

 This beach stretches on for miles in either direction.  It's wonderful.

 A good run!  We did go off-leash eventually, briefly.

Kibeth is flying!  JoJo is being a goof again. ;-)

Grid Keratotomy

Kibeth is scheduled for the procedure this afternoon at 2:00.  It should take about 30 minutes, not require any sort of tranquilizer or anesthesia, and eliminate her ulcer within a week.

If not, it's surgery... Please wish her a speedy, full recovery!

Grey Save Homecoming

I just have to vent:  JoJo has sleep startle.  She was doing remarkably well with it lately, and I got complacent.  She attacked my ear upon waking unpleasantly and I caked my hair with blood.  All 15 minutes before my alarm was set to go off at 5:15 a.m.

So this morning, I attended a Homecoming event in Chino Hills, CA for my local greyhound rescue, GreySave.  My, what a day.

First, I arrive early to help prepare for the greyhounds coming from Mexico.  The event is taking place at Bonnie's (one of the leaders of the group) house.  Her house is huge, nestled between mountainous hills and real mountains with snow caps.  The kennel is set up on her deck, and her house is all-greyhound.  All of the volunteers were very friendly, and my boss, Suki, President of the Orange County Hiking Club actually came as well.  More on that later.

When the dogs finally arrived, they were unloaded from the truck, and each volunteer assigned as a handler got to pick their hound as they came off the van.  I ended up with Swat, short for Swat Team; a medium-sized, relatively healthy greyhound, who later became Tina.

Tina was a rock.  I am so proud of her.  She was super food motivated, although she's not underweight at all at a rock solid 64.8 pounds.  She's 3 years old, and acted like she'd already lived in a house.  Nothing phased her, she instantly knew how to manage stairs, and she only cried to get to go somewhere, for attention, or to go to the bathroom.  She was a gem of a patient for her shots and exam, although she tried to escape her bath, which did not go well at all.  We started off with a bath, moved on to drying, getting her nails clipped (the girl who did it ROCKED at it), getting a winter coat (it's cold, even in California!) with snood made by one of the fabulous volunteers, new collar/leash (all blue for Tina, the fashionista), photo shoot for the website profile, and finally a meal.

Unfortunately, I had to leave for a wedding gig before I could go with her to test her for small dog and cat reactivity.  I bet she's safe with both, but I'm dying to know!  I was a bit worried that she wasn't very attached to me at all, and I wasn't doing a very good job.  However, her reaction to my return after a brief 15 minute lunch quelled that concern.  She wagged her tail, hopped up and down, and was very glad I came back to keep her company.

Wow.  What a tremendously satisfying day.  I couldn't be happier.

Away from hounds (Away from home ;-)

Rick got me a great anniversary present... a trip home to visit my family and friends in Michigan.  I'm there now, and I am trusting him with the care of my beloved hounds.  We'll see how it goes!

Last night, JoJo slipped out of her collar on their midnight walk.  Scary!  All is well, however.

Rewards

I have been trying to find healthy treats that are appealing to the dogs that they can swallow in one gulp while training.  Let's just say, it's been a very tough road.

Zuke's = not interested
NB or Wellness Bites = not interested enough and pricey
Cheese = gassy and messy
Peanut butter = messy

I am just not into hot dogs.  Lots of people rave, but I just can't do it.  Nor am I cook, or willing to cook, to have dog treats.

So, I started up again with trying Nothing In Life Is Free (NILIF) and this morning, it worked great!  I waited until the dogs were super hungry for their breakfast, and then they would have done backflips... for kibble!

I'm so happy.  They're tuckered out, fed, and happy.  Plus, JoJo now knows "leave it," "take it," "shake," "bow," "down," "which hand?," a much more solid "sit," "stay," (sitting and down), the beginnings of "heel" (finish right), and "finish" (finish left).  Kibeth reviewed all the basics, her "shake," and "other paw" tricks, and learned, "finish."  I'm really proud of her.  She flips out when we learn something new, but she got over it much quicker.

Looking at my morning schedules, we can do this every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, perhaps Saturday, and Sunday.  (They get kibble for breakfast only.)

I <3 NILIF.

Central Bark

We went do the dog park this afternoon!  Here's some cuteness...

 Me with JoJo & Kibeth

Rick kneeling with Kibeth & JoJo

The girls had a great time playing, smelling, exploring.  No zoomies today, either.  I was disappointed, so was Rick.

 JoJo playing with a shepherd mix.

 JoJo being greeted by a rottie puppy.

 I'm so impressed with this shot.  They're in-step!

Even better, I'm so proud of Kibeth.

Kibeth started out super withdrawn, shy, and uninterested.

Now she's a social butterfly, and appreciates JoJo's company.

 Oh the smells.  They were intoxicating!

 Proof of the social butterflyisms of Kibeth.

She approached this guy from a trot at least 30 feet away.

He really enjoyed treating her to some hip scritches.

I love my hounds.  I'm so proud of them.  The only issue today was when Kibeth put an obnoxious bull dog puppy in his place.  It looked and sounded scary, but she was a good Mom, and the little guy was uninjured, up and being nosey in other dogs' business.  It's also very nice to have someone to go with to the dog park.  Rick is an excellent photographer and travel buddy.  I love sharing these experiences with him, and I think he enjoys the outing, too.

I can't wait to really get into training again!  Perhaps we'll finally get some formal classes in starting in January.  Either way, it hit me that I can only expect another two years from Kibeth.  Where does the time go!?  Gotta take advantage of what we have left.

FYI, Kibeth has a corneal ulcer from a scratch she got on her left eye during our walk the other day.  I met our new California vet, Dr. Driscoll.  He's wonderful, the cost was reasonable, and overall, a very pleasant experience.  Only complaint was the receptionist girl... rather at the end of her capabilities.  Anyway, it'll be about $100 to have the zit thing on Kibeth's right side removed.  I'll probably end up doing it when I'm all set up violin-studio-wise out here.  Oh, and JoJo went along for the ride.  She was very vocal, kind of whiney.  She does that when she's unsure, I think.  Otherwise, she was very well-behaved.

Yay California!  You know you live in a dog-friendly state when a great dane walks into the apple store at a local mall. ;-)

Oh yeah, btw... We're on facebook!

You can view Granted Wishes Greyhounds on my facebook page here.  Like us, please!  I want to connect to as many greyt-hound owners as possible.