Wednesday, June 23, 2010

1 Week

Skeeter Bee continues to grow and become more comfortable everyday. He'll come up and take treats faster than before. He still backs away when I walk toward him (or if he is between me and where I'm headed). He usually will head to the bedroom if I continue. But when I come and sit down next to his bed, he'll walk right up and lay down next to me and then I can touch him/do things like putting on collars, attach leash, or teeth brushing.

Bee turns out to be a huge love bug! He likes it when I approach him to pet/love on him while he is laying down, or if he is next to me already. He loves getting head/neck/body rubs so much he'll lean on me while I pet him. He will look at me with his sweet amber eyes the whole time (this is amazing since just a few days ago eye contact was scary), never looking away unless I hit the magic itch spot on his neck. If I stop, he'll remain next to me, leaning more and more until I continue to give him rubs.

I often take the dogs for a joy ride before going for a walk. This helps fosters and my own dogs learn that van rides mean fun/walks and not just to the vet. Bee will go into the garage, but walking around into the van is still scary, so I attach a leash and he'll follow me, stopping for a few seconds and then continuing with little protest. He doesn't like the sound of the van doors closing or the garage door going up, but gets over it pretty quickly.
Bee usually has his tail between his legs for the first few minutes of the walk, but then settles in between the weims. Loud construction/vehicles still scare him, and he is fine with people as long as they don't approach and pet him. When he spots pesky squirrels he tries to take off after them.

I've read tons of stories about greyhounds that back out of their martingale collars or leash clips failing. Due to these risks, I have many safety procedures in place to ensure that my greyhound fosters never get loose. I know it looks a bit over the top, but unless you have 100% recall with your dog; a loose greyhound will not hear your call and will not be able to find their way back home. If you do manage to find your loose greyhound, a shy one like Bee will get scared, take off and run further away.

For walks Bee wears his 1 inch martingale attached to a 2 inch martingale attached to the leash that is attached to a leather belt around my waist. The leather belt helps keep my hands free and also avoids accidentally dropping his leash and him taking off. I prefer to use the harness and the 2 inch martingale, but the harness rubbed the inside of his legs :( I double check everything daily to make sure it's in greyt condition and the collars are on tight.



Close up of the extra attachment and leash clip carabiner.


Bee modeling, he was moving too much so his ears got cut off. The leather ID collar is the only thing he wears at home due to chocking hazards with martingales.

2 comments:

  1. hey, it's so good to see Bee doing so well. We ended up with Skeeter Dee, who has been re-dubbed Skeeter due to better responsiveness. Its fun to see how similarly they're reacting to home life. Skeet did great with the floors in the begining too but got overconfident and slipped, now we really have to encourage him to go out the back door to go out but he's getting comfortable with it again. He went up the stairs great but couldn't quite figure out getting back down. Let me know how that goes with Bee when he comes to it. Have fun with him while you have him!

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  2. Congrats! I'm happy to hear you did get a greyhound. Skeeter is a lucky boy.
    Bee is doing wonderful with the stairs, seems to have gotten it down after just 4 days. I hope Bee finds a wonderful home like his Bro.

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