Is there a current 'pointy' thread? Newbie hound owner here

[PacificDogwood]

Apologies if there is one, I could not find it, but maybe somebody could point me in the right direction?

Or if there is not, could we start a new one? Look, there are lots of comfy cushions all over the place and spaces on the sofa too

Ooh I'd like to join please - not yet a pointy owner, but we pick up our whippet pup in three weeks :-) I keep flicking from 'can't wait' to 'eek what are we letting ourselves in for', but mostly I'm passing the time by browsing all the lovely things I intend to buy ;-)

I dont' think there is one, so I'll squeeze a lurcher out of the way and bag a cushion.

Oh lovely, welcome all
I should actually be asleep so will post more tomorrow.
I have tons of questions - you have been warned

I'm getting a mini Daxie in 8 sleeps and they're in the hound category, does that count?

We picked up our whippet puppy yesterday so count me in!

I hadn't considered a sight hound before hearing mumsnetters say how fabulous they are and I have to say thank you! He is absolutely adorable- 8 weeks old and currently asleep on my lap after a crazy half hour whilst the rest of the house are still asleep.

Jgm- I was nervous too. Haven't had a puppy for several years, but I'd forgotten how besotted with him I'd be. New puppy cuddles are the best

Thank you TwistAndShout! Just making a list of all the things we need to buy, its like planning for a newborn :-)

Our geyhoundy, whippetty, salukiish pup is 9 months now. She is MsMcCutie.

Oh, lovely, more takers

I used to lurk on the pointy threads for years and thought I'd learnt a lot, but it turns out actually owning one of those creatures is a whole other ball game! Who'd've thunk it?!

This is my boy, Luggie (because of his very large and mobile ears), 19 months old, never raced as too daft playful.
Other photos welcome, please post some

What he's doing well:

• reliably clean in the house. I think the crate he came with from his fosters helped no end with that. This has also enamoured him to DH
• very good around children and all other breeds of dog
• good off lead , good recall - not bomb-proof by any stretch of the imagination and a work in progress. Only goes off lead in enclosed spaces btw
• not terribly food driving, 'treats' are having a balls thrown.
• thinks he's a retriever

Ongoing PITAs challenges:

• not gaining weight. He is at his 'racing weight' i.e. a bit underweight, even for a grey. He is eating lots, pooping lots, but after 4+ weeks every rib, every vertebra and his hip bones are still sticking out . Vet is happy with him, he's been wormed etc, and seems happy as Larry otherwise. Suggestions gratefully received.
• dry flaky skin. He getting Evening primrose oil every day, sardines once a week, an egg once a week.
• Mouthing. OMG, the mouthing. He's not a chewer but when excited (and he does get very excited, he does a lot of 'chittering' with his teeth and tries to nibble us/furniture/cushions/anything else. I know it's puppy behaviour, but it's intimidating to my younger children. So other than a firm 'no' and removing attention/turning back on him, anything else we can do to get him to stop.

Interestingly when we were away last weekend in unfamiliar environment he did not do it at all. It was very pleasant. I think it's a confidence thing. Any ideas?

Right.
I demand whippet puppy pictures!

What dog food is he on Pacific? Could be that he's intolerant to something

I have two lurchers - one is nearly 3 and is saluki/greyhoundish and a failed hare courser surrendered to rescue at 6 months. He is wonderful, but dim and his greatest pleasure is a squeaky ball.
My other just turned 1 last week, and is some kind of whippetx - he was born in rescue. Is vvvv handsome.

Currently dog1 is asleep on ds's bed with him and dog2 is upside down on the sofa with dh.

This is our little love. He's very sweet. The best advice I've had is to crate train. He loves it so far.

My biggest worry is recall training as I want to be able to let him off but keep hearing sight hound horror stories.

He seems to have a lovely nature so far and is great with the kids- doesn't seem bothered at all by the noise and chaos.

He's fed Millie's wolfheart. Poo is loose at moment but early days after lots of change and vaccinations so hoping it gets better.

He's on Burns Alert chicken and rice. Also now with added Burns puppy food as suggested by the vet. Poo is formed to start with, then gets looser, not really diarrhoea IYSWIM. Sorry about the detail

Twist, he is just adorable! What a little sweetie
I've never crate-trained a dog before and I love it. Took the stress right out of house training and leaving him alone when needed.

I'd try him with Burns pork and potato - it really suits ours, and loose poo def sounds like something going on. When we first got ddog1, it was all he could tolerate after trying a number of foods.

Pacific, I think you are in a bit of a hurry, with both the skin issue and his weight. 4 weeks is bugger all.

Don't expect to see changes overnight, concentrate on just getting condition right, and the weight will follow. Personally I wouldn't feed Burns (there's nothing wrong with it) but a lot of dogs stay lean on it. Some greys (we have one ATM) are hat-racks by inclination so you need to work extra hard on the feeding, and it may well be that he will always be lean. As long as he is healthy and fit, and your vet is happy, that is what matters.

Skin - are you grooming him every day? The act of grooming is very helpful in removing scurf and getting rid of dead hair and encourages circulation. I would personally also add a spoonful of olive or sunflower oil to the feed. With time and good feeding this will also come right.

One answer that may help both is to do supplementary feeds of satin balls. Yes, they really are called that! There are many recipes kicking round on the internet, but the basic idea is that you make little balls or patties which are nutrient rich and feed them as a supplement. They help with both weight gain and skin condition.

You may also find it helpful to break his feeding down to three or four smaller meals each day and in this way, you can get a higher total of food in than if you are just feeding say two big meals. Also don't underestimate the value of high value treats for both improving and working on recall, and giving him extra calories.

Raw is great, but at this stage, would you be introducing too many changes too quickly?

Pacific, I think you are in a bit of a hurry, with both the skin issue and his weight.

You may be right definitely

Lots of great tips, thanks, Scuttlebutter (your 'other' site is permanently open on my laptop btw and I hope you recognise the cover in the photo?)

Here's a pic of our little lurcher girl and our gorgeous hat rack. HR has a terrific appetite but it's virtually impossible to put weight on her. She is in lovely condition, good muscle tone, and her coat is beautifully soft and shiny (just very skinny!).

Lurcher girl has had dandruff since she arrived, but also going through spring moult. I've been brushing regularly most days and we are already seeing big improvements and she is glossing up nicely.

I think it takes up to six months to get an ex kennel hound into tip top pet dog condition, taking everything into account including weight, skin, coat and muscle tone (which is terribly important).

at your choice of website - excellent if I may say so!

With our new lurcher girl, we are doing whistle recall as this is what she started on in her foster home. We are using the Pamela Dennison DVD on Whistle Training, and doing lots of work with high value treats. So far, we have been very impressed. She now comes off lead regularly (in safe environments) and comes back very reliably. The hardest part has been training DH to regularly reward and get him to bring enough treats ( I'd swear he thinks they are rationed!).

I think I'm allowed in here - I am the proud and only slightly shellshocked new owner of a lurcher x field spaniel. Who is a sweetie but also a massive PITA.

I have a question though - he's unbelievably chewy at the moment, and I don't know what to do about it. It's almost like he won't be discouraged. I've tried removing hands, removing him to the floor, telling him 'no' firmly, but it's like he gets into a dervish of excitement and thinks it's all a game. What should I do? We're still confined to barracks as he hasn't finished his jabs yet, but I've had some success in stopping him from jumping up at people already, but I'm at a bit of a loss with this one.

Also, gratuitous puppy pic:

He looks gorgeous LBOCS.

Our puppy is also chewy. Have you got things he's allowed to chew? I take away anything not allowed and replace with something he can chew- kong filled with food/ tug toy or this morning it was even an empty egg box! He also loved the Inside of kitchen towel tube with a couple of bits of food in and ends scrunched.

I think if they're teething they're going to have to chew something but you have to be quick to intervene. Our puppy would love to chew shoes if I let him!

Looks like ours does love to chew shoes :(

I do remove and replace; he has a Kong, a football and a rope toy (all of which he loves). It's just that he prefers hands and arms...

ddog2 just turned 1, and loves to chew. Fortunately, now he confines this to appropriate things . We just had loads and loads of hard chew things so there was always one to hand to substitute with - the hard things seem to satisy his urge much better.

We whistle recall ours, and reward with high value treats - lidl chorizo is v popular and the cost is pretty low. And doesn't go manky if left in your pocket. It really works, but it is a daily reinforcement thing.

I was just looking at (more) puppy toys on Amazon.

Probably won't be buying Cozie Small Plush Squeaky Dog Toy - Spunky the Monkey www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DH2UVQQ/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_2r2zvb04F96DZ this one. And not just because it's twelve quid.

Link fail.

This one.

LBOCS- sounds like you're already doing the same as us.

I'll be buying a whistle for recall, based on the advice on this thread- thank you!

I'd like to join you and your pointy dogs too please. We have an almost 5 month old Saluki-ish lurcher. He is also very skinny, also fed on Burns, hmm. So what should I feed him instead? I have got a bit bogged down trying to find a good food, looked at lurcher link and dog food review type sites, but also bearing in mind that they shouldn't have too high a % protein. What's a good quality food for a lurcher pup?

My boy also likes to chew his family. We have more or less stopped him chewing chairs etc by replacing with antlers and other chews. And he doesn't chew strangers but we are struggling to stop him chewing us and difficult for the dc to play with him without being mouthed. He loves nothing more than a good chase and bite session with a like minded pup so it;s obviously part of the same behaviour. We try to ignore and it has got a bit better but far from cured. Will he just stop eventually??

Can I ask what you all feed your sight hounds? The breeder is feeding our puppy fish4dogs, so we will keep her on that at first and see how it goes, by Ive read good things about Millie's wolfheart so we may give that a try if fish4dogs doesn't work out for whatever reason (I know pointies can be prone to sensitive stomachs)!