Rhemy the Racing Dog

Right now, I'm training my first Greyhound. I have never trained a Greyhound before, much less even been around one! I've only seen them on racetracks (on TV) but that's about it.

This Greyhound's name is Rhemy. She is a super sweet, mellow dog. If you want a mellow, not super-active dog, Greyhounds are your thing. They are also good apartment dogs, even though they are so long and take up a lot of space, because they're so quiet! A big misconception, because everyone assumes since they were bred for racing, that they must have tons of energy.

But actually, they just need one sprint a day at a dog park or somewhere were they can run free and they're done for the day. "Done" as in sleeping. They don't instantly recharge like other dogs do. They also don't really bark very much, so that makes them ideal as well. They are just content to hang around with you.

Rhemy loves blankets and pillows.

Rhemy came from China, where she raced in dog races. I don't really know what happened there, she seems well socialized and it doesn't seem like she was abused, although I'm sure as a race dog, they expected a lot from here.

We found numbers inside her ear. Reading up more on it, I learned that this is how they make sure they have the correct dog for the race--they tattoo it inside their ear. Can't help but wonder why tags wouldn't be enough?

She is also very skinny--even for a Greyhound. This poor dogs' ribs are sticking out and she has patches of fur missing due to alopecia. She was in a kennel a lot in China and they said alopecia is so common that they call it "kennel alopecia."

Her breath--I hate to say it--but it's the worst I've ever smelled and that's saying a lot because Ace has horrendous breath. She has a few teeth that are rotting (they're going to be removed soon) so that is why her breath stinks so bad. But in spite of all this, she is still a super sweet dog and the kids love her.

Anyway, Rhemy is an interesting dog. I've never worked with a dog like her. I'm so used to hyper dogs and having to be very assertive. Not with this dog! Greyhounds have an extremely sensitive temperment. Article after article cautions to be very patient with training and to never resort to yelling or impatience. You can get away with that with most dogs, but with Greyhounds, you can cause fear-aggression.

And it's true--wtih Rhemy, I don't need to do more than a "Uh-uh!" and that's it. She immediately puts her ears back and stops.

You might be wondering why she's here for training since she seems like such a perfect dog already.
Well, she might have a great temperment, but she doesn't know a thing. Not one command. Not "sit" "down" or "come". Not even her own name.

She has no sense of awareness. Her socialization has been very minimal--to dogs and people only. New situations--very little. Stairs--very little. (She was like a colt trying to climb our stairs.) Body awareness--none! She will stand in your way and won't "get the hint" and back off even if you are walking right into her space whereas most dogs are very sensitive about their space.

And their training capability is vey low. This is due to them being so sensitive and independent. They get bored easily and so training is hard to keep going. If you are starting to get frustrated with them, they shut down. And their independence of just wanting to hang out with you but not necessarily "work for you" makes it frustrating.

This may be the first dog that I won't be able to train.

So I'm focusing instead on building a friendship with her. If I can get her to bond with me, hopefully she will want to listen to me, and then I can establish rules with her. (She also counter-surfs--she is so tall.) If I can do this, I can hopefully encourage her new owners to just build a good relationship with her and hopefully just go from there.

So that is what I've been doing lately. Here is  short 2 minute video if you want to see a Greyhound run!



In other news, (not quite as interesting), Max's "lows" have been getting better. His doctor has switched his dose so that he's not getting as much insulin. Since then, he hasn't been having as many lows and there are some meals that he doesn't even need to dose for--which he loves!

I found out that his school is not teaching him any math (Max says he and the teachers decided to "give it up") which I can't really talk about because it makes me too upset. He still doesn't know how to multiply or divide. They were supposed to work on counting carbs with him but apparently they don't have time.

So this is something I'm trying to work on with him. He uses his calculator which still isn't like doing the "real" math, but for now, I'm letting him use the calculator. We write out what he wants to eat and then write out the carbs and then he adds it together. But I have to admit it feels like we're taking a step backwards; it takes a lot of time. Sometimes it doesn't feel worth it and I feel frustrated with how long it takes.

But what am I going to do--count his carbs forever? This is his disease, his body, so he's got to learn how to manage it.