By Cindy Hall

As the President of Canine Causes, I wish to extend to the Needlenose Crew volunteers wishes for much happiness in the new millennium. 

Also, thanks for a much-welcomed hand in the foster/ adoption program we initiated. We are on our 18th foster dog and have experienced some great satisfaction in the program. Of particular note is Speedy ll, our injured greyhound, who was hobbling along on 3.2 legs for the past 2 years. He is now fixed and is mending in a nice foster home until we can find him a permanent family. 

The Show and Tells and other events put on by your group have brought together some wonderful people who want to adopt a greyhound and we have been welcome to show our dogs along with other greyhound organizations. 

We consider ourselves another happy beneficiary of the Needlenose Crew’s wonderful work, and this is due primarily to Carole Oglesbee who is association and many more happy placements.

By Carole Oglesbee

Last month Penelope Tran wrote an article about trying to move with greyhounds in tow. Since then we have run across a wonderful organization which can certainly provide some help in this area. The company is Homewardbound and their goal is to provide Southern California dog and cat owners with rental options, which will welcome our companions. 

The company charges $65.00 for a lifetime membership. They provide a current listing of rentals available in the county of your choice as well as a telephone number to call for daily updates. 

The legwork is up to you, but the listing can get you started in the right direction. So if you are in the market for a new rental home, call 800 655-2014 or 323 790-7301 and give this idea a try. 

We would love to hear from anyone who tries the service. Let us know how well it worked out for you, and we’ll pass on your evaluations to those folks who call us for help in the future.

By Mike Gallas

You make yourself a sandwich and leave it on the counter unattended for a couple of minutes. Upon returning, you notice that the sandwich is missing, and your beloved greyhound is standing by with a big smile on his face. Sound familiar? Then you may be dealing with a counter surfer! 

Counter surfing is a "greyhoundism" for stealing food or other items from counters tabletops or other seemingly out of the way places. 

Counter surfing is often a problem for those of us with greys because our dogs are so long of limb. The average greyhound is well over five feet tall when standing up right, making seemingly out of reach places vulnerable to attack. 

So, how does one deal with a counter surfer? The short answer to this is simply to keep things out of reach until the behavior extinguishes itself. This means keeping all temptations (i.e. food) behind closed doors. This also means you may have to make certain areas of the house out of bounds to your greys. For example, the kitchen holds so many temptations that it may be more than the most disciplined dog can stand. It is a virtual dog heaven full of goodies that, if found, re-enforce theft behavior. Yet the kitchen may also contain many other potentially dangerous substances such as cleaning solvents and various medications. 

I am of the opinion that a dog has no reason to be in the kitchen. The possibility of an accident happening is much greater here than in any other room in the house. A dog can easily be fed or otherwise tended to in another area. If the dog is consistently corrected for venturing into this "out-of-bounds" area and praised when he is returned to "his space", he will quickly learn to wait within his boundaries. It is also important to take full advantage when your dog is caught in the act of stealing. This is the time to react to the situation with a long dramatic NO!! If it is possible, remove the stolen item. 

For dogs that are very food motivated (i.e. chow hounds), it is extremely important that the food is taken away from them. One must be certain that unattended food is truly out of reach of the dogs. The gratification from the food is often a more powerful re-enforcer than any punishment. This can make counter surfing a tough habit to break. Again, making sure food is out of reach is the best course of action. 

There are a couple of other methods for correcting the counter surfer that I will mention briefly. The main objective in both of them is to make counter surfing so risky and unattractive that the dog gives up. The first is the Set-Up. This method involves tempting the dog by leaving some attractive morsel within reach but in an out-of-bounds area (i.e. the edge of a counter in the kitchen). The trainer is nearby but out of sight. As soon as the dog grabs the bait the trainer jumps out to correct the dog and regain the bait. In human terms this would be a classic entrapment scenario. Remember that this may not always work. If the dog gobbles down the bait before it can taken from him this exercise may backfire. It can then reinforce rather than extinguish the behavior. The second method is a bit more high tech. Empty cans are stacked in a pyramid fashion with a loop of string around the bottom row. The bait of choice is tied to the string and left within the dog’s reach. The dog grabs the bait and upsets the stack of cans, which fall with a crash. The dog runs for cover and in so doing learns a lesson. The same backfire warning applies here as in the first method. Both of these methods have had some positive results when done properly. Yet, I would only use them for truly problem dogs. 

In most cases, keeping temptations out of reach and zoning appropriate areas for the dog to occupy is what is really necessary and successful.

By Eric A. Shelman

Bonding with a new pet is very important for most people. It's always a concern that the dog will fall into a tight relationship with one person and the other may feel as if they don't even have a dog. I know what that's like; when I first met Linda, she had a Chihuahua mix that wouldn't have given me the time of day even if she'd had a watch. So when we decided to adopt a greyhound, I wanted to make sure this dog bonded to me. I didn't mind if the dog bonded to Linda, too, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't entirely ignored. 

It's not just an issue of companionship, but an issue of safety. If the dog ignores you, and somehow gets loose, it may not respond to your commands. So, the stage was set. Linda swore she would do what she could, but said that dogs just naturally bonded to her. Her hands were tied, but she would assist however she could. 

Well, I read books on alpha training and thought I'd apply what I learned. One thing I did right away was to institute nightly "rubdowns" for Cassie. I'd bring her over to me and do some gentle muzzle handling, showing that I had "control" over her. I then rubbed her body from the tip of her tail, her back, her stomach, her shoulders, legs, neck, ears, and face. I would do this nightly for about two to five minutes. 

I also did most of the feeding early on, and we walked her together. Well, how did my efforts pay off? Cassie is equally bonded to both Linda and me. It is the first dog Linda has ever had that wasn't strictly "her" dog. Cassie comes to me every night now, steps up on the couch between my legs, and buries her head in my chest. She stands there, letting me know she's waiting for her "rubbins", and I dutifully give them out. 

So, I guess I would say that if you want to make sure the dog bonds to more than one person, try doing what I did. It worked great, and makes for a happy household.