How did you come up with the idea for the PuppyCam?

Several years ago, I walked into my classroom and noticed half of the students crowded around my desk and the computer, making “ooh” and “aah” noises. I nudged my way in to see what all the fuss was about. Evidently, I had left the computer on overnight. I had hooked a webcam up to my computer so I could monitor the puppies from my work. There in front of the class were my a litter of six puppies — three male and three female — in their whelping box, nursing. Well one wasnt nursing and some of students were concerned. I had just left them at home. When they learned that this was actually a live video feed in real time, They were fascinatedand wowed.

The students fell in love with the puppies and began sending links to their friends. The link went “viral,” and suddenly millions of computers in more than sixty countries were tuned, showing the homegrown phenomenon that became known as the “puppycam”. Two of the puppies had already been bought as showdogs at the age of a day or two. Within 48 hours of the class seeing them, we found very nice pet situations for the other four puppies. And we began a waiting list for the next litter.

Modern times are stressful, bills, debt, $4 dollar gasoline, an out of control government; viewers claimed that watching the mom and puppies calmed them down, distracted them from their worries. One Psychologist emailed me and he said it “had an overall positive effect on people’s mental health.” The PuppyCam experience inspired several other breeders to set up their own webcams to start monitoring their dogs and puppies at home. Now you can find a puppy cam on pretty much any breed. Google it and see.

 Lee Miller

Whatever your education level, employment background, the language you speak, your religion, race, or political party, you can be moved and can chuckle at the antics of an Italian Greyhound puppy. Their vulnerability and charm, clumsy attempts to discover a world that can be dangerous. My nurturing instincts (nature has implanted deep in the genes of every male and female, child and grandparent), kicks in when the first puppy crawls out of the whelping box. At that time, I immediately start to worry about the electric cords, toys they might choke on, the other adult dogs that might harm them or play too rough with them.

And loving Italian Greyhound puppies is good for us! We live longer and take better care of ourselves if we have a puppy (eventually a dog) to care for also. Puppies bring us closer to our prehistoric, cave-man, animal needing selves. Raising an Italian Greyhound puppy can be one of the most rewarding experiences. Also, once that puppy becomes a full-grown dog, the bond you have created during those first year can solidify into the kind of relationship that will sustain you throughout your dog’s lifetime and beyond. Argos was an old hound dog raised as a puppy by Odysseus, in Homer’s The Odyssey. Living long past his expectancy (20 years), Argos couldn’t do much but sit around Odysseus’ palace and wait for his master’s return. Many long years passed, and most presumed Odysseus dead in a foreign land, but Argos continued to live, just barely, and wait for his master. One day: [A] hound that lay there raised his head and pricked up his ears, Argos, the hound of Odysseus. Recognizing his master’s approach from afar, Argos lifted his head, raised his old bones from the ground, let out a single whimper, and died. The dog lived 20 years, waiting on his master, BECAUSE Odysseus had raised him as a puppy.

One of my rules in life is that we must respect animals as the beings they are. Your Italian Greyhound puppy is a “future dog”. As much as you want a near-human friend, the Italian Greyhound puppy will never be that. Recognize and honoring its animal nature, and resist co-opting them into being our child. Babies are essentially helpless creatures for many months (years in fact), Italian Greyhound puppies come into this world as tiny little survivors. A three-day-old Italian Greyhound puppy will strive to assert its dominance over its siblings by pushing them away from the nipple. By pampering an Italian Greyhound puppy as if they were helpless babies — carrying them like purses, indulging them, not scolding them — we spoil their progress as a dog. You are probably going to nurture fear, anxiety, aggression, or dominance. We can condemn our Italian Greyhounds to lives of instability and stress, by making them humans. There is so much stress on humans, some can’t take it. How is a little Italian Greyhound puppy going to handle it? You need to take the Italian Greyhound out of the purse, get another Italian Greyhound puppy for him to “pack” (play) with, so he knows he is a dog. You won’t kill the Italian Greyhound if his feet touch the ground.

Italian Greyhounds generally don’t bark. However it is clearly genetic. Two (Quanah, Galveston) of our 18 IGs do bark at the postal or delivery van.  Others watch quietly.

Frankly, if you see a pack of IGs and they are all barking. That smells like a pet breeder.

They are breeding the wrong temperment clearly and probably some other wrong things too. You probably need to buy from a show breeder, more beautiful, more healthy and more IG, if you know what I mean?

Why buy an IG if they don’t look and act like an IG?

A breeders home is the very best place to go to learn about the breed, because every legitimate breeder likes to talk. With dogs barking and chaos, you can’t learn. The home environment should be quiet and calm, neat and tidy, despite the fact that there are puppies and a breeding pair there. If it is quiet, that’s an excellent sign.
If you go to check out a breeder and walk into chaos, with jumping, yelping, or nipping dogs all over the place, it isn’t a good sign.

Please remember that this is the environment in which your puppy had its first formative experiences. A dog raised in a chaotic environment will naturally absorb that unstable energy from the moment it is born.

If they tell you that is just the way they are…. she means “that is the way her dogs are.” It isn’t the breed, it is a lack of discipline.

A beter question is, “How long will my new puppy live?”

It isn’t about “cute” it is about life long “responsibility”.

I see far too many humans falling in love with a tiny puppy’s cuteness (a maternal instinct) but eventually losing interest in the full grown dog. As a puppy you have raised the dogs expectations. You let the puppy live inside, eat yummy puppy food, take the puppy to the vet often.

Then the dog is left outside, fed the cheapest grain based dog food, and never sees a vet. But the dog still hopes. He sits by the door hoping to come inside. They sit all day hoping to get back in graces so he can actually have a meat based dog food again. They secretly wish they just get in the car, even if they are going to a vet. “It is okay if you take me to the vet, even if they are going to give me a shot. Actually, please give me a shot. I just want to go.”

If you buy a puppy, you take on a very important responsibility for that dog’s lifelong well-being. Owning a dog should be a joyful experience, not a stressful one. One thing is for certain, it is a lifelong experience.

Pick a neutral territory if you can.

Pick up the Italian Greyhound puppy by the back of his neck and support his butt with the other hand. When you put him down, put one hand on the scruff of his neck and put only his rear feet on the ground.

That gesture should immediately send the Italian Greyhound puppy into a relaxed state. Back feet on the ground, front feet up in the air, you are holding him up by the back of his neck. As the other dog(s) gathers around, bringing him to the ground. His tail might be partially between his legs, if so pick up his front feet, until he relaxes. Let the other dogs sniff him, they should accept him, if he is relaxed.

Within a few minutes, the Italian Greyhound puppy will be happily and confidently exploring his new environment.

Millions of years of evolution have already taught your Italian Greyhound puppy how to behave. You have to realize that nature has already destined it to become a pack animal. Pups are programmed by their DNA to absorb the rules, boundaries, and limitations of the societies (packs) they live in.
Like the pack leader, if you clearly communicate your pack’s (family’s) rules to the Italian Greyhound puppy from day one, you can mold a pack (family) member that will respect, trust, and bond with you. Like children, Italian Greyhound puppies are constantly observing, exploring, and working to figure out how they fit into the pack and the world around them. They want to fit in the right place, you just have to allow that.

Dogs descended from wolves, and deep within the psyche of your dog lies instincts they have retained from their wild ancestors. In order to live with and communicate with your Italian Greyhound you need to understand why you must maintain Alpha position in the “pack.” Research that… and get back with me.