HJsM

**shyly waves hello*** I haven't logged on since........................... ?2010?? Sumpin' like that?! YIKES!!! First, I was shocked my profile was still here (thanks for not icing me!!!!) Second, I couldn't even remember what my stuff looked like...this is so I can see it...ha! So anyway, hey all "old friends" from way back machine (member since 2002!) and potential new friends Imma try to log on more often. I always enjoyed it here and learned a whole lot. I'm down to one hound right now, but he's a good one and I want to keep him in working order. See ya'll! Love from Howie/Raisin/Bull/Bea/Wyatt/Cyclone/Diaz' Mom! edit: actually may have logged on in 2013 because it looks like I updated one of their passings. Well, anyway....it's been a while!!!

Bull quivers a little. Howie was my champion tooth chatterer. Boy, do I miss that dog....

Lovely.

4 times a year here. They all just got their "Oct-Dec" baths.

I gave up on the sofa thing 10 years ago (approx. time of 1st greyhound), BUT...when I have had to keep them off due to being at someone else's house or trying to protect certain pieces of furniture, I "barricade" it with chairs or other things that they can't navigate around. I have an easy chair NOW that has a bar stool on it on a daily basis. I wish I had a more high-tech solution for you, but that is what works. They are comfort seeking missles. In fact, have had foster dogs STRAIGHT OFF THE TRACK who made a beeline for the sofa. There is something genetically ingrained in them about it!!!!! Egyptian sofas? Dunno!

Love that photo of the double greys, too. So beautiful.

Oh, Lisa...I am so sorry. What a wonderful girl. She is Wyatt's FULL sister, too (different litter, but same parents). All of the "watch dogs" were/are VERY, VERY special. You were lucky to have her love and she was lucky to have YOUR love. All of our sympathy to your family. Rest well, sweet doggie.

Ai yi yi..stairs. I have 14 up to my house and I thought we were going to be in total heck for a while there when I moved last year because my old dog, who had a weak back end to start with, did not want to participate in any form or fashion. I used "suitcase" with him at first, as others have mentioned which entailed a harness and we went VERY slow up and VERY slow down. He never really did get "down" that good before he passed away earlier this year, but he finally got brave on UP and could do that on his own. I walked him down on a leash down every day for 4 months, however. At a certain point, he was doing it without any kind of harness but he still did not have confidence without me there. Having given me 9 wonderful years of companionship, it was the least I could do. I think I walked everybody up or down on leash at least the first week, but fortunately the younger dogs "got it" really quick and were on their own within days. Even now, I do supervise both our downs and ups, especially on rainy days (not too many of them recently, but a few!) so nobody goes too fast and slips. Traction strips can be very helpful and you can get those at the hardware stores. Anything slippery is going to be scary (and also potentially dangerous) so try to fix it so it is not. Someone also suggested to me installing risers (which wasn't practical for me) but if worse comes to worse, not seeing the opening on open stairs might help. I think mostly it is a matter of being patient, encouraging, treats when they make it up or down and giving it time. You may have to suitcase escort for a bit and then make them THINK you are doing that by just simply escorting them down on leash (which is what I did with my old boy) and then eventually they will be more confident. Your doggie will get it.

Timely question. I am having problems too. Preventic it is going to be, it sounds like.

So very, very sorry. Loca, Howie, Bea, Raisin and everyone else are there to take care of him. Love you and thinking about you, friend.

Howie lost his hearing earlier this year. I didn't do anything in particular, but I had to go and get him if he wandered off into the yard when I called them to come in. I also tried to wake him gently. He didn't seem bothered by it.

I am so very sorry for your loss. Truly that boy deserved more time, but what he got was so special and good. The story makes me both mad and glad (that you adopted him). It is why I do not support blood donor programs and do not support in any way, shape,or form adoption groups who send greyhounds to blood donor programs...no matter how humane or short-term they might perceive them to be. This is about Doc, however, and thank you for giving him such a good home. Sympathy from another CTW mom.

My issue with Purina does not have to do with food snobbery. It has to do with the fact that Purina has been caught red-handed throwing any and every thing into the vat at their rendering plants - with euthanized animals being one of their number one ingredients - therefore your pets are eating phenobarbital which can not be good for them no matter how firm their poos are. That is the reason I have stayed away from Purina products over the years (P.S. not only did they get caught grinding up dead dogs and cats for the food, but many of them still had collars on. How disgusting can you get.). That said, glad it's working for you, but it's something to consider with all the choice that still remains.

That made me cry.... He has eyes of love in all his photos. I would like to do one of those at some point. Thanks for posting it.

Time and patience are the key words...have been mentioned in several previous posts so no new information. My joke about greyhounds is that they are looking for owners who have a library card and a Netflix queue and that kind of activity makes them pretty darn happy as lazy as they can be sometimes. I felt that way somewhat about my first greyhound..particularly as he would not sample any of the fabulous toys that I bought him in the first weeks. Suddenly, in about week 4 or so, I heard "squeeky squeeky squeeky" from the next room and VOILA....I had a playing fool on my hands after that. He ALWAYS enjoyed his walks, however, and that was good enough for the moment. All this to say that his personality slowly emerged and I found out I had a smart/goofy/loving dog on my hands who went on to get his CGC and accompany me on all kinds of adventures. He's 13.7 now and we are still having a good time after almost 10 year. Your doggie will get there with time, too ./

Best wishes. I'm sure she'll be fine. Clean mouth = better quality of life!

Pupdate and Brag: It's now been 2 months since we moved in and YESTERDAY....he walked DOWN the stairs ALL BY HIMSELF (Howie). TWICE!! All ye who move to a house with stairs..do not lose hope! Be patient (pretty much unlike me ). THEY DO GET IT EVENTUALLY! yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!! p.s. shortly after we moved in I put him on a pulsing schedule of Sam-E, baby aspirin and Glucosamine. I think all that has helped some mild stiffness tremendously. He's 13 and 5 months and looking great.

Sounds to me like the first vet didn't understand Greyhound levels AT ALL and your other vet was trying to smooth things over to cover for the lack of knowledge of the first vet. If this is the case, they should have just admitted to you that the first one was not comparing apples to apples. All in all, it might be time for a change if you can.

Howie is missing a middle toe front right. He raced after it was amputated (AA). They took it all and left just the pad and he has had no problems with it.

such a cool dog.

I, too, got to meet them this past October and see the dogs perform. It was a highlight of my time as a Greyhound enthusiast and owner. I'm so very sorry for Mr. Gilley's loss and she will be missed by all.

I hate that every single one of my Greytalk friends from when we all adopted around the same time are starting to lose their dogs. The late 90s "models" are the best , but old age is a b i t c h and catching up with all of us . Thanks for loving that boy and I am so very sorry for your loss. Love from Lynn, Howie (97), Bull, and Baby Wyatt

Sounds exactly like what happened to Wyatt. Unfortunately,my vet was never able to diagnose something and the only specific thing he could get NEAR was MAYBE addison's disease. At first, we suspected kidney failure and possible PLE, but just like Jabari, the bloodwork looked semi-ok. His symptoms were peeing HUGE amounts at once and wasting (lost so much he got dangerously close to 52 pounds at one point on a frame that should carry around 78). They did find large amounts of protein in his urine which was why PLE was suspected and why he was losing weight. The vet remained very confounded, however, due to the bloodwork never leading him in any definitive direction. At one point, I thought he was going to die that very day. The vet put him on 20 mg of pred and miraculously, he made a turn around, got his appetite back and started gaining weight. We decreased that to the point that he is now on 5 mg indefinitely. He's doing fine now. Normal appetite, back to a good weight and seems to pee about the right amount now. I don't necessarily love that he is on pred, but after the next bloodwork round, we may be able to think about weaning him off of it. This was not helpful, but it was just to tell you some possible things to look for.

Well, you know my recent story REAL WELL and Howie is now going up unassisted. He goes down on a leash WITHOUT a harness now but that is more mental. He could do it on his own, but he needs me there for confidence. It took about 3 weeks for us to get to that point. The other two "got it" within 2 days. I don't think I assisted either of them but maybe once for Bull and twice for Wyatt. Get the weather all I mentioned if you can and I think it will be ok. Look..you know how stubborn and neurotic Howie can be...if he can, yours are a snap. LOL! And yes, bring them here in March and we will practice. They can watch mine and I bet that is all it takes.

We used amoxy in the kennel. 500 mg.