DocsDoctor

Pop him on the lead and walk back down beside him, if there's room. Nice and slow and with lots of encouraging words, maybe even the odd treat? I have a very steep, narrow staircase here and both my chaps found up easier to learn than down. But both were also so curious about exploring that they learnt both on the first day.

Welcome to GT! That is not a mix I have ever come across - we have a lot of lurchers* here in the UK but the most usual cross is greyhound and collie. German Shepherds can be lovely but I am afraid I have also met some problem ones round here, made dog-aggressive by their numpty owners. They do seem a bit nervous by temperament, so need careful handling and socialisation. Nothing you couldn't handle if you were sensible, I'm sure. If she has a narrow greyhound-shaped head and neck, a Martingale will certainly be a good idea - much less easy to wriggle or back out of than a conventional collar. If you're in the US, I can't advise on food. Here in the UK https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/ is a good place to check out foods. * Lurcher= cross between a sighthound (greyhound, whippet etc) and another type of dog. There are also longdogs = cross between two breeds of sighthound.

The allaboutdogfood website John F mentions is a useful resource. I am going to put in a good word for Autarky's white fish and potato: https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/1633/autarky-adult-grain-free That is what I now feed Ken, who I moved onto a grain-free food after he was diagnosed with mucocutaneous lupus (an immune issue affecting the nail beds and nose) last summer. Autarky also do a grain free one with turkey and sweet potato, which we tried, but that didn't suit him so well. The cheapest place to buy it is normally Feedem: https://www.feedem.co.uk/dog-c1/dog-food-c2/adult-dog-food-c4/autarky-adult-tasty-white-fish-potato-dog-food-12kg-p21535 I see they do the Burgess one too.

Provided she's allowed on the train (might be worth checking? She would be in the UK) you'll be fine. I do it quite often with Ken, as I don't have a car. Try and find an area with a bit of free floorspace, if you can-as sarabz says an unoccupied wheelchair space is good--otherwise she should be good to stand.

So glad to hear the good news - the photo did look nasty!

I think smurfette makes a good point about needing to be be able to carry/ move the hound in an emergency. So far as the walking goes - my first greyhound was a big male (38 kilos) with a high prey drive. I am no strapping wench (5' 5") but once we had worked out what was likely to set him off we were fine. IMHO the key is being prepared, and it's also to do with how you walk - you need to be grounded, i.e. keep your centre of gravity in the right place, by walking properly - avoid high heels, keep your back straight back, etc. etc. And keep calm. And then you will be fine, even with a big dog trying to leap around. And if you don't? Then you may struggle, even with a small dog - I have seen plenty of silly women round here nearly being pulled over by spaniels, French bulldogs, even chihuahuas!

Is it on the point of his chest, i.e. where that would touch the ground if he assumed the sphinx position? Was he maybe previously kept in kennels and/or lying on concrete? Some kind of repeated, neglected trauma at that point could maybe result in a haemotoma? Add in some kind of infection as well and maybe then you would end up with the big scab? I have not seen anything quite like it - but my first greyhound arrived from kennels with a big, black and pink mark at that point - a build up of dirt and inflammation under the skin. We treated it by rubbing in sudocrem (UK medicated barrier cream, used for bed sores and nappy rash) until the outer layers of skin and dirt wore off. He also had callouses on his elbows which I am sure were from the same cause - those never really disappeared.

This is the one I use - no ads or fees, you can create an account but don't need to, and it is pretty simple to usehttps://postimages.org/

Glad she's so much better! We'd love to see a pic, I use postimage for posting those on here - nice and straightforward: https://postimages.org/

I am so sorry for your loss, but also so happy thinking of the good life Bruno and of course Bosco enjoyed together, with you. May they be remembering and celebrating that, as they run free together: :gh_run2

I'm so sorry. It's tough for you I know, but just think how lovely a life the pair of them had with you. Keep trudging on and in time the good memories will outweigh the loss. Run free Lady and Schnookie :gh_run2

I would also check another pad - the inner back one I think it is, next to your thumb. That also looks as if it might have something stuck in it on the photo - or it could just be surface dirt of course. .

I can tell you what our vets have been doing for Ken, if that helps. He had a recurrent problem with raw, infected nail beds which then spread to his nose - this was eventually diagnosed as mucocutaneous lupus. Initially he was placed on prednisolone to reduce inflammation, then additionally on a course of Atopica (immune suppressant) which will last for six months. His skin problems have cleared up nicely and meanwhile we are gradually reducing the pred. It is prescribed by weight and comes in tiny 5mg pills. Ken weighs around 30kg and was initially on 10 pills a day, split into 2 doses of 5 pills. After a month (and a local vet visit to inspect his paws and weigh him) we dropped that to 4 +3 , i.e. more or less three quarters of the initial dose. After a fortnight and another local vet visit, to half (3+2). Another fortnight, down to a 2+1. Then after another fortnight back to the dermatologist who described this as 'an anti-inflammatory dose'. She reduced it further, down to 2 + 1 every other day, for a month. We go back to the local vet this week at which point I expect it to drop to 1+1 every other day. He should be off it before we finish the Atopica, which is good because the dermatologist suggests trying other long-term solutions (vitamins, etc) while he is still on that. Prednisone and prednisolone (not quite the same thing but close) are commonly prescribed drugs. Personally I would be comfortable to work with any vet on a 'tapering-off' regime - all of them should be used to prescribing them, and to calculating a dose. That will vary according to the animal's weight, its condition, and the problem you are seeking to address. So it's understandable that your vet wants to see Iowa again before beginning to taper off the dose - and I would suspect it's too soon to be doing that, I think even when my previous dog was put on a shorter course of steroids for back pain that lasted a month at full strength. However, this really is not an area where I would attempt to second-guess such a regime myself - these are steroids, powerful drugs which should not be monkeyed about with. There are I gather as many dangers in coming off them quickly, as in taking them too long. By all means find another vet, if you can't work with the current one, but she is right to say that she needs to see Iowa to advise. Final tip: I found the little pills very fiddly to give until I started putting them into a dab of cream cheese on a dry treat - now Ken can't wait to take them!

She's lovely - and the two of them are very sweet together! Even without that L on the tattoo I'd put good money on her being six rather than eleven! But yes get the microchip checked out for added confirmation.

I agree with others that you need a diagnosis, but also wanted to add something else that might help once you have that - home visits from an appropriate specialist. My old dog, Doc, had a couple of compressed vertebrae in his lumbar region and associated nerve pain, and we found home visits from a qualified veterinary physiotherapist really helpful. She was very good at getting him to relax and would then massage him, manipulate him, and give him cold laser therapy. She also gave me exercises to do with him every day between visits - these were really helpful in maintaining muscle, though not I admit rebuilding it. It certainly gave him a couple of extra years of good-quality life. We found her via our greyhound rescue - she volunteered there, and had a greyhound of her own - but of course cleared this with the vet, who discussed Doc's issues with her and as I recall showed her his x-rays before she started visiting. I don't know where in the world you are and it may be that the practitioner you need will have some different name - but be careful about this because some 'qualifications' out there are not worth the paper they are written on. Here in the UK I would be very wary of anyone calling themselves a chiropractor or an osteopath, for instance, but it may be different where you are. So check with your vet!

Great! Yes we always love to see photos. Glad she's getting on so well with your lurcher. I've posted a recentish pic of Ken lounging next to my desk below so you can see all his grey bits:

Hi and welcome to Greytalk! Yes, some of the black greyhounds go grey very early. My Ken, also six, has lots of grey on his face already and also on his shoulders and front legs. I don't think this is anything to do with the wear and tear of racing, but down to genetics - I have heard it said for instance that it is often the case with descendants of Molotov, a successful American sire who was Ken's great-grandfather. On the other hand the wear and tear of racing does quite often lead to arthritis, in later years. Six seems young for that and it may be that she has some other issue - muscle or nerve pain created by an old racing injury, for instance, which is making her wince. I would recommend a thorough check over at the vet's, one with greyhound experience for preference. They are the best at spotting this kind of issue and others like a corn in a toe pad. Those can be difficult to spot but make walking miserable and again sometimes get misdiagnosed as arthritis. Ask them to check out her eyes and teeth too. Ex-racers often have pretty grotty teeth, partly down to what they are fed but also according to my vet because of their long jaws. I expect you are right about the paperwork getting mixed up and that she is six not eleven, but a final thought - could you have read the tattoos wrong? They can blur with age. Shining a torch from behind the ear is a good way to check. The first letter of the right ear gives the year of birth, for an Irish hound - see quote below (from the Kent Greyhound Rescue website): How old is my Greyhound?Irish dogs have 2 letters in the right ear and 3 letters in the left ear. The first letter of the tattoo in the right ear establishes the year your greyhound was born in. English Dogs VX 2013 UV 2012 TU 2011 ST 2010 RS 2009 QR 2008 PQ 2007 NP 2006 LM 2005 JKL 2004 HIJ 2003 DEH 2002 ABD 2001 ZA 2000 Irish Dogs R 2016 Q 2015 P 2014 N 2013 M 2012 L 2011 K 2010 J 2009 I 2008 H 2007 E 2006 D 2005 B 2004 A 2003 Z 2002 Y 2001

Welcome from London! Hope the lovely Lilly is settling in well - we'd love to see some pictures of her in due course!

If it is hollow you could also try poking something like peanut butter or cream cheese into it for her to lick out - may get her interested in chewing too.

Welcome home Jag - you all look so happy together, clearly an excellent match!

I am very sorry for your loss. He was such a handsome boy and you had cherished him so long and so well. Run free, dear Colin!

I am so sorry he had to leave you so soon. Your lovely tribute makes it clear both that he was a very special boy, and that he loved every minute of his time with you. Run free Bosco dear:

Yes - they're famous for it! Watch this, keeping an eye on the clock in the background!

I would encourage you to ask DH to walk her, groom her, and most of all feed her some of the time. All those are things that will encourage her to think of him as another caregiver, who is competent to look after her in your absence.

Doc, another big boy, used to do this to begin with. Instead we settled on him grabbing one of his soft toys - usually his favourite big teddy bear - and running around with that. Much safer and very cute to watch Ken is much more polite and just stands there beaming and swishing his splendid long black tail