DocsDoctor
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What a greyt article - thanks for posting it!
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I am so happy to read your update, that sounds like a really good way forward. Take some time for yourself, and hopefully everything will fall into place.
Ken the greyhound and I wish both you and Luna your best possible futures - whether that turns out to be apart, or once more together.
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Don't panic! Everything is very new to them still. I reckon it takes about a month for a dog who has only ever lived in kennels to begin to relax and understand domestic life is their new normal. Then they can settle and grow in confidence and you see new traits of their character emerging. It's lovely to watch but the early stages can be worrisome especially if you've not had greyhounds before!
Some of what you are seeing will be left over from their kennel routine, where they were used to being put to bed in the early evening and got up again early in the morning. I think you can safely dispense with the evening walk, just push them out into the garden for a loo break last thing. The night interruptions I dealt with by getting up, silently letting the dog out for a break, then back to bed for both of us - no other interaction. Both mine soon adapted to the new routine, but other people on here have needed to do more complicated but still manageable things like setting an alarm clock, a little before the time the dog was waking, doing the "silent break and back to bed" thing, and then setting the alarm clock a bit later the next night, and so on. Other things to consider is whether they could be disturbing you because they are feeling cold, or hungry. If the former, a housecoat/ pyjamas [yes really! they are a thing]/ extra blankets would help. If the latter, try shifting dinner later.
The following you around will probably diminish as they gain in confidence, though boys tend to be more velcro by nature. You can encourage this by putting their beds somewhere where they can see what's going on and rewarding or just praising them for settling on them. Also - are you going out and leaving them on their own at all at the moment? If not, please do - the sooner you start, the sooner this too becomes part of their new normal. My first guy, Doc, found this the hardest thing to adapt to which I could understand because in kennels there'd always be other dogs around. Your two will have each other for company, so it should be easier. Start with just short times - even just out to the post box - don't make a big deal of it, but do give them a nice treat each to settle in with before you go. Make sure you do this every day, and build up the time in increments.
Yes toys only while you are around if she is swallowing them. Then you and she can lark around with them, not all greyhounds "get" the idea of toys but it is worth trying to encourage her. Again, don't forget that this is all new to her, she may never have seen toys before.
Food - try getting a bag of porridge oat flakes from the supermarket and sprinkling a tablespoon or so on each meal, this should firm up the poos. That said after a month or so when they are settled in you can always try feeding something different, Wagg is readily available I know but contains a lot of fillers which means a lot of poo. And again lots of tinned foods contain weird colourings and sugars and other additives which again can mean runny tums. I don't feed any now but Butcher's Tripe - original tripe loaf recipe is a decent tinned food without additional gunk. This is a useful site for analysing what's in the various UK foods: https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/
That'll do to be getting on with - hopefully others will chime in! And I'm sure we'd all enjoy seeing photos of the two of them - what are they called?
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Could just be something like a blocked sebaceous cyst, could also be something that needs to come off. Personally I would ask the vet to take a look at it, especially if it is feeling sore.
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The very best of luck with finding the right new home for Luna - this must have been such a tough decision to reach, but I can see from all you write just how carefully, responsibly and lovingly you have reached it. Hopefully you will now find the right rescue group to help, not too far away.
There is a saying in healthcare that in a crisis you "must put your own oxygen mask on before attempting to help others" - that's where you're at right now. You're stressed yourself and Luna's picking up on that, and it's reached the point where you're making each other unhappy....
For what it's worth, I'm a fellow-Aspie - self-diagnosed, at the grand old age of 58. I'm in a pretty good place these days, but can certainly identify with much of what you write. Luckily my greyhounds have both been confident uncomplicated chaps who helped me get out and about - but I doubt I could have coped myself with a nervous girl like Luna.
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Good boy Mully!
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Very good,
the housecoat will help! Yes I suspect if he is getting up multiple times in the night to shake himself, as opposed to once or twice, he is feeling the cold. It's great he's got Bryn as well as you to show him the ropes as he settles in. After the first month or so he will know what his new life is all about and probably begin to get quite cheeky! Meanwhile I'm sure everyone on here would love to see a photo of them together if you can work out how to post one!
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Where does he sleep? Could you have him on his bed in your room? This doesn't have to be for ever - both my guys started out sleeping in my room for the first few weeks, and then happily graduated to a bed in the back bedroom. It reassured them and helped them bond with me as they settled in to their new life. Don't forget, for all their lives these dogs have lived with other dogs around. Plus you'd hear him getting up and be able to whisk him outside.
Also - is he warm enough? Here in London Ken has been wearing his fleece housecoat these last few nights, after the heating goes off - we had a hard frost last night. If Mully's having to get up and shake himself to keep warm, it may bring on the thought "may as well do something else while I am up!"
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He does sound like one of life's worriers, bless him! I think the trying too hard thing may be part of it by now, dogs are very quick to pick up on our worries.
Two more suggestions for you:
1) There may be something about the doorway itself that scares him - could he have slipped in the past on the doormat? Caught sight of his own reflection, and thought it was another dog? Been dazzled by a bright light? Can you try taking a look at his exit route through his eyes, as it were, and see if there are any physical adjustments - even temporary ones - you could make to help.
2) Does he have any local dog friends? Could you recruit one to help, by coming in and out through the door a few times and then maybe dogs + humans going for a nice walk together, to show him that the door is not scary and Good Things are waiting outside? If he doesn't have any local dog friends yet, could you ask the rescue he came from if they/ another local greyhound adopter could help out with this?
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Sounds good to me. I agree that as has already been said, if you have had her for a month this is probably her getting more comfortable with her new life, and seeing what boundaries she might be able to push. I can still remember at this stage coming into the living room and finding my old dog Doc sitting on the chaiselongue (forbidden territory because there wasn't room for both of us on it), looking very pleased with himself! I was hard put to it not to laugh but instead look stern and tell him no, this rule wasn't going to change.
I wonder if for the incident where your OH was lying on the ground, and also perhaps when he squealed at the table, she was simply trying to incite play? To complicate the issue, some greyhounds will also do "happy growling" - Doc was one of them. Usually it would be when he was being petted. It was a breathier sort of sound than a normal dog growl, more like a cat purring, and his eyes would look soft and loving, but nevertheless the first time he did so it gave me quite a turn!
Anyway, best play safe while you are all still getting to know each other.
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Sounds as if it could be accurate to me - Pilot is 32 generations back, on that record, Fleece only 27. Five generations into forty years allows eight years for each, which is feasible.
Indeed, sperm preservation would require reliable long-term refrigeration which only became available later in the nineteenth century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigeration
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I clicked on this because Ken had a recurrent wart/sore on his nose which turned out to be one of the symptoms of muco-cutaneous lupus.* But it didn't look like that, and his main symptom was raw, inflamed nailbeds, which I take it Vonnie doesn't have?
There are quite a few potential causes for a sore nose in a dog, including bacterial and fungal infections and even sunburn! Yes do get the vet to check it out, and maybe put some soothing cream on meanwhile - though that would need to be one it's safe for her to ingest, as inevitably she'll try to lick it off.
*Which once we had got it diagnosed by a veterinary dermatologist proved easy enough to treat, and keep at bay.
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Buddy! What a sweetheart!
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Those photos of Ken on Greyhound-Data I took when he was four and first came here - he is now eight and already very grey, not just his face but his legs and shoulders and all. From another past thread on Greytalk I gather that's often a characteristic of descendants of Molotov, a prolific American sire who was his grandfather.So these days I often call Ken my silver fox
If you look up my old dog Doc on greyhound-data - there's a link in my signature - he was Irish again and one of the comparatively few dogs descended from Wilby, rather than Pilot. He was a brindle and a quite stunningly handsome chap!
Both of them can count I'm Slippy amongst their ancestors.
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Nadine, I am so sorry. Please pass on my condolences to your sister, too.
Run free, pretty Fibi - taken much too soon
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I use a baby wipe, once a week; works well and is gentle. Neither of my two ever seemed to get very dirty ears! I tend to associate those with lowerslung dogs with dangling heavily furred ears, like spaniels.
Some UK greyhounds used to be very sensitive when first adopted about having their ears handled, because their tattoos would be checked whenever they raced, not that gently. Probably less of an issue now that they are all microchipped.
Doc in particular grew to l-o-o-v-e having his ears handled and would groan with pleasure as the babywipe did its work. Silly boy!
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Yes, please let us know how the poor chap's doing! I forgot to mention that last year Ken somehow managed to fracture a wrist bone; that needed heavy bandaging initially, which our vet insisted on checking and changing it every three days or so, for the same reasons as greysmom. We had I think two changes and then it came off, because she was worried that even with these precautions it was beginning to chafe him.
After that we were able to cope with no bandage, and me restricting exercise and preventing him jumping around. But whether that's feasible for Gré will depend on just which bone is broken, and how badly I guess.
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Can I second the recommendation to find a veterinary dermatologist? Ken suffered, off and on, with swollen and bleeding nailbeds for too long. Our vet and I initially thought they were just prone to infections and would put him on antibiotics, they would clear up and then after a few months flare up again. His nails never fell off but he also sometimes had a sore spot on his nose. Then the vet at the practice changed and the new one sent us to see their specialist dermatologist. She took scrapings but ended up diagnosing something called muco-cutaneous lupus by a process of elimination - as KF_in_Georgia says there are a cluster of conditions that can affect nails, and nailbeds. Our specialist says the muco-cutaneous lupus is one she has seen quite often in greyhounds and whippets here in the UK. The good news is, it's easy to treat - a short course of steroids to get his paws and nose back to normal, and now just twice-daily doses of nicotinamide (vitamin B3) and oxytetracycline (an antibiotic). Those aren't expensive, are simple to give as pills, and keep him in fine form.
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I wonder if applying manuka honey could help? That promotes granulation of open wounds and so speeds the healing process; it has antiseptic properties too. I'm just not sure how well it could work under a close, heavy dressing. Do discuss it with your vet; it was mine who put me onto its use originally.
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Is there a physical reason why his/ her feet are sensitive - e.g. allergy, infection? Or have they been roughly handled in the past?
With Ken I suspect it was a bit of both. I don't think he got the best of treatment while training/ racing - he came into the rescue with flat feet and bleeding and swollen nail-beds, it was thought as the result of neglect and infection. The nailbeds responded to antibiotics, but then kept on flaring up again after I adopted him. Eventually a dermatology specialist diagnosed muco-cutaneous lupus - his nose was also affected - which mercifully is easily kept under control with vitamin supplements and antibiotics.
Understandably therefore he was very sensitive about having his feet handled, and as he is a black dog with black nails I was also nervous about using clippers on those, as I had with Doc. I didn't think he would bite me - he is a sweet-tempered creature - but like you I felt it was key to build trust. So I actually left his nails alone for the first couple of months, then got a dremel, then we went through a process of desensitisation involving numerous treats. Sit on bed with him (in the evening = relaxed and sleepy after his dinner), touch feet, get him comfortable with lots of praise and treats. Accustom him to sound of dremel running, ditto. Introduce using the dremel, just a touch or so at first, more treats.
It took a while, and I tried not to stress about the state of his nails meanwhile. It probably helped that I needed to bathe his feet sometimes, when we thought the nailbed flareups were down to infections. Soon enough he began to associate me handling his feet with making him more comfortable, and was able to relax.
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My old dog Doc coursed and killed a squirrel once on a walk in our local park. The death was very quick - he grabbed it by the neck and shook it like one of his stuffed toys. That broke its neck and it died instantly I think, though it was still twitching a bit when I ran up myself. I think Trev probably did exactly the same with his rabbit. Like Trev Doc surrendered his rabbit to me straight away - didn't want to maul it or anything.
Like you, I told Doc off but was not actually cross with him - as you say, it's a basic instinct, reinforced by thousands of years of selective breeding. In a funny sort of way while sorry for the squirrel (a silly young one who kept running across the grass, instead of up a tree) I felt privileged to have seen that instinct kick in. Doc was so swift, and so effective, and of course so pleased with himself afterwards.
I think you can anticipate Trev wanting to check out that particular bush again on future walks for quite a while! But it sounds as if it may have been a largely opportunistic kill; how strong would you say his chase instinct is, in general? Some greyhounds have a much stronger one than others - Ken's is quite weak, compared to Doc's. But Ken too would grab and shake a rabbit or squirrel if he found one in a bush, I expect.
Even with Doc I was able to work on this; we had reached a point where I could just scan the horizon for squirrels on walks; if I saw them first I had time to say "Doc!" and get his attention before he went into chase mode. But that morning it was raining heavily, and he spotted it first.
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Such happy houndies, nothing like getting out and about again!
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She is looking up at you so hopefully in the second photo! Suggested caption: "So, I can keep this one, can't I?"
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what a sweetie! Welcome home, Cletus!
The very best of luck with finding the right new home for Luna - this must have been such a tough decision to reach, but I can see from all you write just how carefully, responsibly and lovingly you have reached it. Hopefully you will now find the right rescue group to help, not too far away.
the housecoat will help! Yes I suspect if he is getting up multiple times in the night to shake himself, as opposed to once or twice, he is feeling the cold. It's great he's got Bryn as well as you to show him the ropes as he settles in. After the first month or so he will know what his new life is all about and probably begin to get quite cheeky! Meanwhile I'm sure everyone on here would love to see a photo of them together if you can work out how to post one!
Buddy! What a sweetheart!
Nadine, I am so sorry. Please pass on my condolences to your sister, too.
She is looking up at you so hopefully in the second photo! Suggested caption: "So, I can keep this one, can't I?"
The future for adoption groups
in Everything else Greyhound
Posted
There is already a "show greyhound" type - registered with the Kennel Club in the UK (and the US equivalent) and shown at Crufts, etc. A greyhound called Primley Sceptre was actually the first Crufts supreme champion in 1928! KC greyhound breed description
They do look a bit different from the racing greyhounds, being "bred for elegance" - usually taller, with longer noses and flatter sides. Very few of them are bred compared to the racing type but they are, so far as I know, pretty healthy dogs.
Maybe their healthiness is down to them never having been that popular as pets. Often health problems can be down to unscrupulous or even just ignorant breeders jumping on a bandwagon, when a breed becomes high-profile - because one has won Crufts, or a film like 101 Dalmatians has come out, or a celebrity is a carrying one around in a handbag.