Gryffenne

All I know is this: Sammi was having a terrible time last summer with itching, scratching and biting at herself. Nothing was toning it down for her. Tried corn, rice and oatmeal based kibbles. Tried benadryl. Tried spray lotions for skin irritations. Washed everything she could touch. nada. We do not have a chest freezer or the space for one at this house, so Raw is not an option in this small town as I would not be able to buy in bulk to offset the cost of it. Within days of trying grain free, the itching, biting and scratching stopped & her poops firmed up again. Tried her briefly back on grain based kibble once "allergy season" was over and within hours she was itching again. *shrugs* fad or not, it works for her until we move and I can start up Raw again.

I recently picked up a small container of it to try and WOW... LOVE IT! I no need to track down where to buy larger containers of it as this one is almost gone. I have tried in Sammi's meals (she licks the bowl clean), on my skin, I've tasted it (yum!) and I even used it in place of butter on steamed broccoli and cauliflower. The kids loved it, too. Didn't work out so great in my coffee tho. Only thing I haven't tried it on is my hair. When I get a larger container of it, I will.

OMG Stormaggedon for a Husky would rock! (We have 2 huskies here as well as my grey) BIG DW fans here! In fact, I have a character in a game I play (WoW) that is named Rìversong I also have another one, as a nod to the classic Who, named Romaná In fact, both names are at the top of the list for the next female pet I bring home My 10 yr old son wanted to um... "paint" Sammi silver for Halloween so she would be K9 to his Doctor, but we had difficulties piecing together his outfit to his satisfaction. (And I don't think pet dye came in silver anyways )

^^^ This. This so much. You didn't fail her, your boy, or your family. I know how that guilt feels. Trust me, I do. What she needs is beyond what you could offer her in your home, because there are others depending on you for their safety as well. After a complete medical and behavioral evaluation, if nothing shows up wonky, I am guessing that the best home for her is with adults with no children or other pets that can handle a nutbar. (I have a feeling that after my son is grown, I am going to be one of those homes but right now, I have him to think of first) It will get better.

When Sammi first came home, I had to double lead and it was awkward. When I was out at my parents' showing her off, my dad observed the double lead and went out to the horse barn and grabbed the nylon "lunge line" that we used to use with the horses. I also used a harness with Sammi at that time.

Someone needs to make this boy a dark blue collar with little fezzes all over it and a bowtie on the front!!! And while they're at it, if they make a dark blue one with TARDS's on it I would buy it in a heartbeat for Sammi!

Good thoughts & prayers heading your way

The Doctor Is his TARDIS Blue bed bigger on the inside?

First full day on the Rimadyl. So far, nothing too notable. Well, except for the fact she knows what a heating pad is and will seek it out.(Roommate has been using one on her legs on the couch and every time she would get up, Sammi would jump on the couch, pull the fleece blanket away to uncover the heating pad and plop down on it, and this is after failed attempts to pull it off of her with her foot on the cord ) ETA~ Is a side effect of the drug, gas? Wheewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!

Definitely writing all these suggestions down in her journal Here's an interesting question: Can she use a heating pad safely? The reason I ask, is that I was sitting at my desk with a heating pad on my abdomen (PMDD level cramping) and got up for a few minutes to help my roommate's daughter with her math homework. I hung the pad over the arm of my chair which has Sammi's bed right next to it, and then the blanket over the heating pad(Sammi was on the couch at the time). When I sat back down, she moved to her bed while I was situating myself. I didnt think much of it, her nesting my blanket and her bed up like she always does Until I went to grab my heating pad and remembered it was under that blanket. I look over and by now Sammi has herself arranged so that the heating pad is behind her, along her spine. I grab it and she gives me the most pitiful stare. So, being a sucker, I turn it on the loweest setting and gently drape it to hit her spine and the hock in question (it's a large heating pad ) and used my sweatshirt to lightly weigh it enough to keep it in place for her. As I was writing this, she sighed contentedly twice and snuggled further into her little nest.

She was eating a total of 3 cups in a day, plus a bedtime biscuit (to shut her up so she will sleep ) Going to try cutting her back to 1/2 cup am & pm and keeping lunch at 1c to see if that helps (and instead of a whole bedtime biscuit, 1/2 of one). When she has her Xrays in 2 weeks will get her weighed again and see how that works out.

We didn't discuss LSS directly, but he did ask me if her foot ever did that on it's own that I was aware of. Except for the 2 times on the 2nd where it was like her foot fell asleep, the only other times I have seen her foot fold under and her stay like that was when it's manipulated to do it- vet's office, me at home. The X-Rays are the first step in the path to narrowing down what is causing the propriception issues. There is something up with that part of her spine above her kidneys, he wants to see what is there and then work his way up. I'll be definitely taking notes on everything suggested!

Warning, this is going to be long. Backstory leading up to vet visit: This past summer, Sammi got pretty sick, we never actually ever figured out what from-assumed diet/food, but the new vet at the clinic, a grey savy one out of Ohio, did Acupuncture and aqua-puncture on her. One spot specifically that he noticed was causing problems was along her spine, above her kidneys. This is also when she started on TOTW Salmon and went grain free. It cleared up her tummy, her itching and everything else. So she stayed on it mostly. We've tried introducing her back onto what everyone else eats after allergy season was over, and each time she got to the 60/40 blend of the 2 foods, the itching started. So she is staying grain free until I can get a chest freezer and put her back on Raw. So, last week, Sammi started having issues. I posted this on Feb 1 in another thread: Well, I gave her the Gas-X and her panting slowed a bit, but still present on and off. The next day, tho... Since I hadn't slept well in ... well, a while, due to me being sick, then my son, then worrying about Sammi. To top it off, my joints have been killing me since I was sick. So I decided to take advantage of a kid free house and indulge in a nap with Sammi. Woke up an hour later when she hopped off the bed and screamed her head off I jumped off the bed and landed on my knees next to her-forgetting about my pain for the time being, will deal with my ticked off knees later. She was holding up her back leg -the one that was broken 6 yrs ago that ended her career and started her retirement- and whimpering. I check her nails, thinking that they might have gotten caught in my afghan. All nails intact. Checked joints/mobility. Normal range of motion. Felt up by her hips and down her thigh, massaging as I go feeling for any strain/pain/anything to clue me into what on Earth just happened. Well, after a few minutes of this, she let me put her foot down on the floor, but she is holding it pretty limp. In fact, her foot touched the ground and the toes/foot curled under. She stood like that for a couple seconds and then corrected her foot and put full weight on it. I wondered if maybe her leg fell asleep on her. Nap's over, we continue on with our day. That evening, as she hopped off of the couch, the same thing occurred. The panting has also been happening on and off this day, so now I am concerned that it isn't heat or gas, it's pain causing her panting. I check the house and NO baby aspirin is left anywhere. All we have are meds that contain Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen and whatever the Norco's are comprised of. I run to the store and grab canine med/large breed Aspirin (link below shows brand and strength), see that her preferred recipe of TOTW is in, she wasn't really enthusiastic about the one she was eating because they were out of her Salmon, and also a stronger Gluco/Chon blend made for senior dogs, since she was lvl2, I upgraded her to lvl 3: This stuff is 300mg?! I don't handle aspirin very well, so I am unfamiliar with doses of it, since I do not take it and neither does my son. I admit to being guilty of assuming it was okay for dogs at that strength because it was made for dogs and going by the weight guide, meaning she took 2 of them. I already feel guilty enough over that disaster, I only included it, and the link, so others don't make that same mistake. AS it is, the vet told me today that because of the aspirin, he isn't concerned much about Thrombus now. The next morning (Friday) she took another dose of 2 pills. No panting all day, no issues apparent with her leg. (tho, later I discovered that I was lucky she didn't just fall over from all the aspirin.)Her appetite is back in full bloom, she is happy, content and being herself. That night, I happened to catch a Bayer commercial on TV and caught the dosage amount... and then I freaked out. :eek Ran to the kitchen and checked the canine aspirin, praying that it said 30mg, not 300. Call the vet. He almost falls out of his chair when he heard she was getting 600mg. Says no more aspirin until Saturday evening, and then, no more than 1/2 of a pill and if needed. Also, as much water as she wants to drink, she can have. (Which she gets access to 24/7 anyways) We're to call him back Monday morning with an update. Weekend passes uneventfully, yes she was panting Sat night, so half a pill was hers with dinner, and each consecutive dinner until last night. We called Monday and he felt that it wasn't urgent, so arranges a vet appointment for today. Still with me? okay, now that the backstory is done, here is what was discovered today: I have been worried sick, now for almost a week. As I am sure you can guess what word was running through my head the past week, as it was probably running through most of your minds while reading this far. In fact, after listening to my rundown of what happened with her leg, and checking it (slight swelling around the affected hock) the vet looked up at me and stated, "You can breathe, Cancer is at the bottom of my list right now." *whoooosh!* and I release the breath that I think I was holding for 7 days. We discuss the usual suspect, Arthritis. He says, that if I want peace of mind that he can have her scheduled for an xray of the leg to be sure that there is nothing there. He would like one anyways because I couldn't recall if pins were put in or not. I say yes, that I would like that very much. And then I ask if he could check her hips as well, since she has had issues on the hardwood floors where she's done a wishbone-style splits with her back legs a few times. That got his attention very quickly. He checks her hips out, and then her spine. That same spot where she had issues this summer is problematic today. She tried wiggling away, ducking, squatting, anything to get away every time he checked that spot. Then he does a test with her feet. Remember when I said that her foot touched down, toes first, and curled and she stood there for a moment? He did the same thing to her and she stood like that for about 10 seconds before correcting it herself. Not Normal. It is a Proprioceptive issue- she isn't aware, fully, of her back legs/feet. (I recreated it at home and took a picture. Please ignore the dog hair, I think the huskies were WWE style wrestling while we were at the vets ) (trying to remember all the correct terms here, my apologies if I butchered them)So now he is concerned about a peripheral neuropathic issue and/or arthritis in/on/around her spinal cord causing it. He did mention, that thanks to my idiocy with the Aspirin, as of right now, he is not too concerned about Thrombus (Blood clots) causing the leg issues. Also discovered that, unlike other greys from the food threads that have lsot weight on TOTW, Sammi did not lose weight. She gained it. Lil porker went from 78 to 89 pounds also what could have acerbated problem. So now, she is first, on a diet, and second, she is on Novox (gen. Rimadyl) starting tomorrow night- 48 hours after the last dose of Aspirin. Every few days I am to do the foot test on her and also to try to set up an obstacle course for her (thinking of letting the kids dig out DS's old Thomas trains & tracks and let them have a track building party in the living room) to see if there is any improvement to her proprioception. On the 23rd she goes in for her xrays. (ETA~ Also remaining on her Gluc/Chon blend as well) So... for anyone that made it all the way through this novel... any advice? Thoughts? Anyone else been through this before? Thank you for any help and for reading all of this. Took me 2 hours to write it all out. I don't think I am fully relaxed yet, even tho the C word is not a concern of the vet's atm, and at the bottom of his list. I don't think I will cross it off my list until I see the xrays.

I just found out that a good friend's grey, Expo, went to the bridge on January 20th. We used to joke that he was Sammi's bf.

Sammi also has started panting. yesterday was unseasonably warm, and she felt hot, so I cooled the house off for her, since I was overheating until I changed into a tee shirt & scrub pants from my fleece. Drinking lots of water, too. Her stools were normal, so were her pee breaks. No straining either time. No attempts to vomit. She ate b'fast and lunch fine, turned her nose up at dinner. THAT is very strange for her, as she is extremely food motivated. She ate a piece of cheese I handed her tho, so thought maybe she just doesn't like that dog food, or if she was feeling under the weather, didn't feel like eating. No pacing. Well, unless you consider getting up from one sleeping spot and going to get a drink of water then coming over to me to pant on me while I pet her and then laying back down again to be pacing,, that is her normal "in between napping spots" routine. Bedtime came with her accepting her bedtime biscuit less than enthusiastically, but still plopped down on her bed in my room with it like every night. This morning, ate half of her b'fast, normal potty break of 1 & 2, and started up her panting again. House is NOT hot, I am chilled in my tee shirt. No GSODS, tensing, pulling away or any signs of pain/discomfort when I felt her abdomen and tuck area. Her abdomen feels a bit firm, so heading out to grab some Gas-X for her. Her only signs of issues are: slightly firm tummy, not rock hard. On and off panting. Slightly above normal water consumption. Slightly off on her food. Warm between her front legs/armpits areas. Now, as an added question, I know that dogs can catch some Upper Resp bugs from us, can the catch other ones? We had a nasty stomach bug go through this house in the past 2 weeks. When i had it, i had body aches, stomach/lower abdomen pain (like PMDD cramps, but just above where those normally radiate from) excessive thirst, slight fever, no appetite. I only had the human D for 1 day of it. Basically everything that all of us that got the bug had, she's displaying.

Sammi loves doing this... especially when I am standing behind and to the side of her... and wearing sandals.

So does Sammi. She hears anything that has the same brakes as a school bus within a 4 block radius of this house and her face is glued to the front window looking for her boy (My DS) She also can be up in one of the bedrooms and hear someone downstairs, across the house, in the kitchen grabbing the peanut butter jar. Just grabbing it, not setting it down. By time you turn around to put it on the counter, she is right there waiting.

Michigan here as well. Sammi turned 9 in December. She's always been a Diva, tho. Can't stand extreme humid heat in the summer, doesn't like the extreme cold in the winter. She loves her summertime's A/C & winter wardrobe As for her feet, she loathes "boots" so I use toddler socks that my son has outgrown to cover her feet in the sub temps (you know, when it's so cold the snow squeaks?) Just toss em in the dirty laundry or in with the towels and grab another pair from her box. Those socks are also great for foot injury covers as well, since she knows how to unwrap vet wrap, so a pair is also in the first aid kit as well.

1 grey & 2 huskies here. Yes, they are most definitely a pack.

If Sammi even has one taste of any pork product, Homeland Security is at the door inquiring about our weapon of biological warfare. Her gas will dissolve paint, disintegrate your nose hairs and melt your eyeballs.

This reminded me of another ever changing medical stance. Sleeping babies & SIDS. When I was a baby, tummy sleeping was "best". Then as I got older and started babysitting, tummy sleeping was bad and back sleeping was "best". When I had my son 10 yrs ago, using the baby taco thingamajig was "best" and the other 2 were bad. No matter how much I tried getting my son to sleep on his side in that taco, he kept moving to his tummy, head turned to the side. I felt like a bad mommy because I couldn't get my son to sleep how was "best". Then I realized the way he was preferring was best for him because he slept as soundly as a newborn can in that position. He was strong enough to lift his head and there was no plush/fluffy stuff by his head to faceplant in. The only way I would NOT let him sleep was flat on his back, babysitting too many drunk friends in college taught me that position could be the worst. I see the raised feeder/bloat conflict the same. Experts will change their theories over time. Each new theory comes out looking down on the previous method and praising the new one. There will be success stories and sad ones for any method. But there are common denominators through all of them. You're taking precautions and making sure your pups are safe and comfortable. You're not an awful greyhound mommy As for Sammi, she eats her watered down meals from a raised feeder. She is a Hoover. ATM, the bottom of her food dish is 8" off the floor, but she has eaten at higher levels. Any lower and my giraffe will gag, watered down food or not. Activities after meals are minimal. Except for breakfast, she doesn't need to go outside to potty til about 30 minutes after she eats. B'fast, it is an immediate necessity to get her outside lol but it's only to potty and then back in to relax on the couch or a dogbed.

I don't think any of those quizzes are very accurate. I just did it and I got mixed breed... which is fair enough but mixed breeds are all completely different depending on what breeds they are comprised of... so being told "mixed breed" means nothing. Number 2 on my list was the Bichon Frise even though I specified I wanted a "very large" dog with "minimal grooming requirements". My favourite breeds that I would even consider owning didn't show up until at least number 25. I don't know where Greyhound was on that list. lol Also... who WANTS a dog with a "shorter lifespan"? Tailoring my answers to Sammi... Greyhound came in #16 for my results. And here is why: ETA~ After reading the Greyhound's bio a few more times, and then scanning other breeds I have personal experience with IMVHO... show your boss a different quiz

The priest back where I used to live was owned by an adorable Boxer

Small derail.. The Dura chews... how durable are they for say... a 20 month old husky that LOVES to chew and even tore up one of those toys made from tires? TY & back to your regularly scheduled posting

As said above, it depends on the situation when/where the growl occurs. ~Dog to dog growl in the household. I let them deal with it. Scenario/Example-- We have a young husky in the house. Sometimes she gets the older husky going in rough play. She's wound up and almost bounces off Sammi. Sammi lets it be known she does NOT want to be a trampoline in the canine version of an adult telling a 3 yr old who drank a Red Bull to get off their lap. Bella realizes where she is and moves away to resume play. Sammi sees she has moved a comfortable distance away and goes back to overseeing her kingdom and/or napping. ~Dog to dog growl outdoors/park/walk/etc... I diffuse the situation or remove my dog from a situation that is making her that uncomfortable. ~Dog of mine growls at ME. I growl back and usually a loss of whatever privilege they had mistakenly thought was their right. Example-- Couple months after Sammi came home to me, she was laying on MY bed. Dead center, aka- hogging the whole thing. I go to get into bed and tell her to move over. She growls at me. I growl back and boot her off my bed for a week. She has never growled at me on my own bed before. ~Dog growls at child. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE DOG?!?!" ETA~ Sammi growls, groans, sighs, purrs and other such noises in her sleep. My reaction to those is to smile