winnie

I know there are still a few glitches to be worked out, but I already started shopping for my two matches. Thanks Trudy and Jeff!

I have matches for both of my packages. Like others, I also have the "waiting on another member" message. When I click on that my own information appears. How do you acknowledge?

That is just the flat rate Priority box prices... you can ship 4 lbs. or less for WAAAY less than those rates. A collar, for example, can be shipped International 1st class which probably runs about $9. Anything over 4 lbs. must be sent Priority though. You can ship 1st class if the package is less than 4 lbs. It's just packages over 4 lbs. that must go Priority or Express. I have tryed to ship packages that didn't come anywhere near 4 pounds and the post office will not let me ship it first class. If it is in an envelope they will ship it first class, if it is in a box they will only let me ship priority or express. How big was your box? Perhaps there is a package size restriction in addition to it needing to be 4 lbs. or less. I had no trouble shipping an item via 1st class mail overseas in a large padded envelope a few weeks ago.... total cost was around $9. So, guess the lesson is that if you need to ship a gift overseas make sure it's something you can put in a padded envelope. There are LOTS of gifts that weigh 4 lbs. or less that will fit in a large padded envelope - collars, clothes, stuffies, ornaments, etc.

That is just the flat rate Priority box prices... you can ship 4 lbs. or less for WAAAY less than those rates. A collar, for example, can be shipped International 1st class which probably runs about $9. Anything over 4 lbs. must be sent Priority though. You can ship 1st class if the package is less than 4 lbs. It's just packages over 4 lbs. that must go Priority or Express.

for Polli! She's a lucky broodie to have such a caring "mom."

This year will be my first time participating in Secret Santa. I generally send packages via USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. IMO, requiring a signature for a package worth $20 or less a bit excessive. I'm generally not home when the mail is delivered. If a signature is required, I'd have to arrange to pick-up at the Post Office - big hassle. JMHO

See post #47 - Trudy said she'd do the first round of matching tonight. No, I mean I haven't even got the confirmation that I'm in the ticket system (which according to the thing says I should get almost immediately)... I'm not worried about matches yet Oh, OK. I signed up yesterday and didn't get a confirmation either if it makes you feel better. However, I do see both listed under "My Packages." Based on that I assumed all is good.

See post #47 - Trudy said she'd do the first round of matching tonight.

Me too! I signed up each of our grey girls seperately too. I'm now just waiting to find out who my matches are so I can start planning what to get them. I put the age, color and gender of my greys under the "Comments" section of the form.

We get ours from our local GPA chapter - discount given to members only. We pay $30 for a six-month supply of Interceptor.

This is true. Our vet ruled out TBD in Celeste because she had the panel done when we got her last year and is current on all vaccinations - including Lyme.

Yes! How did you guess it? That is one of the things that has both the vet and I baffled, we can't tell for sure which leg he is limping on as it appears to switch from front right to back right to back left. My vet said he thought it might be a pinched nerve because the one movement Avery didn't like being manipulated in was a deep neck turn. I am definitely going to bring up a compressed disc as a possible problem. Will the Deramaxx help with a disc issue? I've never seen a harness on a grey, do you have one that is specially made for those deep chests, or will any old dog harness work? Was the switch from the martingale to the harness difficult for Celeste? Thanks so much for sharing your experience with me! Hopefully that will help us get to the bottom of Avery's limp. Our vet asked all sorts of questions about Celeste, felt her legs, etc. She wasn't showing any problems until she tried bending Celeste's neck from side-to-side and front-to-back. At that point, Celeste started yelping. She said that most greyhounds have no problem with what she was doing which led her to the compressed disc diagnosis. Our vet said it's very common for this type of problem not to appear on x-rays - although she took some anyway. They do show up on MRI's, but those are very costly. Our vet didn't recommend doing one unless Celeste continued to have problems. I'm not sure what Deramaxx is to be able to advise there. As for the harness, there are MANY made for greyhounds. We use the Premier harness which we got from our GPA chapter. They sell them online too - http://www.gpa-nova.org/store/index.php/cat_4. It wasn't too difficult transitioning from a martingale collar to harness either. Good luck!

I"m glad to hear that nothing appears to be seriously wrong with Avery. Just curious... does Avery's limp switch from one leg to the other? Our grey Celeste had a limp that alternated between her front legs. We took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with a compressed disc in her neck (one of the ladies in our adoption group calls it "greyhound neck"). This type of injury does not usually show-up on X-rays. Our vet gave us 10 days worth of Rimadyl and a muscle relaxant. We also didn't let Celeste run loose for about a month. The limp is gone for now, but we continue to proceed with caution. We only let her run loose in our yard once in awhile and for short periods of time. We also switched from using a martingale collar to a harness for walks. Finally, we started giving Celeste Synovi-G3 soft chews - which we were already giving our other grey Darcy with good results.

You can probably use kids sunblock if you plan to have your grey outside for extended periods of time.

Yes, any animal with a thin coat or light colored hair can get sunburned. My Paint mare's white nose gets burnt unless I put sunblock on it.

Neuter! There are too many unwanted puppies out there - you don't want your boy getting loose and adding to the population problem. It's a common procedure with little complications.

Yes and Yes - we use both year-round.

We have two grey girlies here. They have very different personalities, so I don't believe in generalizations based on gender. Celeste is sooooo laid back. Darcy is more energetic and a bit of a goofball.

I recently ordered two sets of martingale collars from 2Hounds. Thankfully, Alisha agreed to change the order and make Celeste's collars into side release collars instead. Since we'll need to walk Celeste with a harness now, I didn't see the point of her wearing both a martingale collar and a tag collar (we don't like to leave martingale collars on inside the house) in addition to the harness. Now at least she'll have a pretty tag collar that will match our other grey Darcy's martingale collar. GT vendors are the BEST! Celeste is still "off," but in good spirits. We mostly walk our greys anyway, so she didn't seem disappointed not to go running in the backyard today.

Thanks Carole - your post was very encouraging! We'll do the meds and see how things are in a month or so. Our vet did say we seem to have caught it early - limping has been going on for only about a week. I was most worried about was Celeste not being able to run around once in awhile. We mostly do walks, but we've been letting our two girls out for a run once per day in our backyard. They really love it. One thing going for us is that Celeste is L-A-Z-Y. Her playtime normally consists of a few laps and then she passes out in the grass. I don't think she'd ever come close to lasting two minutes! Heck, Celeste doesn't even stand that long - even at M&Gs. We were taking her to a monthly greyhound playgroup, but it's no real hardship if we have to quit going. We started walking her on a harness last night. Celeste did have a tendancy to dawdle which caused us to pull on occassion to get her moving, so it's better to use a harness with her anyway. I'll miss not being able to use all of her pretty martingale collars, but that is minor sacrifice for the well-being of our beloved Celeste. It's so hard to see them hurting and wondering if we were part of the cause.

Ah - OK. Celeste was tested when we adopted her last April and is current on all her vaccines - including the Lyme vaccine. As a result, the vet didn't think this was the cause of her lameness. She then started felling along Celeste's spine and flexed her neck back and side-to-side. Celeste had some problems with that which is why the vet concluded it was a disc problem.

What is TBDs? Thanks for the advice on using a chiropractor/accupuncturist. I've used one before for my horse and know that she does dogs as well. We'll see how she does after the meds.

Our 4 y/o grey Celeste has had an on-again off-again limp for the past week. It started with the right leg and moved to the left. At first we thought it was a strain. We finally took her to the vet last night when it didn't show signs of going away. Our vet believes the lameness is caused by a compressed disc in Celeste's neck. She took a couple of X-rays of her neck, but didn't see anything - although she said it's common not to be able to see this type of injury on an X-ray. She prescribed a muscle relaxant (can't remember name) and Rimadyl. Our vet said to walk Celeste using a harness instead of a martingale collar. She also advised limiting her activity. Our vet said to see how Celeste did after the meds. The meds won't "cure" it, but should help. If it gets worse then we'll need to discuss getting an MRI and possible surgery. I'd like to hear from others that have experience with this type of injury. I'm just trying to get as much information as I can. I hate to think that Celeste will never be able to run around the yard again.