gracegirl

A second opinion from a vet with all of Snow's current paperwork is going to pay off in spades. Please, please seek another vet's opinion. Any other vet that is close to you and has been in practice at least 5 years will do, a sighthound vet is not required at this point. Please?

Whatever Snow likes! Maybe go to a specialty pet store (not petsmart or petco) and ask for samples.

Here are the recommendations I provided before in a PM. If someone had time to research the phone numbers, please feel free. I'm off to work now and won't be able to check back for a few hours. Dr. Mike Ragan at VCA Darien. E-vet: Cornell University Veterinary Specialists in Stamford. The other e-vets that may be a little closer are the VCA Referral & Emergency Center in Norwalk and VCA Shoreline Referral & Emergency Center in Shelton.

I am so sorry for your loss. I am among those who thought he'd live forever. His spirit sure will!

I also know a greyhound owner who has adopted THREE greyhounds and I have seen her use a prong collar on two of her three. I moved back to Denver before she got her third so I don't know if she ever used it on that puppy. **I use a prong when walking my airedale. He weighs 90 lbs and if he decides to lunge, I am simply not strong enough to control him. I am also constantly training "watch me" and "leave it" but he is still unpredictable, especially around the unleashed dogs we occasionally come across. I use it for safety and never to give harsh corrections. DBF walks him with a regular buckle collar.

I also experienced a rate increase with Healthy Paws when I moved from Denver to San Diego. It was nominal (about $5) and it didn't surprise me at all.

Dog parks come with an increased risk of injury to all dogs and people. That said, you *never* want to be in the position with your dog being the jerk. I do take the risk of taking Fenway to the dog park/dog beach. He LOVES it and it's a risk I'm willing to take. We have twice ended up in the e-vet's office on the weekend, both the result of normal dog play with GSDs. (I adore GSDs and would love to have one some day.) Anyhow, what would have been nothing at all for a lab or our airedale turned into minor trip to the vet for Fen, one requiring stitches and the other just a good cleaning. Fenway grew up with two yellow labs, so tends to wrestle like a real dog. This get him into trouble, so I do monitor him closely. As soon as the other dogs shows signs of annoyance with Fenway's play, he's leashed up and walked away. And for some reason Fenway loves pit bulls, so he's allowed to play with them only if he's gentile. Yep, it's my fragile flower of a dog that's usually a jerk in these very rare situations. But he's always removed immediately so things don't escalate.

I'd be curious to see what the itemized charges are as well. Fenway's last dental was in the ballpark of $500, though I know my brother's hound's dental with many extractions was closer to $1,500. Fenway had a lump that I wanted to take off so the dental was billed as a lump removal with an add an charge for the dental, rather than biing for the dental and adding the lump removal. That way insurance covered the lump removal and anesthesia (which was the highest dollar amount on the bill) and I only had to pay a small amount for the dental cleaning.

I hardly ever come into H&M and was crushed to see Merlin's name here. I am so glad that at the news of his recovery! May he continue to get better and better with each day. He is one special dog.

I got Fenway at 14 weeks old and to my knowledge he had never been muzzled. I didn't know any better so I just started sticking the muzzle on him when I was home with him and could supervise. If he started to paw at it or rub it on the furniture, I'd take him in the yard and play with him.....either get him to chase me or throw a stuffy for him to chase. I may have given him treats through the muzzle, I can't recall. He was a joy to have as a puppy. He could go to work with me so he played and played and played with his buddies all day and was exhausted at night. On weekends we would take long walks and go on adventures to new places. The car ride plus a new place added to his exhaustion. I just always made sure he was very tired, and he was a very easy puppy. He wasn't without his faults though. He loves to shred paper. And he will get into any food that's left out, no matter if I think it's not interesting for dogs (like the dried soup mix that was mostly spices and dried beans....or the avocado that he mushed into my carpet with his muzzle on.) I think you will have a lot of fun with your puppy and I think your kids are at great ages to help out. Once you show them how to properly walk the pup, the kids can take the pup separately (assuming your area is safe) for long walks. Definitely have both kids get involved with dog related chores, water bowl filling, feeding, poop scooping, training, playing, etc. You have two great little helpers, put them to good use! And most of all, enjoy! Like I said, I didn't know what I was doing when I raised my boy and he's turned out to be a great dog. He's 7.5 years old now and he's just a happy, joyful dog.

Yep.

My parents' yard is half grass, half rock. I trained Fenway and Grace to use the half that is rock as their bathroom. They have no issue with this at all. The rocks are slightly larger than pea gravel, but smooth. I simply kept them leashed and kept walking to the back half of the yard, telling them to "hurry up" (that's their bathroom command). As soon as they went, they got to be off leash. Shortly after, I decided to install pea gravel in the mud pit that was our tiny yard. It was maybe 25 ft x 20 ft and with the exception of the 5x5 vegetable garden (aka the digging pit) the rest of the yard was pea gravel. Never had an issue. Good luck! He's probably feeling your stress as well. It shouldn't be a problem, just take him out frequently until he goes.

No need to take him to the vet, simply save his next bowel movement and drop it off for them. If you can't get it there within the hour, it's best to refrigerate. I usually place the bagged sample inside Tupperware for refrigeration, and they always ask if I want the container back. Um, no! You could also skip the poo sample, assume he has worms (many do upon adoption) and order a dose of Panacur. Won't hurt if he doesn't have worms, will help if he does. It's given over three days, added to food. Just make sure you order the correct dose for his size. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000296N7S/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1397834633&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40 You'd want to order two boxes, which would contain six pouches. You would give two pouches with his morning meal for three days in a row.

I disagree with the argument that a greyhound *needs* to run. Yes, many enjoy running. It's beneficial to their health to run and keep up their musculature. But they don't *need* to run. Two examples to prove my point. A border collie doesn't need to tend sheep to be happy. Many border collies live in urban environments where they never come across a sheep and they live long and happy lives. I like to travel. I want to go to every country or at least every continent. But I don't *need* to do so. I can enrich my life in many other ways and still be happy. A greyhound does not *need* to run free in order to be happy. But if you want to let them off lead and they are mostly reliable, then by all means do it. Just don't bring their *need* for it into the debate. (I off lead my greyhounds, so in my case it is worth the risk.)

Fenway loves the beach so very much. It's one of his great pleasures in life to fly across the sand and one of my great pleasures watching him. So we go to the not fully fenced beach. I've had Fenway since he was four months old (he's 7 years old now) and he's pretty attached to me. If he's not paying attention to me and I've walked on from the spot he last remembers me standing, he looks from side to side until he spots me. And then races over. It's quite endearing. The other people at the beach also love watching him run. I was wondering just how many people will tell their wife/friend/neighbor/boss about the greyhound they saw today and how beautiful it was to watch him run. It's a risk I take. A calculated risk, but one I'm willing to take. And I'm still in touch with his foster mom/group president and she knows how much I care about him. (If Grace were still with me, I might not off lead her at the beach. Not because of her recall, but for her love of stink. She be rolling in every foul smelling thing out there. And in every single stink rolling case her recall failed. Every. Single. Time. God I miss that girl! )

If the sign on the office door says "no dogs" but you bring them in anyhow, you're breaking a rule. Just as the Pom owners are breaking the off leash rule. I'd be pretty ticked off if someone who was breaking rules reported me for breaking rules. Know what I mean?

Please keep us posted. Grace was doing this too and I never got to the bottom of it. I'm curious if your vet finds anything or has any leads. We did X-rays and an ultrasound that revealed nothing.

This makes my blood boil. Who on earth thinks the leash laws don't apply to them. Ugh. Is your apartment complex all rentals and professionally managed? If so, I bet there is something in your lease about leashing and picking up after your dog. If it were me, I'd take that page, highlight the leash rules, write a letter to management and provide your neighbor with a copy. I'd request that management keeps you informed of the contacts they have with your neighbor. No requesting. Insisting. Keep following up. In person if you have to. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. My apartment complex in Portland had an aggressive boxer. The owner walker him with a prong collar and a flexi lead. The first incident the owner dropped the leash. I reported them. The second incident the owner intentionally had the dog off leash. The dog ran across the road almost causing an accident with a motorcycle, jumped on me scratching me, I fell on the poop bag and was covered in crap. The owner laughed. I walked straight to the office with the motorcycle driver as a witness, still covered in crap. I pulled down the neckline of my shirt showing the scratches and asked for immediate resolution. The gentleman was asked to move out as he had a paper trail of reports. Just think, if no one else ever reported him for those incidents, he'd still be laughing.

I saw you mentioned fortiflora earlier. I wanted to note that for some unknown reason, this actually makes Fenway's issues worse. I've "tested" it twice to be sure fortiflora is the culprit. It is. I hope Kebo continues to eat well.

Keep us posted, we're all rooting for her to feel better. I hope you can get some answers soon.

Endless beaches are in store for a remarkable dog. I am so sorry she had to go, but so glad she enjoyed a long and happy life with Chris. We will all feel her loss. Godspeed, beautiful girl!

I provided a list of several vets within about a 30 minute drive via PM. My brother and SIL have two greyhounds and live in the next town over. Please, please contact either of the emergency vets I provided. And please apply for care credit. It will give you a six month cushion to pay back the bills. It's the next best thing to insurance.

Maybe even some benedryl for the sleepy factor. Mazy, feel better soon!

Were you able to get him to any of the vets that I PMed to you? I would especially look into a consultation with Cornell in Stamford, CT. They have many specialists that could be of great help.

I'm so sorry for your loss. What a character she was.