GeorgeofNE

I guess we are to assume Bella is your child? Yeah. She's way too small to be playing with a greyhound. It's not aggression. It's how big dogs play. Stop it now. She could hurt your child, but it won't be her fault.

I'm sure you had this fantasy in your head about how wonderful it would be to add a dog to the family. The reality is adopting an adult dog whose entire life has been run on a rigid schedule the provided her with comfort and security and tossing her into a "busy family" seems to nearly always end up with posts like this one. You've said it all, really. You expect the dog to just roll with whatever your routine happens to be that day. It will not be a fixed schedule, and if you're like most young families today, you actually have very little time at home to deal with ANY pet. Since there is clearly no option of changing up the home life until the dog learns to trust and understand, it's probably best to return her now before she gets attached to you. It's not a criticism of you or your life choices--but from the DOG'S perspective, this is not a place she will thive and she deserves a home where she is a part of the family, not a chore to be dealt with between soccer games and ballet lessons. I really don't say this to be mean or anything else, but I think some groups push so hard trying to convince people that a greyhound is an ideal choice for EVERYONE we see a lot of cases like this where expectation and reality as so far apart that unless you and your family are willing to at least temporarily focus on HER needs, she'll not be happy.

Pretty sure dogs don't get "heat rash." Whatever is causing the rash--it could be something as simple as a flea allergy, something she brushed up against like a bush with little tiny irritating "hairs," but in all my life of owning dogs I've never heard of one getting "heat rash." I'd have the vet check it out with under magnification.

I've never heard of ANY dog breaking their patella like that, and given this is a greyhound, my first thought would be osteo--but I don't even know if the knee cap is a place that ever occurs. She must be in terrible pain. Sounds like your vet basically told you HE can't fix it, but it's mind boggling that he suggested you do nothing. It cannot possible "heal" in pieces like that. Good luck and I hope it turns out ok.

We've all read way too many stories that start exactly this way that end up as osteo. Once the bone broke (and approx. 40% of all osteo cases are discovered when a bone breaks) if it broke where the tumor was, you need an expert to review the films. If she were my dog, I'd have those films sent to Dr. Couto ASAP. Don't mean to sound like Debbie Downer, but normal, healthy 11 year old legs don't just snap and then fail to heal.

No worries, you put it in EXACTLY the right section! This will pass. Get up, take him out, put him back to bed. Don't play, don't give him treats (unless he REALLY had to pee or poop, then you might, if you're still housebreaking). If he tries again to wake you after a short period, just say "go back to sleep" or "quiet" or something. Then ignore him. It will be hard, but there is no other really effective way--it's all about routine and time and patience. Of course I haven't slept past 6 AM in almost 20 years...

NSAIDs never bothered any dog I've had. George got 200 MG gabapentin 2x a day, and I think it was only 75 mg of Deramaxx, but honestly, he's been gone for several years now and I can't swear to it. I think the single most helpful thing his doctor said was to make sure he got regular exercise, and keep his weight down. We leash walked, and I felt it really helped him to go up and down hills--it's critical to maintain muscle mass to support weak joints. The weight should be obvious! George was tough as nails. I think he could have lost 3 legs and still wanted to go walking.

90 pounds is huge! He must be a big fella!! 2 cups sounds pretty reasonable, actually. If you can still see ribs, then it's probably good. Then again, he's clearly not hungry... Is he getting a lot of other stuff? Peanut butter in a Kong? Pig ears? Rawhide? Anything else he actually ingests?

My understanding is that gabapentin is a very specific drug--only works on nerve pain. As we age, we get (typically) lots of aches and pains, but those aren't necessarily nerve pains. If he has no underlying health issues, and the blood work looks good, I am sure an NSAID would work in conjunction with what he already takes! My George had LS and he took both Deramaxx and gabapentin, and it seemed to help him. And his #1 symptom was falling UP the stairs.

I DID put my borderline dog on meds, but he was not asymptomatic. He took them for about a year, and I noticed no real change, so he is currently off them, and again, no real change. As my vet and I agreed, what is the point in pumping hormones into him if they don't even do anything? My dog comes from a sire who is known to produce low thyroid pups. I tried the meds because I have a friend who has a half sister, and she benefitted greatly from them. But mine did not.

How much are you feeding him? I think MOST new owners feed way too much. As a way of comparison, my greyhound (and my first one) were small fellows, in the 65 pound range. I fed them each one cup of food twice a day. And some treats. But that's about 1/2 of what your average person feeds, as far as I can tell. That's what they needed to weigh the proper amount. If you're using dog food bag amounts you're likely feeding him way more than he needs. Also, how much exercise is he getting? If he just lays around all day doing nothing (which I know is paradise to some hounds), why would he be hungry? Specially if you're giving him a generous portion. I'm sorry he snapped at you, but he did warn you! "Showing him who is boss" is outdated thinking. And trust me, I clung to "old school" methods for a long, long time! I agree with the happy tone, and I think that, and feeding him less, might help.

Please don't react out of fear of something that happened to a different dog. If your dog is asymptomatic, which it sounds like, your vet is not greyhound savvy if she is recommending thyroid meds based on a very borderline result.

It's a personal decision, but if your dog cannot even stand up to eat, I'm sure if she was given a choice, she would prefer to say her goodbyes while she still has a little dignity left in the arms of those who loved her.

you really need to have some one on one training in how to deal with dogs because you WILL get bitten if you continue to approach the dog in the manner you describe. And taking the dog out twice a day? Am I reading that right? That's about half as much as the very bare minimum. First step is to stop with your "stearn" approach. Would you want to go out with someone who gets up in your face with attitude? I wouldn't. How about holding out a dog treat and sweetly saying, "Want to go out?" I guarantee you a totally different result.

You could just learn how to pill a dog the good old fashioned way!

One thing to note: there are dozens and dozens of "why is my newly adopted greyhound so standoffish" posts on this forum. While your hound MIGHT be a snuggler, it also might not. And the dog you adopt won't be the dog you end up with: some of them develop their "in home" personality really quickly, and some of them take a long time. My first took 18 months, my second, about 18 minutes!

No, Smurfette, I don't understand a bunch of this either, but I too say welcome!

I wish I had a potty spot on my balcony! You're new here, so you don't know, my George never did learn how to hold it very well, so eventually after spending thousands of dollars trying to figure out why, I started using hospital pee pads next to my balcony slider. He would pee on the glass, and it would land on the pad! Anyway, I tried to teach him to use the balcony for emergencies (mainly if it was solid ice out and I was concerned about falling on my fake hips) but he just refused to do it. Darn it.

You know that (most) male dogs, and some females too, lift their leg and pee on whatever they want, right? And that retired racers are generally comfortable letting it fly where ever they happen to be? I was shocked when I took George back to his old track for an event and he let it rip in an area I perceived as "indoors," but it was his home for three years, and he peed on concrete, inside--basically everywhere! What I'm trying to say is stop worrying about providing grass. They're probably used to other surfaces way before grass. My current dog would not go into that tight little area for anything. And my concern, personally, would be that it looks very dark and like it will get very hot during the day, and looks like a prime place for snakes to sunbathe. I don't know where you live but I'm guessing perhaps California? Where there are some nasty snakes? Is your yard fenced? Because if it is, I don't think there is any real worry. The dog will go when it has to go, whether it looks like a good spot to you or not!

While I am a believer in crates for puppies (for housebreaking) and dogs who like crates, taking a 2 year old (who, despite all of our talk here on GT is in fact an adult dog) and attempting to get her used to a crate is going to be tough. How much exercise is she getting?

Why would it be controversial if you took your dog's leash off in a fenced in field? Sounds like your dog was asking for treats. Working dogs understand that the leash means business. So I guess I'm wrong and they do "get it" (the concept of off leash or on).

Buck has lot a lot of hair on his tail too, but I assume it is normal greyhound fur weirdness.

I'd find a new vet if my vet brushed off foul breath as a non-issue.

Why do men take neutering personally? My Dad was the ultimate dog lover and never once neutered a dog. The two FEMALES we had were of course both spayed! You don't mention having a urinalysis run. I'd do that, personally. He could have an infection.

This is not specifically a greyhound issue. Don't look for information on greyhounds dealing with this, but with DOGS. He is, after all, a dog. Neither of my hounds has cared for non-greyhounds. I deal with this by grasping his collar in my hand (for ultimate control) and passing them several feet away, but not making any sort of issue about it. If people walk towards us, I just smile and say, "Sorry, not friendly." We run into dogs all the time, and honestly, it's not a big deal. You were on the right track with the treats. And greysmom gives you good advice. My first greyhound was outright nasty to other dogs; the current one is less assertive about his disdain of the non-hound, so it's a bit easier now.