GeorgeofNE

I hope he didn't rupture an anal gland.

I am so sorry this is happening. I will tell you that Suzanne told me older vets are much more open to depo shots if that might help you... Exactly what the three vets who refused to give the shots to my dog said too-- "You'll have to find an older vet who might be willing to do that." Some folks swear by the shots, but I took George to a specialist, and she will NOT do them--she says that shots next to the spine cannot help with compressed nerves IN the spine, and the risks from long-acting steroid injections far exceed any potential benefit to reducing the swelling next to the spine--which is really all you do with a steroid shot. Oh, and FYI, this vet did her surgical residency in Jacksonville, FL at a clinic that treats many badly injured Greyhounds, and is a Greyhound owner herself. Her specialty is surgery and pain management. George recently started on Gabapentin. It seems to be helping him a lot. He's only taking 100 mg. at this point. You're right, Tramadol is horribly bitter (I take it for my arthritis). I'm sorry you houndie is being hit with two difficult conditions.

George takes lots of pills, every day. I'm not about to mess around with trying to trick him into eating them. I just put 'em in. I find it very helpful to tilt the head up and gently hold the muzzle with one hand, and stroke the throat with the other once you've put them in. Once you feel them swallow, the pills are down. I follow with his breakfast or dinner.

You already got great advice, but I'm also going to remind you that there is NO CHANCE that a dog you just got is going to come when you call it when it's off leash in a dog park, and you have a very slim chance of catching it if he doesn't want to be caught. As to the fearful reaction; imagine if you will that you have spent your entire life surrounded by beings that look just like you, plus these other weird creatures that take care of your every need. Suddenly, your friends (both four and two legged) are GONE, everything in your life is different, and there are animals you could never have even imagined existed HOLLERING at you! We (people) tend to imagine that a dog is a dog to another dog, but since many (if not most?)racing hounds have NEVER seen any other kind of dog, to them a dog is tall, skinny, with a long tail and a pointy nose. It's not a squatty, short legged, smush faced, cork screw tail blob! You'd be freaked out too! Most hounds adapt quite nicely to the other breeds, but some do not. I have one of those! I've had George for four years, and thus far the only two dogs that aren't greyhounds he's managed to get along with were my parents dogs, but that took six hours wearing his muzzle while in THEIR house (I think a dog can tell when another animal is the resident, and most of them respect that). Once he got over the growling at them, he was fine, but it did take six hours. Sadly, they've both passed away now, so he's back to greyhounds only. Lucky us--someone in my complex adopted a young brindle Greyhound, so now we have a neighbor we can socialize with. His reaction is different than your dogs--my dog wants to leap on them and bite them--sort of a "taste first, ask questions later" thing. It's manageable though--I just keep my distance from other dogs and carry on. And as to letting your boy run. You might be surprised, as I was, how little interest some of them show in running. I managed to find a fully fenced park once, and had it all to myself. All my dog wanted to do was sniff the fence and pee everywhere. I did get him to run, briefly, by running across the field like a wild thing (he chased me), but he showed so little interest that after two visits I gave it up.

Oh, George did when we worked on stairs! I even tried liverwurst smeared all over the steps (yes, I cleaned it up). He was just paralyzed with fear. That's why I had to resort to moving each paw, one at a time, step by step, over and over. I do have to give him some props for being so unrelenting about simply refusing to move!

I'm so sorry. I lost a cat once, in seconds. Just...dead. I think somehow the pain is even worse than knowing your dog is going to be gone soon. One minute they're there, happy, and the next they're gone. We will miss Roo, but I am so happy to think she will be joining dear, dear Otis, who we STILL miss. Run free Roo, mother of George's half brother, Ruler.

Are the stairs hardwood? Are they open back? If they're wood, you might consider those stick on carpet runners, as many hounds find wooden stairs tough. If they're open back, you can put cardboard on the back temporarily. Otherwise, if you have a second person handy, if one of you stands in front, with his leash on, and yummy treats, and the other stands behind him (close enough to lightly touch him) and encourage him that way. My boy required me to move each paw, one at a time, step by step, over and over and over! But we had black metal painted stairs in and enclosed stairwell (condo building). I cannot describe the lower back pain this caused me! Three flights too! Shockingly, he walked DOWN the stairs with no trouble at all! I had finally gotten him to go up the stairs on his own, once, and then he did a sort of mountain goat jump up three steps, slipped, fell, split his skin in four places, and we were back to square one! But I didn't have a helper, so I highly recommend one! Good luck, and welcome.

:rotfl OMG, I really needed a laugh. I love it. That should be a Greyhound fund raising t-shirt slogan!

That's the amount of Deramaxx George takes, and he is significantly smaller at 64 pounds!

I'd personally make sure he didn't hurt something else. I can't imagine a cracked dew claw being enough to make him yelp in pain later. You described quite a leap (and crash!) and he may have pulled or strained something else.

George gets his Lyme boosters every year and has had no issues at all.

Does not sound like allergies at all to me; allergies on their own don't cause hair to fall out. Hair might appear to be lost with severe allergies but that would be due to constant licking and scratching.

The first time I gave George a bone, when I'd only had him for a while, I thought nothing of reaching to take it away from him--and almost lost my hand! He'd probably never had such a prize before, and he did NOT want to give it up! That's resource guarding, and you can't blame a hound who has never had to share before. You'll also hear about "trading up." After he snapped at me, I went and got a Milk Bone, handed it to him, and too, the bone! He was happy to trade the bone for the cookie! I never tried to just take a bone away from him again (although now, after four years, I expect he'd let me 'cause he trusts me now, and he knows more bones will show up eventually!).

Absolutely!!! Unless the kennel has a top to it, if you leave a female in heat outside...well, you know what comes next!! The fence around our yard was a six foot fence, and our girl was only outside to do her business when she was in heat, and that was enough to entice the neighborhood unneutered dog to jump in and try to say hello!!

George only parks when someone buzzes my door buzzer, or on the very rare instances when someone knocks on the door. Other than that, he's silent. Almost every other dog in our complex barks at HIM when we're out walking. I can tell he thinks they're idiots.

We had a female English Setter that we bred (once) way back when I was a kid--she did not exhibit any slutty behavior BUT we did find a gigantic GSD in our back yard one morning!! Those would have been some weird looking puppies. So plan on supervising her very carefully when she's outside!

Gorgeous, and I love her name!

Remember that you control the food--there need not be a "try to get him on a schedule." Just do it. Most dogs are on a schedule. And most dogs will attempt to convince you that they are starving ALL THE TIME! Do not take the bait!! No experience with any of the foods you listed, but I agree with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of thought.

I expect that inducing vomiting is riskier than eating some cookies with white chocolate chips! Many products we buy are really only chocolate FLAVORED.

Yes, you should see the vet. It could be a LOT of things. Bring in some urine if you can.

Yes, they do. My dog has a very strong sleep startle response, and might have bitten me on more than one occasion had I not been aware of it.

Yup. Don't expect your Greyhound to behave ANYTHING like a Lab or a Golden. You see it on here all the time--people who think their dog is bored or otherwise unhappy because it does what MOST Greyhounds do a LOT--which is sleep. And I mean A LOT. I grew up with English Setters--a very, very mellow breed. Greyhounds make English Setters seem hyperactive. And incredibly hairy--but that's beside the point! Sounds like you've done your homework. I hope you are as pleased with your first hound as I have been with mine!

The puppy is playing. It's very important to GENTLY work on teaching the dog to NEVER mouth the leash. The leash is a tool, not a toy. If she stops walking (the human) and says "Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" at the puppy and takes the leash out of her mouth every single time, eventually the pup will get the point. I don't understand how she thinks a harness will change chewing on the leash. The puppy can still get to the leash if she's determined.

Go to the 2Hounds web site and order one of her Wiggles, Wags, and Whiskers harnesses. They're FANTASTIC.

Sounds like possible crystals or stones to me.