GeorgeofNE

No reason to freak out. If he DOES actually have low thyroid, it's easily treatable. Heck, my mother had her thyroid removed, and she's just fine on a daily pill!

Bones! George had a dental when I first adopted him four years ago. He did not do well with the anesthesia. He has not had one since, and his teeth, while horrible stained and chipped in the front (nothing can be done about that) are absolutely SPOTLESS in the back. I just got lucky and have a Greyhound with good teeth!

I've been through this. My vet started with x-rays. One type of stones is clearly visible with x-ray. Nothing. Only then did we move on to an ultrasound. George did not have anesthesia for EITHER procedure. Not sure why your vet thinks Kelly needs it? I was told that George lay peacefully on his back in the U shaped foam form they use and actually was wagging his tail as the technician did the ultrasound! Naturally they found absolutely NOTHING... But at least we eliminated many options. Good luck to Kelly and you.

Why can't they just wait until you get up? I mean just how late do you sleep? Having said that, mostly joking, I'm not a big fan of catering to the whims of healthy dogs when it comes to their food. If they don't want to eat it when he feeds them, they're not going to expired by 4 PM dinner!

Suggestions? Sure! Don't leave food unattended with a tall dog in the room! If you don't want to spend fairly big $$ on a fancy trash can that is dog proof, just put something heavy on the lid. That's a bit of a pain though. Make sure your kids understand that if it's where the dog can reach it, he WILL take it. Gotta be vigilant, and yes, it does probably mean he's feeling comfortable! This means you cannot leave ANYTHING out. Bags of bread, even fruit. If it's edible, a devoted counter surfer will smell it and will take it!

I never switch to anything new until it's been around for a while.

Kerry, if you have any thoughts about having him seen at Angell Memorial down here near me (veterinary teaching hospital with the very best of everything available) you could camp out with me. Angell is about 30 minutes from me. I think you probably need to see a specialist at this point. My mother had similar issues with Davy, and her vet sent her off the island and over to the Cape. Davy did great on I/D and NOTHING else, and daily Flagyl. It may not be optimum, but it stopped ALL of his diarrhea and vomiting issues that troubled him of his life.

Doesn't matter what his age is. I think it's a good idea to check on. My old dog got fearful at NIGHT (only at night) and I took him to the doctor and was told he had some degenerative condition (mild, and it never really got worse) that messed up his night vision. When I figured that out, I stopped taking him on walks in the dark and just let him go out to relieve himself.

When I heard Dr. Couto speak, he said one in five NGA greyhounds gets bone cancer. Seems obvious to ME that it's genetic. NGA dogs who have never raced once get osteo. We're talking about dogs who sometimes sire thousands of dogs. If there is a genetic component to cancer, we know that NGA hound sperm is collected and sold all across the country (and the world, I suppose). I imagine that the occasional top champion show dog also produces a fair number of pups, but I have never heard of a show dog of any breed producing thousands of pups, Heck, George's sire is dead, and he's still producing!

OK. Greta's thread did KNOT make me cry, but this one did... Joe is such a talented writer. We miss you Logan.

What a lovely "bemembery" Donna. I know you will miss your beautiful girl very much.

Milk Thistle is what my vet recommended when George's liver enzymes went whacky (from giving him a different herb!)

:rofl

Could you get cardboard, and attach it to the back of the open part of the stairs temporarily? He goes down because he can't see the gaps. He is rather wisely afraid of his legs slipping through. Cardboard would give the illusion of a solid staircase, cheap and easy to put up, and simple enough to take down.

Increased thirst and therefore increased urination. Panting. Restlessness. Those are all the ones I've experienced with my dogs.

I'd rather feed Rachael Ray to my dog--but that's a bit off topic!

Never even heard of it, so I guess vets around here weren't prescribing it much anyway.

What do you imagine the average pet dog does all day? Sleep, eat, poop, repeat is pretty much it for most dogs, except for when they might play for a few minutes. Remember, they're not toddlers who need to be entertained. And if they WERE bored, trust me, they'd find their own entertainment.

I did it myself, and we had three flights of metal, black stairs in and enclosed stairwell! It was awful! We had an elevator for daily use, but he HAD to know how to use the stairs for those frequent occasions when the power was out and the elevators didn't work. I tried all the methods in the books. Eventually I just moved his paws, one at a time, up all three flights. Over and over and over. We made some progress, and then one day he did a Billy goat jump, slipped, fell, and his skin split open in three places. Back to square one! This was all going UP. I didn't even dare try down. Finally, after three weeks of working on up, we decided to give down a try. Much to my amazement, he pranced down all three flights like a debutante descending a staircase at a ball! No problems at all! When we moved here, there are only stairs--three flights--but short. And these stairs have carpet. He followed the moving men up as if he'd done it a thousand times!

Someone forgot to give mine that memo. He's such a little hussy. You got loving to give, he's there. Mine too! While George does not like dogs of any breed except Greyhound, he has yet to meet a person of any size, shape, age, or color that he didn't want to be friends with!

I had a mixed breed dog who vomited his entire life--until I started him on Zantac (similar to Pepcid, and not to be confused with Xanax!) every day. It was a HUGE help.

I kinda of feel that as long as she is behaving (not lunging, barking, being aggressive), if she's not interested in socializing, why push the issue? My dog only likes other Greyhounds. Doesn't bother me in the least. He too is an only dog. I guess we're fortunate in that another couple in my small condo complex adopted a Greyhound, but unless I take him to a Greyhound walk, George has no dog-on-dog interaction (except with our neighbor, Dante) and I don't think it bothers him a bit. Heaven knows he gets enough attention from ME, in addition to daily long walks--and a couple of cats to keep him company!

What do you mean "she crosses the street"? While I do allow my dog to sniff and stop from time to time on our walks, I certainly don't let him decide which way we're going or that we're going to cross the street! There is nothing wrong with expecting your dog to walk where YOU want to walk. I personally feel that if a dog is not behaving BADLY, there is no need for me to try and press the issue of being friendly. Did your parents ever try and make you play with another child you didn't care for? Mine did, and I didn't like it one bit.

I'd take the dog to the vet, not just randomly dose it assuming it's just constipated. She could have a blockage or some other problem.

Amputation will be ever so SLIGHTLY more difficult for a Lab to adapt to, being a broad dog. As Dr. Couto explained it at a talk I went to, the reason why Greyhounds adapt to easily to amputation is because their legs are so close together to begin with. When they lose a leg, they only have to move the other leg over a little bit to have balance. A wider dog, like a Lab, whose legs are further apart, will have a slightly more difficult time, but he should do just fine.