GeorgeofNE

Adding fish oil to her diet might also help. Buck wears a velvet tag collar only in the house. His hair just doesn't grow on his neck.

It took my first greyhound 18 months to get up on the bed for the first time on his own, and several YEARS to even consider the couch! My second one? Five minutes. Not sure he's left it for more than walks since!!

It's totally normal for greyhounds to have little or no fur in those places, and it's really not likely to be from the collar. I have tried literally every possible kind of collar and it made no difference at all. Does your hound also happen to have a bald butt and/or belly? I just call it "greyhound pattern baldness"!

Beware: many dogs hate being confined, period. If he is soiling the crate, it means he's being left for too long. Might I suggest you consider a dog walker for a month or so? Also, if you haven't already had him to the vet for an initial checkup, I'd do that too. Because MOST dogs simply will not soil the crate. That's why they're used for housebreaking in the first place. My first greyhound simply would not accept any confinement--once I surrendered to that fact, he was fine. If you DO go with "room training," consider a baby gate. DO NOT CLOSE THE DOOR. Many a door has been scratched and ruined when new owners think closing the dog into a "whole room!" is better than the crate. Use a human incontinence pad in the belly band. They don't work particularly well without the pads! Is he getting a good long walk before you leave him? You'll want him out for AT LEAST 30-45 minutes, walking on a leash, not just out in the yard alone.

Please do not assume the dog has had a "bad experience." Would you want to go in the crate if your other choice was the bed? If your dog is housebroken, and not doing anything dangerous in the home, why would you use the crate? Well, I can actually answer that--because someone involved in the adoption told you to! Crates are great tools for SOME dogs. But there are plenty of dogs who do not consider the crate a "safe space," and you apparently have one. I'm on my second. Crates at the track are totally different. The dogs are all together--they have friends with them, and that is a familiar environment. Take a wire and/or plastic box, stick it in a house, force the dog into it, and then go off to work or wherever--not even close to the same experience for the dog. If you don't mind the dog in the bed, and that's where he wants to be, go ahead! If you don't want him on the bed, you must be firm about it. But plenty of greyhounds do just fine never being crated after adoption!

So none of your dogs have tags or collars? Sorry, but that's a bit nuts. At a bare minimum, they should wear ID.

Take ALL advice for what it is. Free opinions on the web! But I do disagree. Chronic pain needs ongoing treatment. Just because she isn't limping doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. Why would you withhold medication that can relieve pain? I just don't get that. My rheumatologist once told me "there is no value in suffering." In other words, refusing to take medication on an ongoing basis over some fear of "getting hooked" or side effects does not ultimately make any sense. If you have x-rays showing significant degeneration of her joints it's beyond me why the advice would be to only medicate her when she is visibly suffering.

If he's housebroken, I'm not sure why you think he's not "ready" to be out of the confinement. I think he's made it perfectly clear that he IS. My first hound was crated for a couple of miserable months. My second? One day.

I disagree with "mansbestfriend" pretty strongly. That's really very outmoded thinking--that any time a dog reacts to something it's based on some past bad experience. My mongrel dog was afraid of Hassidic Jews (which our old neighborhood was full of) and ROTC cadets. I assure you, not one of them as much as spoke to him, never mind abused him. His dog mind found something about their dress or behavior scary. That's all. Nothing sinister. He was not afraid of cars, and he was flung out of a moving car as a puppy. Go figure. There doesn't need to be logical reason for a reaction to a specific person or situation. They key is to maintain sufficient control of the dog so nothing bad happens. Suggest the next time these people come over you simply baby gate your dog into a room so he can observe, but not approach, and see what happens. Your dog barking once at people is really not "aggressive" behavior and may well be a one-time thing if he doesn't typically do this.

As someone who suffers from arthritis pain, I would suggest you KEEP her on the medication, not just wait until she's in so much pain she limps. Arthritis never goes away once it's begun. Assuming she is otherwise healthy and you agree to monitoring of her blood work to make sure the NSAID isn't doing any damage, there is no good reason not to give her the lowest effective dose daily.

I am so sorry for your loss. I had a gorgeous Siamese cat literally fall over dead after making a sort of howling noise. It was horrible. He was six years old. The vet said it could have been anything from an aneurism to a blood clot, probably a congenital defect of some sort and NOTHING I could have done or did not do would have made any difference. The shock stays with you a very long time. The only comfort I have is that it was over before he even knew anything was happening. I was the one who suffered, not him.

No self respecting dog is going to let other dogs steal their food. Her behavior is totally normal. If your sister's dogs are rude around food, keep them separated while eating. Greyhounds have impecable manners compared to other dogs, owing to their growing up in packs, and not as little puppies removed from their dog family at 8 weeks of age. Your dog knows where it's at: your sister's dogs are the issue. The simplest answer is usually right. Don't let them in contact with each other during meals.

A dog from my first hound's adoption group died his first day off the track running into a fence. Horribly tragic, and doesn't happen often, but it can. He broke his neck when he ran into the fence. Please do what you can to make the fence more visible.

I have cats; I would say there are possible more greyhounds that ARE ok with indoor cats than are not, but I have no actual facts on that! But a lot of us on GreyTalk have both cats and dogs. Sounds like you're a good candidate to ME, except for the likelihood that when you finally stop going to school, you really don't know where you'll end up with a job, and many places it is very difficult to find housing with a large dog. I'm in the Boston area, and there are very, very few places, even if you buy a condo, that allow dogs over 35 pounds. Personally? I'd suggest you wait until you graduate to get any kind of pet. Just way too many "moved, couldn't keep him" animals in shelters all over the country. Best of luck!

Yes. Rimadyl gave my mutt horrible diarrhea, but Deramaxx did not. Tramadol (which I have been taking for many years) doesn't really seem to have many side effects except if the dose is higher a bit of a buzz. Good luck with the surgery. The pin won't hurt. The surgical site really won't be too bad either, based on my sadly extensive experience with orthopedic surgery.

I've lived with dogs my entire life, and I have to say, greyhounds are a bit weird! Give it some more time. Maybe try to teach him something? I felt the same way when I got my first. There were days when he frustrated me so much I fantasized about driving over to Raynham Park (the closed track in Massachusetts) and leaving a note on his collar that said, "You had him most of his life, take him back, please!" But of course I didn't. Cried and cried for days when he died years later. Can't imagine my life without my current guy, who actually needed me, unlike the first, who really truly seemed like he was only really interested in himself and how fabulous he thought he was! LOL!

I am so sorry for your loss.

There is absolutely no reason to feed such a "rich" food to a pet. I would find out what she is used to eating (from before you adopted her) and switch her back to that. It's actually all too common for newly adopted dogs to have bad stool since we are so intent on getting them "the best" food we can lose sight of the fact that not all dogs actually take to "the best" food. Your post confused me a little. Are you giving her anti worm medication every week, and after she takes it she has these problems?? Stress and diet changes both contribute to soft stool. No reason to assume it's still worms. She should be on a monthly heartworm preventative, which will typically also kill other worms.

Gabapentin is for nerve pain, not general pain. As someone who had actual hip dysplasia myself, they started me on an NSAID, then I graduated to a stronger one, then to Tramadol, then to hip replacement. All doggy NSAIDs require regular blood monitoring, so if your vet wants to try Rimadyl or Deramaxx, I'd go ahead and do it.

I see Seresto does claim to repel ticks! My bad. For what it's worth, Buck got fleas wearing a Seresto collar. So I'm not a fan. Uhm, excuse me, but it seems rather clear that what's working is not your garlic, but your Preventic collar, Racingdogron!

Bob, I would INSIST on antibiotics regardless of what they find. These are classic UTI symptoms.

This is NOT normal in any way, shape, or form. Yes, nine is on the older side of things, but it's not typical that a 9 year old dog just can't hold it any more. I'd have them run a urine culture. But if he's also pooping in the house, they may need to look further.

It's just my opinion, but I wouldn't. Cleaning a dog's teeth at that age is sort of like giving a mammogram to a 90 year old. Something is going to take her well before any teeth bacteria do. If she isn't in any kind of pain or discomfort, why risk it?

Yes

Ivermectin is extremely safe and has been in use for many years. If your dog has nasal mites, and that's the recommended treatment, please get it taken care of. Can you imagine how uncomfortable that must be??