GeorgeofNE

Ahh, it's all good fun until your Greyhound ends up at the e-vet! What you need to remember is that your dog IS playing, but even so, his skin is much, much more fragile than the skin of a "regular" dog, and even normal dog play can send him to the emergency room. Imagine if he picks the wrong pit bull to bully. He won't stand a chance, unless he runs away. Replace pit bull in the sentence prior with Labrador, mongrel, Rotty. Any other dog who takes exception to his play style will have the upper hand if there is a fight. Fights are common--usually pretty minor. They happen ALL THE TIME and if you haven't had one at your dog park yet, consider yourself very lucky. My last dog decided to not to share a stupid stick with a Rotty. They went at it full force. Thank God the Rotty's owner was a big guy--he grabbed my dog and threw him off his, and no one was harmed (my dog was a pit bull mix), but if he had been my Greyhound, I shudder to think what might have happened. If you're prepared for the risk, and the cost of stapling your dog together, then have at it. But please don't just blow off all the warning signs and the very real danger. Simply because your dog has fragile skin. And virtually no body fat. So if a tooth goes in, it does a lot more damage than it would if a dog bit a Labrador with their nice layer of cushioning!

Excess protein is, I believe, simply excreted in the urine. So the only issue is paying for more protein than she needs. I agree with most of what everyone said--if it's working for her, I wouldn't worry about it! And don't buy all the hype. We overthink dog food these days!

I'm sorry--we have VERY expensive veterinary care here compared to most parts of the country--and those prices are out of control.

George eats TOTW Pacific Stream, and his poops have not changed.

Any interest in trading hounds? Just kidding. I would kill for a dog who didn't have a bladder the size of a peanut.

Teach her to go up the stairs this weekend. It's not that big a deal. As someone said, if your staircase is wooden, you'll want to get something non-slip to put on the steps. They make little pieces of carpet for that, or rather ugly antislip tape. But even my dog knows how to go up stairs, and he's still terrified of shiny floors after six years! If he can do it, any greyhound can!

He needs WAY more exercise before being crated all day. WAY more. I get up an hour early--six years after adopting my dog who is now nearly 12. And I have two artificial hips, but I still manage to walk him for 45 minutes before work. Rain or shine. Summer, winter, and fall! Your dog has SA. The more tired he is, the calmer he will be. Please try it!

Really no reason she should still be crated at night after 7 weeks. Once they're housebroken, assuming she is an adult dog, I think it's a bit much. She's making noise because she doesn't like being in the crate. Simple solution--let her out. Crates are very useful tools for housebreaking, and for puppies, but once a dog is reasonably acclimated to living in a home, probably not necessary.

The "test" for LS involves lifting the tail--I'm not sure of the details--but any competent vet should know how to do it. The only definitive way to diagnose it is via MRI, which is cost prohibitive for most of us since it doesn't change the treatment unless you want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on surgery--which at your hound's age would be pretty crazy IMHO. Gentle regular exercise to keep his hind end muscles strong is key. Twice a day walks are better than one long walk. Try to avoid jumping up on things, and try to keep him from doing crazy butt tuck zoomies and such. Otherwise, there isn't anything you can do except deal with the symptoms. As others have said, Gabapentin is the medication that seems to help most hounds. It's what George takes. He also takes Deramaxx. He's doing well. Occasionally his back legs give out going up the stairs and he falls, and it breaks my heart, but generally he is doing well. He'll be 12 in Sept.

Uhm, where's the Greyhound??

Yes, I have, and my dog had zero interest in doing anything but sniffing every post on the fence and peeing on it! I went at 6 AM. Signs be darned! I cleaned up after him, and I am sure no one ever knew he'd been there. But after doing this a few times, I realized his "need to run" was only in my head. He gets plenty of exercise on our walks, and without another Grey to compete with, it's just not a big deal--running that is.

Any time my dog has had diarrhea, the veterinary advice has ALWAYS been a 24 hour fast.

Agree with all of the above. My last dog was a mutt, and he LOVED training. He knew a million different commands, both verbal, hand signals, and whistle signals. My Greyhound? Six years in, he mostly knows what "go lie down" means, but whether he does it or not depends on his mood. The looks I get are hilarious! Kind of like, "Don't you know who you're talking to? I'm Driven by Chile. And I'm retired. YOU go lie down!" He walks well on a leash, and I managed to housebreak him. I'm satisfied!

I am going to be the one person who says yes, you should take her back. If you're living at home with your parents and several younger siblings, I'm guessing you're pretty young yourself. Unless EVERYONE in the home is on the same page, this dog is NOT the right dog. And clearly a 5 year old simply does not have the capacity to be on the same page in terms of boundries, etc. Children want a dog they can hug and play with. Many Greyhounds love kids, but some don't. Clearly this dog does not. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Don't worry about the dog. They'll find a home that doesn't have little children in it, hopefully with an experienced Greyhound owner, and she'll be happier.

Your first dog EVER and they tried to foist a dog who has issues on you? Hmmmmm. Good for you for passing on that one! The side door matter is no problem at all. A door is a door.

What's the point? Are you not financially able to afford to take the dog to the vet? Part of owning a dog is regular veterinary care including those required for prescriptions--there are some things you really don't want to scrimp on, and this is one of them IMHO.

I don't think you'll find anyone willing to adopt a dog to you if you tell them straight up you intend to let it off leash-not any adoption group anyway. For what it's worth, many of us prefer the term "adopt" to "rescue." Rescue implies that the dog is in danger, or dire straights, and that's simply not true for the VAST majority of retired racers! In Europe, lots and lots of people let their Greyhounds run off leash. It's just really not common at all in North America. Having said that, my dog, even when given the opportunity in a huge, fenced park, was much more interested in peeing on every fence post than running! He goes out 5x a day. One long walk, and four additional pee breaks.

Bitter Apple is totally useless IMHO. You need to use the crate, use a muzzle if that helps, train your KIDS to put away their stuffed animals, watch her like a hawk, and this too shall pass!

Not sure why so many people immediately assume an allergy is to FOOD. It's pollen season. If these symptoms are fairly recent, there is a very good chance it is an inhalant allergy such as pollen. My brother had a dog who was allergic to grass! Do antihistamines make him stop itching? Have you had him seen by the vet, because staph infections are very common when a dog is very itchy. A short course of steroids and antibiotics are probably in order if he is as uncomfortable as he sounds. And if antihistamines DON'T work, you need a veterinary diet that is totally unique, and you need to feed him NOTHING else for 8-12 weeks to see if it works. There is nothing to indicate your dog is allergic to chicken in what I read! My dog has seasonal allergies, most likely rag weed since he gets itchy closer to fall. I give him 2x daily Benadryl throughout his itchy season, and he does quite well!

I would not consider "blood work, at the end of winter" to be enough to rule out some kind of medical issue. He needs his eyes checked, his hearing checked, to be checked for pain-- It would be a shame to invest a lot of time and money in drugs and training only to realize he has a medical condition that can be treated! Best of luck. I'm sure this is very difficult for you.

Put her on some antibiotics if they're that bad. It might be something you have to do periodically. I would say that the risk of infection FROM the "standing dental" is probably greater than not going it at all.

Please be brave, for his sake. Ask yourself if this is REALLY how he wants to live out his last few days/weeks. Or are you putting him through this for yourself? I KNOW it's hard. I've been there. I will be there soon again. But we have to have the courage to do what is in the dog's best interest, at the end.

The truth is, that since this is a Greyhound we're dealing with, if it acts like Osteo and it looks like Osteo, chances are, it is Osteo. Dr. Couto says that he just assumes all Greyhounds brought to him with unexplained limping have Osteo until he can prove otherwise.

Sure, why not. Beware though; most dogs consider rabbit crap the canine equivalent of popcorn!

I actually think some dogs do better NOT disturbed mid day. If you've ever seen the YouTube video of the time lapse photography of a Greyhound home all day, the dog barely moves off the bed in 9 hours. And that is my experience with my dog as well. I have a surveillance camera. He never even stands up. Likely the dog walker is waking the dog up when he arrives, and then there is the entire "I'm being left" routine a second time. You might try skipping it.