GeorgeofNE

I'm with TBhounds. George has been on a LOT of antibiotics and they never changed his behavior in any way--but he has a cast iron stomach. If you've ever taken antibiotics yourself, you may have felt queasy. I know I have.

I wouldn't bother with all those supplements. Shoot, if he wants ice cream and cake, you might as well give it to him. You're not going to change the end result with herbs. My personal feeling is that I would not even bring my dog home from the vet if I were told he had osteo in his shoulder. There is no happy ending here, for him, or for you. He has no concept of "just a few more weeks." That's for you. But it's a very personal decision, and I am very, very sorry for you and your dog.

My last dog had a portion of his tail amputated due to a 16 week happy tail (and he was having major surgery on his leg anyway). My vet cut off a few inches, but spared the skin. He then sort of wrapped the extra skin around the end (providing the dog with a double layer of skin on the tip). Bandaged it up (he had 24 staples in his leg, was on cage confinement, and wearing a cone), and checked when the staples were removed. It heeled beautifully and the dog never once had another problem. Of course he was also on heavy duty antibiotics for his leg, so perhaps that helped? A partial tail amp is not that complicated. This sounds like a massively botched job.

It depends. If the weakness has any orgins involving pain that might be resolved with anti inflammatories, then yes, it will help. If the weakness is due to compressed nerves (as with LS), then no, an NSAID like Rimadyl won't help. Most old dogs have some aches and pains (just like most old humans), so overall, it probably makes her feel better.

I think you're misinterpreting this dog's behavior. Sounds like you'd do better with a different dog, frankly. An adult who is afraid of what is supposed to be their companion animal is not doing either the animal or themself any favors.

The poster is in the UK. As far as I know, no one involved in the Lexus project has any expertise in UK law.

George almost took my arm off the first time he had a bone! I knew better, and yet...I reached for it and WOW was a shocked! I backed away, got him a dog biscuit, held it out, he dropped the bone, problem solved! If I hadn't been around dogs my entire life, I might have reacted VERY differently. Be advised that Batmom is probably one of the most sensible posters on GT, so you can always count on her advice. Also, any fool can call themself a dog trainer. There is no test you have to take, no oversight, no licensing. Do NOT go back to that one. What a knucklehead!

I read a great help column question/answer in "Gun Dog" magazine once (I grew up with hunting breeds). A gentleman had the same problem you did, but with a 35 pound Brittany. He had tried pretty much everything. The answer man wrote back that since he was obviously quite able to just pick the dog up and put it in the vehicle, why was he spending so much time worrying about it? Three weeks is NOTHING in terms of your time together. Clearly the dog is able to jump in; she is choosing not to. If she's a "petite girl," I'd just hoist her up and put her in and be done with it. If I waited for George to do everything of his own free will, I'd probably still be standing outside the elevator at my old condo, trying to coax him in! I have found that George looks at things in a completely different manner than did any of our English Setters or our one Lab. Those dogs were all about pleasing us. George could not care any less about doing so. He simply refuses to do certain things, and despite my best efforts at trying a kinder, gentler method, I found the only thing that worked was physically (but kindly) forcing him to do certain things including: stairs, shiny floors, elevators, automatic doors, and no doubt other things. Other stuff, such as boarding a ferry boat didn't phase him in the least. And one day he actually jumped through the tailgate WINDOW of my SUV! So much for "boys don't jump"! Something about that hound disposition is just different than a "regular" dog. I know my take on this is a bit different than many of the other responses you got. Take it for what it's worth!

Please remember your dog is not a child. He doesn't eat to satisfy boredom, cravings, or because someone was mean to him at school. He may well not even know anything to drink other than water exists. Love him AS IF he's your kid, but don't feel you need to feed him like he is.

I had the same issue with George (I also live in a condo). As soon as I stopped crating him, the problem went away so completely that my distraught neighbor came over one day almost in tears thinking that I had gotten rid of the dog because she complained! George HATED his crate. Yes, he would go in for me--but within minutes of my departure, he started to howl like a wolf. Got rid of the crate and it was total silence! No drugs, nothing but copious exercise and a DAP diffuser, and he was good to go!

Unless you HAVE kids, I don't really see this is a big problem! Just make sure that her collar is properly fitted, and act like there is no big issue when she sees or hears them, and eventually she will learn to deal with them.

All the supplements in the WORLD will not--CAN NOT--help LS. George is on Deramaxx (for overall inflammation since he is 11) and Gabapentin. He seems comfortable.

I wouldn't do a think. A heart murmur is very subjective. The person listening to your dog's heart might think they hear something when there really is nothing to hear. Happened to me. A vet told me my last dog had one. Another vet an hour later actually laughed at the suggestion. Told me my dog had the "heart of an athlete" and one of the strongest beats he'd ever heard. First vet was an intern; second vet was not. I took the second vet at his word since no other vet had ever heard this supposed murmur. And no one ever did again!

This says to me you don't understand what "prey drive" means. And that you didn't do much research on Greyhounds before you adopted one. There was NOTHING "anti social" about what the dog did. He's an animal. He has an instinct bred into him for over 2,000 years. Something moved quickly in his line of sight and he grabbed it. That's all. Now, we don't live in a time where that's a really positive thing! But if you were counting on your hound to catch you dinner, you'd be thrilled with his success! Please--put the phone in your pocket. Unless you're quite strong, you cannot handle this dog with one hand. Ditch the harness. I know some people think they HELP with pulling, but to me that's silly. There is a reason sled dogs and other dogs who pull things wear a harness--the harness goes around the strongest part of the dog, the part that allows them to exert all the pressure they want without any uncomfortable feedback. The whole POINT of a collar is that a dog will not NORMALLY choke himself on purpose. So a properly fitted martingale collar will give you much better control of this particular dog. So you weren't really paying attention. You didn't really have the best equipment. And he just did what he was bred originally to do. This is not a massive tragedy, thank goodness, but one that needs to not happen again. With some adjustments and some work, it's really rather easily avoided. My dog does not like other dogs. He loves all Greyhounds, and thinks any other bred is best bitten. THAT is antisocial behavior! On the other hand, he has virtually NO prey drive, as evidenced by the wee baby bunny that was hopping three feet in front of him this morning. He could easily pull me if he wanted to, and all he did was prick of his ears and take only little dancing step before saying, "Meh. Bunny. Too hot. Let's just walk!" Sounds like it would also be useful if someone from the group you got him from would come out and take a walk with you. Show you properly leash handling techniques and perhaps got you started on teaching him to properly walk at heel, and how to distract him when you need to. Good luck.

Just my 2 cents: as counterintuitive as it may seem, dogs with arthritis REALLY need to be exercised. Just like people. He needs to maintain flexibility, which he won't do laying around, and muscle tone. The more muscle tone a dog has, the more support his joints have. Just like people. Like me...

I was going to suggest that stinky "tuna" cat food is a lot less expensive than actual tuna! And trust me, dogs like it just as well!

Hahahahahahah! Good luck. George was a 4 AM ON THE DOT dog when I got him. I managed to get him reset to 5 AM, and that's it. Six years. Even on Saturday. I surrender!

There are plenty of people who have dogs without fenced yards--people like me! Think of the free cardio workout you'll get, having to walk your dog on a leash!

It's important to ALWAYS remember, they are NOT "fur babies" and all the other cutsie pet names some people call them. They're animals with large teeth. Animals with large teeth who use their mouths on each other in many different ways. She may have snapped at you, or she may have been playing--you might never know. This is easy enough to deal with--don't do that any more! Don't pretend she's a baby. She's a dog who can, if she chooses, hurt you. I learned the hard way "don't wrestle with the pit bull mix puppy" when my darling and beloved dog, Kramer, bit me in the lip when it got too rowdy. Hurt like heck, upset me, but it never happened again cause I never got down on the floor with him and played that way.

I'm with Batmom. George has only had x-rays. I am not spending $2,600 on an MRI to confirm the diagnosis of LS since there is nothing on this earth which would compel me to subject a dog to spinal surgery, which is the only cure for LS anyway. So why spend that kind of money on a TEST?

I started training George the day I got him. I had to! He was a total nightmare on a leash! Go forth! But don't expect results you'd get from some of the more trainable breeds. You may have one of those super trainable hounds--but you may not. I've given up on my guy, for the most part, and love him for what he is. As long as he does his business outside, and walks nicely on a leash, I'm OK with that!

I know two months SEEMS like a long time, but it's really not. I've had George for SIX YEARS and just now stopped with the Kong when I leave! He'll also cry at the door if I leave him on the weekends. You might consider giving him another try out of the crate at this point. If he's good right when you leave, I imagine he'd be fine. Also, the DAP diffuser is one of the few things I tried that actually seemed to help a big. That and exercise before you leave for work! Very important! Hang on. You're doing fine, and it WILL get better.

We get up at 5 AM, and George's last call is 7:45 PM. I think you're just expecting her to remain open to being awake for too many hours! Let the girl sleep!

Because you say you've never had a dog, let me be the first to say that you could well be being manipulated! There is no reason to continually switch foods. You end up with a fussy eater if you do. If your dog's mouth is in such bad shape that eating kibble hurts, she is in serious need of a dental. Until such time as that happens, just put some warm water on the food, let it sit for a few minutes (not too long!) and let her eat it.

Nuthin, cause my orthopedic surgeon AND my rheumatologist assures me that all I'd be doing buying that stuff is making someone rich.