MaryJane

Can you tell if it's oozing a watery liquid or is it pus?

The antibiotic is probably not working and your girl probably needs to get another antibiotic. They have the culture so they should be able to tell what grew out and what antibiotic to use. It seems a bit unusual to me to have "sores" that are oozing that stemmed from a swollen paw -- is there a chance that there is something in the paw ... were x-rays taken? Any chance of a spider or insect bite .. maybe a snake? You might want to use a marker on her leg and mark how far up the redness is and swelling. Can you take a picture and post - the reason that I mention this is that his might be serious enough to go to the e-vet tonight.

You might want to discuss with your vet whether amicar will be needed - it's to stop bleeding and especially if he's having teeth out. While Lazer's history with blood clots might seem to preclude this, you still might want to run it by your vet (and maybe OSU). Good luck.

I hate to be a broken record (I mentioned this many times whenever I see a thread about fish oil) but, be careful about how much fish oil you give and make sure that you stop it at least 10 days before any surgical procedure. Fish oil can increase bleeding times and with greyhounds with their "funny platelets" it could cause complications like bleeding . Most vets won't even check to see if your dog is on fish oil and most don't know about the connection between bleeding and fish oil so you have to make sure that you take precautions. The following link is to the Heart association's page and quite a ways down you will see them talk about the correlation between increased bleeding times and fish oil. http://circ.ahajourn.../94/9/2337.full I do give my dogs fish oil but, I dropped down to only one pill a day. I also stop the fish oil if the dogs are scheduled for any procedures like dentals. I also have a few Amicar pills that I keep in the house just in case an emergency comes up and the e-vet doesn't carry it.

I just wanted to add that I'm lucky to be home most of the time and could probably stop an aggressive act pretty quickly. I think that I did a disservice to you in not more strongly suggesting that you muzzle since you may not have that option.

{sigh} not to throw a damper on this thread but ... made in USA doesn't mean that the ingredients came from the USA - they could come from countries that have questionable practices with food like china. "Made in USA/Manufactured in USA" just means that the final assembly process occurred in the USA. The ingredients could also come from the states but, manufacturers could ship them overseas for processing and then they come back for assembly (happens with processed chicken products for "people") With Globilization, the vendor chains have gotten huge and many times the final assembler of the product just doesn't know the origins of each and every ingredient and it's processing history before it reaches the point of assembly. Most cases, assemblers rely on the "good faith and practices" of the companies they are dealing with and if something does happen, they just point the finger at the previous vendor in the line. My dogs rarely get these type of treats anymore - it's just not worth it ...

I recently went through the same thing. Lucy had cut her foot and my new boy Adam was pretty obsessive about cleaning it for her. He wasn't aggressive towards her but, he was determined to follow her around and lick that foot until it healed. Now Lucy is dominant in my pack even though she has seizures. She wasn't weak and Adam's behavior appeared submissive to her. I let it continue when I was home but when I leave I always muzzle all the dogs (Lucy is seizure dog so can't take chances). In your case, you have to look at the behavior, is Brin acting weak and is Zola acting dominant? If this is the case .. muzzle. If you are not sure of the pack dynamics, muzzle.

Thank you, yes that is what I meant.

In the wild???? As in a ranch off Interstate 20 west of Ft.Worth? I'm not catching this -- what does a ranch off interstate 20 west of Ft.Worth have to do with what I said?

I'm of the camp that feeding dead animals that were reasonable healthy should not be an issue but, I'm not sure that I would want to feed my dog a downer cow or one that is diseased. Both of these types of animals could be filled with cancer or even something like mad cow disease not to mention a whole host of other diseases. In the wild, I would expect that sick animals get taken out relatively early as prey and they don't progress to the point that an animal could that is eventually destined for the slaughterhouse.

Are you giving fish oil capsules - they can inhibit clotting. If so, you might want to consider stopping. Like others on the thread, I would probably be concerned with waiting until next week ....

If you find a kibble that doesn't have it today then chances are they will change their ingredients at some point and have questionable ingredients next year or they year after. I found that it was a losing proposition trying to keep track of the ingredients and since I have a kidney/allergy dog, I couldn't take chances. I now also have a seizure dog so I can't have "funny stuff" in the food. So ... I home cook (no raw) and do meat, rice, oatmeal, veggies, and grits and they all seem to do well on it along with calcium and vitamin supplements. Another disturbing trend is that it appears that smaller dog food brands are now sourcing ingredients from China and they do not directly source them -- it is the facility where they get the food processed that usually picks the vendors to work with. I had looked at a dog food (annukeet) with great ingredients and after a few emails to them I discovered that they use a vendor for processing and the vendor sources the proteins/ingredients. Another problem is that they don't quality control each batch to ensure that the ingredients match what is listed on the bag. So if another brand was on the conveyer before your brand and the "machines" were not cleaned out well - you get contamination between brands. Even when they do quality control, it is the processing plant that does it which means that they could very well "doctor" the results - talk about the foxes watching the hens....

I'm sorry that you lost your little girl Dreamer so suddenly. They find their way into your heart and when they leave, the loss is devastating.

While a UTI could cause what you are describing there are also other things that can do. If she is allergic to a food sometimes they will drink more and as a result, pee more. If she is getting too much protein for her system she might need more water to eliminate it and hence, pee more. Did they culture her urine or just check under a microscope - if they never cultured then you want to get a sterile urine (clean her first) first catch preferably and have them culture it. At the same time you should also get a regular urinalysis done and get the values for protein (s/b negative) and the specific gravity.

Try adding different things like sprinkling some cheese on top one day, maybe bits of apple another, and some bacon an another day. Maybe some days change the brown rice to white rice and rather than lentils do adzuki beans. You can also add some cooked veggies like carrots or broccoli. I do home-cooked and have a different meal for the morning then I do for the evening and maybe that helps to just mix it up a bit.

I would probably do some blood work and x-rays maybe a spinal workup - I would also check all those paws for corns. You might just want to get the doggie boots and see if that makes a difference with walking. When he was walking it was looking a bit like favoring his right leg where he would go slower when he had weight on it - I might be wrong though. Otherwise, he looks good so if the vet workup does not show anything I would increase pain medicines.

A few people mentioned that having dogs means that you will get bites and I agree with this statement but, you don't want to get "bad" bites. When you are doing any procedure like wiping paws, brushing teeth or fur, or checking for ticks, sometimes your dog will just decide it doesn't want it anymore and do a snap. The dog does not mean to grab your skin - the dogs just wants to say "that's enough" - it's just that they can't talk so they use their mouth. It can be scary but, it is different than having a "mean dog" -- some dogs are just mean and will take your arm off without any provocation and that does not sound like the case here at all. All dogs have the potential to bite under circumstances that are unique to them. You eventually learn what sets a particular dog off and find innovative ways to deal with the issue. It's a learning process for both your dog and you. You dog has only been with you for 9 months so while she is not "new", it still may not be enough time to build up the trust so that you could do any procedure without a "preparation". For example, before I take my dogs paws and lift them up to wipe them off I ALWAYS first tap the top of the particular leg that I am going to lift to wipe off. This way it prepares them for me picking the leg up -- otherwise, they could be startled and snap at my face when I am in a pretty vulnerable position (bent over with my face next to theirs). If you can get past this first occurrence ... and maybe you can't only you can tell - then think about going to obedience classes.

Not to high jack the thread--I just feel a more precise interpretation in your response of what's going on could change the approach in a more productive way; so rather than saying "testing the boundaries", which interprets the dog's behavior as more proactively aggressive, I would use the words "being confused as to where she stands". This has a much more passive feel to it. Dogs hate nothing more than not knowing what the rules are, which can lead to aggression out of frustration--not because they want to dominate everybody else. Understanding this leads to taking responsibility for our own behavior so we can become clear to the dog what we want it to do, rather than becoming frustrated with the dog (who will be able to sense the frustration and get even more confused), or coming on too strong when all that is needed is clarity. I am NOT saying anybody's frustrated or doing wrong things to this dog--all I'm saying how we phrase things is really important. Actually, I phrased it exactly the way that I meant it .....

Only thing I would add is that you will need muzzles for the dogs (both of them) at least at first for both in and outside. Later you might not need them in the house but, you always want to put them on the yard for a good amount of time (6 months to a year) and maybe you'll always need muzzles outside.

I don't pretend to know all the "ins and outs" here but, it seems like this is happening more often as she is getting settled so ... IMHO, she is testing boundaries. This usually happens after a dog has been in a home approx from 3 to 6 months and it is a process where they are trying to establish themselves in the pack pecking order. It is likely to mean that she is feeling comfortable ... maybe TOO comfortable. If you have not been walking or feeding the dog - you need to start. When you walk the dog, walk with a tight leash with a purpose for about 10 minutes and then loosen up a bit so she can smell for a minute or two and then back to a tight leash and walk for another 10 minutes. Also, you should start feeding her occasionally so she starts to associate you with food. You may want to take her to training classes by yourself. Don't let her up on the furniture (either the bed or couch) - if she gets up, put the leash on her and tell her "OFF" and use the leash to get her off.

It could be the protein. Since it is higher than what you were feeding before it could be triggering a reaction from your dog to drink more to excrete the waste products from the protein in the urine. This happens to my dog when he gets more protein than he should - he drinks and pees more ... It could also be a higher salt content in the food. You might want to check his urine specific gravity (first catch urine) and the blood kidney values - they might be running on the borderline and if so, the extra protein might be a bit too much too handle.

Just love the picture on the bed - he is so handsome and he looks so "lordly". Welcome to GT!

I use peppermint oil - put a few drops on a gauze and leave it around the area. You have to refresh every few days but they don't like the smell. My problem is that I keep on forgetting to refresh the oil ....

If he does OK on the rice and beef then add some veggies and some calcium pills with a multivitamin and that will be nutritionally complete. There are quite a few recipes on-line.

To start off with - look for a dog food with more fiber. The Iams in the green bag has beet pulp which acts as a fiber and can work. Another is Science diet light and that one has about 10 to 15 % fiber. The fiber in that one is from cellulose (wood???) but, it seems to work, While some might consider Iams or the Science diet not to be "great foods", if either works then at least you have something that works while you try other dog foods slowly over the next few months. And, if you decide to feed them this food on a regular basis, then that's better than having daily diarrhea. One of the ways that I firm up my dog's poop is by feeding them oatmeal daily which has fiber.