MaryJane

This topic has been hashed out many many times. My response is the same as before: you cannot override thousands of years of instinct with a few years of training. And in your case, you have only had your "All American" for less than 1 year if memory serves me right... I agree with Greyt_dog_lover, greyhounds have centuries of running bred into them and then their early life consists of being trained to run and "ignore everything else going on". These dogs have the ability to see great distances and are able to spot what I do not have the ability to see and will "run after it". With a greyhound, your trust in them can eventually kill them. You trust that they can do the few feet to the car without a leash and then you trust that they will come back when you let them out for their evening pee. You keep on pushing the limit and sadly, the odds are against your greyhound and he is the one that will suffer for it. There's a great writeup about "trust" and the greyhound - maybe someone has it online and will post it. Greyhounds were also bred to be independent unlike other working dogs like shepherds and dobermans which were bred to work alongside people. Training my other breeds was quite different and I can only explain it by saying during training my shepherd and doberman would focus on me with an intensity that would defy description ... my greyhounds on the other hand, would look at me with an expression that seems to say "oh no, not her again, let's just ignore her and she'll go away". In the beginning, greyhounds also don't have the "bonds" that pets normally have because while they got affection at the racing kennels, they typically didn't form the bonds that an owner and pet form. This is not to say that they can't form them later -- they can and do but, it takes time. When you let a dog off-leash, you are counting on that animal coming back. Whether he does or not depends on many factors such as his breeding, training (race and obedience), his bond with you, his tendency to get sidetracked and one really simple one that he "hears you calling him" -- in the case of a greyhound, the deck is not stacked in the right direction.

Good to hear that it's mostly bruising and nothing serious. Hope he feels better today. Good to hear that it's just bruising. Hope he feels better today.

4 fish oil pills each day along with salmon dog food might be a bit much fish oil because this oil also has some aspirin like properties in that it can stop blood clotting and with greyhounds and their "funny platelets" you just might not want to go there. You might just want to give two a day (I dropped my hounds down to 1 per day). For the dry skin try giving some cooked oatmeal in the food with just a touch of molasses or honey. Give a few tablespoons each day and see if it helps. This also helps the poops because of the extra fiber .... In addition, get one of the gloves that has suede on one side and little nobs on the other - it is used for grooming dogs and use that on the areas where the dandruff is more noticeable. It might improve the oil circulation in the skin. If the area is bare skin, you might try putting just a drop of baby oil on and rubbing it in and see if that helps.

Just to clarify - I don't know the circumstances of how Alex got away and I did not mean to insinuate that it was because of letting the dog off lead (my bad) -- the point I was trying to make is that recall with greyhounds is not the best because of their earlier training of "running" and if your dog gets away, you may never get him/her back. It's a risk some may want to take, I don't and thus, my dogs are always on a leash.

Again, this might be a collapsed lung and that is a serious condition - the lump you are seeing might be the result of air escaping from the lungs. If he is still panting then that might suggest that he is not getting enough air. Is there a neighbor around that can take you to the ER-vet?

There is a possibility that it could be a collapsed lung and if that is the case - he needs an ER vet. The panting could be the result of a collapsed lung. I would suggest that you google "collapsed lung dog". Also, if it is a collapsed lung - you should not wait until tomorrow and I would not give any drugs that might hinder his breathing anymore than it is already.

I am so sorry to read this.

Hi, I'm from Westwood MA -- off leash -- don't do it unless the dog is in an fenced in enclosed area. Greyhounds are taught to run and ignore all noise like the crowds while they are chasing something and that noise would include you yelling for them to come back. They have no idea of cars and do not "look both ways" and if they get hit, they have no body fat and they lose big time. As someone already mentioned - go to the Amber Alert page to get a "wake-up call" on dogs that get loose. Some greyhounds do not need to run at all and some, like the younger ones, seem to want to work off some energy. It really does depend on the greyhound. If you get a more mature greyhound, chances are he/she will not want to run and will get all the exercise he/she needs on daily walks. As to dog parks, as already suggested .. wait awhile before going, you need to know your dog's temperament along with whether it is "small animal safe" before taking a dog to a dog park. Also, greyhounds have very thin skin which tears easily so they do not do well with boisterous play. There are some great groups around the Boston area for walking - Greyhound Adventures is one, they have a weekly Sunday walk and as someone already suggested, you might just want to tag along and talk to some of the other owners. The link to their website is http://greyhoundadventures.org Greyhound friends in Hopkinton also has a big fenced in area but, I'm not sure what their policy is on letting dogs run - you might need to do some volunteer work in exchange for privileges - check with them. I suggest that you read post 17 in thread http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/283964-lost-in-medford-ma/

It sounds like your dog is awake so I don't think that I would classify it as "sleep aggression" although others might disagree with me. IMO, sleep aggression is usually when your dog is sleeping (and some sleep with eyes open) and is startled and reacts with a snarling, growling and maybe a biting lunge. It sounds more like your boy finds it disconcerting that another animal wants to lie right on him or next to him and this might be more in line with characteristics of "space aggression". It's still way to early for your boy to be comfortable with this (he might never be comfortable with it) and he is letting you know by the growling and snarling and if your cat still continues this behavior, the next step might likely be to snap at the cat since no one appears to be listening to what Nemo is trying to say. If it is true sleep aggression and your dog comes up lunging from a sound sleep snapping then you need to keep your cat away from the dog when he is sleeping and not allow the cat to lie next to him because the dog could harm the cat unintentionally. If it is space aggression, then it might settle down over time as he gets more comfortable with people/pets getting close to where he is lying down although, I have one dog that has "space issues" and it's going on two years now and she has only made slight improvements - I can always get close to her when she is lying down but, she always warns the other dogs to keep their distance and since she is a seizure dog, I do allow her this behavior. I don't have cats so I don't know if it is possible to train your cat to stay away - the best solution might be to put the cat in a different room and let Nemo get more comfortable with his surroundings before forcing the cat on him. Over the next months, you can see if there is any difference in his "space" behavior.

I've had a few fosters and they pretty much all needed to learn the stairs. I found the following works really well and one person can do it alone but, YOU ALWAYS have to make sure that you are holding a railing so you don't fall. Stand in back of your greyhound and have one hand on the railing and the other one lifting one of the front paws to the first step. Learn over your greyhound slightly to make sure he/she cannot rear up (again, make sure you are holding the railing) - if your dog doesn't like anyone leaning over him then you will need 2 people. Use your knee to lift your dog's butt onto the next step and when this is done, the front paws should go up a step. At this point, you should be able to hold the collar to keep your dog straight and just use your knee to lift to the next step and he/she should move their front paws up. If they don't move their front paws, you may have to let go of the collar and move the front paws up one at a time. Going down is also a problem because your dog will have a tendency to try and jump all the stairs. While a dog can master going up the stairs fairly quickly so they don't need help - I make sure that they don't go down the stairs by themselves for at least a week or two. Going down the stairs it is easier to use a halter and hold on at the cross point on the back. Again, you need to make sure that you are holding onto the railing. Keep your dog right up against the wall - they seem to feel safer in this position and you can control them better. Grab the halter and start going down the stairs and you pretty much have to pull them but, be careful - their pulling back will turn to lunging forward and their tendency is to want to jump down the whole flight of stairs so you have to make sure that you make them go down a step at a time - even at the bottom.

Check with your oncologist and see what they say and as someone else suggested, consult with OSU. I think that since both of your dogs have a compromised immune system the oncologist may recommend suspending the rabies at least until both the dogs are a few months past any immune system suppressing drugs like chemo treatments. If you decide to wait a few months, doing a rabies titer in the interim would be a good idea. edited to add ... I forgot to mention that when my Onyx finished chemo and was due for a rabies - the oncologist and I decided to wait for a few months.

I've dealt with quite a few fosters and since I don't crate .... I use a leash and tie the new dog to a door handle in the kitchen and give him/her the food there and my dogs get their food in their customary place in the kitchen also. This way they all eat in the same room and my dogs know enough not to go to the "new dog's food". After each dog finishes his/her food they go out and once everyone has gone out - the dogs know when they come in that that they can go and clean up the other dog's food/cookies.

Hard to tell what was happening when you had the incident but, I would not just muzzle Senko, I think that Gary also needs to be muzzled if he was acting up (you might just want to muzzle all the dogs). Muzzling just Senko does not leave her any way to protect herself if both the other dogs decide to gang up on her.

Hope he's able to sleep well tonight and eats OK tomorrow....

I would suggest avoiding the dog park for the time being because you will reinforce negative behavior. You mentioned that he listens to you when you are alone but, what about when walking? I'm thinking you might need to bring your dog to places like dog food stores so he starts to learn that not all people all going to pet him. Do you have a fenced in yard - if yes, how is his recall there? Have you taken him to obedience classes?

Thank you for posting this - it is great information!

I'm sorry for the loss of your boy Gabe and the pain that you are going through.

Checking the urine for kidney issues is a good idea -- As strange as it might sound, try cutting back on the protein in the diet just a little bit or changing to a better protein. As a dog ages it might actually take more water to filter/process the same amount of protein in the kidneys and as a result - more need to pee and since the dog is older, less able to hold it.

I'm so sorry to hear this diagnosis. Following is the link that I have used for OSU. https://greyhound.osu.edu/consultationservice/consultation/index.cfm

Just wanted to mention that sometimes the pain-killers that are used could possibly bring on hallucinations and if so, it would frighten dogs which is why you may have been seeing a "different" look in her eye. The reason that I mention this is even though my dog adjusted well after the amputation, once he got off the painkillers he did much better and behaved more like himself.

Try gradually adding some more oatmeal - my dogs morning meal is more than 50% oatmeal (5 minute type).

How often do you give your grey a bath? Greys usually have relatively less dander than most dogs and that tends to be what people are allergic to (not always though).

You want to make sure that you record any seizures including how long they lasted. A dog can have one seizure and never have another one but, if you do get a second seizure then IMHO, you should consider getting an appointment to a neurologist and have them treat the dog rather than a regular vet. Regular vets are not likely to be up-to-date with the latest treatments. IMO, the current procedures usually recommend treatment once the seizures get to around once a month but, each neurologist will have their own protocol they follow as well as anti-seizure medicines they will use. With my Lucy, her first seizure was in March of 2011 and her second was in August of 2011 and at that time I made an appointment with the neurologist and had to wait about 1 month to see him. Did the e-vet do any neurological exam like checking the gait or correcting the foot placements? If you have recently had any work done in the house then, you might also want to get a lead test as lead can also cause seizures. Also, try and remember whether you changed any cleaning solutions in the house or if you just gave vaccines or different medicines. If another seizure occurs, give some ice cream (the real stuff), about 1 to 2 tablespoons (for a greyhound) right after the seizure and be careful if you use a spoon to give it as the dog can try and eat the spoon (I know it sounds funny but, they can actually try and pull it into their mouth). The ice cream provides some quick sugar and the reason for it is that during seizures the brain can use up the sugar store and then pull more from the stored reserves but, you're never sure whether the dog has enough sugar - note, you don't want to give too much either. The web site provides some good information on seizures: http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/

Try adding some cooked oatmeal to one of her meals - sometimes it can help to soothe skin problems. Also, if you can contact the trainer you might want to find out if they were feeding beef or chicken at the track and switch to whatever they were doing. As a note, if they were feeding beef, it will be hard but, not impossible to find a kibble without chicken parts/fat or "unlabeled" ingredients.

I used Forti-Flora from my vet but has since ordered it online for about 1/2 the cost. I don't give it every day and when I give it, I split one packet among the 3 dogs.