Hawthorn

I'm so sorry for your loss - RIP Fuzzy.

So very sorry for your loss - RIP Holly.

I had a similar issue with one of mine: crying and lifting a front leg but only after running or heavy playing and then quickly recovering and being completely normal until the next time it happened. Our "normal" vet examined Sunny several times but found nothing. Eventually I took him to a greyhound vet who found that the problem was a slightly misaligned vertebra at the base of his neck, just above where the shoulder blades meet. Apparently this was putting pressure on the ulna nerve (IIRC) and thus causing the intermittent pain and lameness. Sunny improved greatly with chiropractic sessions and a sensible exercise regime and he now has a session every 6 months just to check him over. I thought I'd mention this as a possibility as the greyhound vet we saw said this injury is quite common in greyhounds (often after a fall or collision) but is often overlooked by "normal" vets as it was by ours.

Beautiful tribute - I'm so sorry you had to say goodbye to your Bear. Love this: "To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace."

I had a similar thing with Sophie a little while ago except that in her case it only affected one ear flap and the top of her head a little. She had the scaly bumps and the hair loss but in her case antibiotics didn't help at all (we didn't try steroids). The vet wanted to give her a GA to get a skin biopsy to find out what it was but as I wasn't too keen on that idea we decided to try Advocate spot-on first. Within a week there was considerable improvement and within a few weeks it had completely cleared up and all the hair had grown back. So far, we have not had any recurrence. Advocate kills both demodex and sarcoptes mange mites (as well as fleas, but I know this wasn't the problem) so I have to assume in Sophie's case that it was one of these that was causing the problem but we don't know for sure. Hope you find a solution soon.

I am so sorry you had to say goodbye to your beautiful girl. RIP Rivie.

Teddy died 2 years ago but I have not had one dream about him yet. Charlie died 3 years ago and I've had a few dreams about him, although none for a while, but none were happy: they were all along the lines of I'd lost him and couldn't find him and I always woke feeling very panicky and upset. So you're not alone .

Kar I agree with ChrisM. Although they are sighthounds and therefore, as a breed, have certain tendencies, individuals within the breed vary tremendously. Each owner, dog and situation is different. Sweeping generalizations and rigid black and white thinking are too simplistic for such a complex subject with so many variables. It certainly is possible for some people to teach reliable recall (by which I mean the dog recalls every time you call as opposed to when he feels like it) to some greyhounds but it does take a lot of time, dedication and patience. This article describes almost exactly the method I use with my greyhounds: 10 Rules for a Really Reliable Recall However, even with a greyhound that has a reliable recall, you still need to be very careful about when and where you let your greyhound off lead as there are many potential hazards, such as trees and other objects, uneven ground, rabbit holes, steep inclines etc etc etc. Even though my greyhounds have reliable recall, I would not currently let either of them offlead in open unfenced countryside (other than the beach) although I may change my mind about that in the future. However, in the past I owned a greyhound who was offlead in open countryside virtually every day of the ten years that I had the pleasure of his company. Long leads I am not a fan of for the reasons that other people have posted and I don't use them for recall training either any more. This is because I want my greyhounds to be very excited when they hear the recall cue and for me long leads and coercion don't create the mindset I want in my greyhounds. However, if this method works for other people then so be it. There are no hard and fast rules. Read as much as you can, listen to everyone, and then make your own mind up as regards what makes sense for you and your dog.

No, I would never use such a collar or a trainer who recommended one. I've recall-trained all of my greyhounds using only positive techniques such as wonderful treats every single time, lots of fun and excitement and building it up very, very slowly and carefully. I've just read "10 Rules for a Really Reliable Recall" as mentioned by the previous poster and it's really excellent - I agree with every word.

So sorry for your loss . That photo of the footprints is so touching ...