Fruitycake

Monty wanders around, plays "dog in jail" at the fences around the picnic tables by peering out between the bars, and interviews potential new owners. He's only run once, and it was a riot to see the other dogs trying to chase him and falling way behind (but Monty looked so happy). We go to the dog park to try to get Allie (non-grey) some exercise and socialization time in because she needs it. We really want her to be able to play, but she does not understand how to play with other dogs. Play bows get a stiff head turn away (even from dogs that weigh less than a quarter of her weight). She usually just sticks by Monty's side.

Monty is one of the barkingest greyhounds I think there are. He barks when we get home, when he's going to be fed, when he's excited to go outside, when he sees someone he knows (usually a woof then a roo), when he wants to play... I'd say all in all probably about 50 times a day, usually. (He is polite about it though, when he barks he turns his head *away* from the person who has his attention and barks over his shoulder. Sometimes at a nother person close at hand - who is then deafened.) Oh, and I don't know that Monty knows he's a greyhound. Chasing stuff does not interest him. Rooing is fun, but so is the barking. And he likes every dog/pet/animal he's ever met. To the point of getting in their face and being told "get off!" and he still doesn't seem to understand.

We don't allow dogs on the beds/couches because we want to have spaces where the cats (and people) can be unmolested by overly friendly canines. Our couch can only hold so many of us, and 2 people and 2 cats is about the limit. Monty (grey) is a sprawler, and I know that Allie gets upset when the cats get in "her space" when she's on her dog bed (which used to include about a 5 foot span beyond the confines of the huge dog bed) so we're keeping her down. And my cats give me enough trouble on the bed (They're plastered to me even when it's 90 degrees) and it's hard to move already. Adding even a mid sized dog to that would be a nightmare! (I have to admit that part of our not wanting Allie on the furniture is to keep her below the felines in the pecking order. It seems to be helping.)

Oh boy, we had coccidia at our house. ALL OVER our house. It co-occurred with hookworms and giardia and was a friggin nightmare (two dogs had everything, and the situation was messy). Bunny poop sounds like the culprit, or even picking it up on a nose or paw that gets licked from other dog droppings. We did a massive treatment for everything when our dogs got it, because we couldn't be sure that their problems were just the giardia and/or hooks and it was easier to do the nuclear solution. If your dog isn't having a problem, I'm glad! We saw no ill effects of treatment for all three, so I'd choose to treat (for now). I don't like the thought of spreading things to neighbor dogs.

You have my sympathy! It is a very scary experience having witnessed a series of 4 grand mals myself (two of them were when I wasn't home but my husband was). After the series of seizures we had an entirely new dog, who didn't remember anything but his name (and that only because we were chanting it to him when we were waiting for the seizures to subside). We knew that "a seizure" were the cause of our young boy being retired early (1.5 years old), but we had hoped that he wouldn't have any more. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, but fortunately for all of us he is on medication (phenobarbitol) that has prevented any more seizures. It's been a year and a half since his Day of Seizures, and we are so very happy that our boy responds so well to his medication. He's on Milk Thistle once a day (or sometimes less often) to help support liver function, since pb can cause problems. I wish you and Snoopy the best of luck: never another seizure! Alternately, if he does have another, I wish for you to find a medication that works for him.

Our first dog (Keeshond) was definitely special needs at first: she weighed 72 lbs and should have been half that. We got her weight down and she was a whole new dog! Monty (grey) was a dog who was retired (before racing) because he had "a seizure." Or maybe many of them, we really didn't get much information from the track. 3.5 months later he had cluster grand mal seizures (6 in 24 hours) and now is on phenobarb. He is now nearing 18 months seizure free. We came here and did LOTS of research on seizures in dogs before we brought him home, so we were prepared for the worst case scenario. Allie (keeshond) was supposedly this almost perfect dog...but she has special needs too. She has problems communicating - she growls for happiness, playfulness, fear, and aggression and they all sound exactly the same, so we've had to learn to watch her closely to read what she means. And sometimes it's still hard to tell.

Maybe he has a papercut-like owie on his nose, where it would be hard to see and yet hurt like %&@*#@%. Did you check inside his mouth, maybe under his upper lip to make sure there was nothing irritated-looking about his gums? (Maybe the chicken feet fought him on the way down, clawing to get away....) Hope he feels better soon.

I betcha it stinks lovely, just like the seaweed and dead fish at the beach. MMmmmmmm. And with such a lovely crunch! I'm sorry for your son and his friends, but I can just imagine how pleased Rosa was with her "find" (and how sad she probably was that you took it from her). Did you check her beds, in case it wasn't actually eaten but hidden? Probably a microscopic chance, but worth a try.

Winter means shorter, quicker walks. At least 3 a day of 15+ minutes each. I am (and Monty is too) greatly appreciating the warmer weather that is hinting and toying with the idea of becoming spring, because then we can go back to doing hour long walks in the mornings, nearly an hour in the afternoons and then a quick walk for just before bed (weekdays) and a couple of seriously long new territory "death marches" (hy husband's term) on the weekends that can last up to and over two hours. Monty loves those. It is definitely our bonding time (my husband doesn't participate, because we start early early early!). Monty seems to hate going over the same territory over and over and over, so patrolling his "territory" does not seem to be in his nature. His mood just seems depressed when we're in the same place repeatedly. His attitude is a lot more enthusiastic when we start walking in new and exciting places, with new stuff to sniff and new people to walk by and new sights to see. When he pees, he lets it alllll go, except on the really long hikes where he'll dribble a little periodically late in the walk. Or fake it - he does that a lot. (No, really Monty, other dogs can't sniff a sidle. "Almost" doesn't count in the peeing game.) We can't wait until real spring! (edited because I can't type)

I just found out about this study today when browsing the journal Veterinary Technician. Thought y'all might not know about this yet (and might want to participate). http://cvm.ncsu.edu/epilepsyresearch/currentstudies.html Genetics and Canine Seizures Study The second investigation examines the various genetic sequences in normal dogs and dogs with epilepsy, to determine whether dogs that respond poorly to seizure medications have a specific genetic profile. This study is a joint venture between NC State faculty in the CVM department of Clinical Sciences and the Department of Genetics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as well as a researcher at Duke University. Drs. Karen Munana, Natasha Olby, from the CVM and. Greg Gibson, along with a team of graduate students. The study is currently looking for epileptic dogs that are currently on antiepileptic medication from which to collect a blood sample. For more information contact Julie_osborne@ncsu.edu. I thought since the ancestry of the hounds are so well followed we might be a great bunch to provide info for this. (If this has already been posted and I just missed it, sorry for the duplication!) Toni and the gang, including one epileptic greyhound (seizure free for 51 weeks!!)

We have no idea how Monty managed this, but he has what looks like a chip that has flaked off from the outside of his lower canine tooth. Not at the top: not where it would seem to strike something when eating or playing or whatever. He went into the vet to have it looked at and she said we should just keep an eye on it and make sure nothing else goes wrong with it. It isn't bad enough to need a root canal yet (owie), but the vet said that it is a weakness that could cause problems in the future. It doesn't seem to be causing him any pain (no excessive reaction when brushing his teeth, for example). Has anyone else ever had a weird "flaking tooth" issue like this? If anyone has seen this, is it something that is likely to recur (like he has teeth that are just prone to this in general)? I never would have considered it a possibility if I hadn't seen it in Monty. Toni and the gang

I was just wondering how many others have had issues with hounds (of any type, not specific to greys) who react unfavorably to snow. It's pretty chilly around here (St. Paul, MN) and we just got our first snow on Saturday and Monty doesn't much care for it. In fact, he doesn't want to put his paws in it. At all. We're trying to get him not to poop on the sidewalk (eww) and definitely not in the middle of the street (dangerous!) but at this point he will squat in the middle of the sidewalk and when he is nudged to drop onto snow he just stiffens up and stops all potty progress. This morning it was 5 times on our 20 minute walk that he would squat and when praised and gently nudged he would just stop. He won't walk in the snow at all if he can help it (drifts=some amazing leaps over them & areas not shoveled=he drags along behind like he's being dragged through hell). We are going to try the boot thing for cold paws, if we can get him to put up with them - but he also has shown great resistance to pottying while wearing his jackets so I don't know if the boots would make him even more resistant to doing anything at all. I guess I just wanted to know if others have snow-fearing hounds and what you do to get the potty-train moving when they are like this. Is there any hope? (Oh, and the neighbor 2 houses down probably thinks I'm nuts because last night he did actually continue doing the job after a gentle nudge and I praised him and praised him and told him was a good boy for pooping, etc. It wasn't until about 10 seconds of the praising - loud sing-songy praising - that I realized that the neighbor was out on the front stoop of the house we were in front of. [He also got a treat immediately after he was done.] The things we do for our dogs....) toni, mike and Monty

Ouch, how scary for all of you! I don't have a whole lot to add but to say that you are the customer and if you want a % full panel thyroid test done, the doctor (your "employee") should bloody well give it to you. I just fought my own vet about the same thing and if she had not given in, I would have taken my business elsewhere and explained why. Yes, it is a slim chance that it will show anything, but any ability to proactively eliminate possible medical causes for the behavior is important! It is your dog and yourmoney, so if you want to "waste" money on a test that the vet doesn't think will show anything, it is YOUR choice. Don't give up! toni, michael, and Amnesiac Monty (seizure free for 6 days, 7.5 hours)

Thanks to everyone! (I bookmarked the post you linked to.) (Unfortunately he had another seizure this morning and has an appointment with the vet this afternoon - 4:00 was the earliest appointment available. I'm typing absolutely everything I can think of that's gone on yesterday and this morning so I have a record for her. Thank goodness I'd researched and bookmarked a lot of information before he even came home!) You all are wonderful!!! toni

Well, it turns out that Monty's seizure at the track wasn't a one-time deal. We were awakened at 3 this morning when he had his second one in the kitchen. I guess I'll be re-reading the information I'd read months ago on epilepsy in dogs (and printing a bunch out). Anyway, we've been kenneling him when we are out, since he has some separation anxiety and is playful enough to want to get the cats to play with him, and the kennel seems too small should he have another one when inside it. It is not wide enough for him to be able to stretch out his legs straight when lying on his side. I'm glad he wasn't in there when he had his seizure so we (hopefully) have time to make any adjustments to his living arrangements while we're out before he has another one. My questions: Would kenneling him be a bad idea at this point, and should we absolutely let him have at least some house-roaming ability? We can babygate off the kitchen (which has the access to the basement stairs) and have done so this morning. We could go back to locking the cats in the "back bedroom" area (the two bedrooms and bathroom) but would have to move at least one litterbox in there for them while we're out. We don't have a lot of breakable items in our house to begin with but the two display racks can be moved into the back bedroom and out of his access entirely by putting it in the cat's food room. Has anyone here had more than one dog and one of them with epilepsy, and how did the non-epilepsy dog react? Monty still wants another dog, really really bad, but I would worry about the other dog flaking out at the situation and maybe getting fear aggressive or mistrusting Monty after it happened. But then I've heard of dogs that warn people of impending seizures (and think Monty felt weird last night and he might have been hinting that this was going to happen so maybe that wouldn't be that helpful). His seizure did scare the snot out of the cats, but when Monty was ambulatory again - even if he didn't seem to really recognise things like stairs, windows, the cats, and me - Fruity did come up and give him a sniff and (completely out of character for her) purred at him and gave him a couple of friendly nudges with her head. She has NEVER done that with him, nor did she ever do that with our prior dog. It was like she was trying to reassure him. Shade Man just gave him a hugely wide berth and kept an eye on him from a distance. Thanks for any insight you can give me! Toni and Michael (and Monty and the cats)

We read Adopting the Racing Greyhound and Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies before we even went to Meet & Greets, looked online for information, found Greytalk about two months ago (what a great way to avoid work!), and have been purchasing supplies, and generally getting ready. But I feel like we're never going to really be ready. We are about to bring Monty home (Thursday!) and I am excited, but also nearly in a panic. He is a year and a half (I always said I'd never go puppy, and that's cutting it close), apparently doesn't like baby gates and isn't fond of his kennel, and I'm nearly beside myself with "new-parent paranoia." He seems to be showing a little separation anxiety according to the foster, so we'll be trying to work the alone-training with him this weekend. I know we can't be ready for everything, but I'd sure like to be! The thing that is concerning me the most is the litterboxes. We have two cats, and I use World's Best Cat Litter (corn based - our keeshond Marlie thought it was the best kitty-litter-buffet EVER because the litter was at least as tasty as the poops). There are litterboxes on main floor, baby-gated into the rarely-used front entryway, and one litterbox in the basement with a door for us and a small passageway for the cats. And making that passageway small enough for the slimming-down keeshond to be blocked took about 4 different attempts on my husband's part. (The dog's kibble toy rolled under the stairs one day and she followed it and ignored her toy and eat direct from the box. Ugh - she pooped litter for days - many times a day. And she kept being able to get under there! We had to use an elizabethan collar on her when we were at work for a couple of days as we tried to re-engineer the design.) I don't want the greyhound to have litterbox snacks if he won't be babygated. Would babygating him out of a small area be as resented as babygating him in a small area? Does anyone else have additional suggestions on preventing access to the litterbox buffet? Covered litterboxes are out - my boy cat is long and I am using the largest litterboxes I can find (Jumbo) and still sometimes he misses. Marlie was a short dog, about knee high, and couldn't get over a babygate if her life depended on it, though she did stand in the sunroom and look longingly at the litterboxes sometimes.... She would have been in there in an instant if she could have jumped that gate! Any suggestions greatly appreciated.