vjgrey
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Posts posted by vjgrey
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I'm so sorry.
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That's amazing. SO happy for you and Henry.
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The office staff does the routine next-day checkups for our regular vet. However, there is a specialist center nearby that I'll never use again, for a similar reason. After our first (emergency - and extremely expensive) visit with their neurologist, I didn't get to speak to him again through about two and a half months of treatment. I'd call asking specifically to speak to the neurologist. They'd say they would pass along the message, and then a neuro nurse would call me back. I asked to schedule a follow-up appointment with him to discuss my questions and concerns, but they said that wasn't necessary. So it's not necessary for me to give them any more of my money.
So, no, totally not overreacting.
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Got an update late this afternoon as well. Ami is doing greyt in her foster home, with no signs of any issues. She seems to be enjoying the company of the resident hounds - here she is (ami is the fawn) getting well deserved treats from her foster dad.
The picture is posted with the group's permission.
Deb
Thanks for the pic. She's gorgeous!
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No one is harassing the group. The greyhound world isn't that big, and Deb knew who to contact to check on Ami. You can't post that she's about to be euthanized and expect GT members to just sit quietly and accept that, especially when there are people here who could help.
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I'm so shocked and horrified, I don't even know what to say. I really hope the board members who are reaching out will be able to save her.
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I think after reading that, most of US want to bite the "trainer." What a disaster.
Edited to add: Wrote that before I read your last post. I'm really sorry it's come to this. The group shouldn't be unhappy with you, they should be taking a LARGE part of the responsibility for the situation. I hope when things have calmed down, you'll consider seeking out a different group that can find you the right dog. Greyhounds are so incredibly special.
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I wanted to add - my three current hounds are all super, ultra gentle. No space aggression, sleep aggression, resource guarding. No signs of aggression toward people, ever, at all. HOWEVER - If I gave them an extremely high-value treat like a bone and then tried to take it from them, I might very well get a growl. I can take bully sticks out of their mouths, but bones - I don't know. And have never tried. If someone they didn't know poked a plastic hand at them while they ate a high-value treat, they might, not knowing what it is, decide to bite it.
With this and with the sitting nonsense, I feel like the people around you keep setting your hound up to fail. Advice from a better group and a better trainer/behaviorist, might do wonders for the situation.
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Nothing you've said suggests to me that you have an "aggressive" dog. Just a dog who has some issues (e.g. resource guarding) that need to be worked through. With a proper, knowledgable trainer/behaviorist, not a quack who focuses on trying to make her sit.
Not all of the greyhounds you see here who are goofy and easy came that way straight out of the box. A LOT of them do, but some also become that kind of dog after a lot of work. If you aren't willing or able to put in that work, you should 100% return her. It's not good for you or for her to live in constant fear.
I just hope the group won't follow the trainer's lead and label her "unadoptable" or "not pet material." My first hound, Gabe, might've fallen into that category, but we learned how to manage him and loved every second we had with him before we lost him to Osteo at ten and a half.
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SO glad to hear Henry is doing so well.
On the preparations topic, I thought I'd mention a trick that's been working great for us lately - Diamond has been dealing with a joint/ankle issue that makes her a bit wobbly. After she slipped one night on our bedroom floor, we threw down yoga mats as a temporary solution. Several weeks later, the mats are still there and working great. They're grippy on both sides, so they don't move and help with footing. They're cushy but not so cushy that they make her stumble. The hounds also think they're comfy (if pretty thin) beds.
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Tons of positive thoughts for you and Henry today.
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I definitely found it MUCH easier to cope once we'd gotten the treatment ball rolling. Organizing med schedules, taking Gabe to and from oncology and radiation appointments, doing leash walks and making sure he was eating his favorite things - all of those were things I could handle. I could not handle turning things over and over and over in my mind. Once we'd started treatment, the doomsday overthinking (mostly) stopped.
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I would see if you can get him into Penn State's Osteo vaccine study. They've had some amazing results with amp/chemo dogs.
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I'm so, so sorry.
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I've just been through something similar with Diamond, and a vet and TWO experienced surgeons couldn't agree whether she had a fracture in her wrist. General Practice vet said no but thought the swelling wasn't resolving fast enough for a soft tissue injury. The first surgeon she consulted with (at one of the best specialist centers in the DC area) saw a fracture. Another surgeon at a different branch of the same specialist looked at the same x-rays and said no fracture. So it's not always straight forward.It's impossible to tell where you're from, but your vet doesn't sound very skilled. I can't imagine not being able to tell you if the dog has a fracture or not! Either he got bad films and didn't bother with new ones, or his equipment is awful!
I'd get a second set of films at a bare minimum.
My understanding is that there are a lot of small bones in that area, so fractures aren't always easy to see.
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I'd definitely get X-rays. They shouldn't be expensive (paid less than $200 for Diamond's here in DC last week), will hopefully give you peace of mind and may help with a diagnosis.
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How do you like the Merrick Grain Free? Hadn't heard of it before. Looking into it, it seems good and slightly cheaoper than the other brands I was looking at (blue buffalo grain free and wellness core)
It's working great for us - good poops, shiny coats, and all three hounds like it. We did switch from chicken to buffalo four or five months ago, because Lucy has nutrient absorption issues and needed a "novel protein." So far, so good.
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We've used Wag.com and were very happy with them, although I've been getting so many coupons in the mail from PetCo Unleashed that it's been cheaper lately to buy food there. Wag offers free two-day shipping (at times, it actually arrived in one day) for orders over $50. We buy the big bag of Merrick Grain Free, so it was always over $50, anyway. Otherwise, you could always order two bags at a time.
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Barring some really extreme, unforeseeable circumstances, I see adoptions as permanent, so I don't approach it as deciding "whether to keep or return #2." If I adopted them, they're staying. That's not to say we haven't had some rough starts. Diamond HATED Lucy for the first few weeks (demonstrated by hiding in her crate and refusing to eat). Now they're best buds. Cash acted like a labrador on crack for the first few weeks, but now he's pretty close to perfect. The new dog settles in, the other dogs adjust. Just takes time and patience (and vigilance/muzzles, when needed).
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We have Healthy Paws. Fortunately, we haven't needed to use it yet.
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They made Diamond crazy AndNotInAGoodWay. She was extremely restless and almost seemed confused - she would wander into a room and just stare for long periods of time. All day long. I realized Fresh Factor was the only change I'd made, so I stopped giving them, and she went back to normal. A few months later, I thought maybe it was just a coincidence, so I picked up the Fresh Factors again. Craziness came back, in exactly the same way.
So I threw them in the bin.
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What a cutie! Congrats!
My itty bitty girl (Lucy) runs our house, too.
Keeping Affection To A Minimum
in Training and Behavior discussion
Posted
You might experiment with not crating. Get a baby gate and block her into a smaller, dog-proofed area, like a bedroom. Muzzle her if you're worried she'll chew on things and put a webcam (or a laptop with Skype) on her if you have one, so you can see what she's doing. Two of my three hounds were absolute DISASTERS in crates. Both have always been 100% perfect when baby gated into our bedroom and office area.
None of my dogs would do well if crated/baby gated away from us while we're home, though. And I agree with some of the previous posters - the "withhold affection" books are nonsense.