vjgrey
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Posts posted by vjgrey
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Most respectfully, my grave concern is about over-glorification of off-leashing a rare handful of hounds on a large public forum. Many first-time Greyhound adopters think Greyhounds are just like other dogs. They are not. Newbies may not understand the years of extensive recall training and obedience work a few individual owners on this forum do with their own single hound or two. There are thousands of readers on GT who did sign a legally binding contract. Seems a disservice to sway them otherwise, especially when their Greyhound's life could be at stake. It would be great to see some off-leashers helping others find their lost Greyhounds in Greyhound Amber Alert; surprising how much can be done from afar with Google maps, phone/fax/email businesses.
Excellent post, MaryJane. Thank you for posting it.Particularly true when the over-glorification and sway is coming from a vet.
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I've been waiting for this thread to get locked so I wouldn't feel the need to respond but, it's still open ... karma I guess ...
First ---
Your decision to let Henry off-leash was not carefully thought out - instead, the leashes got tangled and the rationale was, let's just let him off-leash and "see what happens". This is not a plus for Henry
Second -- (and this is a big one)
One of your dogs is a seizure dog (which no one has mentioned) and this has a strong bearing on this particular situation. If Henry is the seizure dog, then if he gets loose he would not get his medicine and that will make it very likely that he has a seizure and if he is in the wild, that would attract all sorts of nasty creatures and he would not have much of a chance to survive -- This is not a plus for Henry.
If it is Truman that is the seizure dog and if he has a seizure on the trail, in the chaos, Henry could become agitated (which happens to other dogs when a dog is having a seizure) and could take off and, he might not even be missed. This is not a plus for Henry.
Third --
This situation smacks of someone saying to you "why don't you just let your dog off-leash and see what happens" and with that, good chance that someone manipulated you and it's hard to tell from my seat, what their objective was. This is not a plus for Henry.
Fourth --
By letting your dog loose, you are ignoring the rights of other people (and their small children) that would like to walk the trails without having loose dogs. This is not a plus for Henry or for other people.
Fifth --
You signed a contract stating that you will not let your dog loose, is this how "good your word" is? This is not a plus for Henry or for you and it does not bode well for future adoptions.
Sixth --
Walking without a leash for an hour does not seem to be sufficient cause to let a dog loose because the risk is so high. One one side is your dog being able to sniff and frolic a bit (they can do this is a fenced in yard) and on the other side is having a lost dog and possibly one that dies from being out in the elements. A dog lost in the woods might be much harder to find because there would be NO sightings. This is not a plus for Henry and for the many searchers that would give their all to help out.
Seventh --
Statistic are funny .. if your dog comes back 99% of the time is sounds pretty good but, that means that ONE time out of a HUNDRED he/she does not come back. Hmmmm -- not so good. Another funny thing that happens is that the more someone lets a dog loose and they came back, the person starts to feel complacent (this is the killer) and they don't realize that the odds are working against them. Let me explain, if you let your dog lose 99 times and he/she comes back, the percentages (on the 100th time letting him/her loose) are now that your dog is 99% NOT going to came back. So how does that work ... out of 100 times, the dog does not come back once .. if they have already been loose 99 times and came back .. that 1% is still lurking out there and it's pretty much saying that your dog is on now on borrowed time. (Didn't Krissy's dog also get lost just recently ???).
And using the "Black Swan" analogy .. I can say that Henry will not come back one time and it just takes ONE time for me to be right ... while you can say that Henry will always came back ... and it will just take one time for you to be wrong. If you were a betting person - who would you bet on? This is not a plus for Henry.
There are many more to the list but, I'm sure the moderators will chime in and I might even get lightly reprimanded (as I should) but, it would be "bad karma" for me to ignore this and to not state what I think about the situation. Previously, I ignored threads on this forum where dogs ending up in unfortunate circumstances and those threads have come back to haunt me more than once ...
Very well said.
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Fritz slipped away to the Rainbow Bridge just after 6pm tonight
He went quietly and peacefully. I lost Sutra in 2010 and I STILL haven't been able to write a remembrance post for him, and haven't been able to do it for Pinky either, but, I think in the coming days I will sit down and write one for each of my babies lost to osteo. My little family has shrunk too much to not acknowledge the huge pieces of it that are now missing.
Just seeing this. I'm so sorry this horrible disease took Fritz, too. It's always unfair, but you've had so much more than your share of unfairness.
I'm going to go kiss my babies now.
Hi Everyone - Gunner earned his wings this evening and passed peacefully around 5:10 here at home. It has been a sad day today - really a sad nine weeks. I thought I had cried everything out yet doesn't seem to be the case. It was sad to see my husband carry him out to the Vet's car knowing he would never ever be coming back to me, bouncing in and all excited only as Gunney could. Sad. Just sad right now.
Thank you everyone who was thinking of us today. I really appreciate all of the support here. You all are amazing! Really just simply amazing with your kindness, acceptance and freely offering help and guidance. I'm thankful and grateful you were all here to help me through this. Thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. And I pray they find a cure or an amazing treatment or something that helps to seriously disable this disease in these sweet creature's bodies and I hope they find it soon. I don't want anyone else to go through this process.
And Kristin, I'm really sorry about Fritz leaving too. This cancer just sucks!
I'm so sorry.
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I'm so sorry.
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Gabe contracted Lyme despite the Frontline Plus, so we do vaccinate for it. We haven't had any issues with that (or any vaccinations).
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I think a lot of adopters (my husband and I included) start out with the no furniture rule, but these dogs are VERY persuasive. There are two snoozing on my bed right now, and we regularly find ourselves watching TV on the floor so that they can have the couch.
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I was shocked to see her name here. I cried for her, too, although I've never met her or you. I'm so, so sorry.
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I'm so sorry.
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What a beautiful boy. I'm so sorry.
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This post gave me the biggest smile. So happy for you and all of the campers.
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That first pic.
It's so unfair that you didn't have more time together.
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the pics is not great (took it with my tablet camera)
I think the claw used to look like this:
Vjgrey: how long does it take to heal? I'll keep the bandage on as long as we see the quick nerve...
Diamond's usually only needs bandaged for a few days, mainly so that she doesn't bump it on something. It takes a while to grow back, but it doesn't seem to bother her at all after that.
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At least it broke off cleanly! Diamond is the queen of dewclaw ripping - twice when her foot slipped down into holes/divots in the yard and once while coming up our back steps. She's never ripped it all the way off like that, though. Hers is always half-ripped and dangling, and it's ALWAYS been after hours for the vet. I take her to the e-vet to have it pulled off and wrapped, because I can't cope with the blood.
It always grows back just fine (unfortunately).
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I'm so, so sorry. Even when you "know," that's such an agonizing decision to make.
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Our hounds are all special, but Charlie was one of the extra-special ones. I'm still so sorry he couldn't stay longer.
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Not saying this to scare you, but...after losing a hound to Osteosarcoma, my position is that limp = x-rays, unless there's some immediately visible cause (corn, scraped foot, etc). It's just not something that I, personally, am willing to take a "wait and see" approach with. With our retired racers, arthritis can also be an issue, and that should also show on x-rays.
If he knows and is comfortable with the staff at the teaching hospital, I'd take him there.
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We use something really similar that we found at PetCo - works great! Not sure of the exact brand, but it looks like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008J9SVV4/ref=redir_mdp_mobile
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Tons of positive thoughts for you and your girl. My Diamond was diagnosed with a herniated disc in early February. It was extremely scary, but Prednisone and Gabapentin have worked wonders for her.
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Dehydrated lamb lung. My pups go nuts for it, and it's easy to break into small pieces.
We get ours from Bestbullysticks.com
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I'm so sorry you lost your special little guy.
What a selfless decision you made for him. That's pure love.
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The smell makes me wonder whether there's some kind of infection. Both of my girls have had episodes of sleep incontinence while on Prednisone, and I was always surprised that the pee never smelled like pee - it never smelled like anything, really. I only knew it was pee because of the color and amounts.
Hope your vet can give you some answers.
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First - I love my vet.
I've been meaning to ask you who you're using, you go to Caring Hands Alexandria, right?
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Gambler LOVES going to the dog park. He starts to whine if I don't get out of the car fast enough when we get there. I've noticed he definitely seems happier since I started taking him regularly (about 3-4 times a week). HOWEVER.. I do bring his muzzle because there is always the inevitable small dog in the large dog area. He has no problem with them when they're walking around, but if they start running he gets a little nippy. I don't have to do it often. I just make sure I take him when there's not a lot of dogs at the park, there seems to be more and more humpers, growlers, and un-neutered males lately that have made me leave early though (after his accident with my roomates dog I've been extra cautious as Ive seen how thin Greyhound skin really is.)
All in all it's been a pretty good experience and he does get up a good gallop quite often. He usually trots and pees on everything for awhile then runs at me full speed from across the park, it's very cute
Please don't muzzle your hound when he's with dogs who are aren't muzzled. If a fight were to break out, he'd be completely defenseless. Holly, the dog in my signature who "never made it home," was killed by another greyhound at the racing kennel when the other hound managed to get her muzzle off.
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She'll go sooner or later. She has to. I'm flabbergasted that so long after being adopted she still won't pee on a leash! You mean when you take her on walks she never goes??? Good gravy!
Oh, no, she'll go on leash. She goes frequently on walks. Probably more frequently than Cash does. The problem is, she's a marker, so she spreads them out over a few miles, little pees at a time. We're under strict instructions NOT to walk more than a few feet out into our yard, and she has no interest in marking (or peeing/pooping at all) while walking in little circles.
I'm sure she will go eventually, but hours and hours of walking in small circles are making me crazy.
He went quietly and peacefully. 
Osteo Thread Part Vi
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted · Edited by vjgrey
Hi, Jenny. First - I'm so, so sorry you're here. I'm glad you're seeking advice from Ohio State. They're definitely the experts and can help you come up with a plan. In my experience, once I had a plan and a way forward, I was able to stop the constant crying (which I did do, for days). That's not to say I didn't have crying jags along the way, because I definitely did, but I felt worlds better once we'd decided how to proceed.
Re: the effects of chemo - The doses they'd be giving your hound aren't anywhere close to the doses they give people. As a result, dogs generally suffer much fewer side effects. I think my hound went through five rounds. For the first few, he showed zero side effects. For the last two or so, he'd sleep (more than usual) the next day. That's all. Some hounds experience a little tummy upset (mine didn't), but they have medications to help with that. For the most part, they handle it really, really well. Chemo for dogs isn't a rough process like it is for humans.
And while it's probably true that once diagnosed, there are already undetectable mets elsewhere in the body, I wouldn't let that be the main factor in your decision. Survival times vary greatly, but multiple dogs on Greytalk have made it 2+ years post-amputation. One wolfhound, Darcy, made it something like four years, and I believe her owners lost her to something other than Osteo complications.
If you decide not to go through with amputation, you need to make sure that she's getting enough pain meds. It's REALLY important that you act as a strong advocate for her in this, as Osteo is extremely painful, and many general practice vets don't know enough about Osteo and seem to be afraid to prescribe the number/doses of meds required. If you post here what you're giving her, we can give you advice if anything needs to be added/upped. You also need to find out the maximum dosage for all of her meds, because breakthrough pain can (and seems to) happen on weekends/holidays/overnight when it's difficult to reach your vet.
If you have access to and can afford a veterinary oncologist, I'd HIGHLY, highly recommend that you get a referral to one. Ours cost a fortune (although we live in DC, where everything is more expensive), but he was absolutely worth every penny and more.
Edited to add - Palliative radiation is radiation applied directly to the tumor. It may slow growth somewhat, but for some dogs, it also significantly reduces pain. It was an absolute miracle worker for my Gabe. For two of his treatments (including the first), he had to be carried into the clinic. He could not walk on his own, at all. Both times, he walked out on his own, limp free, a few hours later. It doesn't work (or work that spectacularly) for every dog, but if you decide not to amputate, it's worth looking into.