Brindles

Here's the sheen that I'm talking about. (This was taken four years ago after removal of a thyroid tumor.)

Here's what Julio's eyes used to look like And here's what they looked like three years later (notice the absurdly large pupils) Basically his retinal arteries have atrophied to the point that he can't sense light well anymore, so his pupils try to compensate by staying dilated.

Eye color is not a factor in PRA. You will see limited pupillary response to light, but not necessarily in the early stages. When the pupil remains dilated, you can see the tapetum membrane in the back of the eye which has a sheen to it. The photo above looks more like cataracts and less like PRA to me, just based on what I've seen with my own dog. I'll try and find a photo of Julio to show you. He has developed cataracts now so unfortunately now I'm unable to just go snap a picture of it for you. The only way to get it diagnosed is to see a veterinary ophthalmologist who can look in the back of the dog's eyes and see the retinal arteries. If they are in fact degrading, then you have PRA. If he's in the early stages, it may take two trips to determine if they are degrading.

He might be losing his vision. I have a blind dog and his blindness started to first show up at night. There are a couple GTers with greyhounds who went blind from Progressive Retinal Atrophy. Edit: Dogs with PRA can seem fine some days and worse others. Julio started to get disoriented at night and would do very subtle odd things during the day. It affects all dogs differently but it is a gradual process and painless. Many dogs adjust to PRA just fine. Julio is also hypothyroid.

Hilda, I'm so sorry. Here are some pictures I dug up for ya.

I walk my four dogs once daily on a loose lead, and twice daily if I can. We don't power walk, but we don't stop to sniff either. Our regimen has changed slightly now that Julio and Echo can't go the distance that Dazzle and Ford can, so they go on morning walks but stay home if we take an evening walk. Walking is EXTREMELY beneficial for both canine and human alike. It is therapeutic and can help to heal arguably any physical or spiritual injury. This quote applies to horses but I think Thomas Teskey (D.V.M.) has it right when he says "movement breathes life in to lame horses like Bute never could." I can apply that to my own life and say that daily walks give me more energy than caffeine ever has, and it helps my dogs in the same way. They're so much happier and healthier when we're walking daily.

Oh Cynde, I'm so sorry.

I don't think my greyhounds are quite old enough for it yet, but Julio (11) has a whole bunch of age spots on his nose and around his eyes. They look like freckles of different sizes.

I'll save Brindles the trouble of posting her roller-blading with her pack of greyhounds (page 3 of this thread ). Roller-Blading with Greyhounds Thanks! Unfortunately I can only rollerblade with two now: just Dazzle and Ford. Echo and Julio are to the point that they don't need to be rollerblading anymore. They prefer to just walk nowdays. It's hard to watch them slow down as they age.

Tsst!

If you can get some ointment on it, great, but the most important thing is to keep him from running around. Mine have split webs before and the only way they'll heal is to rest. Otherwise they'll just split it back open again and it'll just get worse. Make sure he goes outside alone so he won't be prompted to chase the other dogs. Bandaging didn't help my dogs because it seemed to just irritate the area even more. In my experience, it needs to heal in open air.

Eek, I don't know about that. Messing with hormones is never a good idea. I'd rather my dog just stay bald.

I love Cesar. I'm not as hardcore about controlling my dogs' behavior as he teaches, and I don't do the "Tssst" thing, but I think he's fantastic. I really do. Ford gave me a lot of problems in the beginning that the GT community couldn't help me with, but Cesar's methods helped us out immensely. All of my dogs behave so much better now than they used to. I'm a very down-to-earth person, and his "mother nature" approach appeals to me greatly. I've tried his methods, I've seen the benefit in my own dogs, and I've felt my self efficacy grow. It's really amazing what it can do. A lot of you seem very skeptical about the whole rollerblading thing, but it can be done! And with any dog! I got the idea from Cesar, but my version is a little different. I don't let my dogs set the pace like he does (for obvious reasons). I've taught mine not to go any faster than I go, and they know to stop when they feel tension on the leash. It took a while to do. I made sure they would each behave while walking and then behave while jogging. Once they could, I moved from one dog at a time to two, from two dogs to three, etc. Like I said in the other thread, please don't be so quick to judge. Successfully rollerblading with four big dogs is one of the best confidence boosters you can get! You never know until you try.

Treat her like any other normal dog and you'll hardly notice she's blind. If she's been blind since birth, she's probably well adjusted to life with partial sight. Just be careful when approaching her if she's lying down with her blind side facing out. Call her name and make it very obvious (with sounds) that you're coming to her. Kudos to you for thinking about adopting her! It's really special to have a blind dog and also very easy to live with one.

I know this is easier said than done but STAY POSITIVE! For her sake and for yours! This is not the end of the world. This is not the end of her life as it once was. This isn't even something to be sad about! Let me explain. You probably know my boy Julio is blind from PRA, which is just like SARDS but with a gradual onset. I know that a sudden onset is harder to get used to than a gradual onset, but if you stay positive and try not to worry about her or pity her, you can help buffer that. Just stay positive and treat her like you've always treated her. She has to completely change the way she navigates her surroundings now. She shouldn't have to worry or stress about why your behavior is changing. You need to be consistent for her to help her adjust! Blindness in dogs is really not a big deal. I'd be devastated if I lost my sight, but it is hardly a handicap for Julio (his deafness included!). I can promise you that if you stay positive and treat her just like you always have, it will help her immensely. Some blind dogs learn to respond well to sound. A lot of owners of blind dogs will use words like "step" for stairs or curbs and "watch out" if they're about to run in to something. I can't use verbal commands since Julio is deaf now (never liked them much anyway) but he's very sensitive to touch. He knows that when I hold his collar behind his head that it's time to get up and follow where I guide him. He knows when to step up or down curbs by the way I tug on his leash. It's so, so important to treat her just as you always have. I feel like I can't stress that enough. It just drives me crazy when people are devastated over their dog's new "disability" and neither the dog or the human ever really recover. It's sad to me when that happens because it's so easy to live with a blind dog and so easy for both parties to adjust. No one has ever pitied Julio and he is a perfectly normal, healthy, happy, functioning old guy. He just can't see or hear. There is hardly a handicap. The biggest adjustment I've had to make is more due to his deafness, but I have to go find him and lead him to the back door when the dogs go outside. Otherwise, he's extremely self sufficient! Good luck to you both!!

I don't really have any advice, but Dazzle does the same bug thing too. Every so often (mainly when he's up and playing) he'll get distracted and act like something just bit him on the butt. He stops, turns to sniff his back end, and then goes back to whatever he was doing. He's done this the whole time I've had him, and some weeks it's more frequent than others.

Bad teeth can sometimes be a breed-related problem. Easy fix is to brush their teeth every day.

HOORAY! I like this thread. I'll chime in with another healthy pack of dogs!

I'm confused- did they remove both testicles when he was neutered or just the one? Neutering a cryptorchid is much more difficult and invasive than a normal neuter. The retained testicle won't produce viable sperm so it doesn't technically need to be removed. But it's still functioning and producing testosterone like it should be, which can most certainly lead to male dominance and aggression issues. Part of the reason for neutering is avoiding issues like testicular cancer, and a retained testicle that is not removed is most certainly at risk for that.

I'm pretty sure Hilda's boy Buycut had something like that. Wasn't it a blocked salivary gland?

Don't worry about it, it's just a baby tooth. It'll fall out on it's own. Both of DBF's pup Solo's canine teeth did the same thing.

He's probably fine. They have "off days" just like we do sometimes. I wouldn't worry about it unless it carries over for a couple days.

Dazzle broke his hock at 3 years old. He's almost 7 now and has no problems whatsoever. One word of caution though with old injuries! A few pounds underweight is better than a few pounds overweight for a greyhound with an old injury.

Reading this thread makes me really sad because of everyone who thinks they "killed" their dogs. Putting dogs down to ease their pain is NOT killing! I've never, ever thought of it like that. When my dogs go, it'll be because they're legitimately suffering, not because I'm "killing" them. Oh how I wish we humans had the luxury of euthanasia. We had to put the family dog down when I was 11 years old. I've basically never dealt with the death of a pet on my own before, and here I've got three dogs all around the same age and then one nearing the end of his breed's life span. Julio is too old for another cancer surgery. He's healthy overall, but definitely geriatric. He loves two things the most- food, for one, and then walks/car rides. If he starts to lose interest in those things, then I'll know it's time. But not until then. I'd much, much rather be too early than too late. Dogs want QUALITY, not quantity. They don't care how long or short they live, they just want to be happy while they're here. There's no reason to let them suffer when euthanasia is an option. Please don't think of it in terms of "killing" your dog when you're just doing what's best for them! Letting a dog go is hard, so don't make yourself feel worse.