greysmom

All of this behavior is really normal in a young recently adopted greyhound. Some of it is due to him still being a puppy. Some is breeding. Some is genetic. 1 - Most greyhounds have never seen the night sky. They're very rarely out at night at all, usually put to bed in their kennels, with their littermates, to spend the night. So some can be quite anxious in the dark. And you live in the country, so even more scary noises he's never heard before. This behavior should extinguish itself as he gets more comfortable being outside in the dark. 2 - Playing - if it doesn't move, they likely aren't interested. That's just genetics. They've been bred for hundreds of years to chase prey, so stuffies and squeakies and other toys hold no interest for them. You're lucky he plays fetch! Most of them will run after the ball and then immediately turn away in disgust when it stops rolling!! You might try a flirt/lure pole if you want him to have some exercise and play. 3 - Resource Guarding is also very common. His stuff has always been *his* and his alone. He's never had to share, and has likely always been snug and secure, by himself, in his own safe kennel. No he's out in the middle of the house, another dog is around, people might take his stuff, and he feels he has to protect what's his. This is mostly a management issue on your part. Don't ever try and take a high value item away from him - food or chews or anything he feels possessive about. And DEFINITELY KEEP YOUR CHILD AWAY from him when he has something of high value. He may not bite - or he may not *mean* to bite - but he also could connect and cause real damage. If you do need to get something away from him, use a different high value treat (something he can't resist), and offer it to him and lure him away from the object, then pick it up and put it away. This is called "trading up" and it will usually work. Always supervise interactions when food or treats are involved, and if possible, physically separate him from other dogs/kids/people. 4 - Separation anxiety is also really common. They've never been alone before having always been with their littermates or kennel mates. Then they're taken away from everything familiar and plopped down in a new and sometimes scary place, with people they don't recognize. So they react by being anxious and (in some cases) destructive. He's settled on you as his anchor in his new world, and he gets even more anxious when your gone. The above mentioned book - "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell - is a good resource for step-by-step directions on how to work your dog through his separation anxiety. You can also search through the forum here for MULTIPLE threads about it. 5 - though you didn't ask for it. People in other countries tend to treat their greyhounds like any other dog. Letting a greyhound run loose in open country, off leash, is something that is just not done here in the US. Most adoption groups have specific clauses in their adoption contracts stating the dog will never be loose in an uncontained area off leash. The danger of your dog getting on the sight of a fleeing rabbit or bird, running after it, and getting lost and not coming back is real. Once greyhounds see something to chase, nothing else matters. They'll run away, into unfamiliar territory, into traffic, or into other dangerous situations they've never seen before and get injured or even killed. But that's something you have to evaluate for your own dog and situation. As a still-young dog he definitely needs the exercise. Just make sure you balance his safety. Congrats on bringing him home with you! Welcome to Greytalk!

Also get the book by Patricia McConnell called "Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash reactive Dog." She's a very good behaviorist and gives step-by-step instructions in all her training manuals. You can also search through here for "leash reactivity" for many many threads on the subject. It's really common for newly adopted dogs to be overwhelmed and anxious and have a hard time coping with all the newness that happens in their world after adoption. I would also suggest that - for the time being - you limit your walks. If you don't need to walk for toileting, just let him sniff around in the garden for a short while, and decompress that way. He's way too anxious now - which is why the behavior is escalating - and he's not finishing the bonding process with you and trusting you'll protect him. He feels he has to take that on to himself, and he's not feeling any safer, so he's doing the only thing he knows how and upping his response. If you do need to take him walking out in public, choose less busy times, and make the outings short and purposeful. Your vet or the adoption center where he came from may be able to help you with referrals for good behaviorists in your area. Make sure they are certified by the UK board in charge of such things, and that they *only* use positive reinforcement training in their work. Good luck!

I think it's a question of what she *will* eat, especially in the beginning. When you get her symptoms under control and she's back to her more "normal" schedule, and you find a low fat food that's acceptable to her, figure out how much she needs to eat a day to keep her healthy and divide that into equal portions throughout the day. There are some new RX diets available, though they're pretty expensive I think. It's way less hassle that home cooking, though you can control the quality of ingredients a lot better that way. It all just kind of depends on your comfort level and how much you want to fuss every day. And don't forget to defat the treats and chews and any other food things.

The way our oncologist explained the "low carb food" issue was to say that if low carb was that helpful in curbing the spread of cancer then it would be universal in human medicine. Since no studies or science exists to say it helps in the least, she said it wasn't necessary or helpful, since a dog needs carbs to get their full nutrition. In recent developments, it would also be a shame to cause her a heart problem (nutritional DCM) from a grain free diet just as she's kicking cancer's butt. I'm sorry Sherlock is having to scramble for treatment now. Poor timing. There are a couple CBD threads here on GT for you to search up for recommendations for brands. Some dogs find it really helpful and some don't seem to feel any difference. If CBD is legal in your state, and you have a dispensary near you, most staff can be very very helpful in recommending brands, especially for pet products. He may in fact need an actual pain reliever in addition to the nsaid and gabapentin. We've found the opiate codeine sulfate to be well tolerated with few side effects, unlike most other other opiates like Tramadol or fentanyl which can be very problematic for greyhounds.

Covered in dirt!!!! Totally normal!!!

I found that Dude preferred a bed with a little elevation because it was easier to get in and out of. Tessie looks like she agrees!!!

{{{hugs}}} He is missed.

Welcome little Stella!!!

{{{hugs}}} I'm so sorry.

It's next to impossible for this to be known on the internet. You're better off taking your vet's advice.

It comes down to costs and how she tolerates the treatments. I don't think there are any contra-indications against doing more - 6 vs 4 - the more the better probably, but your insurance may have a number in mind as a cut off point. Worth checking with them. I'm pretty sure we did 6 treatments at Dr Cs recommendation (we also got our treatments for free from his program way back then).

If walks are his thing try and search out places where the ground is softer - grassy park paths or mulch as opposed to gravel or pavement - which will help keep down the wear and tear on joints and paws. Also remember that mental activity can be as tiring as physical activity, so see if he's into any training or food games

Keeping him active in a low impact way every day will help him stay limber. That supplement looks fine, but you should consider adding something like Grizzly Salmon Oil (or any of their products - or others) for the added omega-3 fatty acids which also help. Keep his weight under control. See if there's a canine swimming pool or PT pool in your area. It's the best low impact exercise out there. There are other nsaids out there besides Metacam. You and your vet might try a rather new one called Galliprant which is supposed to have less side effects and stomach irritation. Always give nsaids after a meal on a full stomach to avoid tummy troubles. Also, watch the pads of his feet closely for the development of any corns, which can also cause limping.

FNAs are difficult because everything depends on placing the needle in exactly the right place in the lesion so you get a good quality sample to send to the lab. In small lesions the distance between an osteo diagnosis and a clear one can be just millimeters. It's up to you whether you feel your treatment plan will change depending on uncertain results. They are a fairly straightforward procedure to do, and if your dog is calm at the vet, he may be able to get it done with a mild sedative and a local instead of full anesthesia. Something to discuss with your vet. The question for you I think is what would the changes be if it's SCC vs osteo?? You've decided not to do amputation, which in SCC can be curative, but is only for pain management in osteo. This also is something to have an in depth conversation with your vet oncologist about. You have some time since you've chosen palliative care. Get Sherlock's pain meds on board, then take a deep breath. Get as much information as you need to help make your decision. There are a lot of links in the first post of this thread. Many will be out of date by now since cancer treatments have changed greatly in the last 5 years, but they should give you some direction and different points of view.

Just know we've all been where you are now, in some form, so we understand the difficulties and worries. If you choose palliative care, it's important to remember what the goal is - as pain free as possible in the moment. So normal rules of pain management get superceded by the reality that osteo is an incredibly painful disease. It's also a terminal disease, so you don't have to worry about long term side effects or outcomes. Lots of vets have trouble making this switch - it's not in their nature to ignore warnings! - but it's OK to remind them you're not being conservative when it comes to pain management. Start low, but add as much as your dog needs until you can't keep it under control anymore. Then it's time to say goodbye. Most of us have good results for pain management with a combination of an nsaid your dog tolerates well, the drug gabapentin for nerve pain, and an opiate pain reliever like codeine sulfate. Avoid other opiates like fentanyl patches or morphine as they can cause bad reactions with greyhounds. Many also have good results with Palladia infusions for pain relief. I'm so sorry you and Sherlock are having to go through this. Good luck!

Hmmm... This reminds me of GTer DosTacos who was in a wheelchair and trained his greyhounds to be service dogs. But he hasn't posted for a while either. There have been many who have enquired as to a greyhounds suitability for service work. Again, it depends so much on the individual.

Yes. There really isn't a definitive answer to your question because it depends entirely on the individual personality and prey drive of the dog. I will add that's it's very possible to find a dog that fits all your criteria. We have lots of greyhounds here on GT who live with dogs, cats, chicken, goats, rabbits, snakes, lizards and just about any other kind of animal you can think of. The whole inside vs outside is mostly a matter of training and patience. If a dog believes another creature is part of his pack - and therefore not to be chased - inside the house, they can "usually" be trained to view them the same way outside. The issue comes in finding a low prey drive greyhound in the beginning. That means being very open and transparent with your adoption group and listening to their advice about the personalities in their kennel. And then you take the dog home and see what happens. Because sometimes dogs lie. Even with experienced groups that test all their dogs for dog/cat tolerance, sometimes a greyhound will be so anxious or overwhelmed that they don't react the same way to stimulus the way they will once they have relaxed in a home environment. You didn't say who you've been talking with about greyhounds as service dogs, but Barbara Masi, with Awesome Greyhound Adoptions, also runs a group that trains greyhounds as service dogs for veterans. Mostly as emotional/ptsd support, but she's probably the one person in current practice who has the most experience doing what you're thinking about doing with a greyhound. Awesome Greyhound Adoptions Good luck!

While many of us have cats and have experience with them, this is an issue that really needs a vets attention as soon as possible to determine the cause, and a possible course of action. Thanks for dropping by Greytalk and please ket us know how your cat is doing.

One of those better be for her!!!! Now I want a turkey burger!!

Couple things. First, true aggression in dogs is really rare. What's happening is your dog trying to express himself in some of the only ways he has to communicate how he's feeling - anxious and upset and fearful. Growls and snapping look and sound really horrible to us, but to dogs they are just things they have to do to communicate to us humans who don't really take the time to learn how to speak dog. We miss their more subtle cues and body language so they have to move to more direct means of communicating. And the more a human doesn't hear and understand the more direct they feel they have to be. Somewhere in the beginning of your daughter's and your dog's relationship, something happened. It doesn't matter what, or when, or how but she missed a cue, missed hearing what he was trying to tell her, and a big misunderstanding happened. It's a big fail in the area of building trust. So that's what your daughter needs to concentrate on now - rebuilding a sense of trust and connection between her and Slick. It's going to be harder because she's not going to have daily contact with him for long periods of time. It may be that they will only have a marginal relationship going forward, but safely coexisting while she's home with you is probably going to be a goal right now. Number one - do not punish him for trying to communicate how he feels. Just accept that he's going to growl and that it's NOT him "being aggressive" towards your daughter. For whatever reason, she makes him anxious, so he's going to try and protect himself. It's nothing personal. It's dog communication. He's to the point now where he feels he has to guard important things from her - his food, his bed, other people he's bonded with (you). So it's going to take time and work to get through that level of anxiety. Number two - don't force them to interact. Slick is way beyond the point where techniques like feeding and walking will be effective in promoting bonding. He doesn't trust her. She needs to earn that trust. She needs to back away and pretty much ignore him for any personal interactions. No petting, no attention, no feeding, no walking. Give Slick a big bubble of his personal space. While she's home, she needs to carry small, one-bite-size, very yummy treats (dried liver, or human jerky bites, or anything he likes that's easy to carry and he can chomp down fast) with her all the time around the house. Every time she comes into a room where Slick is, even just passing through, she needs to toss him a treat or two - with no eye contact. He needs to come to a place where he looks forward to her coming into or passing through a room where he is. Give him a safe spot to retreat to if he gets to feeling overwhelmed, and watch his body language to know when to give him a break there. She will probably need to restart this process several times if she's home and gone, home and gone. Dogs have good memories, but trust is a short term item. When they have a base of bonding, then you can add in feeding and walking and other bonding activities between them. Number three - this sounds like it's more than a daughter-dog issue. He may be a particularly anxious dog over all, or just having trouble really adapting to home life. His leash reactivity with other dogs is a big clue there. To gain some insight and some techniques which will transfer to many situations, get the book "Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash Reactive Dog" by Patricia McConnell. She's a very good animal behaviorist who writes excellent step-by-step instructions about how to help our canine friends live with us. He also seems to be a resource guarder. There are tons on thread here on GT about resource guarding you can search for and read through for ideas and techniques. There will be some overlap, too. Number four - this is going to be hard for your daughter. She's already fearful, and it's natural to be afraid when faced with a dog who doesn't seem to like you at all. Helping her be calm and courageous and be less anxious in herself is going to be important. Slick is picking up on her anxiety, adding it to his own, and they're just bouncing anxiety back and forth. You may do better finding a good canine behaviorist in your area who's familiar with greyhounds and anxiety reactions to work with everyone in person. Ask your vet and your adoption group for recommendations for certified, positive reinforcement only training, behaviorists. Good luck!

Great article!! Thanks for seeing it an posting it Jan!! I was just wondering what had happened to Rich and Robin. The last I can remember hearing about them was when he had that plane accident.