greysmom

Fine. We've had multiple dogs with Sleep Startle and it works just fine. It does take a bit of thinking about and some increased dog management to keep everyone safe though. You have to have good separation between dog beds (or sleep in crates or xpens), and we always use muzzles in the bedroom with a new dog until everyone can sleep comfortably. The dogs also learn each others limits and boundaries pretty quickly. In fact, most of the non-SS dogs we have keep their distance from each other even after the SS dog is no longer with us. They learn the rule and follow it!! So first, I would evaluate the space I have for sleeping arrangements - can I reasonably separate everyone so they can all sleep safely? Then, evaluate my own commitment to managing where/how my dogs interact in that space - it does take a bit of time and energy. And think about other enclosed spaces you may need to have dogs in - a car, for instance - and if you can keep everyone safe there too. But it's really doable if you consider everything, and having dog companions for each other is worth the extra time and effort.

If he does lose some teeth he really won't miss them. None of mine have ever actually chewed their food anyway!! Though you might need to switch to soft or paste-y treats like squirt cheese or liverwurst if he loses molars. FYI there is a peridontal disease that they can get - C.U.P.S. I think - where they have to have *all* their teeth removed. They really get along just fine. No excuse for not doing dental hygiene at home though. It's a persistent myth that canine athletes are fed garbage whilst racing. First off, a poorly fed dog can't win, and why would you own a dog that doesn't have a chance to win. Second, you can't develop the muscle and bone structure, or the stamina, necessary for high stress physical exertion if you eat poorly. Have you seen a properly conditioned greyhound? They look like body building 100 yd sprinters!!! You don't get that way from eating garbage. Dogs are not people and they can and *should* eat the parts of animals people don't. They need muscle meat, organ meats and tripe, and bones and fat, plus whole grains and veggies, to have a complete and balanced diet. Most trainers in the US feed a combination of raw meat and kibble, and add in their own blends of veggies and grains and supplements. Dogs are turned out 4 or 5 times a day to play and toilet, and their output is monitored as closely as it is in a home setting. Again, a dog whose food passes through too quickly doesn't gain the necessary nutrients from that food to run and win, so why would you want it to pass through quickly??? Please don't fall for the hype and misinformation from groups or individuals with questionable end goals.

It's never easy to lose a loved family member. And to have it be so sudden makes it even harder. All our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. {{{hugs}}}

The sound you're hearing is more than likely because he has nothing on his stomach - like hunger growls in people. Most dogs with sensitive stomachs do much better on a strict eating schedule, eating the same thing with few outside treats. They also do better when there is something on their stomach, never letting it get really empty. If he's vomiting yellow bile in the mornings it's likely because he has excess stomach acid that can be helped by giving him an acid reducer (omeprazole or generic) once a day. Lots of info not provided in your post though: What has he been in the hospital for so many times? The same thing or each a different emergency? Have you been seen by a canine gastroenterologist or internal medicine specialist for a consult or treatment (not just as an ER doc)? How old is your dog and when did he begin having issues? What kind of food is he being fed? Have you done a food trial to try and discover if he has a food allergy or intolerance? Cook him up a nice bland diet - overcooked rice or pasta plus a low fat protein (turkey, chicken, white fish) - and see if he will eat anything. Start with a very small portion - a 1/4 cup of each - and see how he reacts. If he keeps that down for an hour or so feed the same again, and follow that schedule for the rest of the day, gradually increasing the amounts. You can ususally begin adding in his regular diet on the 2nd day. If he vomits or has diarrhea, he needs to go to the vet for some meds to settle and protect his stomach.

Urinary incontinence is really common in female greyhounds as they age. They often don't even realize they are leaking as they sleep. Just to be sure, a vet visit is in order to check her urine for infection or protein loss (taking a sample in with you will save time and trips), but she likely needs on of the meds/supplements referenced above. I'm going to say once more for emphasis - DO NOT let your vet prescribe the drug Proin for her. It's the most common drug for this condition, but in greyhounds it can increase their blood pressure to dangerous levels, causing severe health issues and even death in a very short time. Our girl has been on D.E.S. (DES (diethylstilbestrol), a hormone replacement, for several years now and it's worked very well.

Well, you know the turtle BEAT that hare!!! So he finally caught a fast one!!! Aiden

You go Sweep!!!

Just FYI, the Cerenia injections really sting unless they refrigerate it first. A tip I learned from our onco nurses! for Sweep!!

All of those symptoms sound like a neck injury to me - soft tissue injuries won't show on xray or MRI, and can seem to be really mysterious. And neck injuries can take a long time to heal, sometimes many weeks or months. If he's doing better on an nsaid I would put him back on one, and really restrict his activities for an extended period. I would also talk with my vet about adding in an actual pain medication like codeine sulfate. Avoid most other opioid meds like Tramadol and fentanyl as they are not tolerated by greyhounds well. The other modality you might consider is canine chiropractic. The issue could be up nearer his skull where it connects to his spine and a chiro adjustment might help. Did the MRI include the shoulder areas of both sides? This is my other thought. Sometimes, though very rarely, greyhounds can develop a calcification of a shoulder tendon that can cause a severe pain response. You might try searching on the forum for threads on this as we've had several, and their info might help you. Good luck!

Any side effects should be temporary and she should bounce back soon. The survivability length is greatly reduced without the added chemo - weeks instead of months - following amputation as the cancer is still active in other parts of the body. The chemo shuts down most of that activity, at least temporarily. With Dude, I ended up just letting him not eat for the day or two he was nauseous after chemo. If he needed meds I used small spoons of peanut butter or lunch meat and hoped he wouldn't get upset! He usually was OK 24 or so hours following a chemo treatment (or nausau episode). Then I'd begin again with small (like 1/4 cup) portions of whatever he would eat, several times a day. He really liked those Beneful Prepared Meals to jumpstart his appetite. Not the best nutrition, but at that point, it was whatever he would eat!

She needs to be taken in to the vet asap for a skin scraping to determine of there's any bacterial or parasite issue.

Like the others, I was so shocked to see your Remembrance thread in the listing when I logged on this morning!! I'm so, so sorry you didn't have more time with that sweet girl. Run In Peace Stars. You will be missed by so many!!

It's difficult for us here in the US to advise EU owners as the dog culture is so different in the two places. Then add in that your dog is a galgo in Spain and it doubles down on the level of difficulty. I would advise you first of all to contact the rescue you adopted her from with all your questions. They know her and the situation she came from, and can tell you better how they expect her to settle into home life, and how to help her. For what it's worth, it sounds like things are going well and she's not having any problems, so I'm not quite sure what you would think about changing?? If she were a newly adopted greyhound here, I would advise a LOT more time and patience for her to learn what living in a home is all about; time and patience to learn to trust and bond with the humans in her new situation; time and patience to just be for a while in a safe and calm location. I would definitely contact the rescue and ask if they believe dog parks are an appropriate activity for your dog at this point (or ever, for that matter). I would think the risk of an escape, or your dog being injured, would outweigh the advantage of a minor amount of exercise. We advise new US greyhound owners to avoid dog parks for the most part. Congratulations on your new family member and Welcome!

You do want a balanced amount of exercise - some running, some walking, some playing, some wrestling, some formal training - so no joint(s) or bone(s) have too much repetitive stress throughout the day. 5 or 10 minutes at any one activity is usually enough - plus their attention span is still very short! You need the varying activity/exercise to develop his muscles properly, and stairs are good for that, taken moderately and safely. He needs to learn to *walk* up and down, and not gallop or jump over the last treads. We usually use a leash to keep puppies from getting out of control on the stairs. I love the phrase "little dragon" for a greyhound puppy!! Here in the US we call them "land sharks" because they are all teeth and never still!!

However, almost everybody (breeders, owners, enthusiasts) and not just from the Greyhound world, told me that it was imperative for him not to take the stairs before his legs are fully grown. I've had three greyhound puppies and a few adolescents and I have literally never heard this from anyone - breeder or vet. Yes, there are certain things you don't want to do or allow them to do before the growth plates (those nobs on the dog's legs they are talking about, I think) have closed. Those plates are where the long bones create the material for more bone growth, they also help strengthen the bone that's there. They operate through the absorption and release of particular hormones in a young, growing body, and if they get damaged through injury or disease, the bone growth can be interrupted or even halted. These growth plates are generally finished with their work by the time a young dog reaches puberty. The onset of adult hormones shuts them down and the plates naturally close and become hard bone. This is the main reason most current thinking is to not spay/neuter puppies before they have reached puberty. With female dogs, it's easy to tell the timing as they come jnto heat for the first time. It's harder with male dogs because they don't have such an obvious marker for growing up and older. However, a knowledgeable veterinarian can take an x-ray of the growth plates in a dog's leg and determine if those plates have closed or if they are still active The main thing you don't want to do is a LOT of unnatural, repetitive stress on the joints and legs - which may be what all the people advising you are indicating. But, personally, a puppy would need to be running up and down stairs *many many many* times a day for that level to be reached. As long as he's tall enough to manage the stairs without tripping all over his feet, he should be fine to do them in the course of a normal day.. Here in the US a greyhound puppy at an average puppy farm would spend many hours every day just running and rough housing and playing with his littermates. This builds muscle and stamina and uses their energy so they eat well and sleep through the night. It's much more activity than a puppy finds in a home situation. And there are very few instances of any puppy having growth plate issues - becoming sore, limping, muscle swelling or heat. So I would not worry at all about an 8.5 month old puppy going up and down the stairs a few times a day. Mine (male and female) have all gone up and down as they please as soon as they have been able to climb them, and we've had no growth plate issues at all. If you need help in dealing with his Separation Anxiety in other situations, get the book or e-book "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell for step-by-step instructions on how to have your dog become comfortable being by himself.

Cancer - and the possibility of cancer - sucks big time. I'm so sorry you and sweet Sweep are having to deal with this. It is possible the first tumor isn't osteo. We've had a few come through the Osteo threads with a different kind of sarcoma. Amp and chemo apparently was curative in their cases as they lived for longer than normal with no further issues. Kristin's dog Henry comes to mind as the most recent, but there have been others. If you can get in to your vet right away you can do an FNA of the new lump, along with a quick xray. It may (or may not) tell you anything, but it's a place to begin. It's possible that lump is just a contusion from the trip over the cat. It's just as possible whatever original cancer she had is beginning to metastisize to other areas. Make sure you get a good clear xray of her lungs too. All my good, healing white light thoughts for you and Sweep!!

Sounds like things are ... interesting at your house nowadays!!

Thank you for posting!

Laptop - Windows 10 and Chrome Tablet - Galaxy TabA and Android/Chrome Cell - Galaxy S9 and Androud/Chrome Every device has updated twice in the past 4 days. I have no issues with any website except GT on anything. With all devices, it will work properly for a couple logins, then the next time I'll click on and be logged out. Sometimes I can just go to a section and be logged in, but I'll still be logged out on the home page. Sometimes I can't get past the homepage. The laptop has worked since Sunday evening, after an update, restart, and clearing GT cookies. Neither mobile device has worked properly going to GT since last week, and has seemed to get worse over time.

Completely normal. Once they get spooked in na place they have a lot of anxiety surrounding that place and avoid it if they can. If he's fine sleeping where he wants, I'd just leave him to work it out. You can work on making him more comfortable with coming into the room with treats and counterconditioning - basically rewarding him for coming in the room on his own.

There are many different kinds of leashes you can try and one is going to work pretty much like any others. There's also Bitter Yuck and other sprays that can be put on items to discourage chewing. My thought would be to pay more attention to your dog so you can stop and redirect the behavior in the first place. Your dog could have chewed through the leash and been gone before you noticed.

My first thought would be an intestinal gas attack. Have you ever taken her out to toilet during one of these episodes? Is she particularly gaseous afterward? Do they happen after eating a certain treat, or people food? It might be a worthwhile effort to begin keeping a food and activity diary for her to see if you can pinpoint a specific cause. And try a Gas-X tablet the next time it happens. Having an ultrasound is probably a good idea. Along with abdominal xrays. If she's anxious and snappy at the vet, talk with them about using some oral anti anxiety meds at home prior to bringing her in to help her stay calm and workable.

I think it's actually the little kernel inside the hard seed shell that is the most toxic, so if she's not chewing/grinding the outside down to the kernel she should be OK. Glad things are going to work out for her.