greysmom

Sadie, Sadie, pretty lady!!!!

I agree with everyone above - only do the exam if knowing what's wrong will change how you treat her. She's 12 - a good age for a greyhound - and while it can be useful to know exactly what the issue is, it may not make any difference to her or your life. If she seems to be over whatever was going on with her before, I would probably not do the cardiology exam. Watch for any coughing or retching, prolonged recovery time after exercise, elevated heartbeat and respiration, extended periods of mental confusion, even vomiting and diarrhea *can* indicate a heart issue. You may end up taking her to an emergency vet since regular vets/specialists are so booked up due to the pandemic. Start researching now for the closest ones (if you haven't already). I've had three greyhounds have echocardiograms and none of them have needed to be sedated. If that's what this vet says he needs to sedate her for. It can also - usually, over here - be done by an ultrasound specialist right in your regular vet's office and read by a competent technician like an xray. No cardiologist needed if there's no abnormality found. Greyhounds do usually get diagnosed with a "heart murmur" at sometime in their life. I've been told it's not actually a murmur, but more of an echo or increased level of noise from the valves due to how much larger than a normal dog their hearts are. Unless a vet is very used to listening to greyhound hearts go about their business, it can sound really alarming. There is at least one thread in the Food section here about Diet-Mediated DCM. It's not something that is much on the radar outside of the US and Canada, so your vets may not be informed/aware of it. Most of the time, when a dog has this, it can fix itself once the dog is switched off the grain free diet to one cantaining whole grains. The peas and legumes used to add protein into dog food are what is believed to be the culprits.

Congrats all around!!! She's lovely, and every house needs a bit a mayhem to keep it fun!!! I was wondering about her color too. It will be interesting to see her in a few weeks. Lilly's spots change every time we brush her it seems, and most of her spots didn't even show up until she was 7 or 8. Hugs and kisses for everyone at Camp Broodie!!

Resource guarding can be of anything a dog thinks is high value. Obviously, your dog thinks this toy is the BOMB!!! and doesn't want anyone taking it away from him. This is *extremely* common behavior. First of all, don't punish him for growling. It's one of the only (vocal) ways a dog has to tell us what they are thinking. If you try and extinguish the growl the dog will just learn to skip over it and escalate to the next level of expressing himself, which is normally using his mouth to nip or bite. The easiest thing to do with a resource guarder is to "trade up" when you need to take a high value treat away. Lure him away from the toy with a food treat that is higher in value than the toy - a big piece of meat or cheese, or whatever your dog thinks is really super duper great. When he leaves the toy, pick it up and put it out of sight. The *best* way to deal with resource guarding is to train either/both a "drop it" and/or "leave it" command. That way you can have a reliable way to remove dangerous objects or just when you need a squeaky break. There are numerous, good videos out there for teaching this command(s). Good luck!

I did NOT know the Easter Bunny had such a premium stink eye game!!!!!

We bought this one after Dude broke his leg running in the yard and it took four people to get him to the car. I never would have been able to do it if I'd been by myself. Then someone had to ride in the back with him to the hospital because he kept trying to stand up. Pet Stretcher What I like about this one is it has straps to help keep the dog down on the stretcher, and the rigid frame with the high weight limit. I could actually move a fairly large person if necessary. But it is much more expensive.

She probably doesn't want to eat because she's nauseous due ot her balance being off. That's why the Cerenia worked. And why she will eat later in the day as her symptoms improve. I'd just offer/feed her small portions several times a day once she expresses interest in eating. Checking for a UTI is easy and quick, and a good idea if it wasn't done when she was in before. And, since she's from Spain, checking for mediterranean diseases and TBD is probably in order too. Leishmania is something I see mentioned often for galgos and poddies of the rescue pages. The only other thought I had was some sort of tumor or nerve sheath involvement, but you won't find that without a CT or MRI, and it's doubtful you'd want to do any sort of surgery or treatment anyway. Once you've eliminated the easy stuff, the only other thing to do is wait and see how far she progresses in improvement over the next week or so. My Cash seized, crashed and died in the back of my car following a rabies vaccine, and the ER vet got her back. But she couldn't stand or walk - couldn't even lift her head. The ER vet said I should say my goodbyes when I left her for the night as she probably wouldn't be there in the morning. Not only did Cash walk out of the hospital 3 days later, she got back to nearly 100% over the course of the next few weeks. It just takes time to get there. Watchful waiting and a lot of patience will be how you get through this, I think. {{{hugs}}}

Oh Sweep!!!!

Don, I'm so sorry for you and your wife that Miss Kate found it was time to leave. I, too, was a firm Petunia and Kate fan, and will miss your stories of them. {{{hugs}}}

All of the above is excellent advice. I'll just add my two cents. There's no right or wrong answer to your question. It's really just figuring out what works for you and your dog and sticking with it. In general, you want a food that is "complete" - a good protein source, a good whole grain carb source, and all the vitamins and minerals a canine needs to maintain proper health. Including whole grains is a must, IMO, because of the risk of dilated cardiomyeopathy, so don't fall for the hype of "boutique" brands which seem to offer something better under the guise of whatever angle they are selling. Your dog needs to be able to maintain a good weight (not gain or lose), on a moderate amount of food, for his particular activity level. His stools should be good and he shouldn't have any stinky farts or audible stomach noises. His poops shouldn't be huge and they should be pick-up-able. Unless your dog has a diagnosed medical condition, there's no reason for expensive prescription or veterinary brands, foods with unique proteins (like kangaroo or rabbit), or really expensive luxury brand foods. Most greyhounds do just fine on a low-to-moderate price store brand that's readily available and won't bust your checkbook every month. Many people in the US have had success with Purina Pro Plan's grain inclusive lines, and the Iams brands. You'll need to do some checking to see what UK brands are similar. Once you find a kibble that satisfies you and your dog, how you serve it depends entirely on what you want to do. In our house, our greyhounds' meals are kibble, topped with a spoon of wet food, mixed with water for gravy and hydration, and a couple teaspoons of salmon oil for general coat conditioning. One of mine also gets a tablespoon of rehydrated Olewho carrots because she needs more fiber in her diet to have good stools. That's it. We rotate the wet food flavors, but their meals stay pretty much the same for consistency. Finding a "good" dog food can make you crazy. Settle for finding a nutricious food your dog likes and will eat with enthusiasm. Good luck!

It's been since November and Andi's shaved leg is only now beginning to fill in. If you think the gaba helps but the dose is making her unsteady, ask for 100 mg caps instead of the 300s. That way you can reduce the dosage as necessary for her level of discomfort. She looks really great Rachel!! Give that baby a kiss right on her head for me!!!

Definitely good news, but the way the bone broke they would have seen some evidence of disease during the surgery if it was there to see. Just in my very limited knowledge and experience I didn't see anything on the xrays you posted. That's one of the first things the surgeon said to me after Andi's surgery - "I didn't see anything that looked like osteo." And he said there was nothing to biopsy. Sometimes a broken leg is just a broken leg!

I think the issue would be finding something that would stay on/stay up on the leg without falling down and causing a tripping hazard. Without being so tight it cuts off circulation. Maybe something like small compression socks with the toes cut out???? Since their legs are so skinny it would need to be small socks. Or maybe zip some thicker, really stretchy fabric together (one seam up the back, say) with a serger for a more custom fit??? Folks who do lots of AKC events or amateur racing )LGRA, NOTRA, herding and field events) just wrap their dogs legs with vet wrap for easy on, easy off protection. You might look up some discussion groups on Facebook or other online resources to see if someone there has any ideas. Same for bird hunting dogs - I've never checked at places like Cabela's or other hunting stores that sell hunting dog equipment, but they may have solutions as well.

Oy. You're dog has a long history if resource guarding, and she's telling you as clearly as she can that she is EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE with a small creature crawling towards her and her bed. So I will say this for her, to be more clear: DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD APPROACH THE DOG WHEN SHE IS LAYING ON HER BED. PERIOD The fact that you actually allowed (and apparently encouraged) the behavior without any attempt to protect either your child or your dog, does not give anyone any sense of hope. If you continue on this course, someone, most likely your child, will be hurt, and your dog will pay the price. Perhaps with her life depending in the animal control laws where you live. Let me say this too - your dog isn't and hasn't been doing anything wrong by growling to indicate her anxiety about having people near her bed. Resource guarding is *very* common in greyhounds and we deal with this subject a lot. You can search through the threads here for more info about both growling and resource guarding. This behavior can be mitigated and managed, but it cannot - cannot - be reliably extinguished. Your child as well, is just doing what babies do - crawling and growing and learning about her world. This is completely normal behavior, too. So until she can learn and understand and follow the rules, you need to protect her from herself, just like you would from a lit fire or an electrical plug. It falls to you and the other important adults in this equation to keep both the dog and the child safe. You need to set hard and fast rules that everyone agrees to and will follow. 1) Do not leave the baby and the dog alone together. Ever. Until the child can be trusted to follow the rules. As said above, many adoption groups will not consider families with children under 5 or 6 years old for this reason. 2) Do not let the child approach the dog bed. Just designate it as one of your dog's "safe spots" and keep the child away from it whether the dog is there or not. That way there's no confusion. 3) if you want the two to interact, call the dog over to you while you closely supervise. The dog should always be standing in her feet, with a calm demeanor. 4) Give your dog places she can be where she knows she will be unmolested. A spot with the family, a spot in a quieter place (a bedroom or guest room) - where she can choose if she wants to be a part of the goings on or stay more by herself. It's very possible to successfully have greyhounds (or any dog) and kids, if you use common sense and take the behaviors of both into account. But if the above rules seem too onerous for you, or that you just can't see going to that much "trouble," please do consider returning your dog to your group. The pain you will feel doing so will be minor compared to how you would feel if/when an incident happens.

I'm glad Sweep seems to have come through her ordeal with flying colors! Andi broke her hock - one more set of bones down! - the first weekend in November at an LGRA meet. Fortunately for us, there were two very experienced vet techs there running their dogs and the got her leg stabilized and wrapped within 15 minutes, and she was at the evet 25 minutes later. We were very lucky that the orthopedic surgeon on duty that day was one of the best "sports injury" docs in the area. He even stayed way past the end of his shift to do Andi's surgery that evening. Anyway, he said that greyhounds "usually" break their own legs! It's not the surface, or the extra pressure of going into the curve - it's because their muscles are literally too strong for their bones to handle! The bone can't hold up against the torc put on it between the muscular force of those big thighs and glutes and the ground. I would think that upper thigh area would be very difficult to cast. Anything would get I the way of the leg swinging and probably make peeing and pooping extremely difficult. Andi got some Trazadone, along with an nsaid and pain med, to help keep her quiet for the 8 weeks she was in her cast. I have to say, it was very helpful once she started feeling better and wanted to move around more! She's been out of the cast now since January, but we're still doing mostly leash walks outside as the surgeon says no "explosive" action! Her reevaluation isn't until May and were all very much over leash walking now!!! She's got a plate and screws similar to Sweeps holding her bones together. And I can really see them through the skin of her lower leg! Continued healing for Sweep and much patience for you! 2343 by Chris Harper, on Flickr You can see the outline of the plate along the top of the front leg/ankle. 20210104_154511 by Chris Harper, on Flickr

If you were a US adopter I would say - first thing - that he probably has hook worms or another parasite. We are dealing with a particularly resistant variety here and they can cause a lot of issues across the spectrum of canine bahavior and medical. So you *may* want to follow up with your vet about fecal testing. As far as other causes, it's really too soon to tell. He hasn't been with you all that long and his personality is still emerging in regards to settling in and relaxing in his new living situation. It can take months for dogs to really become comfortable, particularly if they are more anxious dogs in the first place. If you're transitioning food he may be becoming anxious if his tummy is upset, or there's been a change in his new normal routine. Anxious dogs really do much better on a strict daily schedule. I took a look at the dog food you mentioned - Burgess Greyhound chicken - and it seems to be a fine food. Personally I would like a *little* more protein than 17%, but you will need to see how your guy does on it for a couple months. As mentioned, you want a well-balanced food (protein AND carbs), that your dog will eat, and that will allow them to maintain consistent weight and energy level across time. If he likes the food in general you may want to consider adding protein as a topper to each meal - 1/2 a cup of cooked chicken, or a spoon or two of tinned dog food - to up the protein level a bit.

Unless you're going to try the Flexor Tenotomy surgery (which *appears* to be curative, though at the exprense of cause a sprung toe), corns are really all about management. You have to find something that works for you and your dog to give them at least a semblance of mobility, and that isn't a horror to accomplish. You can find lots of info, both on the surgery and management strategies on FB - Greyhounds with Corns, is the name of the group. It's worth joining FB just for that page. Some of the new things people are trying with varying degrees of success are painting the corn with nail varnish, colloidal silver application, and the cimetidine cure (high doses of cimetidine given daily over a long period of time).

That clause in in adoption contracts because they don't want you to make money off your retired racers, I think. Lots of us have PALs and do AKC events with our adopted dogs. There's also LGRA and NOTRA (Large Gasehound Racing assoc and N-something Oval Track Racing Assoc) events to look into. You might want to do a Blue Slip ownership transfer first to make things easier. Just make sure she's in racing condition before taking her to any kind of racing trial. Lots of daily walking and exercise in the back yard will help keep her in shape.

If you can call and talk with your vet, maybe send in a picture, and they can advise what OTC powder/clay/soak can help it would save a trip in - though he probably does need to be looked at, at some point, just to make sure. It might have started out as a scrape or poke and got out of hand, or it could be a fungus, or many other things. You could start with epsom salt soaks, which will help with a lot of things. 1 TBLSP of epsom salts dissolved in 1-1 1/2 C hot water. Cool until tolerated. Soak a washcloth in solution and wrap around the foot, cover with a plastic bag and secure to prevent leaking. Make sure some of the solution gets in between the toes. I know it's hard when they're foot-shy, but it will really help.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you're concerned about "toileting issues." Potty training doesn't depend on gender, for the most part, and it definitely depends more on the people than the dog IMO. Set up a strict daily schedule (flexible in the beginning as the dog settles in) for eating, toileting, and exercise. It's what they are used to and what they do best with. FWIW, when living in an apartment, it's much more important that you have a plan for getting in and out easily and quickly, and the amount of stairs you need to maneuver, if any. Most greyhounds will need to be taught how to manage them, which make potty trips eventful for the first week or so. If you only have elevators, they will need to get used to those too. And have a plan for getting outside in case the power goes out. Greyhounds tend to do very well in urban environments, as long as they are calm and confident dogs in the first place. Gender makes no difference. Personality and temperament is MUCH more important than gender. Make sure your adoption group knows what your neighborhood is like. Then be prepared to give them some extra time to get used to this extremely new environment. So, don't get hung up on gender for your frist greyhound. Find one who fits your lifestyle and living situation best. Everyone will be happier.

Normal vet. BUT she is very familiar with working with greyhounds and their idiosyncrasies. If your vet isn't totally on board, see if she will refer you to another GP vet who could handle the dental, preferrably someplace close to where you are moving since nearly all vets are booked out months for everything but emergency procedures. Covid protocols have put a wrench in most timing lately. If she wants to give it a go there are things you can do to minimize the risks. Make sure you begin giving your dog Amicar (aminocarproic acid) 4-5 days pre procedure and post procedure to help with blood clotting. If you can't find it, a product called tranexamic acid can be a substitute. Talk with your vet about NOT USING opiates during the surgery, and avoid Tramadol and Fentanyl for post procedure pain relief. An nsaid and codiene sulfate (an opiate but better tolerated than the others) have been a successful combination. The anesthesia your vet uses will make a difference. She can get proper protocols from MSU. Also, close monitoring before during and after the dental is very important. If your girl gets anxious at the vet, talk about giving a dose of anti anxiety medication like trazadone prior to leaving the house, to - hopefully - walk into the office and basically into surgery. Keeping stress low from the beginning is key. You can also search through here for other threads on anesthesia and getting dentals. Good luck.

Racing greyhound puppies begin formal training at around a year old, and begin competing around 18 months old - all depending on their individual physical maturity. So I would say, given you're dog's a mix with a smaller, faster maturing breed, your puppy should reach maturity sooner. Maybe somewhere around 12-15 months. Please keep a close monitor on your puppy's growth. Too much too fast can be as dangerous as too little and cause just as many issues. Slow and steady, with moderate amounts of protein and carbs, will be the best.

{{{sigh}}} Finding good help is soooooooo difficult!!! Happy Gotcha Dat sweet girl!!! (At least you remember when her Gotcha Day is!!! I'm lucky if I remember what season it was when they came here!! Hm... I say that, but now that I think on it, I *do* remember the actual day for all three of the ones here now. Lilly - Dec 8, Felicity - June 7, which was Whiskey's birthday, and Andi on Sept 7 which was Labor Day that year!)

First of all. stop. Just stop. Take a breath, take a break - for all of you. It sounds like she already knows to go potty outside, since she's waking you up, so let that worry go (and get some puppy pads, if necessary). Normally, yes, you should establish a strict daily routine and stick to it, but she's not there yet, and you need to meet her where she is. Give her some space and time. If all she wants to do right now is cling to one safe spot, then let her. If she's not interested in eating, let the meal wait. She needs all the time and patience you have for her. Let her just *be* for a while. Sit quietly with her near her safe spot. Read a book (out loud to her) or watch a quiet show. Talk to her. Toss her a yummy treat if she's interested. Play some calming music. Do your best to bond with her and build up a level of trust. Keep remembering her situation - she's never been in a house before, never been in a town to see/hear cars and sirens and other town noises, she's likely never even been outside at night accept in a very limited way. Literally everything she's experiencing right now is new and scary - including new people she doesn't know and who keep making her do scary things. So. Just. Stop. Get a bunch of DAP diffusers and place them around the house. She may need a DAP collar as well. Look into OTC calming treats and/or CBD (if legal in your area) treats. But I suspect she may need some prescription anti anxiety medication to help her through this time. Not permanently, but enough to help her brain slow down and reach a state where counter conditioning can help her. If she hasn't seen a vet yet, you might call and see how soon that can happen. Yes, it will be stressful for her, but ultimately useful. A home visiting vet would be better if you have that available to you. If you haven't yet, contact your adoption group and let them know how much trouble she's having adapting to living in the city. They may have some further ideas and suggestions for you, or they may not. Sometimes volunteers haven't dealt with this level of anxiety and they are as bewildered as you are. A certified animal behaviorist might be able to help you all with some strategies too. Make sure they are familiar with greyhounds and only use positive reinforcement techniques. Finally, I only say this as a suggestion, but you may need to consider that she's not cut out to be a city dog. Some are great - they love the hustle and bustle and meeting new people and going out and about. Others, not so much. And some, fortunately rarely, cannot handle the faster pace, the noise, the cars, the everything. So really evaluate whether she needs a different environment to thrive. Returning a dog isn't a failure, it just gives everyone a reset so they can all succeed. Here's a link to a great training tool. This is a book by Patricia McConnell which will give you some great ways to help your girl. The Cautious Canine Good luck.