GreytHoundPoet

Thank you so much everyone. I miss her so much.

I am so sorry for your loss.

Those are just modified martingale walking leads, aren't they? Some folks call them french martingales. I have some similar types from here. I only use them at coursing/shows (events where they are in and out of crates a lot). I use normal martingales, traditional fishtail collars, and the WWW harness and Majestic Spook Harness, depending on dog. I have seen far too many dogs slip a normal pet store harness to trust them at all.

Oh, Lucky Girl was on Lasix too.

Lucius has had one for years. I get it checked out at every physical but it is just a skin tag.

Dilated cardiomyopathy unfortunately has no cure and always leads to congestive heart failure. Medicines can help slow the progression down, but usually the vet has to adjust doses accordingly throughout the whole time. When my Dal was diagnosed she lasted 2 years before she developed congestive heart failure, and we let her go a couple of months later, when she started refusing food and was having difficulty breathing. I've been told by several specialists that 2 years is a long time to live with DCM so I am grateful that she responded so well to meds for so long. She was on enalapril and vetmedin, and some other things. Just be sure of the diagnosis before you start playing with medications. They are pretty hardcore and have side effects.

My Dalmatian was on it for her dilated cardiomyopathy. That, coupled with some other meds, helped her for a long while.

For people who worry about leash clasps, this is another option. I have a few leather slip leads here that I use as leashes sometimes. No snaps involved... http://

How scary! I have the 3M reflective/high visibility tag collars from Houndstown. I live out in the country (up against woods with hunters around), only have a 6 foot fence, and travel a lot so I figured if anything happened people would see them in the dark or in the light. I also have the flat Boomarang tags so that they would for sure have a tag on them (since dangling tags can break off). I have the orange, yellow, and green ones and they are all bright and they reflect strongly in the lowest light. Everyone here is micro-chipped as well but, working at an animal shelter, I don't rely on those too much. I can count on one hand the number of times somebody has found a dog and brought it in to be scanned this year. We have had these well over a year. The collars have been washed, muddied, taken into rivers and creeks, and generally abused and are still bright with great visibility and reflection. I snapped this one while traveling (with a cell phone). The terrible lighting is a flash but it shows off the reflective quality some. (There were 2 beds but the half brothers love snuggling.)

He went to bed tiny and woke up a big boy! They grow soooo fast!

I just posted 2 Finn pictures on here. Though, you have already seen them on Facebook I am sure! LOL! I agree 100%! Though, I am biased. I have 2 Ibizans.

Welcome from another Upstate person! It is a small world. You got Drake from my adoption group and my friend Kala fostered him.

That is awesome! I'm glad Finn can brighten your day.

Welcome!!!! I have 2 Ibizan Hounds: a 3-year-old and a 5-month-old. I also have Greyhounds and a Galgo. I love Tino! (We are Facebook friends. )

Mine have never been gassy.

It depends on the hound. I've had 3 of my Greyhounds at 2-years-old (one was adopted at 2, one at 15 months, and one from 8-weeks). One was super calm and laid back, one was playful but not too energetic, and my current one keeps up with Ibizan Hounds all day and is crazy with a capital C. She's my lure coursing Greyhound. She plays most of the day with naps every little bit.

Thank you so much everybody.

This isn't what you meant, was it?

I have been putting this off. In fact, I have been pretty much avoiding it altogether. I found it was easier to be in denial. But, today Lucky Girl came back home and now I can't even pretend that she is just visiting my parents like she used to do. Many of you knew Lucky Girl. She went to the Rainbow Bridge last Friday due to advanced congestive heart failure. So, what can I say about the greatest dog to ever live? Lucky Girl was something out-of-this-world special. She was the single most loved dog I have ever known. Every single person who met her fell in love instantly. Where most Dalmatians are bouncy and super energetic, she was serene and sweet. She never met a stranger: human or dog. Her patience knew no bounds. Puppies could bite and crawl on her, children could hug her a little too tight or tug on something they shouldn't, and people in wheelchairs or walkers could run into her and the only reaction they would get was her sitting and offering her paw. She was gentle and kind. However, she ruled the roost and the hounds never messed with her. She was the only one that could snuggle Lucius. He misses her greatly. The thing about Lucky Girl is that she loved everyone without fault. Sure, she could be a diva. She knew it was all about her. But when it really came down to it she just loved with all she had to give. Over the past 2 weeks I have received hundreds of e-mails, messages, Facebook posts, texts, and phone calls about her. People who never met her are grieving with us. Her ability to touch lives extended far beyond her physical reach. Did you know that she has fans in South America? When a friend of ours went down there to teach he helped the children learn English by telling them stories about Lucky Girl. She has a dear friend all the way in Oregon who never met her but who sent her gifts from LG's "boyfriend", Gus. I know that they are grieving with us. The first time I met her highness she was at a kill shelter. I had a client who worked at the shelter and she called me to tell me about a Dalmatian that had been dumped and was going to be euthanized simply because of her breed. So, despite Justin and I discussing how we were not going to go get her because the timing was not right, I went the next day to get her. The moment I met her I knew she had to come home. She rolled over on her back and gave me this "I'm pitiful now but someday you will worship me" sweet face and I completely fell head over heals. So, after the famous "how much do you love me" phone call to my husband, she came home with me and we spent a mini fortune spoiling her for the first of many times. Soon after she began having medical issues and we found out that my "2-year-old Dalmatian" was actually at minimum 7 (I knew she was older than they told me but I took her anyways). The reason she was at the shelter? The previous owners claimed she was aggressive. Yeah, right. She was as dangerous as a teddy bear and just as adorable. One of my closest friends in the world is afraid of dogs. But Lucky Girl won her over immediately. That was LG's way. She's meet somebody, charm them, and add them to her fan club. She used to go to work with me at Petco (years ago when I worked there) everyday. She was the store mascot, essentially. She took part in every special event. She spent the day being pampered and worshipped. People would come in and ask for her. I will never forget the day that we were at Petsmart and a woman was brought to happy tears when LG approached her wheelchair and gently put her front paws on the woman's lap and allowed her to love on her. She aged gracefully. She always looked young and beautiful, even near the end. A couple of days before we had to let her go I met a man and his children who insisted she didn't look a day over 7 or 8. She would have been 13 in November. We have a painting on the wall of her next to an upside-down popcorn tin. People always ask about it. There is a funny story attached to that piece of art. Back when we first got the Greyhounds we used popcorn tins as raised feeders. Well, when we would leave the house we would always come home to a bowl on the floor and the same tin in random places. It liked to spend time on our bed under our covers, on the couch and papasan chair, and on the loveseat. We thought it was very odd. LG would often be found near the tin. One day we decided to pretend that we were leaving and sneak around the house to peek in the windows. We watched LG go and knock the bowls off the popcorn tin, pick it up by the rim, and carry it through the house. Silly girl! She loved water. She would jump in any creek or lake. She would even splash around in big puddles. She loved going out in the field and splashing around. The creek and covered bridge was her favorite place in the world. For some reason she always wanted to try to jump off the edges of the bridge into the creek. We never let her, obviosuly. When we take her ashes to the creek we are going to sprinkle some over the places she always wanted to jump from. She'll finally get to leap into the creek from the bridge. We took her to the creek right before we took her to the vet. She was stinky, wet, and happy. She wouldn't have wanted it any other way. She loved food. That dog should have ended up at the e-vet so many times. She would find ways to get into cupboards and the fridge. She would gorge herself and then hide the evidence under the bird cages. She would do anything for food. She loved Brusters Ice Cream doggie sundaes. Most of all, she loved me. The sun rose and set with me in her eyes. She always wanted to be with me. If I moved, she moved. She was always by my side, under my feet, or cuddled up to me. Even when walking became kind of hard to do she would follow me from room to room, never letting me out of her sight. In pictures she was almost always looking at me. She was MY dog and she was devoted to me until the day she died. I held her face and kissed her and spoke to her as she was going to sleep for her final rest. She was content with me there by her side. The whole in my heart is gaping. The emptiness in the house is staggering. Lucky Girl was a one-in-a-million dog and she will forever be missed. This tribute is long but honestly it is not long enough. Run free my beautiful Lucky Girl. I have no doubt that you are in Heaven eating steak while resting in a creek. We love you and miss you. We'll meet again someday.

I have a multi breed home. I have Greyhounds, Ibizan Hounds, a Galgo, and a Dalmatian. Half of my house is very high energy and the other half is really chill. It ends up meaning that, as long as I fulfill everyone's physical and mental needs, I have calm inside and lots of running and playing outside. My Ibizans are intact males and everyone else is spayed and neutered. Pairing energy levels and temperament/personality, along with training and socialization, are key to a successful match. Let your adoption group know what you need. I hope that your boyfriend does make the responsible decision to neuter his dog and not breed him. Neutering can be beneficial and help calm him down some as well. However, whether or not he chooses to, I implore you guys to heavily socialize and properly train him now. While he may have missed out on valuable socialization as a puppy he can still be socialized and trained. I have taken intact and altered dogs who were never socialized or trained as puppies and made them into confident, happy dogs who live well in a pack and do well with other dogs. Bringing a new dog into a situation with an out of control dog is a recipe for disaster. I know he is not your dog but hopefully you can work with him or convince your boyfriend to. This is not meant to sound harsh. It is meant to be encouraging on the lack of socialization front so hopefully you see it that way. Best of luck to you.

Incidentally, I have only ever had 1 dog mark in a hotel room and it was one of my girls. I am on the road with altered and intact show/performance hounds a decent bit and the boys have never marked a hotel room. It really depends on the dogs and how well you enforce the rules. Yes, intact males tend to mark more but I know plenty of intact and neutered boys (mine and many others we have stayed with/shared hotels, etc. with) that do not mark inside.

I have 5 males and 3 females. Three of my males are neutered and two are intact. I do not have marking issues in my home. When they first come in they try but I get them to knock it off super fast and they learn not to do it inside. They do mark outside but that's ok.

Not to be a wet blanket, but there is a HUGE difference between a super high energy Greyhound and a Border Collie. I have super, crazy high energy Greyhound (she keeps up with high energy Ibizan Hounds all day long and can run forever lure coursing...she's a mutant) and she's so much easier to wear out mentally and physically than a typical Border Collie. The BC show lines are more diluted but working bred dogs are intense. A close friend of mine has BCs and she calls my house a vacation home because even my super high energy Grey and my Beezers and Galgo are a cake walk compared to her 2 BCs (she does agility, herding, and other jobs with them) and other dogs.

We have a mixed energy level household. We have high energy Ibizans, mid-low energy Greyhounds and a Galgo, and a very senior Dalmatian in heart failure. The secret is mentally and physically tiring out the high energy dogs. Extra training, maybe a backpack with some weight on walks with the higher energy dog (with vet's approval), and you might have to invest extra time to leash train the new dog. Once it is reliable on leash you should be able to walk them together. Honestly, the dogs take cues from each other here. Inside the Beezers are lower-key, like the others. But outside the Greys and Galgo are a lot more active and play more. I love it!

I am so sorry for your loss.