PrairieProf

I am so sorry for the loss of your boy.

Oh no, how terrifying! Good thoughts to you both, and hoping for good news from the vet!

Oh my god ... how terrible and unthinkable for Hana, you, and her new family.

Paste in the "IMG" link -- one of the choices below the image itself on Photobucket.

Welcome! You did very well on the pic posting. Love Ivan's earsies!

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. Fortunately future minor skin procedures should not require general anesthesia. Beth has gotten a number of dings already on her legs, which I accept as inevitable, but I'm still glad I'm having this done to fix such a prominent area (assuming all goes OK, of course!). I'll post updates on Tuesday. We didn't discuss why it happened -- but when I searched online about ruptured cysts on dogs, it actually doesn't seem that unusual.

Having some vague anxiety that QCGA will say, "Uh-oh, you broke your hound, we're taking her back!" but I figure that won't really happen. Looking forward to seeing you and everyone ... fortunately all of this hasn't bothered Beth in the least.

Welcome to GT! Love the pics. I lived in Atlantic County for five years before I moved to Iowa in '99.

My beautiful Beth has a tendency to get small cysts on her skin ... some go away by themselves, but she had a somewhat larger one (about pea-sized) on her lower back that wasn't going away. I was going to have it removed eventually, but thought I was just obsessing about a minor cosmetic thing. Well, about a week and a half ago it looked different, and then the area around it got inflamed ... turned out the cyst had ruptured internally. She's been on antibiotics and doing well (and the vet did a slide and a culture to make sure there were no bad cells involved), but the inflammation led her to lose a patch of hair about the size of a silver dollar in the area that had been inflamed -- and the vet said the hair might or might not ever grow back! The area doesn't seem to bother her in the least, but I don't do well with seeing her disfigured in any way. We had a one-week follow-up today, and the vet opened the cyst and squeezed out a bunch of gunk that was still in there or had reaccumulated. But anyway, we scheduled surgery for Tuesday to remove the cyst and damaged skin -- he'll stitch together the healthy skin so she won't have a bald spot. Or, of course, have the cyst recur. He'll also remove another smallish cyst on the front of her elbow. I'm anxious about the anesthesia, but he seems to know just what he's doing, and the recovery doesn't sound like it will be bad -- he even said she didn't need to be restricted from running after the first 48 hours or so (and that's a good thing, because Beth can get pretty nutso on leash if she doesn't get her zoomies out regularly!). I'm so bummed, though -- I didn't know cysts could rupture and I totally could have had this one removed earlier with a quick laser procedure under a local anesthetic ... I didn't want to get a shaved spot so I thought I'd wait until coat season (and removing a wart or something from her tail about a year ago had turned into a bigger mess than I'd bargained for). And the vet didn't warn me either. So now I'm definitely going to have him laser off all future cysts without waiting. Ugh, I've been really stressed about my poor girl -- and of course I'll be a wreck Tuesday morning. Anyone else's hounds ever have something like this??

I go to my local dog park but I've learned I can NOT let my dog off-leash with small dogs (or even smallish) -- or when there are more than a few other dogs. This means I go around 6:45 a.m. when there are just a couple of large-dog "regulars" that I know Beth plays well with (two very confident Dobermans in particular) -- and responsible owners, even though that is excruciatingly early for me as I go to bed late. But I am committed to providing opportunities for Beth to run full out and play several times a week, and this is the way I can do it. Greyhounds play rough, and of course catch anybody they chase -- and being bitey is a standard part of greyhound play. Beth has also flipped/pinned small dogs once or twice -- and very submissive dogs of larger sizes -- and also goes in with some biting when they're down, though she's never growled. I find that a lot of normally confident dogs get scared when a giant greyhound with its "crocodile jaws" as I call them zooms down upon them faster than they've even seen a dog go -- and then they roll over to submit, and that gets the greyhound more stimulated. So I have learned never to trust their owners' statements to the effect of "Oh she's fine, she likes big dogs." I DO think it's normal if a sort of overexcited play-bordering-on-prey behavior (they're still practicing bite-inhibition, which is marker of play -- i.e. they are NOT biting to kill), but it's not something that can be permitted. Meanwhile Beth is perfectly fine and gentle with small dogs on leash -- or if they're not running.

Congratulations, he's beautiful! And has quite the array of famous ancestors too.

I'm so sorry for Rose and everyone who loves her.

Oh my goodness, how awful for both of you. Poor baby, hope he feels better and heals well.

Lisa, I don't have any experience with dogs and thyroid meds, but as someone who takes them myself (and deals with a hyperthyroid kitty), while we're waiting for more folks to chime in I'll note my reaction that some of what you describe sounds like possible over-medication to me. Definitely signs of a speeded-up metabolism, which is what you'd expect, but possibly too speeded up?

Yeah, I have to say I don't get this at all, the idea of crate training is not to have him living in a crate with someone at home -- that isn't how he's going to get used to home as opposed to kennel life, for one thing. Maybe a couple of short sessions a day, make it fun -- Patricia McConnell talks about putting him in the crate with a stuffed Kong or whatever and then *opening the door and taking the Kong/letting him out before he's done*, so he's like "hey wait, I wanted to stay in here to finish it!" But the real point is the alone training, which begins with *seconds,* not minutes. Or begins with you (or your wife) first just picking up your things, then putting them down again. Then later, going to the door. Have you ordered "I'll Be Home Soon" yet? There's a really precise protocol for doing this right in small increments. Five minutes is way too much to start with ... if/when he's fine for five minutes, he'll probably be fine for much longer, it's the leaving that's the thing. I haven't had to do this training myself, though, beyond what I practiced the first couple of days when I brought my hound home, so I think I should defer to those who have.

:banana A B-9 banana dance for Elsie!

What a handsome boy, and super fit-looking! (A Gable Dodge grandson I see -- not too much of a surprise, looking at him.) How cool that he's running around your yard with a stuffie already. Congratulations!

Oh dear, I am so sorry. You and your beautiful girl will be in my thoughts.

Dried Bull junk.. LOL In case that didn't answer your question, it's a dried bull hoo-hoo. Jenn Actually, according to GT lingo, bulls by definition don't have hoo-hoos. It's a dried bull schmeckie. (Bet you're sorry you asked, huh? )

What a sweet girl -- and wonderful pictures! Congratulations, and good luck with the expanded pack!

It could be almost anything ... if you're not feeding her anything new it might well not be the food. Has she eaten any odd thing outside? Drunk from outside water? Or she might have picked up a bug, or have worms. It's hard to tell most of the time. My vet recommends fasting them for a day, then reintroducing food in smaller more frequent portions (he does not recommend the bland diet, but folks here are all over it, so I don't know what to say about that). If that doesn't work, you should probably go to the vet for a course of Flagyl/metronidazole, which is pretty much the universal first-line treatment for doggie diarrhea, and taking in a stool sample would be a good idea too.

Welcome from Iowa! There is an unbelievable amount of information searchable in the archives of this forum, and if you have any specific questions you'll certainly get lots of input!

Sending the best of thoughts to sweet Mommy Elsie! I'm glad it will be a quick and easy procedure.

Great news! So relieved for you.

Sorry they're having problems, Kerry -- hope it all clears up today. I'd call the vet if they're still having issues at midday -- that seems a lot of reaction to a cookie. (Beth had D midday yesterday and in the evening but seems fine this morning, whew.)