3greytjoys

Costco offers a great price on large dog beds. Our Costco has a new orthopedic bed style that looks just like a mini-human mattress. (I haven't tried that style yet, but other GH parents have given it a thumbs up.) We have eight Costco dog beds (different styles) in the family room at the moment (more elsewhere). We've had lots of Costco beds for many years. (BTW, if older dog beds begin to flatten after several years, two innards can be placed in one cover to beef up thickness.)

Ari may simply be a slow eater, but here are a few more thoughts... If her teeth and gums haven't been checked recently, I would encourage it. A painful mouth is a common reason for dogs to be hesitant or take longer to eat kibble. Many hounds need to do their potty business just before eating a meal. You are very smart to separate the dogs during meals. It might help to allow Ari to eat in her usual place, and separate the newcomer to another area. Greys can be very sensitive to being relocated to a different room, especially if closed away from their human. Ari may be feeling sensitive knowing you'll be leaving soon. She may feel more comfortable/relaxed at night knowing that you'll be home for a longer while.

One of our hounds has refused breakfast frequently for nearly 6 years. (I still offer her kibble, but if it's wet and she shows no interest, it's placed back in the refrigerator within a few minutes.) Her appetite is much better at night.

Here is a different video of Greyhound reverse sneezing: Reverse sneezing can have various causes. Our girl's long-term, severe reverse sneezing was caused from nasal mites. Medication cleared her problem. http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/respiratory_system/respiratory_diseases_of_small_animals/canine_nasal_mites.html?qt=nasal mites&alt=sh Probably not Chad's case since his episode only occurred for one day. Hope Chad continues to improve.

Welcome to Greytalk! How exciting! Sounds like you're doing a great job preparing for your new Greyhound. I agree re: communicating openly with the adoption rep. and keeping an open mind to find a Greyhound that fits your lifestyle and home situation. Greyhound personalities come in a wide range. A good temperament fit is most important. A Greyhound transitioning into a new home is the hound's biggest life change ever, so it's great that you understand that new dogs require patience. What you see during your "first meeting" is not what you will see after the hound has more time to develop a trusting bond with you. Your hound's personality will blossom over weeks, months and years. Tuffy squeaky toys are excellent for Greyhounds. Tuffy's "Ultimate" series = toughness scale #9: http://www.entirelypets.com/tuffyringred.html Dog toothbrush with "dog" toothpaste: http://www.entirelypets.com/ctokitfordo.html If you have hard surface floors where your Greyhound needs to walk inside, cheap runner rugs made with rubber backing (or rubber gripper mats underneath runner rugs) are helpful. If you wait until your hound gets home, old rubber backed bath mats can help in a pinch. I assume your collar is a nylon web "martingale." Martingale collar should be adjusted to fit snugly so you need to "work it" over the ears (when removing collar, rotate so hardware doesn't hit ears). If collar is too loose, hound can back-out of collar. I assume your crate is wire, minimum 42" long. Hopefully, your Branigan book is revised (my copy of that book is 1992). Another excellent book: Retired Racing Greyhounds For Dummies, by Lee Livingood. If interested in tips for your hound's first day home, I'll add a few more before she/he arrives. Above all, have great fun meeting your new fur-baby! Whether girl or boy, both genders are wonderful. (We were set on a female first, but adopted an amazing male.) We'll look forward to your pictures.

May your two hearts be joined in loving spirit forever.... I'm so very, very sorry for your loss, Jane. You are in my thoughts during this most difficult time.

Agreed, tbhounds! Your office is the first I've heard/read that provides drug data. At least your clients might remember to read it if they notice an obvious problem. I don't recall receiving drug data from any veterinary offices, even after asking for it. Scary that the FDA views this as a problem too. I hope more people will request drug data from their veterinary providers.

My thoughts are with you for Shelby's loving and peaceful journey during this most difficult time. You are such a wise and caring mom that I imagine your decision will be whatever Shelby would want while letting go in comfort and with dignity. (I would imagine the timing could be a blessing if it saves Shelby from increased risk of a sudden, painful injury.)

We keep a baby-gate installed about 5" off floor level separating the hounds' most frequented rooms from the cats. Cats' favorite resting room is on the opposite side of the house, also gated so hounds can't enter the cats' favorite room. The cats have all their needs within their safe zone, food/water and bathroom (toilet trained), so they can avoid hounds' area, if desired. Years later, a couple of hounds still try to (playfully) chase the cats, and could not be fully trusted alone. Dogs are smart like children; they learn to wait until mom/dad's back is turned to push their limits. If ever a serious chase, Greyhounds win. Some people who don't use crates (or secured ex-pens) do muzzle their hound/s but cats can still be harmed by a large dog's legs/paws pouncing on them. If a hound is highly driven, they can bite through a muzzle. Adding an elevated baby-gate is very helpful. Officially, some adoption groups suggest to not to leave hounds alone with small animals. Many people do without problems, but it is their risk. Each hound is different. It sounds like your girl is doing great ignoring your indoor kitties, and hopefully will continue to adjust smoothly. I agree with you that 16 weeks with a newly retired Greyhound is too soon. Your girl may not have had enough time to blossom into her blissfully playful personality. Have fun with your fur babies!

Our hounds are cat friendly inside our home; however, breed typical, none are small animal friendly outside. We find it safest to avoid all small animals outside by pulling far enough off sidewalks to let others pass. Of course, accidents can happen: One evening, fortunately only walking one hound (on new street to us), hound stopped to do business. A very bold cat surprised us by approaching from behind. Hound saw cat first, near hound's back thigh, and grabbed in one second flat! Fortunately, I was able to get him to drop the cat before the cat was harmed. Over the years, we've avoided walking by 3 houses known to have overly bold cats. One cat guards/chases away all dog intruders from his entire cul-de-sac! Even our hounds are scared of THAT crazed cat! Lol... Another time, we were enjoying lunch at a dog friendly restaurant (patio). A fledgling fell from a nest above our table, just inches from our (red) hound's face! She scooped it up in one second flat, as if it were a gift dropped from the heavens! I think the bird was saved in time too. I would completely avoid that puppy. Dudley *might* view the puppy differently after he/she has grown up, but not worth the risk now. Reiteration for other readers: My previous list of prey driven hound signs are usually seen ONLY if hound is leashed. A Greyhound outside in an off leash enclosure like a mixed breed dog park is too fast and precise a hunter for many humans to notice any early signs of "prey" behavior. Often a hound appears fine running along ("playing") with a medium/smaller size dog, but to a retired racer / sight hunter breed, running excitement can quickly heighten to "prey" instinct.

The behavior you described is usually focused prey drive in a Greyhound. Hard to know the exact "lures" with which Dudley was trained in early schooling and racing. May have been small furry brown or white lures/creatures. Sounds like the puppy may have sparked Dudley's natural prey instinct. When we do cat and small animal testing of recent retirees, we watch hounds' focus very carefully. Long testing process short... If the hound is so intensely focused on the animal that hound doesn't break focus to pay attention to a human's call/correction, the hound is deemed not small animal friendly. Even low prey Greyhounds who initially test small animal friendly are never considered small animal friendly in an outside environment. Example: Many Greyhounds can live fine with small animals inside a family home, but same dog looks at same animal outside as prey. Outside = game on. Magnified greatly if small animal moves (walks/runs) when outside. As another poster mentioned, be careful with Dudley if a human picks up a small animal. Dogs' natural instinct is to jump up to snatch or nip small animal above his/her own head level, even when picked up by an adult human. To answer your question, you may not ever "know he won't eat that dog". It is good to learn what prey drive looks like in hounds. Here's a short list of canine language seen in a "prey" driven dog while leashed: Intense focus on animal. (Dog shows tunnel vision for smaller animal, usually ignoring all other external stimuli including humans. If dog does look away briefly, dog may still be watching prey in his/her periferial vision.) Fully alert body, and ears. (Alert ear position is individual to each Greyhound.) Possible stiffening of body, trembling, or lunging towards (prey) animal. Often silent while staring at prey, or barking or whining (often vocalizes in frustration from being held back on leash). May hold mouth closed tightly, lick lips often and quickly, salivate, and/or pant heavily. Tail is tense, or a tense wag. (Not a relaxed, low positioned, casual, friendly wag.) Great to teach Dudley "watch me" exercises, and practice often to help him ignore small critters passing by. Eventually, if you decide to work with Dudley (muzzled and leashed) near a small dog, a neutral, indoor, controlled environment would be desired. Whenever Dudley is meeting/sniffing a smaller dog, arc around and ensure the small dog's butt is positioned towards Dudley to smell. (Dogs often capture prey by the neck.) Please use your good judgement, and don't push any animal introductions if you think Dudley's prey drive is too high for a specific animal, even if he has been fine with similar animals. Each animal may be viewed differently. BTW, besides the tiny size, what does the puppy look like (color, fur length)? FWIW, when out hiking or walking, I recommend not stopping to stare excessively at wild animals. It usually heightens a sighthound's prey instinct.

Oh Mary and Skip, I am so deeply sorry for your heartbreaking loss of your wonderful Spencer. My heart skipped beats seeing Spencer's name here. What a thoughtful memorial. I viewed your slide show, read the music credit - realizing I needed to view again with volume turned on. Thank you for sharing your photo montage. Your close-up photos of Spencer's face, ear, and paws were particularly touching. Godspeed Spencer. May he rest in peace with angels over the bridge.

Scary to think of the potential outcome when Hester meets his match. If Hester doesn't strike first, chances are another other dog will strike Hester. I wonder about Hester's reaction when another loose dog tries to jump up on Hester's back. (Common canine behavior in unneutered males, and common during play.) I've seen a (different) large breed dog attack a Labrador to death. It was beyond horrific and happened in an instant! There was no time for a human to try to separate the dogs, including large, adult male humans. It's very scary to see Hester off leash in a non-fenced enclosure. It's even more scary to think of him being loose in public while making his own split-second decisions regarding his reactions towards others' beloved pets. Dog owners are legally required to keep dogs under control for public safety in most places I've been across the USA.

Open link, scroll down to click on specific food in question to read additional foods (including bag sizes) added to this recall. http://www.naturapet.com/recall

If you haven't seen a Greyhound race, you might be interested in viewing a Greyhound racing video on-line. All racing (or schooling) Greyhounds chase a moving "lure" made to look (and sound) like a small, live prey animal. It's fairly common for newly retired hounds to carry that activity to other outside settings (game on). Squeaky toys also mimic the sound of hurt prey; thus, dogs' attraction to follow their natural instinct to chase, capture and kill the toy, pretending as if it were prey in the wild. (Some dogs go as far as shredding soft toys, even ingesting material, or squeakers - which can cause dangerous intestinal blockages.) As mentioned, Greyhounds are "sight" hounds that have been bred for thousands of years to hunt animals. No one can stop prey instinct, nor can a person run 45 mph to intercept a dog acting on instinct in a public dog park. I agree with others, please don't muzzle only "one" dog for reasons others posted. One muzzled dog is more likely to be viewed by other dogs as the most weak dog in a pack (unable to defend him/herself); therefore, any other dogs are more likely to attack the only muzzled dog. If one dog cries out, it can also cause a full pack attack where all dogs rush to attack the perceived weak/hurt/prey dog - biting other dogs in the process. Please do ask your adoption group if they offer safer "Greyhound breed only" play dates where ALL Greyhounds inside an enclosure are muzzled. If not, leashed walks are great. Also, you might try befriending another nearby Greyhound owner willing to invite your girl over for muzzled play dates in their fenced yard. (Greyhounds skin rips very easily, so it's safest to have Greyhounds muzzled even when they are the only dogs playing together.)

This brings up an important point about not receiving manufacturer's pamphlets for veterinary medications. (A long problematic issue for me.) I've developed a habit of looking up all veterinary medications for general info. and side effects before administering medications to our hounds at home. One excellent on-line site is Veterinary Partner. Veterinary Partner's link re: Rimadyl: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=623 Our hounds have usually done fine on Rimadyl; however, one of ours did begin bleeding internally from Rimadyl. I noticed it quickly, notified the vet, and stopped her Rimadyl immediately.

Good boy Do Bee, and great job vet hospital team!

I'm not a vet, but having three excessive bleeders in our house, we keep Clotisol (blood clotting agent) available for cuts. Also Aminocaproic Acid (tablet form). Both have been a huge help many times. Latest episode was a few nights ago when a hound ripped a toenail halfway off walking by a door. He ended up pulling off the toenail himself. The only way I could get the bleeding under control was using both of the above. Tried Clotisol only at first, but ended up needing Aminocaproic Acid too. There may be better blood clotting formulas than Clotisol, but I haven't found them yet. We order Aminocaproic Acid (tablet form) from Costco pharmacy. Tablets usually have approx. one year shelf life. Liquid form tastes like a beef treat for the dog, but that comes from a "compounding pharmacy" and only lasts one month. Veterinarian's prescription is required for either liquid or tablets. Not being a vet, I can't address whether or not Aminocaproic Acid would help Sunny, but maybe it wouldn't hurt either(?).

Oh Ducky, I'm so very sorry about your loss of sweet Harold. Thank you and your husband for devoting your caring love to this deserving boy.... you were both his wonderful angels on earth.

Side note: It's smart to question ingredients in any sweets, not only for toxins (like xylitol, etc.) but even simple sugars. Personally, we don't feed dogs any sugary treats. My understanding... Sugar is a carcinogen that causes Cancer. Cancer cells FEED and multiply wildly on any type sugar (including white, brown, etc.). Food coloring ingredients are known to be carcinogens that cause Cancer. Sugar supresses the immune system's job to kill off damaging cells for many hours after it's ingested. In lieu of sugary treats, there are other treats that are much less harmful to dogs: Plain yogurt, non-fat cottage cheese, plain pumpkin, peanut butter, etc.

I've had conversations with Virbac about this exact issue in years past. Their dental water additive is their only product I absolutely will NOT use, or recommend to others because of the xylitol ingredient! (They say it's not enough of the ingredient to be problematic for the animals, but my opinion... why risk it ?!) ETA: I'd be interested to learn if anyone uses Biotene/Oratene products with success. I've used Biotene Antiseptic Oral Gel, but that's only for short-term use.

Oh gosh, I'm guessing this is about Beanie... I'm so sorry...

I agree with OP. Hopefully, that individual dog will be fine and have no problems with an open balcony or open-backed stairs. I'm not sure how a retired racing hound would automatically know about extreme heights. Many large dog breeds (Greyhounds included) have no problem launching themselves over tall fences, falling into deep water (having no clue it's not solid footing), jumping out of fast moving vehicles (open car windows or truck beds). Many dogs have jumped off high walls, upper level decks. Tethered dogs often strangle themselves by jumping or falling off decks or embankments. A high prey sighthound could add another aspect... certain very high prey hounds would try to climb trees to get to birds/squirrels in uppermost limbs. Hopefully, the adoption group cautions the adopters to never leave the dog on an elevated, open balcony unsupervised. A panicked dog freaking out from a sudden noise, fireworks, thunderstorm, heat lightning, construction, etc. could send a trapped, scared Greyhound sailing over a balcony in an instant. Some groups don't allow adoptions to homes with open-backed stairs; however, same stairs at an apartment complex probably aren't nearly as unsafe because the hound would likely be walking slowly while leashed to a human (vs. racing freely up/down slippery open-backed stairs, which could result in serious injuries). A younger hound could learn to handle them more easily, but a senior with mobility problems could become particulary challenging. There are certainly many dogs living happily in high level apartments and condos with careful and responsible owners.

Loni's reaction may have stemmed from fear, expanded space guarding, jealousy of the Iggys, running prey instinct, or a combination. I strongly recommend not allowing Loni on any human furniture. (Luckily she's not very comfortable on the sofa yet, so it should be easy to stop that behavior now.) If she gets on the sofa, please do not attempt to grab her collar, instead happily call her off with treats, or go into another room and call her into that room for a high value treat. Please remember that trying to hook a leash on her collar if she's guarding space might force her into feeling threatened. Threatened dogs are more apt to bite. Good that you are keeping Loni's muzzle on now. Although muzzles are very helpful, she could still bite through a muzzle, and/or pounce on an Iggy so supervision is important. Try to place Lani's bed in a wide berth space, away from traffic paths of Iggys and/or people. Allow plenty of uninterrupted resting space. You are smart to ensure that your daughter doesn't bother or surprise Loni (or any dog) while resting. Please do not force cuddling with her. She's still showing signs of discomfort. Watch closely for subtle calming signals dogs often show when they first begin to feel discomfort (yawning, lip licking, eyes looking away, head looking away, etc.). A few guarding signals: hard stare, body stiffening, a freeze while staring at perceived threat, lip lift (not to be confused with a happy Greyhound smile). Good if you're able to separate Loni and Iggys by baby-gate, or secured ex-pen for a while, and definitely separate large dog from small dogs by a secure method whenever you leave the house. Good that you've been allowing Loni to growl as her communication. Sounds like the Iggys have been listening to her communication, and generally respecting her personal space. Dogs have the mind of a 2-3 year old and without seeing the circumstance with Penny, it's hard to say what Loni was thinking in that moment. Most importantly, I'd recommend contacting a certified animal behaviorist who practices positive methods only (not punishment based methods). (Please avoid Cesar Millan type trainers. Those methods are decades outdated and have been proven to intensify aggression.) I agree to contact your group in the morning. Healing thoughts for Penny. Calming Signals: http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1 Dr. Sophia Yin http://drsophiayin.com/resources/dog_behavior/

What a horrific nightmare!! I am so very sorry this happened to your poor, sweet Chevy. I can only imagine your terror during that multi-dog attack, and your heartbreaking pain and worry for your boy. (Your posts affected me to the core.) It's helpful to know that Chevy's vets + staff are doing everything possible to help your sweet boy and keep him comfortable. Our healing prayers are with your boy, and strength for your family.