3greytjoys

Welcome to GreyTalk! Congratulations on adopting your new Greyhound boy, Archer! Thank you for asking for help. It is fairly common for hounds in a new home to feel a bit of anxiety. It would be helpful to learn more about your mention of his possible turning points. I agree to begin baby steps with "alone training". (You can try doing a search on GreyTalk for more info. or a general Internet search "Greyhound alone training".) Things like desensitizing him to your keys by picking them up and putting them down many times per day when you aren't leaving, etc. Seems your boy is already accustomed to being invited to go with you most of the time, so he's not understanding why he's being left behind on rare occasions. (Thank you for not taking him in the car when it's hot. Greyhounds are extremely temperature sensitive, and too many dogs die in hot cars.) Your boy might not be fully eliminating before your departures. (Not sure if you're walking him or letting him out in a fenced yard to potty before you leave, but many dogs hold back a little reserve for outside marking purposes while on walks. After a neighborhood walk, you might see if he'll do a longer pee in his own yard.) A dog who feels anxious often needs to eliminate more. Since he's reacting to your departure triggers (keys, etc.) Try giving him more opportunities to potty in between what he may perceive as triggers: i.e., before you shower, and again immediately before you leave the house. Also, please understand when a dog is feeling anxious, the dog does not have his/her own normal, non-stressed physical ability to hold urine and bowel. **Please do not reprimand a dog for anything he does stemmed from FEAR.** (Anxiety is fear based.) The dog will not understand, and it will magnify problems. It will be extremely detrimental to your relationship. The dog will lose "trust" and will become a hundred times harder to regain that lost trust. Greyhounds are very sensitive dogs, and respond best to encouraging, positive training methods. Maybe another local GTer will respond to recommend a gentle "positive method" trainer in your area. If not, we will try to help from afar. I was concerned to read that your boy was running down the street away from you. Since I don't know how much you already know about Greys... Greyhounds are sighthounds, often with tunnel vision. They're bred to sight and race towards movement very far away. They should only be allowed outside in a fully fenced enclosure, or be leashed to their person. They don't have a homing instinct, or any experience living with a family, living around cars, neighbors' small pets, or responding to human obedience commands. If they get loose, they often keep running until they are completely lost, or killed by a car, etc. Glad you mentioned teaching recall. Teaching recall inside a home or fenced enclosure is very important as a safety precaution, but many Greyhounds will not respond in an open setting with distractions, even after being with their humans for years, so it's never a 100% guarantee. Again, still very important to teach "come". If you haven't read it yet, I'd recommend reading Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies, by Lee Livingood. It's an excellent, easy to read book (required reading by some Greyhound adoption groups). Many Greyhounds take a while to adjust to living away from a racing kennel environment. Please try to be patient with your new boy as he tries to learn about this brand new life in a family home. BTW, a baby-gate in the most lived-in room (maybe a family room and kitchen area) is a nice option to help limit Archer's space, and to use while you're doing alone training. (Good to not let him follow your every-single-move to the bathroom, closet, etc. This way he sees that you can leave the room without him, and you return a minute or so later.) I recommend installing the baby-gate about 5" above floor level so your cat can escape underneath, if needed. Glad your hound is getting along well with your cat, but I would be very cautious about leaving a cat alone with the hound yet. It's still very early in his retirement. Here is one (of many) sources: http://www.aspca.org...on-anxiety.aspx

Not sure of your dremel type, or how long it takes. If standard dremel, it's important not to dremel one nail any longer than 3 seconds. If longer than 3 seconds, the dremel heats up the nail too much becoming very painful to the sensitive quick. Better to stop at 3 seconds, move on to other nails (until the first nails cool), then go back to finish. Also, I think there is a pre-quick they feel before we would see any blood. Just a thought, that may be why your hound is now trying to communicate (painful) displeasure. Most of our hounds stand for nail dremeling (only one that doesn't now is our eldest senior). For our most nail sensitive hound, a second person holds his collar while keeping his attention by feeding non-stop yummy treats (reserved for nail time) through a muzzle. The other hounds get yummy treats intermittently through session and thereafter. I use a headlamp/flashlight to see the nails really well. We don't push limits with a cautious hound, it could magnify their displeasure further damaging future sessions. Better to do as others mentioned by limiting to one or two nails every couple of days. Good luck.

Great advice from everyone. In addition to quote above: When taking dog walks directly from your home, IF you have a choice to turn left or right, good to "start" walks on the more quiet / less busy road. Greyhounds are such creatures of habit; if your hound escapes, hopefully she will automatically run in the direction of her usual walks (away from traffic). Every second counts if a hound escapes. An ex-pen placed in a U-shape around an outside fence gate and/or house door leading to a non-fenced area is an excellent secondary safety/dog catch zone. Many hounds escape if wind pushes a gate open, or a person forgets to "lock" a gate (without a secondary visual reminder). When your girl arrives, immediately begin practicing calling her name to come to you: "(Katie) come," then reward her immediately with yummy treats and happy praise. Please try hard not to say "come" for anything that isn't wonderfully fun! The goal is for her to be excited to come towards you every time she is called. Even years later, no matter how well she responds to "come," please understand this is never a guarantee that she will come to you if she's outside, but it's the most important word she will learn. ("Wait" or "stay" is the second.) Everyone has their own ID collar preferences, but our favorite is a reflective collar with embroidered ID that can be seen from afar with car headlights (or a flashlight if searching for a loose dog at night). Here is an example (not a good photo) but black text against white reflective material is easiest to read phone # from afar. http://www.fancyk9s.com/collar/identification Above all enjoy your new girl! Greyhounds are the best ever!

I hijacked my own thread! My dad also made my cat a stable and wider flat wooden seat that could be placed on top of the regular seat. He didn't like it! I thought for sure it would've helped but I guess it threw things off too much for him. I always wondered what would happen when he became elderly and wouldn't be able to jump or balance as well, but I never had to find out in the end. His name was Turbo. A good name for a greyhound, haha. I think I saw someone with a Turbo on here. Anyway, just spent all afternoon in the yard, including trimming back the oleanders. They are so big. Gonna be tough to get out, but we'll do it. We have a ramp (and/or steps). Both worked well for the elderly, but all our teens were fully mobile until their last days. Good luck with the yard...

Along with many other good suggestions, I second NeylasMom re: Hill's A/D critical care canned food from a vet. Also, grinding her favorite Costco cookies into food; might help to leave some larger chunks to help entice her. Off the wall suggestions (as someone who lost a dog during an absence): Is there any chance someone can take her back to her own home to care for her until her parent/s return, or at least retrieve a worn clothing article or blanket with parent's strong scent. (The latter may help, even if she was originally left at your house with her own bedding.) Not sure if this would help, but maybe hearing her parent's voice on speaker phone verbally urging her to eat(?). I know you already bought meat baby food. Just a reminder for other readers to avoid baby food with any onion or garlic spices added. A safe "meat only" baby food for dogs and cats is Gerber, Stage 2 (blue label).

Off topic reply: Wow, 6 years old - that was a special cat! We replaced all our concaved plastic toilet seats with straight level wooden seats to make it easier for the cats. (They prefer the solid level seats.) Interestingly, the cats human daddy custom-made an extra widewooden toilet seat for the cats to use as they become elderly. (Beautiful master craftsman work!) Even the teenage cats still preferred their "standard" width (store bought) wooden seats! (Figures.) kronckew: Thank you for your service, and your valuable input re: oleander danger.

I'm very sorry that you lost your cat recently. I completely understand about toilet training kittens. I've toilet trained 9-10 kittens over the years, and it does make a big difference to begin when they are lighter weight, and younger. Our oldest kitty started training at about 7 months old, but a little older would have worked fine too (depending on the kitty's history, litter box vs. wild feral). BTW, Round Up is a strong chemical, toxic to dogs, so limited use is safer if a hound will be in the yard. Good luck with everything.

Greysmom's thorough list is excellent, including checking her teeth/gums. Just one idea to add: Hill's Prescription A/D (canned) is a high calorie "critical care" food, extremely tasty to mix a little with regular moistened high calorie kibble. (Our regular kibbles range 450-510 calories per cup.) One of our hounds is on a medication that can't be mixed with Pepcid, but if your hound isn't limited by other meds that's a good idea to try. Since you mentioned appetite stimulants, I assume she's not on another medication that could be reducing her appetite. I agree with Time4ANap about trying new foods/flavors frequently to entice her as much as possible.

I'd find another food.

Thanks for the photo. It's a bit difficult to see foxtail height from the photo. Originally, I assumed the foxtails were tall/overgrown (1ft.). Either way (short or tall), it's a balance to ensure the soil is very well saturated (3"- 4" deep), but the plant stems have had time enough time to dry before pulling. The soil might be very dry and thirsty now; beginning to water more a couple of days before pulling mimicks a rainy pattern to soften clay or other soil types. Re: the kitten, I agree with GeorgeofNE. I'll add that even for experienced Greyhound owners, it can be challenging to adopt a young, energetic kitten with a Greyhound. (I'm more thankful for every birthday for one of our cats - who just turned 3 YEARS old. He's just now beginning to calm down a little.) A kitten can be challenging for any dog breed, even more so with a newly retired Greyhound. Remember, Greyhounds are hunting sighthounds, trained to chase moving lures. Best scenario is an "inside only" cat. If a cat is allowed outside, it's often important (especially early on) to keep dog inside while cat is outside, and vice versa. A common saying re: Greyhounds is "outside = game on." Yes, there are many hounds that coexist / tolerate cats, but newly retired Greys have been used to living in racing kennel crates, they are not accustomed to being disturbed by being pounced on by a small, rambunctious, furry creature, or having potted plants, lamps, tables, home decor knocked over on them. Again, many people do adopt kittens with fine success, but I would never leave a kitten alone with a dog, and I wouldn't expect dog+cat = true love. Also, it would be very important for an adoption group to know that you would need a cat-friendly Greyhound (lower prey drive).

I know you wrote that it's too late to extract the foxtails. Just something to consider, sometimes it's not quite as bad when working from ground level vs. observing wide mature plants from overview. One thought: It's VERY easy to pull foxtails from moist ground. Water lawn a couple of days, and again an hour before pulling up foxtails by their roots. (Grab a cluster of stems at ground level to pull plants straight up by hand.) They're shallow rooted, entire plants can stay intact, toss in trash can/leaf bag. This clearing can go VERY fast when soil is moist. Single step solution. If you don't have time, you could ensure soil is watered, and consider hiring a gardener/conscientious teenager to remove foxtails by this root method. (If foxtails are already dry, wearing gloves/sleeves will help.)

Personally, currently having three Greyhound excessive bleeders (two very healthy, plus one with hemangiosarcoma), I'm not alarmed with a 2" x 3" bruise from a known blood draw. Many non-bleeder hounds bruise some after blood draws. The blood is normally reabsorbed into the body (eventually). I would become much more concerned if I saw a full limb (leg) loading up with blood, possibly expanding to abdomen/chest and/or other limbs. In case you didn't read a recent thread about a purple stomach, here's the link I posted for Ohio State University's Greyhound Heath and Wellness site. There are articles about excessive bleeders in the following "Articles" section. (Blood tests often result in normal ranges.) https://greyhound.os...urces/index.cfm Please share these OSU articles with your vet. If your hound, or another of your vet's Greyhound patients happen to be excessive bleeders, it is important for your vet to know, particularly if a hound is going in for surgery, including a dental with expected extractions. Our vet orders Amicar (trade name for Aminocaproic Acid) before surgeries for our hounds. It's typically administed orally at home for about 5 days beginning day of (sometimes day before) surgery. Our hounds love the compounded, beef flavored, liquid form. They consider it a yummy treat. (Amicar dosage is discussed in "Bone Cancer" article under "Treatment and Prognosis" section.)

We order Aminocaproic Acid a few days before each surgery too. It's usually given on surgery day + 4 days after surgery. Ohio State University's Greyhound Heath and Wellness site discusses excessive bleeding in the following "Articles" section. (Blood tests often result in normal ranges.) https://greyhound.osu.edu/resources/freeresources/index.cfm (Amicar/Aminocaproic Acid dosage is discussed in "Bone Cancer" article under "Treatment and Prognosis" section.)

Yes, I do believe Greyhounds are easily bruised. Also, several of our Greyhounds are excessive bleeders. It often happens during and/or after surgery. A few weeks ago one hound started subcutaneous bleeding (under skin) at home (no surgery within months). We think it was caused by her medication, Rimadyl (known to cause bleeding in some dogs). We stopped Rimadyl immediately, and vet called in a prescription to our compounding pharmacy for Amicar (trade name for Aminocaproic Acid). (Compounded liquid form is cheapest and works quickly, approx. $32. for 5-day supply). Bleeding stopped and she was 100% back to normal within a few days.

Welcome to Greytalk, and congratulations on your new home! Not seeing the property it's hard to say. My guess: A fence within a fence to keep a dog far away from Oleanders (+dropped flowers) might work. Dogs do not know what is poisonous. It's up to humans to keep them safely away from toxins. Unfortunately, checking a dog for foxtails after work every day will not help enough. Foxtails can burrow deeply into a nasal passage, ear, mouth, paw pad, etc. very quickly. Foxtails are horrible! They are carried by the wind so a fence within a fence (particularly an open wire fence) would not help. Personally, I would not risk a dog repeatedly going into a yard with many foxtails. I'd find a way to prioritize making the yard safe before making a commitment to any dog. Although not every foxtail surgery is this expensive, a very difficult foxtail surgery can cost thousands, if the surgeon can find the foxtail to remove it before it penetrates an organ, possibly killing the dog. Might be possible to use a bagged mower to suck up plant material as it's cut down, or use a leaf/debris vacuum to suck up debris, then remove from property for disposal. Once foxtails are removed, might help to cover roots with solid plastic material to kill them off. Later when finances allow, if you want a lawn, start over with fresh top soil/seed, or roll sod, or install a realistic artificial turf (if you'd like to avoid on-going expense and time of mowing, watering, weeding etc.). A free call to a professional landscape company (and maybe a veterinarian) to discuss NON-toxic options to kill roots of foxtails/weeds could be most helpful in this planning stage. Good luck with everything!

Thanks so much for your replies. Approximately two weeks of recovery is great news, and faster than expected. Hopefully, a successful amputation will eliminate a painful limp from a fracture/tumor.

One of our Greyhounds is an excessive bleeder. It often happens after surgery; however, a few weeks ago, it happened subcutaneously (under skin) at home (no surgery within months). We think it was caused by her medication, Rimadyl (known to cause bleeding in some dogs). We stopped Rimadyl immediately, and vet called in prescription to our compounding pharmacy for Amicar, trade name for Aminocaproic Acid (liquid form is cheapest, approx. $32. for 5-day supply). Bleeding stopped and she was 100% back to normal within a few days.

Considering the blood amount, hopefully no tumor. I didn't see any mention of reduced appetite from possible loss of scenting ability, but regardless, if it happens to be a severe case of nasal mites, I'd be very surprised if Interceptor is strong enough to eliminate the problem. One of our hounds required a month of repeated, direct intra-nasal treatments of LIQUID Ivermectin to completely rid her severe case of nasal mites. Easy treatment that worked WONDERS! She was treated almost five years ago. No recurrences, and thankfully we treated her before nasal mites spread to our other hounds. Her most severe symptoms (that I recall): Sneezing and reverse sneezing Drippy nose Lack of appetite (from not being able to smell food well). Lack of normal scenting ability Some specks of blood (but not with every sneeze) This was my resource for diagnosing and learning treatment for her: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/121603.htm&word=nasal%2cmites

Above are great tips. Here is the second part of that original thread noted above (with different responses). http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/286496-need-advice-on-potty-training/

We also have a Greyhound with hemangiosarcoma. (As mentioned, aggressive blood cancer caused by direct sun.) Surgeon couldn't get clear margins around subcutaneous mass, so this cancer continues to travel through blood vessels damaging the body. Light colored dogs are considered at greatest risk, but so many Greys have thin fur, bare thighs, or bare abdomen that sunscreen could help those hounds too. I believe every year that Greyhounds are protected from direct sun improve their chances of avoiding sun related cancers. Since greyhounds are temperature sensitive anyway, it often works well to let them have outside time in early morning or later evening anyway. (Sun exposure from about 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM is most damaging.) "Epi-Pet Sunscreen" is the only "FDA approved" sunscreen for dogs. 30+ SPF, includes coat conditioner. Dries quickly (not greasy). Dispenser distributes from all angles (including upside down for belly/groin). Water resistant. (Tested effective for 80 minutes in water.) Reapply every 2 (to 4?) hours. Per manufacturer: Spray sunscreen directly on dog including belly/groin. Do not spray face directly. To treat face/muzzle, spray into human's hand first, then rub sunscreen on muzzle, nose, and ears. Non-toxic to dog if dog licks product. http://www.epi-pet.com/sunscreen.aspx Also sold at Amazon, etc. (Not for use on cats.)

Does anyone know the average time for full recovery from a toe amputation (front outside digit)?

This link may help re: SLO (includes photos): http://www.grassmere-animal-hospital.com/SLO.htm Hopefully, others with personal SLO experience will chime in too. One of our hounds yanked off most of his dew claw during a play outing (not SLO). Very painful with profuse bleeding. E-vet finished cutting it off deeply into the quick next to leg. Sent us home with antibiotics. It healed well and dew claw grew back fine, after many months. (Great lesson to ensure our cars are equipped with a pet first aid kit.) He has lost toenails here and there but nothing too serious. I keep "Clotisol" (veterinary blood suspension agent) for these minor bleeding wounds. Available at www.entirelypets.com

I'm sorry this happened... Others are giving excellent advice about leaving dogs alone when on their bed, etc. Tails are a private part on dogs. That body part is not normally touched/pet/handled by a human. If handled, it's often for an unpleasant rectal thermometer, anal gland expression, rectal exam etc... Not fun. Agree: "Your dog has only been with you for 9 months so while she is not "new", it still may not be enough time to build up the trust..." My beloved "heart boy" is touch sensitive. I allowed a couple of years to slowly build our trusted relationship. We have a wonderful deep trust now. I've always been very respectful of him on his dog bed (his personal "safe zone"). He stands for injury inspections, and we muzzle him before doing nail clipping, or nursing an injury (same with all our hounds). (If nail clipping, he's standing and gets treats through his muzzle as distraction.) He gets muzzled during veterinary exams, for shots, etc. If we need to thoroughly examine a cut/wound injury, I take photos to "zoom in" on a computer screen, taking more time to inspect. (Future tip: Paw pads often show up well when wet.) Good luck with your decision.

We're not located in your region; however, the following LP group is for owners of dogs (all breeds) with Laryngeal Paralysis, including other Greyhound owners: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/LP/ This LP group may be another source to ask for a surgeon referral in your area. Sounds like you are aware that a specially trained Board certified surgeon is desirable. For you or other readers, I'm sure you're aware of OSU's recommendation of Aminocaproic Acid (trade name: Amicar) to help prevent excessive bleeding in Greyhounds (typically, day of and post surgery). Good to ask for a prescription called to pharmacy about one week prior to surgery. (Pharmacy might not have drug in stock, thus, allows time to receive/compound order.) Compounded liquid form (from compounding pharmacy) is usually a fraction of dry tablet cost (in U.S.). Shelf life after being compounded into liquid is typically one month. Beef flavor tastes like yummy treat to hounds. Amicar dosage example is listed on OSU's Greyhound Health and Wellness site. See Treatment and Prognosis section in this article: https://greyhound.osu.edu/resources/freeresources/bonecancer/index.cfm Good luck with Andy. One of our girls was diagnosed with fairly advanced LP almost 2 years ago. She is doing quite well with care to keep her cool, and relaxed.