Time4ANap

AnnIE....

What Rachel said above. You'll see in our signatures that most of us have had multiple, multiple greyhounds. No matter how well-behaved they may be, I've always kept a death grip on the leash of every one when out and about. We typically don't do off leash parks or dog parks, but relied on a few friends with large fenced yards for play time. You'll find that the dogs will often follow your lead and sit on a blanket when you do. The issue is that there are lots of triggers in parks like kids, other dogs, wildlife(LOOK - SQUIRREL!!!!), and you don't wantto be chasing a dog that runs 45 mph. We always carry a squawker or rabbit call when out walking. Dogs who raced are used to coming back to their trainer when the squawker is sounded. Our first dog got out of a secure fenced yard one day when he found a very tricky escape route. I used the squawker and he came right back through that escape route and sat at my side. Don't let all of the "rules" deter you. Dealing with a greyhound becomes second nature quickly. Good luck!

After reading this I guess there is a reason we take the seniors in.

Happy Gotcha Day, Face!

She is gorgeous. If we get to Denver Poppy is going to have a visitor.

Still waiting on snow here.....

I hope you are in good with the plow guy! There's something about black dogs and the sun. All of ours have waited until the hotest part of the day to go out and sunbathe.

Those ears are for ear rubs!

I thought for sure the last line was going to be to throw away the peep or feed it to the dog.

Good to hear that all went well at the vet. Those seizures are scary when they happen. We had what I will call "episodes" which could have been seizures or could have been other things with several of the seniors that have come through here. It's always scary. Getting it on video was the right move. I hope that was a one-time thing for Miss AnnIE. Ear rubs to both of those girls!

My back hurts just looking at that shovel picture.

I have the phone next to my bed overnight, and the tone for the lightning alerts is a fairly gentle chime that's just attention getting enough that I will hear it when asleep. It won't jolt you out of bed if you get a middle of the night storm. Hope it helps.

Not a med, but an app that may be helpful for storms.Petunia and Kate were both petrified of storms. I have a feeling they went through a tornado together on the farm at some point. I bought an app for the IPhone called My Lightning Tracker. I think it was about 2 dollars when I bought it. The app allows you to draw a radius around your location and receive an alert if lightning strikes within the radius. I was able to get notification of lightning strikes which allowed me to check the radar and see where the storm was and the direction it was heading. It gave me enough time to medicate Petunia and Kate well before the storm reached us if it was headed our direction and gave the meds time to kick in before they were needed. After seeing Gracie have no stress at the vet this week, I'm thinking that a dose of 2 100 mg Gabapentin may be better than anything like Xanax. Gracie normally is stressed at the vet. This time we gave her 2 Gabapentin at the Vet's direction a couple hours before the appointment. She wagged her tail, got pets and was a normal dog during the visit instead of being stressed to the point of being sick, like her previous visit. Not something I would probably use all the time, but in a pinch it may well help.

You feeling groovy too, Ducky? I've never been a fan of Gabapentin based on my own experience using it as well as some of the dogs using it. I had major side effects from it, and I never saw a whole lot of improvement in the dogs that used it. There was probably more of an effect than we could see, but I was just skeptical that it was doing much. Our current vet has been in practice for 27 years and swears by Gabapentin for things like this. Seeing Gracie act normal at the vet instead of being a drippy-nose-stressed-out-mess convinced me that this was a good move for her. She will get a dose before vet visits and nail trims from now on.

I'm with you on that one. I had horrible side effects from it. Didn't stay on it long.

Back from the vet. The vet had us give her a couple of Gabapentin 2 hours before the appointment to mellow her out about having her feet touched. The vet did an exam and basically the nail surrounding the quick is missing, but there is no damage to the paw or anything that would lead to infection. Gracie is getting around normally, not limping or having any trouble with that paw. She is going to get some metacam for any pain she might be having from it, but it needs no treatment at this point. If it becomes apparent that it is causing an issue, we will take her back in to have the quick trimmed and cauterized, but for now it doesn't appear that we need to put her through that process. The nail should grow back normally, and there is no sign of SLO. Her other nails all look healthy. Gracie said her day was "groovy" thanks to the gabapentin.

THUD! You win!

We've found that using a product called My Pet Peed also removes blood stains in the carpet. The blood literally turns clear when you spray it, then just blot up the liquid. The stuff is amazing. I think her nails are weak and break easily after the pool incident. I think she either snagged a nail on the carpet, or did it outside in the yard earlier in the evening. For a hound that never raced, she runs like a race doggy in the back yard every chance she gets. Bleeding is still stopped, but it's a typical Monday at the vet which means we aren't getting in today unless it's a true emergency. We have an appt for tomorrow morning. Gracie is doing fine and walking on it without issue. The vet is more of a precaution at this point than anyhting.

Last night I went to bed early and was in dreamland when Chris came into the bedroom and said that she needed help. Apparently I have sleep startle. There were bloody paw prints all over the living room and trailing outside. Gracie apparently ripped a nail at some point, and after going out for the last turnout of the night, Chris came back inside and found the bloody trail. We still haven't found the nail. I ended up having to muzzle her and rinsed the wound with warm water from a spray bottle, and eventually had to use some styptic powder to stop the bleeding. It was not going to stop bleeding and Gracie was not going to let me put pressure on it or bandage it. Gracie doesn't like to have her feet touched. Prior to coming to live with us, she fell into the pool at her previous owner's house and ripped out a lot of her nails while clawing at the sides of the pool until she was found and rescued. As a result, she does not like to have her feet messed with. The little girl who lays her head on my chest was growling at me like Cujo last night. We are waiting for the vet to call and see when they can get her in. I'm hoping they can numb the area and do a good cleaning on the wound. She is KNOT going to let us do it. The quick is exposed and she keeps trying to lick the area. It's always something.....

To Paddy!

I love her! Just broodie games!

Mark goes out between 2 and 3AM to make sure the sky is still up there. At least I guess that's what he's looking at. But you didn't call DIBS!

But I called DIBS! Lock the thread....

Dibs!