Time4ANap

I'm so sorry for your loss, Irene. Please send our condolences to your granddaughter. Run free, Nita.

A worm test simply means that there were no worms in that particular sample. Doesn't mean there aren't worms. It is more common to get a negative test than a positive one, but getting a positive result just means the timing of the test was perfectly in line with the cycle of the worms. At this point, if his stool hasn't gotten better, this probably isn't the right food for him. Often the "better" or "richer" foods don't always agree with many hounds. I would try the IAMS green bag and see if he firms up. Many people here use it to combat loose stools. The best food for your hound is the one that works for them - not what a marketer or some dog food website says. We have all been there, trying to give our hounds the "best" food, so don't get too caught up in the hype. It really is trial and error for a bit until you find that food that works best. "Typical" poops of 3-5 times - again, depending on what he's eaten, snacks given, and how often he goes out. Stools will normally get a little looser as the day goes on - that's normal. Also - don't use a bunch of add-ins like yogurt or pumpkin with the food until after you know the food is agreeing with your hound. Otherwise you have no idea which item is responsible when there's an issue.

She batted those eyes at him, didn't she?

I've posted this before, but I can't say enough about our use of Evanger's Organic Cooked Chicken canned food. It's my "go to" when Rocket is sick or has a grumbly tummy, or turns his nose up at food. Like your boy, Rocket is a chow hound. If he turns down food, I go straight to the canned Evanger's chicken to jump start his eating. Sometimes he just doesn't want his kibble (mostly in the morning BTW) and I will give him half a can of the chicken. A few hours later he will chow down on his kibble and anything else we put in the bowl. The food is only cooked chicken and nothing else, so it's not intended for a full feeding. It seems to have an irresistible flavor to Rocket and he will eat anything I mix with it. I also use it as a substitute for home cooked chicken when feeding a bland diet. If there is some other canned food your hound is crazy over, I would try mixing in a few spoons of it, or like I do above, give him that first to get something in his tummy and see if he will eat his regualar meal a little later.

Run pain-free, Toby.

Definitely the harness noted above and some training is in order to get him to understand "leave it" or some other command (trainers please chime-in). You should also start some recall training or try a squawker to see if he responds to it. Grip of death on the leash - wrapped around your hand multiple times. If he can get away from you to chase a groundhog, he can do the same thing and run in front of a car. Not sure where you are located, and we know that having greyhounds off leash is more common outside of the US, but with his prey drive, off leash is a really bad idea. He is not under your control if he goes after the prey and doesn't recall when you tell him to. Also - groundhogs can be loaded with parasites such as roundworm. Even on monthly heartworm / parasite protection, he would have a pretty good chance of catching them if he bites into groundhog on a regular basis. You need to keep a sharp eye on his stools and have stool samples checked if he gets diarrhea or bloody / gelatinous stools. He is gorgeous and has that same look on his face as the famous Brees who never met a cat she didn't like eat.

We originally trained Rocket to go out immediately after he eats. Without fail, we always go to the door when he is done eating. Once he was in that habit, we found it was easiest to give him a final snack to do the last turnout. He gets a couple tablespoons of non fat vanilla ice cream each night, and then goes right outside for turnout. Ice cream is his high value treat, and is also the test that I use when I think he isn't feeling well. If he ever turns down ice cream, it is an automatic trip to the vet because something is wrong. I also found that he will come back to the door after he pees as if he is done. Based on what I know to be his routine, he doesn't get back in until he has pooped twice on the last turnout. He will come back to the door each time, but if it doesn't open, he goes back out in the yard and takes care of business. Once you find the treat works for him to get him outside, make sure he doesn't get it until he is out the door so he knows that he has to go out to get it. If he gets it first, he will run and lay down again. The hounds know all of the tricks.

Could it be an allergen that she is picking up outside? When I walk Rocket, I use baby wipes to clean his paws when we return. Everything here in the desert seems to be covered in a fine dust unless it rains. The baby wipe often has dark brown or black residue from the dust when I clean his paws. (Our walks are on sidewalks and some grass / tree areas - but the paws are definitely covered in this dust when we get back - you just can't see it until you wipe them.) While not having any issue like yours, Rocket's allergies have been flaring and he was constantly rubbing his eyes and nose until I started his allergy meds again this week.

He's warning you that he's not comfortable with your actions. He may have space issues which is not uncommon if you intrude on a hound's bed or what he considers to be his "safe zone." The next step is a bite, so you need to stop trying to pick him up and move him. I have a dog who has space issues and will bite - I'm very serious that you need to stop before someone gets hurt and there is a bigger issue or your dog ends up being labeled as vicious for something that may just be him being a dog and trying to tell you that he doesn't like what you are doing to him.. The snap may be his warning, because if he wanted to bite, he most likely would. Training is definitely needed to get him to do the turnout and follow commands, but I am going to let those who have a better handle on training provide that input so that hopefully you can get him into a turnout routine much more easily. I hope you can get something resolved, but at this point I would also consult your adoption group and let them know about the issue to see if they can provide some assistance with training or have an adopter who has had similar experiences with a dog help you out.

Get a baby / dog gate for the bedroom if you are going to make that her space. Being in a room with a closed door will be the same to her (or worse) as being in a crate. There are many people here who have had to buy a new mattress for that reason. She most likely can jump the gate, but with some training you can make her understand what the gate means. I missed the fact that you have a cat, so am glad the others knew that. I am the poster-boy for over-thinking things - so could really read that in your post. it sounded like something I would have posted when we first got Rocket. We are all here to share experience, and it often seems that answers conflict. You sometimes have to take the best part of each response and run with it until you find what works for you and your hound.

Based on all of the various symptoms you are reporting, it's time for a wellness check at the vet instead of trying to self-diagnose. Make a list of all of the stuff you reporting here, and take a stool sample with you. The vet will want a urine sample but they will probably have a container on a stick to make it easier to get.

I'm so sorry. Run free, gorgeous Sammi.

You're probably over-thinking it. That's really easy to do, because so much has been drummed into us about these dogs needing all kinds of special attention and handling. At the end of the day, she's still a dog. Dogs have been fine in homes for hundreds of years. It's easy to get caught up in the "you must do this thing that way" type of thinking. It still happens to us sometimes, 6 years after Rocket arrived. As long as she can't escape while you are gone, and there's nothing she could get into that might harm her like medicines, inhalers, household chemicals, big quantities of chocolate, a bowl of grapes, raisins, etc.., there's a 99.9% chance she will be fine. Destroying stuff in the crate is done out of frustration and boredom. Also, make sure that she has a collar and tags on and is NOT WEARING A MARTINGALE COLLAR. Be sure that your cell phone number is on the collar or on a tag. There have been cases where a hound got out because a door blew open, or a house was broken into etc. It's a very slim possibility, but on the off-chance of an escape, you want someone who finds her to be able to reach you. Leave a radio or TV on for ambient noise and to mask other startling noises from outside. Do a couple of trial runs for shorter periods. Have you been crating her when you run errands or only on the work days? If she's been crated every time, then start with a couple of 5-10 minute trial runs and then increase the time as long as everything goes okay. I think you will find your answer pretty quickly, especially since it sounds like she is settling in so well. As long as she is good about her boundaries and where she's allowed in the house, she is going to be fine. As a former Paramedic and FF, which I'm assuming you are based on the user name, I understand the line of thinking where you say, "But what-if...??? The what-if's will drive you nuts. Cover all the basics, work with her on training where needed when an issue occurs, and it will be fine. Good luck, and let us know how things progress.

I can't get the quote function to work correctly for this post. To answer your questions about Rocket, he was never destructive in or out of the crate. He is a very gentle guy, even though he has some space issues and has bitten when startled. We know how to work with that and all is good. He has never picked up anything that wasn't his except for a stuffed bear that was in the guest room. It looked like one of his toys. We told him "NO" and he never touched that bear again. We really did hit the lottery of hounds, as he has never counter-surfed, never stolen food or gotten into the trash, and his only vices are re-arranging and moving dog beds when we are gone, or coming home to find that all of the dog toys had a wild party. He has never given us any reason to crate him when gone. We moved to AZ last year, but prior to that we left the crate setup for him for almost 6 years so he had a spot of his own. He only typically got in it for an hour or two in the morning while the sun was hitting that window and would roach in the sunbeams. Our only other use for the crate was to have him go in when we had a plumber or other service person going in and out of the house and possibly leaving a door open. Since moving to AZ, the crate has been stored in the garage. He has full run of the house, and is pretty much perfect. If we have a service person working in the house, I just leash him and keep him with me. It's not worth setting up the crate for the few times we would use it since this house is smaller than the other one.

Once settled in, they seem to hate the crate. If she doesn't spend any other time in there, or she's not crated when you go to run errands etc, there is probably no reason to crate her as long as she isn't destructive. Rocket was always very cooperative about going into his crate, and still is if we need to use it for some reason, but after the first month or so we would hear him howling in the crate when we left and when we came home. You may want to test this by leaving her out for progressively longer periods when you go out, but leave her crate door open so she can come and go in there if she wants. If there is a loud noise, storm, etc, the crate can still be her safe place if she needs one.

Was thinking about this again this morning. I was wondering if a benadryl would chill him out enough to sleep through it. I know it's not the intended use, but when I've given it to Rocket for itching, he sleeps for a few hours.

It appears so. http://www.vetinfo.com/side-effects-of-xanax-for-dogs.html It looks like withdrawal may be the primary issue with continued use. I don't know if the storm that we just had made it down to you on the way through, but the whole house was shaking here. Give him some ear rubs from me.

Thanks!

Wondering if anyone has used the ImmuneIQ Home Allergy Test Kit for their hounds and what the experience with it was? Basically, you take a hair and saliva sample and mail it in for analysis. Rocket has allergies flaring up again and i'm considering trying it since it;s a fairly good deal through Groupon. https://www.groupon.com/deals/immuneiq-3?utm_source=fac&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US_DT_SOM_FAC_TIM_TTT_NF_CBP_CH1_NBR_x%2Afb6026622748495

Run free, Nico.

Glad you caught it in time. It seems more products have this ingredient added, so it's becoming a much bigger hazard for pets.

Run free, Star.

We hold out a small portion (1/2 cup or so) of the breakfast kibble and use it for treats after potty breaks. We also use it in the treat dispensing toy at around lunch time when someone starts looking for a handout. This way, he's getting the food he is supposed to have without a bunch of extra treats.

I just do a mix of whatever I'm feeding as the bland diet, and start out small - like 1 cup to start. If he eats it and it stays down, in a couple hours, give another meal the same size. I then feed a small amount every few hours, with the last meal being at bedtime. Your hound may wake you up in the middle of the night looking for more food. It's not unusual, and a small meal is fine in the middle of the night. You can ramp up the amounts on the second day if he's doing okay and the diarrhea is starting to firm up. You can increase it as needed. but remember that the bland diet isn't really providing much in the way of calories. Your hound will be hungry if he's other wise feeling okay, and he will drop some weight while on it. I usually wait until I;m seeing small firm poops and no mucous or blood before going back to kibble., then introduce the kibble slowly back into the bland diet. As far as the Panacur, I would do that without the the Tylan. I don't like to mix too many things at once because you won't know what actually works and what doesn't. Also be sure to do the follow up dose in 2 or 3 weeks as directed by the vet. During one of Rocket's times with massive stomach issues, the Panacur acted like a miracle drug. I don't know if we were dealing with worms or not, but I wouldn't have known that it worked if I was also giving him Tylan for the first time. Our vet really considered Tylan to be a "last resort" after many months (2 or more years) of issues. As long as your vet has okayed it, then I would try it. It is very bitter and needs to be made into capsules by hand. We use number 0 gelatin capsules or vegan capsules, and fill the big end. That's approximately 1/8 tsp which was the dose that was prescribed by the vet for Rocket. Also - just a caution that although Tylan doesn't need a prescription, you should have your vet calculate the correct dosage for your hound. Be sure you buy the Tylan for pets, and not the one for Livestock as it is 100 times stronger and will overdose your hound. I buy this one: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00061MQIC/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1435387169&sr=1&keywords=tylan I have never had worms show up in a fecal when I suspected them. The timing has to be perfect for them to show up, and the lack of a positive fecal doesn't really mean too much because of the way the eggs cycle through, they could still be there and not be detected. Hope your boy is feeling better soon.