cleptogrey

keeping the pad soft and applying antibiotic cream will retard the healing and development of a good thick pad. the epsom's salts or gray sea salt will clean it out and help dry up the cut. eventually the pad heals from the inside out and joins back together and fills out. when i soak a pup's paw i usually soak it 3xs a day. it keeps it clean and really speeds up the healing process.

we do tons of street, sidewalk walking and the only cut pads i have dealt w/ are caused by glass or running over a rock and catching it- we have a small stone step that stop pads get scraped on. i was the cut well w/ saline solution(organic french gray sea salt is fantastic) and then apply gauze and bandage, that's it. it take around 2 weeks to fully heal, the same amount of time as stitches, so why bother.i must be the only person out there who does not like emt gel. emily had tender pads when she first came off the track. we could make it down the block and she started to limp. it took almost 2 months to tuffen up her pads. check the medical section of greyhound-data.org and see what info you might be able to gather, it's a good cross refference. oh, in my travels, when i was dealing w/ sand burns on the pads of my younger grey(a result of running at the beaches on block island) an english greyhound who i met, owner suggested water and white vinegar- a soak, to help heal and get those pads tough. i never did it, go know......

whose bed is it? sounds like boundries have been crossed. maybe a spare bedroom w/ crates and dogs beds might be a good idea and your room off limits for the time being. what set it off???? testing, dogs test us as much as kids do, some more than others. thank d-g you are not dealing w/ a terrier, they never stop testing and they need to be reminded of boundries forever...that's owning a terrier, i know i had terriers for 18 years.

my saluki, azim, was lucky and survived parvo in the 1970's, prior to the parvo vaccine. it is not a pleasant disease to deal with. for some strange reason i just knew that the diahireah (sp?) he had was not normal and my vet was still the office, these were the days before there were e-vets.he was dehydrated in less than an hour. intense antibiotics, sub-q hydration(i went to the vet every other day for hydration at 7 am ), limited rice intake and strict monotoring of carbs/water intake( tablespoons full of each) and other meds pulled this guy thru. but it was a touch and go situation. his intenstines were damaged by parvo and somehow survived and lived to 12. i stick w/ the advise of my vet, innoculate and count myself very lucky that azim pulled thru. it was an experince that i never want to repeat. btw, he was 5 years old when he picked it up,

sounds like a good idea, especially when i do it inside. outside i don't think it really matters, the dust just dissapates. good question.

try the ny metro area....especially an e vet, your hair will turn gray or fall out! the only reason i can afford to keep a dog is my old time vet who i have used for the past 30+ years is very reasonable also very low tech. between both health care industries- human and canine and having out of pocket expenses we all can either go broke or die from lack of funding. it stinks...i am personally waiting for my subsidized cobra to end then i will go to my vet for my care!

my vet likes thin dogs and so do i. i would reduce her food a tad, watch those treats and give it a whirl. my dogs seem to gain a bit during the winter months, but it comes off as soon as the good weather arrives.

2 years old is still a baby, so run that dog!!! teach him how to play soccer, go after tennis balls and catch frisbees. they love it and it tuckers them out for a while. obedience training really mentally exhausts them as well and focusing on well behaved walking helps a tad. but when i return from a 4 mile walk w/ felix he is always ready for a game of soccer. at age 2 we ran him, walked him, played ball and then had a good tired hound hanging out. watch out for flying bones, i have almost had a window broken by one!!! so, start collecting balls and get that dog running and do enjoy every second of it. they are only young once! he loves diging in the snow looking for their lost tennis balls

we have sleep agression w/ felix who has been with us since he was 7 weeks old. it seems as if it is just in some dogs. the food/treat wake-up w/ a loud clap of your hands and say their name in a positive=happy way helps. at night felix can not sleep next to another dog, even crated. he growls like a mad-dog and doesn't even wake up. 2 nights ago our foster was quiet, sleeping in her crate, felix on his bed and we heard utter chaos in the wee hours of the morning. dh went out and dragged felix's bed, with felix sleeping on it, to the other side of the room. he growled but never woke up. w/ our dog sleep agression seems to vary according to how exhausted your pup may be.

as kennel mom said," Limps don't need to be seen by the e-vet anymore than a minor limp on a human needs to go to the ER. Now, non-stop screaming in pain, dangling limbs that are obviously mis-aligned...now you're talking e-vet time. If the torn pad has stopped bleeding, leave it be and let the dogs body take care of healing it. If it's a pad that they put pressure on when the walk (not sure if you meant they cut their stopper pad or the big pad on the bottom of the foot), then I would leash walk for a couple days. If it's just the stopper pad, you may need to loosely wrap a little vet wrap around it to keep it from getting snagged on things like blankets." excellent advise for EVERYONE! pads take 2 weeks to heal if they are stitched or left alone, so just keep it clean and covered. i irrigate the cut w/ saline solution daily, it promotes healing and is CHEAP....salt & water boiled then cooled. btw those stop pads seem to grow back and fill out, my pup has ripped his sooooo many times i can't begin to count and it looks pretty normal now.

the more you do it, the more accoustomed they will be to the shadows and nite life. some dogs take everything in stride, my late gal emily was always ready to get it, but was cool, calm and collected. my pup was the exact opposite. i worked on getting him to ignore things around him and focus on me and where i was going. during the summer, when it's too hot to walk during the day i am out w/ the critters at night. yes, one has to be alert....those skunks are out! but i conditioned him to focus on me and his walkies not his prey drive.it a matter of conditioning and consistancy getting them to look for you for leads rather than their instinct.

brown rice is not digested by dogs, so stick w/ white rice. do contact your vet about his status since you are aggressively worming him. is he on interceptor for heart worm? that also helps to keep them worm free as well. but call your vet, you do not need to spend the extra $$$ for a visit.

felix was never at the track so i basically did all the muzzle conditioning myself. the first time i used it we were in a car w/ another male grey. i just popped it on and that was it. after that i always shoved a piece of dehydrated liver in to reward him when he wore it. on and off at the vet's office- he went thru a stage of not liking my vet, on and off when we do his nails, on when we have other dogs here for a run. i do get goosed by the muzzle, but they get used to everything if YOU give it a chance.

i have had dogs who loved to fence fight. it's sometimes in them and that's it. my neighbor's dog used to come over and yodel and whine until willie would start running back and forth and doing the fence fight...really wierd dynamics. the neighbor was freaked out so he insisited that i put up stockade fencing. since willie was small(a welsh terrier w/ a mouth and then some) and the other dog looked for him i busted my neighbor's chops-a real jerk. i bought stockade fencing, cut it in 1/2 height wise and installed it behind the bushes so i would not have to see it. it worked, stopped the fun and games....my neighbor was pissed and bought his own 6ft stockade fencing and had a handyman install it. basically if they can't see it they won't go after it.

my pup loves catching a frisbee. i just threw it and he chased it...that was it. it took a while for him to figure out how to catch it but that was it. my older gal never looked at it, she was 4.5 when she came off the track. it's a matter of personality. but have fun and remember to get really excited and praise your pup for having a tad of interest. try having a couple of frisbees going at the same time to get him really stimulated.

yes,by all means. whose house it it anyway? i have changed sleeping areas often. my dogs just look forward to their cookie before bed and it doesn't matter where it is, as long as they get it. at one point i had them sleeping in my spare room and then changed it back to the area adjacent to the dining room table. it was too cold in the spare room(50-55 degrees at night). they were hysterical when i got the cookie out of the cookie jar and ran to the wrong place even though their beds and crates were infront of their nose. dogs adjust really well. keep them on their toes and don't transfer you anxiety.

we lost emily on jan 2nd, our other grey, felix was with her since he was 7 weeks old(he is now 3). so, i know what you and your pup are going thru. i am not quite ready to get another dog so we have been fostering. felix doesn't seem to mind the coming and going of dogs so far. he has not bonded with either foster dogs and neither have we. we did enroll felix in more obedience classes. he was engaged in agility last year and just couldn't get into doing the tunnel. wow, what a difference a year has made and he is just delighted doing his special stuff. emily was really out of it her last 2-3 weeks on pain meds, so i think they had a gradual seperation. she also stopped walking w/ us 6 weeks prior to her death, that makes a difference as well.when our foster girl leaves we will again access his need for a companion. but every dog is different, our welsh terrier- willie wonka- was totally lost when his companion died. it took us 9 months to get our greyhound, emily. willie came back to life, at age 11, the spring in his step returned, the bark was back in tune and he was so happy to get shoved around the back seat of our honda civic. every dog is different and every person has their mouring time as well. i don't know if i can have more than just foster greyhounds in my house at this time. but there are plenty of greys that need a good first experince when they leave the track. that i know i can give them and then some.

we all know that you will keep him as pain free as possible and cherish these last days, but remember you need to be kept pain free as well, emontional pain hurts as much and then some. i know, we lost emily in less than a month from her diagnosis of osteo. many greyhounds will continue to eat to the very end, it's that hunger and drive to eat from being kenneled. so look into his eyes and he will tell you when only that conditioned eating response is left and be strong. it's difficult, but they deserve your strength and guidance. i am so sorry another person and greyhound has to go thru the misery of cancer.

the only difference between the greys and other breeds that i know and have had are there style of sleeping on dog beds.... HALF OFF! and those necks and heads must be on the cold floor. any other sensible dog curls up and stays on the bed.

yes, he might be getting cold- does he sleep in your bedroom? the reason i ask is: if he sleeps in there then you can either shuuush him or give him a squirt w/ a water bottle when he wakes up and then get him to go back to sleep. once he stops getting up in the middle of the night you can then move him back to his usual spot. i found detering the activity before he really wakes up and starts moving around is helpful in reconditioning. unless there is a uti or stomach upset i teach my dogs to sleep to at least 7am if not later. then they learn to go out, potty and go back to sleep until i am ready to interact w/ them. also, at night is he just being turned out or leash walked? w/ a leash walk you can make sure he really empties himself.

try a baby sock under the thera paw. emily hated her therapaw even though it improved her limp. she managed to knock it off hiking in the woods and it was on tight. i think a coyote is running around with it on!

"If this wasn't set off by an incident with another dog, I'd take him to the vet for a health check. The usual advice with a change in aggression patterns would be to look for a physical cause. Pain from a cricked muscle, for instance, or deteriorating eyesight, could make him iffy with strange dogs approaching, even if he is OK with his own household." excellent suggestion, then contact a professional trainer who has worked w/ fearful dogs. sounds as if there might be some fear in there. a good trainer who does privates will always let you call for additional advise/help w/o a charge. get going on this....i have met too many people who end up having to hang onto trees when their grey goes after another dog...hard to believe. it's all correctable if you have the right tools.

monkey see, monkey do!!! yes, dogs do learn behaviors from each other. poop guards and muzzles....i have heard that meat tenderizer added to their food will help deter their nasty habit. but i did find that constant cleaning and changing food worked the best for one of my dogs. the other had NO MANNERS what so ever and was the ultimate scavanger(true to his breed)....i remember tying my scottie and welsh terrier outside the bagel store in ritzy bronxville, ny. when i returned to them...the scottie was eating the other dog's poop...fresh and hot!!!!nasty...and embarassing.

try having some yummie food to lure her into standing infront or next to you. praise, treat, praise, coat, treat, praise. it sounds like your gal will open up and respond to some clicker training. check it out, karen prior has written many articles on it. also if you decide to go for it look for an obedience club or school. check out both the akc and apdt(american pet dogs training assoc.) for registered trainers/schools. remember to have fun!

sounds like the positive reinforcement that he will obtain thru clicker training will get things going. it's an excellent opener for many dogs. check out karen prior who has written a ton about clicker training. when emily came off the track at 4.5 yrs she was non-responsive to traditional training. one session of clicker and boy was she engaged, the light bulb went on! we started her on that and she opened up and was soooo responsive no one could believe it was the same dog. look for an experienced trainer/club and make sure training is fun.