ShebasMom

My deepest sympathy--mi mas sentido pesame Godspeed, Copper--dios velocidad, Copper Run free Copper--correr libre Copper

Are you sure you want to go there?!

We never forget our loved ones, human or otherwise. Happy and loving remembrance.

What a beautiful tribute to such a special guy. So very sorry for your loss. Run free, Pal!

I have Embrace and am happy with it. Others have said Trupanion is great. Other threads have covered this a good bit.

He looks like such a happy boy. Good luck!

I have a similar problem with Sheba at the offleash large-dog park. She socializes fine when indoors with most other large dogs (not small dogs or cats) and when walked on a leash, but she's an agressive chaser at the dog park and often intimidates or pisses off some dogs being chased and was bitten twice early on in my ownership (not bad bites but expensive vet bills because of thin skin). (She was only 22 months when I adopted her.) How do I handle it?: muzzle all the dogs when there are only greyhounds at the dog park (since other dog owners don't muzzle their dogs); go to the dog park at odd times when no one is there (Sheba is happy chasing a ball and zooming around all on her own and doesn't need other dogs there); or leave when other dogs arrive to avoid any altercation. I also have a play date from time to time with another greyhound owner at her house with fenced-in yard since my fenced-in yard is small, all river rock, stepping stones, and pool/deck, and precludes running around. Works for me.

The muzzle, poop cup, and peanut butter sounds like a winning way to get the job done.

Where do you get kneecaps? First time I've noticed those mentioned.

That's a cool thing to try! I have a small hand so can just stick any pill down Sheba's throat, but that doesn't work for everyone, so this "pill pocket" idea sounds like a thing to try.

Oh my, it never gets any easier. My heart goes out to you.

Good advice and it makes me feel better. Thanks all. With my great-niece incident, I was in the kitchen with a direct view into the living room where she and Sheba were. I turned my back for only a moment, but the living room is small, so it only took a moment for her to get off a rocking horse and walk over to Sheba (8-10 feet). Yes, it could have been much worse, and we're all thankful it wasn't. Lesson learned. (I neglected to mention that there also were four other dogs, three other older children, and two other adults scattered around the house--quite a zoo that day.) I didn't see Sheba and Causey bump into each other yesterday, but I did see Sheba biting her on the mouth/nose because she was hanging on (or a tooth got caught). We'll muzzle the dogs next time, and if other dogs are there, we'll leave.

Sorry for the length of this. This is the progression. Last month while visiting my sister-in-law, Sheba nipped my 3-1/2-year-old great-niece above her eyebrow and across her nose. More like a deep scratch above the eyebrow and minor scratches on the nose, but it broke the skin nonetheless and of course scared the little girl. Yes, we were watching Sheba and my niece all the time, but this one slipped by us. We didn't see it happen, but I think my niece either tried to take a chew bone away from Sheba that she had given her earlier or she went up to Sheba when she was dozing on the dog bed and startled her. After that, Sheba was muzzled when in the house or put outside in the large dog pen. Fortunately, no stitches were required and my niece is fine. I've had Sheba for almost 3 years now, and she will be five next January. She's always been a real spitfire; dislikes cats, squirrels, scateboards, and bicycles; and chases most running dogs at the offleash dog park, which can be a problem since she's been nipped twice requring costly vet visits. Since she's an aggressive chaser, I go to the dog park when most other dogs aren't there. She enjoys chasing after a ball and simply enjoys racing around the park all on her own and then lounging in the wading pool. If there are other dogs there that could create a potential incident (some do, some don't), I leave. The one thing Sheba's always enjoyed is being around other greyhounds, with no issues whatsoever. My friend has three greys, and we meet almost weekly at the offleash dog park. We love it when we're the only ones there! Her youngest grey (Causey, 7 years old) loves to chase Sheba when Sheba chases the ball, and this has gone on for 3 years with no incident, until now. Yesterday, Sheba bit Causey in the muzzle. We didn't see it happen but figure they bumped into each other while running and a startled Sheba went on the offensive. Before my friend arrived, there had been two dogs there that kept stealing Sheba's ball. Although there were no altercations and the dogs left, perhaps Sheba thought Causey was going to steal her ball? Causey is healing (no stitches required), and my friend says she seems unchanged by the incident, but her vet said now that Sheba thinks she's the Queen A Dog, the two shouldn't be at the park together or at the least Sheba should be muzzled when together. We want to continue our weekly visits if at all possible. What do you advise? Since Sheba nipped my great-niece last month and now bit Causey yesterday, is this a sign that she is getting more aggressive and if so, what should I do about it? Sheba is very friendly and typically good with people as well as young children, but now I'm worried.

Staying with the foster family is a great idea. My advice would be to pay them something for their trouble since he's your dog now, or at least offer to return the favor at some point in time.

Brought tears to my eyes. So sorry for your loss.

Oh my! Get her to the vet immediately--her temperature could already be highly elevated as well. Sounds like a similar experience I had with my first grey. My vet is only 5 blocks away and I convinced them to come and get her, but I ended up having to take her to the emergency hospital from there after some initial treatment because they had no overnight surveillance capability and it was well past closing time. She was at the emergency hospital for 4 days and ended up having to be euthanized because there was no improvement whatsoever. She didn't even know me. Diagnosis after Xrays and MRI was a lesion on her brainstem (blood clot, cancer, or encephalytic cause) that caused the seizure. She was only 4-1/2 and I'd only had her for 16 months, so it was very traumatic and quite a shock. (I purchased pet insurance for my current grey because the bill was over $5,000.)

I, too, have tried brands with better ingredients and ratings, but Sheba's poops were way too soft. She does best on my mixing of Purina One Smart Balance Chicken and Rice and Beneful Fiesta, so I'm sticking with that mix since her poops are nice and firm and she looks great. It's nice that they work so well for her since those two brands are often on sale at various grocery stores as well as Target and others. I'd stick with what works best.

I'll let the more experienced owners respond, but I've used Drontal Plus with good results.

Sheba doesn't chew dry wall thank goodness (my place is 30+ years), but she sometimes chews the door frame of the inside door into the garage. That's where I leave and return, so I assume it's because I leave her from time to time. Thankfully she doesn't chew it every time, just an odd time now and then. When I remodel, I'll have the door frames replaced.

I know some owners whose hounds are considered true "couch potatoes" when in the house but enjoy the long walks when outside. On another subject: Do you have cats now? If so, I assume you know to get a "cat-friendly" greyhound?

Sheba doesn't like them at all. She barks, runs outside through the dog door, barks, and comes back in panting. Over and over. We'll have legal fireworks on the beach and water here Monday and Tuesday, so the dog door will be blocked and we'll stay inside with the TV AND radio blaring. I'm sure other folks here will have their own illegal backyard fireworks beginning this weekend until next weekend, so I can't wait until it's all over.

Good luck with the everlasting treat ball, because Sheba gets the treat out from that rubberized holder within 15 minutes and devours the treat in an instant (and in lots of messy pieces). Yes, I get it seated in there properly--she's just a determined stinker. I don't buy them anymore since they don't last with her, but they last for a friend of mine's hound. The bully sticks last longer with Sheba.

I purchased a six-tablet packet (one tablet good for 77 pounds)from www.petsuppliesnet.com for $74.95 plus $5 shipping (Australian website shipped through UK I believe). Much cheaper than from the vet.

I'll leave it to the experts to reply in detail, but it sounds like she needed more time to settle in? Perhaps muzzle her while your mother is there to be safe, at least until you know one way or the other her response around your mother. It's hard to return an adoptee to the rescue group, but sometimes it's just not the right fit and time to try again with another grey?

I had a similar, but different, experience with my 4-1/2-year-old female grey, Windy. Young healthy, happy dog fine all day until 4:00 in the afternoon when suddenly she had some sort of seizure and couldn't move but was thrashing about on the carpet. I convinced the vet (4 blocks away) to come get her since I couldn't get her into my car by myself. She ended up being transported to the e-vet that evening (my vet couldn't keep her overnight without supervision) where she was kept for 3 days of X-rays, MRI, blood tests, etc. She never got any better and didn't appear to recognize me at all, so I had her euthanized. No necropsy, but the e-vet neurologist said it was probably a stroke from a blood clot. I was in shock, as you are, and my heart goes out to you. Please know that I truly am sorry for your loss.