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This might help you. I have one grey who just turned a year old- very skinny. His hip plates and all the vertebrae in his spine show. So I've been gradually trying to get him to gain a little bit of weight. I give him two cups of dry food in the morning, two at night, and for each meal I mix in a half can of wet food. My other boy is 4 years-old, his weight is fine. He gets one and a half cups twice a day with a spoonful of greek yogurt mixed in. The reason I started mixing in yogurt was because he would see the puppy getting "special food," and would persistently try to swoop in and steal it. But the yogurt is a good solution because it's only a little bit, it is great for digestion, and he absolutely loves it. He used to sort of graze, but now he gobbles everything up in a hurry. So if you decide to, you can start mixing in wet food, then when his weight is where you want it, transition to something like yogurt or cottage cheese.

Yep, I would've made the same choice due to the anesthesia. I'm reluctant to put mine under unless it's really dire.

This!

Hot dogs and cheese! I get the Kraft cheese crumbles, and they are the perfect size for training.

I've been following your story here. Just wanted to let you know that we're hoping and praying for the best.

I'm sorry you're going through this. I did three classes with Truman that were all mixed-breeds. They made accommodations for him on the sits and downs because the movement wasn't as natural for him to do. In Pittsburgh, there are greyhound only training classes available. I've taken several of them with Henry and found them to be much more tailored to our needs.

My advice is... don't get a second greyhound because you think it will be good for the first one. When you have high expectations like that, it can be really disappointing when they don't turn out to be the cuddly, bonded pair that you hoped for. Sometimes they are, but I've found that greyhounds more or less "peacefully coexist" with their housemates. It's usually not a good idea to adopt another dog on the basis of solving problems with the first. We had Henry for almost two years before I even considered bringing in the added stress of a second dog. Like the others said, I would take Fonzie more places, try to socialize more, go on playdates, etc. Then if YOU decide you are prepared for the time, commitment, money, energy, etc., make a decision based on that.

Iams green bag- the absolute best for the price.

Henry has idiopathic seizures... he will usually lie down on his own, and he has muscle stiffening and mouth-foaming. The seizures are pretty short and mild, and after a few minutes, he comes around and acts 100% normal. After his last one, he continued to run around at the dog park and walked on leash for almost an hour. The advice I received is to keep a log and look for trends. Then, if he starts having them more frequently or has cluster seizures, you can look further into medication. Good luck

My Truman just turned a year, and he went through a stage of stealing and chewing everything. It's funny that Boo chews books, because Truman used to take books from the bookshelf and tear out all the pages. When we got our dog door, I found tons of my belongings outside (underwear, bras, various items of clothing, TV remote controls, silverware, tupperware, a digital camera). It's super frustrating! One thing that helps us is taking him to run off-leash every few days. He tends to do less bad things with more exercise and mental stimulation. Good luck

Oh wow, I don't have any advice. That is really funny, though. I've heard of greys carrying their bowls closer to their beds. Maybe he wants breakfast in bed?

I feed knee bones and they really do make a world of difference. Never had any issues with teeth.

I went through this problem EXACTLY with Truman. It was a nightmare trying to housebreak him. The worst part was that he wouldn't give any warning signs that he needed to go- he basically just got to the point where he was going to burst and said, "Okay, I'm gonna go right NOW!" Wherever he was, he would just squat and go. I had to stop crating him because he would go inside his crate. It was almost like he had a hard time regulating himself. Sometimes, he would do it right in front of me! If you look back through my posts, you can see all the things I tried. I believe it's titled "Puppy Housebreaking Nightmare." To be honest, the best thing we ever did was installed a doggie door. After a few days, he got the hang of it and we haven't had any accidents since. I was worried when we stayed in a hotel for Grapehounds because I had to leash-walk him for potty breaks. But he did wonderful- not a single accident. I guess after he finally got the hang of going outside, something clicked. If not for the doggie door, he probably still wouldn't be reliably housetrained.

YAY! I'm sure it's super cute on her!

Your vet is a genius. Truman had the tail done during his neuter. It was one of those "kill two birds with one stone" deals. He was cryptorchid, so the incision on his belly was pretty substantial- about 8 inches long held together with staples. That all healed wonderfully- no problems whatsoever. But the stupid tail (which should have been easy) is still giving us problems. I reaaally don't want to put him through another surgery. I'm hoping this works.

Did it ever progress from idiopathic to recurring? So far, Henry's have been about twice a year. But his last one was just in March. So I think they are getting closer together.

From wagging their tail a lot, the tip hits walls, crates, etc and their skin is so thin so there is barely any "natural" protection there so it opens up. It took several months for Minerva's to completely heal because, like Truman, she kept whacking it open. Well thank you for the pipe insulation idea. I got the kind that is self-adhering, so it sticks to itself. Right now, the tip is bloody and raw, so I used a triple antibiotic, wrapped it in one layer of non-stick sterile gauze. Then, I used about 8" inches of pipe insulation, vet-wrapped it to his tail, then covered the whole thing in an ace bandage. I sort of found that the heavier it is, the less he wags it. I feel like it's indestructable, but I'm sure when I get home from work, he'll have the whole thing ripped off.

From wagging their tail a lot, the tip hits walls, crates, etc and their skin is so thin so there is barely any "natural" protection there so it opens up. It took several months for Minerva's to completely heal because, like Truman, she kept whacking it open. Is amputation a common outcome? Unfortunately for Truman, he developed a nasty infection (even though he was on antibiotics). The tip of his tail turned black and the tissue became necrotic, so we had no choice but to have a partial amputation. He wags his tail like a nutjob, though. Full 360-degree circles of sheer whippiness.

I just wanted to add that Django is even more handsome in person! Jennifer and Dave are fabulous too! I think Django is definitely on his way to becoming a mama's boy. He and mom are good for each other.

For Truman's tail surgery, the vet only took off a few vertebrae above the dead tissue. Now, (surprise, surprise) we are having quite the problem getting it to heal! As expected, he is still whacking it off everything, and even when wrapped, the tip is still breaking open and bleeding. So... tonight I made a final attempt, pulling out all the stops, and using techniques I've gotten by everyone. The result is about twelve inches of pipe insulation, stuck together with vet wrap, and covered in an ace bandage. While I'm waiting for the muzzle guard to come, his muzzle is stuck with duct tape, reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter. If this doesn't work, I'm going to have the tail docked and start convincing people he's a doberman.

Oh my goodness!! And Jilly was the instigator! So sorry you had to experience that. Do you think with just two dogs, I should still worry? Henry has had the run of the house since Day 1, so I would hate to start crating him now. Truman has been with us through two seizures. Both times, he didn't seem to notice and carried on about his business. After the most recent one, Truman came up to Henry and looked at him inquisitively, then walked away. If we still had Payne, I would be very concerned about him attacking because he was more of a "pack leader."

He had bloodwork done a few months ago when he had the tail amputation. I think everything was normal, but maybe I'll double check the thyroid panel with the vet. I know one time, it was a few days after I had given Frontline/Heartguard. I discussed with the vet, because I read that Ivermectin in Heartguard can aggravate symptoms in seizure dogs. He said that the amount in Heartguard wouldn't be enough to make a difference, but I did consider switching him to a different preventative. Any opinions on this?

Wow, that's crazy. I'll start keeping track. It's weird because by the time he has them, I've pretty much forgotten that he's a seizure boy. It's about twice a year.

We've had Henry for about 2 and a half years now. In the time he's been with us, he's had a total of four seizures. I've had him to the vet a few times, but the diagnosis is "idiopathic seizures," meaning, they come on at any time, they are unpredictable, and the cause is unknown. Unless he would continue having them more frequently or have them back-to-back, the vet says not to medicate. The other possibility is that he eventually becomes epileptic, or he has a tumor in his brain (in which case, little can be done anyway). Even though it's really not a huge deal, they are always very scary to experience. Over the weekend, we took Henry to Frick Park in Pittsburgh to meet jenniferk's Django. We were in a fenced area, and both of mine were running around and playing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Henry's legs tensing up, and within seconds, he went down with a seizure. It lasted maybe 30 seconds, but his legs were really shaky and he didn't want to stand up. Afterwards, he's always pretty confused. Luckily, there were only a few other dogs there, and they didn't pack up and try to attack him. I sat next to him and talked to him. Then, Truman came over, and Henry immediately got up to greet his brother (it was actually kind of sweet). The whole thing lasted five minutes at most. Following the seizure, Henry continued running around the park, and he even walked on the trails with us for about an hour. He acted as if nothing happened. I am lucky that Truman is sort of an oddball greyhound. He's never raced or been in a pack, so I highly doubt he would ever attack Henry if he had a seizure when we weren't home. And I know that the seizures are unexplainable, and don't require medication (at this point). I just wonder if there is anything else I should look for? The last two seizures Henry has had were out in public places. People walking by were extremely alarmed and kept asking "is your dog okay??" Maybe they're brought on by extra stimulation? Does anyone else have experience with idiopathic seizures?

I have an accident and illness policy through ASPCA for both dogs. It's really cheap ($11 per month, per dog). And they reimburse 80% after a $100 deductible. When Henry had to have a partial amputation on his tail, they did reimburse me. It took over a month due to high amounts of claims, but they eventually did pay out. The only thing it didn't cover was the pre-op bloodwork that the vet did before his surgery. Henry's had seizures, so I was fine with paying a little more to have the piece of mind that they were dosing the anesthesia correctly. I also have Care Credit so I can make monthly payments on other stuff. Truman's neuter was close to $800, so it was nice to not get whacked with that all at once.