tuff

I'm so sorry for what happened. Your girl looks like a sweetheart. I had a somewhat similar thing happen to my grey and I have a lot of guilt also. My 11 year old boy Tiger had a history of cervical disc disease which caused him severe pain several times a year. One morning early my dogs were outside doing their business (it was dark). I yelled for them to come in. Three came in, Tiger didn't. I went outside and heard a yelp. I immediately thought his disc had herniated and he didn't want to walk. I took a flashlight out and he was laying in the yard unmoving but blinking his eyes. I thought it was a severe disc injury. We took him to the e-vet. Throughout the day the e-vet had him up as he had gained back some movement and could walk with assistance. After work I drove him 3 hours to the nearest vet school with an MRI and neurology department. The next morning as I waited to hear from them, I had the realization that I found him laying in the yard next to the open gate of a temporary chain link fence we had installed for several months while having our deck redone. I just knew he had run into that fence in the dark and broke his neck. I called the vet that morning and told him my suspicion. He wasn't really buying that explanation. Over night Tiger had worsened and was no longer able to walk and had significantly decreased reflexes. Several hours later, after the MRI, the vet called and said Tiger had broken his neck. It was a very high break. He was under general anesthesia to have the MRI and the vet needed to know if they could do surgery to stabilize the neck. He said Tiger had a 50/50 chance of recovery and could have breathing problems after surgery due to the high level of the break. I chose euthanasia because I couldn't risk putting him through all of that and having to possibly euthanize him anyway. He was always very stressed for vet visits. I was just ugly crying at work trying to make the decision. I still worry I made the wrong decision. I also have huge guilt that I didn't recognize what happened at the time. They asked me if there was any chance it was trauma. I said no. He spent 24 hours not stabilized, being made to stand and walk and be examined with a severely broken neck. I also have guilt that he spent the last 24 hours of his life surrounded by strangers and I didn't get to say goodbye. And now I'm sitting here crying again and its been 6 months. I wish I had an easy answer for you other than It will get better with time. I was lucky in that I had my other dogs to love on. I would still cry every time I thought of him for the first couple of weeks. I can look at pictures from happy times now and have good memories. I try to not let my myself dwell on the end and remember that he had a great life otherwise. It will probably take you a few weeks to get to that point though. If I only had one dog, I'm not sure what I would do about toys/bowls/leashes. I guess I would probably put them out of site if they caused me more pain to look at. I think giving another dog a loving home is the best way to honor those that we lose. The day we drove back to get his ashes, I adopted another dog on the way home. Some people adopt right way, others choose to wait awhile. I personally wouldn't be able to stand the quiet for long. Having other dogs to focus on helped me the most. It WILL get better.

I call Jujube the "anchor". She is OK the first 200 yards and is extremely excited to go for the walk. Then she proceeds to pretty much ruin every walk we go on. She only gets to go by herself and not with the other dogs. She has been this way from age 5 and she is now almost 11. Picking your pace and going doesn't work. It would pull the harness over her head Maybe taking treats with you and treating for staying up with you would work, if food is motivating.

Sorry you and jake have to go through this. It's hard for both parties. I've have a couple of dogs in the past that have had to go through healing of bad broken legs. I have to say using a large x-pen has been extremely helpful, the wire ones that are made of multiple large panels. They give the dog a little more room to get up and turn around, they are easier to go into, and can be made large enough that the human can get in with dog to cuddle, etc. I have found them more convenient to use then a crate, which I also have. Just a thought.

Those are so touching

One of my three is like this. It's more if you gently "squeeze" his flaps he yelps and will even growl. He loves the base of his ears massaged, however. I have to warn people to not pet his ears. Top was a racing school drop out, so I doubt it has anything to do with racing. I think he just is super sensitive there. He does have extremely thin ears that don't stand up.

Top recently had a broken tooth pulled. He was put on rimadyl and tramadol and an antibiotic. No brushing for two weeks. I fed his kibble soaked in water for about 20 minutes (the other dogs were not thrilled having to wait for their food, lol). I think canned would be fine. He had a little drooling but not bad. He did wander around the house whining the first night, but was much better in the morning. He also had a lot of facial swelling that went down over several days. I usually ask my vet if they can do my dogs as early as possible in the day to allow for more recovery time before they go home. Good luck. I'm sure Ruby will be fine.

I can't add anything additional to the conversation, but wanted to say Hi to a fellow Cedar Rapids resident

I think you would have to have a very solid "go potty" command first. Do you leash walk or let out in the yard to potty? I would get her to the point that she will potty on command anywhere in the yard then move to surfaces requiring a little more difficulty, like the sidewalk or street or other unusual potty locations. Of course treating or praising for all successes. Once she will pee anywhere on command, I would try the shower. Do you have somewhere else you can bath her?

I'm so sorry. That is one sweet looking boy.

I SUP but haven't been courageous enough to try to get one of my greyhounds on. You would definitely need a good life jacket for him and have his recall extremely well trained. I don't think I would leash on a SUP as there would be too much chance for entanglement. It might work if your guy likes to sphinx and would stay in that position. I think you could start by using a clicker and training the hound to go to a spot and sphinx and stay. Without an actual SUP to train to get on, I think it will be difficult to transfer to the water. The fear and uncertainty of the unstable platform on the water will be challenging to overcome. I think you might have easier luck with the kayak. I second Scouts-mom suggestion. Mouse is a seasoned kayaker and bike trailer rider. See if you can contact his owner and get some training tips for kayaking. I'm pretty sure the videos have been posted on this site so you could search and message the owner.

Jujube just had 16 teeth removed including most of her molars and went home on rimadyl and tramadol and seemed to do fine once the wonky general anesthetic wore off.

My two 75 pound boys get 4 cups/day and my 75 pound girl gets 2 1/2 cups per day (hers is a higher calorie food). It probably will depend a little what the caloric content of the food is, but I cant think of any food that you would feed 5-7 cups/day. I would give her time. She is still adjusting and will eat when hungry. I wouldn't start with too many add ins or you might create a picky monster Oh, and congratulations on your new family member!

Get a husky. You wont even notice the greyhound is shedding.

This sounds like my boy who was yelping when getting up (also some limping at first) and it was his neck. I followed the advice of tbhounds and asked my vet to add Robaxin to the already prescribed Rimadyl and tramadol. We did laser therapy and I'm convinced this really, really helped. He went from waking us up at night screeching to back to new in 1 week. I'm a laser therapy believer now for any soft tissue injury.

I bought a package of six treatments for $217 which comes to $36 a visit. It was slightly more for a single treatment. Tiger is too nervous to lay down. He just stands there but seems to enjoy it.