[Ahhhh Fleas]

Revolution works really well for fleas. That's what we usually prescribe when we have animals come in with a complain of fleas.

 

Capstar is fantastic. It kills off all adult fleas in 24 hours. However, it doesn't work if you have an infestation with fleas that can continue jumping onto the animals, and it doesn't touch eggs (if I remember correctly).

 

The thing with a lot of the flea preventives is that they don't work overnight like Capstar. A lot of them simply inhibit growth of immature fleas or prevent egg laying by adults. So they break the cycle which stops them from reproducing and then a month or two later... voila! No fleas. But you can't expect them to work overnight.

 

If you have an infestation the best thing you can do is apply Revolution or some other similar product and let your dogs/cats ALL OVER THE HOUSE. They're going to act like a magnet for fleas. Fleas don't want to jump on people. They're species specific for the most part so if there are dogs and cats around they'll jump on them. Once you treat your animals you WANT fleas to jump on them, because then they come in contact with the drug. The worst thing people do is shut the animals into one room trying to "contain" the problem to that one room. But you're still going to end up with some fleas in other areas of the house and with the animals stuck in one room those free fleas are going to be around a lot longer.

 

And I totally agree... stay AWAY from Hartz.

[When You Dogsit...]

Little August has done really well. She's a royal PITA to walk because she's clearly never been taught any leash manners (she came to us with a flexi lead which I promptly switched out for my own since I can't stand those things. But in the house she has been really good. She's quiet except sometimes she barks when we walk in the door. As far as I know she was good in her crate on Friday while we were gone all day. She had cleaned out about half the Kong (I don't think she could really reach the bottom half because it's so big for her). We left them again last night while we went to the bar for a few hours to watch the fights with friends and again she seemed to have done really well. She honestly doesn't seem to mind the crate. She's a lot more willing to crate than Summit ever is now.

 

She does like to eat rabbit poop which is in abundance here (I have 3 rabbits) but that's really the only thing she's tried to eat.

 

Now, if only she'd pick up faster on the leash training... she's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[An Unhappy Hound]

If he was having some sort of anxiety then being removed from his major source of comfort (you) and put into a crate which he doesn't really like would certainly set off some panic and destructive behaviour like you saw. I don't really have any insight into why he was whining in the first place. Could be he's injured or hurt in some way, could be that his whining recently has been rewarded with attention (any kind of attention) so he's started whining at times he normally wouldn't.... Someone else may have some other suggestions for triggers.

 

Medical problems aside, if this is purely behavioural the best thing you can do is simply ignore any and all whining. Which sucks when it's 3 AM. Get a pair of good ear plugs and use them so you can ignore his cries. If he's crying for attention he'll likely stop when he realizes that it doesn't get him anywhere.

[When You Dogsit...]

Well, my BF mentioned to the owner that we might crate her and he didn't really object so I figure it's okay. He couldn't find anyone else to dog sit and he didn't want to board her because the cost of a kennel for a month would probably be pretty pricy.

 

The dog isn't spayed, it doesn't know any commands, it pulls on leash, he doesn't give her any treats ever so she's extremely grabby with treats when I'm trying to train her. She's a pretty mellow, good dog overall... but I certainly am not willing to risk her swallowing something and having to bring her in to school for a foreign body. I also don't want to come home to two white dogs turned red, and other than crating one of them I wouldn't be able to separate them. It's probably just for today anyway. If we'd gotten her on a weekend when I could watch her for a day or two before having to leave them for a whole day it might have been fine to leave her loose. But I don't know if she's an eater of stuff, I don't know if she's a destroyer, I don't know if she's going to get in a fight with my dog, and I don't know what her prey drive is. Keeping the bunnies safe is top priority.

 

I figure it's fine, I was just curious what others usually do with a strange dog they've never met and are looking after.

[When You Dogsit...]

So we just got a little Eskimo dog last night. She belongs to my BF's coworker who is going back to Vietnam for a month. We have her for 3 weeks and then we are passing her off to his son (who is staying with the ex-wife) for the last week because we are leaving for our own week off up north with BF's fam.

 

I'm just curious if when you dogsit you crate the new dog? Today is my last day of school and BF had work so we did elect to crate her. She's got Summit's crate so it's excessively roomy for her. We made her sleep in it last night to acclimate her and she did pretty well. She whined quietly when BF got up to leave for work. I took her and Summit for a nice long walk and she was much more willing to go in the crate this morning. I left her with a kong (which is one of Summit's so it is HUGE for her) and one of his treat dispensing toys. The crate is in the bedroom where we baby gate Summit in. Her owner said she's never crated at their house so BF kind of felt bad about crating her. Owner said she was quiet, doesn't chew on things, doesn't have accidents. And after meeting her and having her for the night I'm inclined to agree... however I still insisted she be crated for this first day since no one will be home (after this I'm on Christmas break so time alone will be limited to a few hours anyawy) because I don't want any spats with the dogs (she's kind of skittish of Summit anyway, and aside from being super interested in the fact that she is not spayed -- don't get me started on that -- Summit just ignores her). But most importantly we rent and I don't want to come home to anything destroyed. But of course now I'm worrying that she's howling her head off and that my landlord will not be happy. Also, I know from experience with Summit that even though a dog is fine at home doesn't mean a change of people and house won't cause anxiety.... Summit never destroyed anything before this summer when he chewed a hole in a doorframe because we were out of town for a few months living with someone new. If he can do that, so can she. Didn't want to take the risk.

 

So what do you do?

[A Quick Poll About "sit" Command Training]

Summit only likes to sit on sand at the beach. He'll sit for prolonged periods of time. Otherwise he sits when asked but does not like to hold the sit. On carpet or rubber flooring I can get him to hold his sit for about 30 seconds fairly willingly. Cement or hardwood... he'll sit and then pop back up a split second later. He does always sit on command. I 99% of the time ask him for a down/wait before dinner so he will typically offer that on his own. Every now and then I ask him to sit for dinner. I'm sure if I consistently asked for the sit/wait before dinner he'd do it automatically. For example, he automatically sits when I ask him to finish (obedience command where your dog sits in front of you and then walks around behind you and sits at your side in the heel position. "Around" to him means to walk around me and sit. I never ask for that sit anymore. He will also sit if he's trying to get a treat... but then he just throws out all his tricks hoping one of them will get him something.

[Shy And Skittish, What Do I Do?]

My boy is not shy or skittish at all, but he does LOVE to sleep on our bed. He has an orthopedic dog bed in the living room but he doesn't spend much time on it. He typically chooses to sleep in our bedroom on our bed. So we sometimes close our bedroom door which forces him to stay in the living room with us. You might try that. Provide him a nice safe corner, and block off his access to the basement. Don't bug him or pester him. Walk over quietly every now and again and give him a treat, but otherwise just let him be. He'll get more accustomed to being up there with you and if he spends time with you he'll learn to trust you.

[Is It Common For Their Dewclaws To Be Removed?]

It is more common in some breeds than others. They are removed if they are excessively loose and pose a risk for getting caught and injured. Greyhounds generally have dewclaws that are well attached and fairly high up. I haven't seen many with the dewclaws removed. Though, having said that, Summit does not have his dewclaws.

[Severe Separation Anxiety With Ross]

Drugs should be a last resort and should ideally only be used in order to reduce anxiety enough to allow a response to training. Most cases of SA can be solved with patience and proper training. Some cases are more severe and may require medication to facilitate training. And an even more select few simply can't be alone, but those are pretty few and far between.

 

That book is fantastic. Take a good read through it and follow it step by step. Don't rush. If you can only walk out of the room or apartment for 2 seconds and she starts crying... you've moved too fast too soon. The idea of training is to never allow the dog a chance to become anxious. This is of course difficult because most of us can't just say "Alright, for this week I'm training the dog and I won't go to work or run errands". But at least when you're doing the actual training, don't do more than your dog is comfortable with and take small steps.

[Limping Rant]

krissy-- just a reminder. If you think he'll be on long term NSAIDs and $$ is tight switch to Mobic (assuming he weighs enough)-- last I saw its still on the Walmart & Target $4 list!!

 

I don't think we have that in Canada... I've never heard of it?

[Limping Rant]

They checked his back. I think he thoroughly enjoyed his back "massage".

 

We have no idea why he never raced. I have a few guesses... injury, interference, low prey drive.

 

I've noticed that the cold pavement makes him hobble like heck though. I put his boots on this morning and that really helped. This afternoon I think I really noticed the Deramaxx kick in because he was prancing around at school with me almost completely sound. Guess I need to make an hour trip to my vet back home who does things cheap for me... get me a tonne of Deramaxx to last 5 months until I graduate.

 

Still totally baffled about the sudden onset in a leg he has never been lame on before... but just glad it's not badness.

[Limping Rant]

You're not still at OSU, are you? If so, Dr. Dyce is your man, orthopedic man, that is. Not just ortho, but greyhound ortho.

 

No, I'm back home at OVC. We have a fantastic orthopedic surgeon and I am pretty impressed with his greyhound knowledge. He's not an expert or anything, but he certainly does know a thing or two about the breed as relates to orthopedics.

 

He gave me a 7 day supply of Deramaxx to try. We were really totally unable to isolate the lameness to a given joint. None of his long bones cause any pain so 99% sure it's not osteo (yay!) but the best guess is that it is arthritis. Of course, not really sure why the sudden onset with no real recent exercise. Could be the recent cold weather, though I would have expected his left front to be the one he favours in that case since he is lame on that one intermittently and has never shown any lameness on this hind leg.

 

Frustrating, but fortunately appears to be nothing major which is always good.

 

ETA: I did meet Dr. Dyce when I was at OSU though and I was informed that he is the greyhound ortho god... in the same league of Dr. Couto's greyhound medicine godliness.

[Pannus]

Summit has pannus. He gets one eye med (cyclosporine and dexamethasone combo) and within a week or two his eyes looked better. His case was extremely mild and his eyes now look perfectly clear.

 

If a dog getting steroid eye drops (which is what you give for pannus) starts showing eye discomfort (rubbing, blinking, excessive tearing) the eye drops should be stopped immediately and the dog taken to get its eyes checked for corneal ulcers. Steroids worsen ulcers and ulcers are very serious.

 

Not saying this is what happened, but when in doubt an ulcer is not something to wait or mess around for.

 

Also, unless there are complicating factors a dog with pannus should really just be on one medication... a steroid or similar immunosuppressive eye drop. There aren't usually 6 medications involved for a simple case. Of course, I don't know if this dog has a simple case.

[Limping Rant]

I worry less about limps that get better with movement vs limps that persist no matter how "warmed up" the dog is, with respect to osteo. Plus his age is pretty young (though not impossible for osteo to appear that young). Fingers crossed that it's "just" something like arthritis. FWIW, back in our kibble days, our arthritic dogs did LOADS better on grain free foods. We were even able to stop the joint supplements.

 

Corns can also cause limping long before you ever see one surface. Old toe injuries can also cause some recurring lameness, esp in cold weather. Usually it's in greyhounds w/really knobby toes though, that you can tell have been injured/healed/injured/healed/etc.

 

He's got one of those knobby toes on his right hind that I had checked out and is just arthritic. But his left hind has nice normal toes.

 

The limp doesn't go away or get better when he's warmed up, he just seems more willing to keep up with me. Going up the stairs (we live in a basement apartment) the last few days as been slow. Normally he charges up the stairs. The last 2 days he has been very plodding and deliberate on the stairs, and even just standing he keeps his weight off that back left foot. It's still on the ground, he isn't holding it up, but his weight is clearly shifted off it.

 

He is young for osteo, but he's still in range so I do worry. He has no pain response to me pressing on his bones in all the usual locations for osteo which is good. It's just very strange and frustrating and I wish I knew what was wrong.

[Limping Rant]

He is on J/D which has come out of full clinical trials with some very good results. Our orthopedic surgeon here at school recommended it based on his experience with it and the results of the clinical trials which he was quite happy with. Mind you, I only feed half joint diet and half IAMS (because I can't turn down free food at this point). However, the Science Diet equivalent has only 1/3 the amount of chondroprotectants in it and in clinical trials that one also showed some significant improvement in lameness of arthritic dogs, so if I feed 1/2 J/D I'm still potentially getting good benefit out of it. It's been shown that supplementing is equal to feeding a good joint diet... i.e. they have variable benefit in individual dogs, some see an improvement and some see no change.

 

We're doing a full orthopedic exam on him to evaluate the lameness and determine which bones or joints are involved. I would then get rads of just that area. There's really no point doing a full series of x-rays if I know that his hips aren't bothering him. It's just using up money that I might need to deal with whatever is going on with him. And besides, I pay tutition to be cheap labour and get no discount because they scrapped the student/staff benefits about 2 years ago. We may end up having to do joint blocks on him like a horse because he's so stoic. He honestly has absolutely no response to pain except to limp, so we may have to block out different areas until he stops limping which will tell us what hurts.

 

It's also possible it is a soft tissue injury but I highly doubt it. I've been on surgery for the last week which means 2-3 super quick walks for the dog and no runs (I'm here from 7AM until 9PM). He hasn't had an opportunity to really pull anything. It's still a possibility, but it's not very likely.

 

I'm really hoping this is just arthritis acting up. I can't imagine what else it is. Well, I can, but I choose not to. Of course, my other motto when it comes to limps in a greyhound is that it's osteo until proven otherwise.

 

ETA: I really don't think it's corns. I've hulled some corns on greyhounds and he doesn't have anything that really makes me suspicious. I did check because that was one of my first thoughts.

[Limping Rant]

So Summit has had a chronic, mild, intermittent limp on his left front since I got him 13 months ago. I've had it sort of looked at, but not indepth. He's so stoic it's hard to figure out exactly what hurts. He doesn't seem to have corns and he's on a joint food so arthritis shouldn't be bugging him TOO much (especially since he trained but never raced). Every once in awhile it flares up like back in September and he'll be quite lame. But since I know that leg is an issue sometimes I just leave it alone for a few days. If it's not better in a few days then I start worrying if it's a new limp and whether I need to look into it.

 

Well now he's limping on his left hind. Not profoundly but quite noticably. First thing in the morning and right when I get home (so any time he's been laying down for a long time) he will be quite lame and difficult to get going on his walk. Once he gets going he still limps but at least he doesn't drag behind me.

 

Anyway, at 6.5 I'm obviously concerned about any new, unexplained lameness. Fortunately this week I'm on orthopedic surgery so he's hanging out today until the afternoon when we're out of surgeries so he can get a full orthopedic exam. I'd at least like to know where on his leg he hurts so I can get x-rays. I'm not x-raying his WHOLE leg... too expensive because they're so long. Bleh. And I've been having trouble with his pannus eye drops recently too. [sigh]

[Winter Wear?]

Summit has a huge wardrobe. Most of them I made myself (probably 4 that I've made) and are different thicknesses. Maggie (YamahaGirl) also made him a heavy coat last year. He has a rain coat that is non-greyhound specific that I bought at the pet store... it only fits okay but I bought it because it was 75% off. He also has a knitted sweater from Chilly Dogs.

 

Oh, and he has PJs that I made him, but he only wears those in the house in the dead of winter when it's cold inside (we live in a nice basement apartment but the temperature controls are all upstairs in our landlord's part of the house and if he's not home he can't adjust it obviously!).

 

I like the looks of the Chilly Dogs coats.

[Collars In The House]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize that Magic was only leashed when you were home. I actually tethered Loca to my waist for 1.5 months whenever I was home. The martingale came off whenever I left the house. She was muzzled when I wasn't home.I use a breakaway tag collar on my dog. That way, it will come apart if necessary.

 

Krissy, if you don't think anything bad can happen with a martingale when the person is home, ask Lisa. Max had an awful experience.

 

Oh, I'm not saying bad things can't happen. I'm just saying if you're standing right there personally, I'm willing to take that risk. Nothing is without risk. Taking our dogs to greyhound only runs is a risk. Two dogs can run right into each other and kill or paralyze one another. But we don't advocate for not running greyhounds once they retire. I'm just saying it's all about calculated risk. If I was training a new dog not to go after the cat I wouldn't worry about the martingale being on inside the house. To me the risk of the dog getting the cat is bigger than the dog getting caught on something in the house and hurting himself when I'm standing 2 feet away.

 

My main point was that I didn't think it was a totally stupid question and I felt like some of the responses sort of had a tone of "how could that not be obvious". But like I said... I was born and raised Canadian. When I play hockey I apologize to the girl who I just knocked flat on her backside. I also apologize to the girl who just knocked ME on MY backside. When I was at OSU this summer... MAJOR culture shock.... I'm just not used to the way non-Canadians speak sometimes. Remember... hockey is about as angry as we usually get. lol

[Collars In The House]

Krissy, I appreciate your concern for the way things are posted! But, it's cool.....I've got thick skin and realize that it is not easy to read into ones "tone" on the internet. And, it's also easy for me to omit things when posting quickly before I forget.

 

Maybe it's just because I'm Canadian. I often find the way things are said on this forum very "direct" sometimes to the point of being taken aback. It's really not just a stereotype... it's true... Canadians really are polite. lol. My American classmates tell me it's like culture shock.

[Collars In The House]

If you have the leash on him in the house I would probably be inclined to use it as more of an umbilical. Attach the leash around your waist and then he goes where you go. He can't get the cats and you immediately know what he's up to and can correct him with a "no kitty!".

 

The other option if you're at a point where you're ready to give him a little more freedom but not ready to completely trust him to not chase the cats is to use a harness and leash. You can have the leash on and not attached to you so he can wander, but you have a chance to grab a hold of something if he tries to chase a cat. Yes, the leash could still get caught on something and give him a jerk, or pull something down on top of him... but if your house is set up in a way that it's not very cluttered etc I would probably be comfortable with that.

 

I think it's a little harsh to say the dog is going to strangle himself and that this was a stupid question. I mean, certainly that's a very real possibility with a martingale and no one home, but it doesn't sound like he's all that far away totally unsupervised. Plus I think we can word things in ways that get the point across that martingales in the house are dangerous, without making the OP feel bad about themselves. JMHO.

[How Long Can Food Sit]

Honestly, I think you can leave food out for a whole day and it'll be fine. Especially if it's dry kibble that you wet every time you feed it. But then, I'm not one of those people who thinks "OMG, those left overs have been in the fridge for 3 days and you're going to eat it?" (that's my BF). As far as I'm concerned if the food looks okay, smells okay and (for people food) tastes okay... it's okay. People like my BF though won't touch the leftovers if they're more than a day old, yogurt is no good after a week, and his mom told me that when he was in college he threw out almost an entire carton of eggs because they were a week old.

 

We all have our comfort zone I guess.

[Walking Habits?]

Summit is a huge marker. I think his real excitement about going for a walk is get out there and sniff stuff and pee on it. He is only allowed to stray from the sidewalk and sniff/mark when I give him the okay, which I do every block or two... depending on how far I intend for us to go, how fast I feel like walking, the purpose of the walk (exercise versus need to go out to pee one last time before bed). He does like to walk fast though, which is good because so do I. Left to his own devices when we go hiking though he is perfectly happy to stay and sniff stuff 100 metres behind me as I continue walking out of sight. I'm constantly turning around to see how far back he is. I call him, he comes and then finds something new to sniff while I walk away again. I'd love to know what smells so interesting.

[Caution About Sweet Potato Skins]

Summit got the end bit of a trachea stuck in his mouth. I actually saw it coming. I was watching him eat it and I thought "he's going to get that stuck right... about... now" (just based on what he was doing and how he was trying to chomp down on it). Which he proceeded to do. Then I waited a few seconds to see if he was going to be able to dislodge it himself, but he started to paw at it in a panic and then let out the GSOD, so I reached over into the side of his mouth and literally just tapped it and it popped out. I barely touched it.

 

At the time I remember thinking "that was pretty stupid, dog", then I reminded myself it was my own stupid fault for watching him do it in the first place.

[Newly Adopted Greyhound... Help!]

If you're at Ohio State, I'd be glad to meet for coffee or something and we can talk more. I'm sorry things may not work out. There's a lot of good info on here. Hang in there!

 

I'm betting not OSU since she said the dog was a blood donor at her school. All of OSU's blood donors are off-site privately owned dogs now. The cats are also privately owned and brought in.

 

Actually, I'd be interested in knowing which schools currently still keep dogs on site as blood donors. My school adopted out all the on-site dogs and opted for citizen owned dogs the year I started (so about 3.5-4 years ago). We do still keep cats on site though. Penn State also has a private blood donor program. I don't know anything about any of the other schools.

 

Enrolling in the blood donor program is another great way to keep costs down. OSU has fantastic benefits for their donors. My school... not quite so much, but it is still helpful. Summit was retired recently though because of his pannus. Yay for $90 eye drops! We had a lot of cut backs even to our student feeding program in the last 2 years. I can't feed my dog on just the food from school anymore. So it's something to be aware of if cost is an issue.

 

I almost brought home a broken leg dog from OSU this summer. She turned out not to be so cat safe so I left her behind and she was adopted a few weeks later with another broken leg dog. I was sad because she was so perfect for us in every other way. But when I got home and started final year... well, part of me is glad she wasn't able to come home with us because the constraints on my time are hard enough.

 

Honestly though, I think in first year the biggest issue is THINKING you don't have enough time. I had way more of a social life in first year than I have ever had. My 2 years of undergrad before vet school were spent in almost complete hermitism studying away. First year vet school was my "party" year. I'm not talking anything crazy (unlike the rest of my class... gawd professional students know how to live it up) but I certainly had enough time to really enjoy myself. I still played varsity sports in first year vet school too. To me first year is the best time to get a dog. I would have if the place I had been living was more pet friendly. The problem is that in first year the schedule is so different from undergrad and you're so stressed out that at first you feel like you're being totally over run. But I agree... if you feel overwhelmed now.... Let's just say that on some of my clinical rotations I get to school before 7AM and can't make it to my 11PM hockey games. And then have to be in 3 times a day on Saturday and Sunday. And have been woken up twice in one night for back to back GDV surgeries. Enjoy first year! 3rd and 4th years were intended to be complete hell!

[Kennel Cough ... With A Bacteria, Too?]

I hope he feels better soon.

 

Kennel cough is caused by a bacteria (Bordatella bronchiseptica). Uncomplicated cases are usually self-limiting, but if you take him to the vet you'll likely get some antibiotics to go home.