krissy

I had always gone with the 1 in 4 stat, but I think the newest stats are showing more like 1 in 3. The cancer rate in all dogs is increasing. Something close to 60% of greyhounds will die of some form of cancer, with closer to 30% of all greys dying of osteosarcoma. That's just our racing greyhounds though. AKC greys have high rates of cancer similar to all other dogs these days, but their risk for osteosarcoma is much lower. There are fewer show greys of course, but a study that was done not too long ago that Dr.Couto discussed with me was done at UC Davis (I think, can't remember the University now). They neocropsied something like 900 AKC greys over a number of years and found that osteosarcoma was a significantly lower cause of death in those dogs than in retired racers. I wish I could actually find the paper. It's not the most perfect way to conduct a study, but it's the best we've had so far.

For certain behaviours I always reward and always will. For us it's recall and retrieving. Retrieving is not so inherently rewarding for most greyhounds that they will do it just because they find it fun. I've taught Summit to enjoy retrieving and he'll get really excited now when I take out a toy. And it's not because he likes toys. He has a dozen that he never ever plays with unless I bring one out to play fetch. He gets excited now because he's gotten so many rewards and excited, happy praise that he thinks it's just wonderful. But he still always gets a treat. Recall is too important to not reward. We do lots of recall training and LOTS of rewards. For things that aren't so important I start fading rewards. I still reward more often than not, but if we're out for a walk and I forgot my treat pouch I know he'll still obey.

Summit slipped when he was doing zoomies out in the backyard. He came in dripping blood from a tiny puncture wound. But the wound was completely through all layers of the skin. I had to put a stitch in it. On any other dog I never would have even known about that cut. Now imagine what teeth would do. It's terrifying.

A lot of people don't necessarily ask. I've had lots of people say "I always see pictures of greyhounds with muzzles on because they're so aggressive, but yours seems really sweet". Not just once but over and over. Of course once I explain they say "ohhhh!", the problem is it's the people who DON'T ask you about the muzzle that are going to go around talking about the aggressive greyhound at the dog park. I have photos of Summit on my facebook. Some of them were taken at greyhound runs so all the dogs are wearing muzzles, and I have comments from people commenting on the muzzles and why did we "adopt an aggressive dog"? Not everyone is going to think that of course. Personally I'm less concerned with what others think compared to the safety of my dog. I would never muzzle him if other dogs aren't muzzled. Including other greyhounds. If someone forgets a muzzle at a greyhound run someone usually has a spare, but if not I'd rather we turn all the hounds loose without muzzles (well, we'd rather the person went home and got their muzzle, but hypothetically speaking...). It is just not safe. Please don't do it. If you're going to keep taking him to the dog park that is your decision. You've seen his behaviour and we haven't. If you're comfortable with it then that is fine. But don't muzzle him. If you feel like you need to muzzle him then you obviously aren't comfortable with his behaviour, in which case he needs some work before he gets turned loose with multiple dogs. Have a play date with one other dog that your boy plays fairly well with.

Summit weights 75lbs. He gets 3 cups of food per day. He'd eat more if I gave it to him. When I first got him I was giving him 4 a day. He wasn't putting on weight at that amount but was sometimes leaving food. I dropped down to 3 cups and he didn't lose weight and he finished all his food. Like others have said... if he looks good I wouldn't worry about it. Summit runs lean, even by greyhound standards, but that's his happy weight. Even when we have obedience classes and he's getting the same amount of kibble and probably an equal amount of calories in treats... still doesn't put on weight. I just let him be.

I get that it's disappointing and frustrating to have a new dog and not be able to take him to the dog park. Believe me. I really do get it. I waited 22 years to have a dog. Last year I finally got my first dog, my wonderful grey Summit. And of course I wanted to show him off and watch him play with doggie friends. But I have had to accept that he is not a dog that can play with non-greyhounds. Not yet at least. He does have occasional reactions to rude behaviour when on leash, and off leash with dogs he knows well he gets hyped up and doesn't know how to play or interpret the other dogs. He will invite them to play by bowing, tail wagging and barking, then he'll run. But when the other dog runs after him, and particularly if they are larger than 30 lbs or so and bump him around (like normal play in non-greys) he turns around and gets really snarky. To the point that he'll almost start a fight. And this is even with dogs he knows well and interacts with regularly. So for him he can only play with greyhounds, and then everyone is muzzled. But there is something about non-greys that gets him way more excited than playing with greyhounds. He really wants to play with them, but he just doesn't know how. It's always a disaster waiting to happen. When he gets like that I put him back on leash. In time and with work I hope he can learn to play nicely with a select few dogs, but he will never be a dog park kind of guy and I've just learned to deal with that. Hopefully my next will be able to, but really it's not as big a loss as you think at first. I would take everyone's advice and stay clear of the dog park for awhile as you work on his socialization and small group play. Taking classes did wonders for Summit's socialization and for our own bonding.

You'd be amazed the kinds of things we find. A more common place is in the neck from dogs that like sticks a little too much. They carry them around and if it's too big they get it caught on the ground or on a tree or something causing it to jam. The end up with pieces of stick migrating around causing major problems. X-rays don't show much usually because the wood shows up the same shade as soft tissue. We had one dog that had that happen and a year later they went back in for a SECOND explore (they did one a year ago when this all started) and they finally found a small shard of wood. Turns out that dog likes to carry sticks around. Not saying Mira has a sliver in her leg. But really, you'd be amazing at how things can penetrate without leaving a gaping wound. Grass awns like to do weird things too.

Every morning when I wake up Summit comes over tail wagging and buries his nose in my crotch. Then he rubs his face on my legs and in my tummy. Then he leans his body against me while I pet him. He also sometimes does it when he's really excited to see me... such as when I've been gone for a really long day.

I know a grey or two who doesn't get coated up in the winter because they hate coats. They have a thicker coat and a little more body condition than my boy though who will visibly start to shiver in the dead of winter. The wind chill really does it for him though, so I think the coat mostly just helps take that extra edge away.

We usually walk 30-60 minutes for each walk, twice a day (with a third, shorter walk around the block). But we have taken him on all day hikes through some pretty tough terrain. By the end of the day he's trailing and he'll sleep all night in the tent while we cook dinner and sing campfire songs... but he's raring to go again the next morning.

Actually, the greater the number of tests run the greater the chance that one will return an abnormal number. There's a formula to calculate that chance depending on the number of tests. If you're really interested I'll dig it up when I get home. Also, consider that the normal reference ranges do not include every normal animal at the exclusion of all abnormal animals. There isn't an immediate cut off. 14 means health and 15 means sick. The two curves overlap. A certain percentage of the normal population will have values that fall outside of the reference range, and a certain percentage of animals that are ill will have values that fall within the range. The reference range is generated such that 95% of the normal population falls within in. The other 5% will be above or below. So in summary, yes, it is quite normal for at least one value on a healthy dog or cat's bloodwork to come back outside of the reference range. This is one very good reason to run baseline bloodwork. We want to know about that value being low or high when the animal is healthy so that when it is sick and we run bloodwork we don't see that abnormal value and think it is the culprit.

No such thing! lol. I have no clue how to train a dog that's not food motivated. I wouldn't know what to do. I love me some chow hounds! Congrats on your new addition. He looks like he'll fit in just fine!

Specific gravity, dipstick and sediment would probably have been run "in-house" by the clinic themselves, so you may not have a print out for that. They would probably just write that all in his record somewhere. Greyhound have a lot of muscle so when their CK goes up it tends to skyrocket, but it doesn't always go up when they are ill. I'm not sure we know exactly why their CK goes wild. I had a case at OSU that did this and no one was really able to give me a straight answer. It shouldn't be high in a normal, healthy greyhound though. I can't blame your vet... most of his bloodwork is pretty normal. There aren't any glaring signs. Do you have results from a CBC as well?

Out of curiosity... the vet is thinking kidneys but his kidney values are all normal (actually, almost low for a greyhound)? Globulin and TP are normally slightly high for a greyhound compared to non-greys. CK is a muscle enzyme predominantly and that seems to skyrocket in sick greys. If it gets high enough his urine will probably go orange-red too. His liver enzymes are up a bit but not really enough to be overly concerned. With liver disease we typically expect a 2-3 fold increase. What was the specific gravity of his urine? And did they do a dipstick or sediment?

We've run into our fair share of rude young dogs, and I'll warn the owner that my dog will tell their dog off if it acts inappropriately. If they're not comfortable with that they move on or I do, but usually they say the same thing this jackass did which is "He needs to learn some manners and my other dog won't tell him off, so if yours will that would be great". Of course, I've never had my dog then attacked for doing so. But if ANYONE laid an ill hand on my dog, I promise you they would never do so again. And I'm 5'3 and 115lbs, so that tells you what kind of fury I'd be in. The only time it is acceptable to use physical force on a dog is if it is attacking you or your dog(s). And I mean actually attacking... not "I kind of thought it might possibly attack".

Not saying that you shouldn't worry at all, but it's since you're not taunting the dog it's quite possible the dog won't feel any provocation to jump his fence and attack you. It' too bad the little boy has been bit, and I'm not saying it's okay... but every dog has a breaking point, even the nicest dog. And I would not be happy if some kid goaded my dog to his breaking point, then the kid's parents reported my dog for their own kid's mistake, and then everyone in the neighbourhood thought my dog was aggressive. Like I said, I don't know the situation nearly as well as you do and this dog may very well actually be a problem and a threat, but it's something to ask yourself. Personally, there's been many a little boy I've wanted to beat too.

Summit's recall when he's not running borders on about 98% I'd say. Inside (not necessarily in our house, just indoor places like at school, in stores, etc.) it is 99.9%. Once he starts zooming or sees another dog running (key word there is running) it drop to about 5%. But we've been working pretty hard on it the last couple of weeks. I went out and bought a 20ft lead which I let him drag in the fenced back yard. Then I have something to grab onto if he ignores my call... reel him in and reward like crazy. Now I only need the long line for the first recall (to "remind" him) and after that I unclip it and let him really rip around. I call him, reward and make a huge fuss, then turn him loose again. Once I've got that at the level I want (i.e. reliable) then I'm going to start having friends bring their dogs over and we'll go back to the long line and work on that aspect of his recall. I'm not comfortable having him off leash even with good recall. Our neighbourhood isn't on a major street but it's not really that long of a run to a major street. And even when I get his recall to a point where I would technically trust him, I still can't see ever doing it. There are too many variables to account for. I'm training for all the ones I can foresee, but something could spook him one day and he could run home. Too much of a risk to me. But not recall training simply seems foolish to me.

I hope whoever take them will let you know. My boy was a "bounce". His former owners gave up him and his "brother" because the husband was diagnosed with brain cancer and was having surgery and chemo. They just couldn't keep up with 2 big, active dogs. So we got one of their boys and I keep in touch to let them know what he's up to, and even meet up with them when possible at events. A year later they still know nothing about where their other dog ended up and I know it makes them sad. So to anyone who adopts a bounce given up for reasons not within their previous owner's control, please don't cut them out of their dogs' lives completely.

Our boy was a bounce so he was super easy. We basically didn't do anything or worry about anything. And we had just sent our foster (our "first" dog) to his new home about half a week prior so we were still in a routine. Our foster was fresh off the track so he's probably a better example. He was also the first dog we'd ever had so we were in the same boat... very excited, very prepared, but very nervous. We took our foster out every hour or so when we were home and he was loose (but he never strayed far from us otherwise I would have put him on a leash to keep him close). He was crated when we were gone, and we also crated sometimes while we were home as part of our alone training with him. He had some anxiety for the first couple of days when we would leave (little bit of whining and barking according to our landlord) but once he realized we always came back he settled down and didn't mind. We had no behaviour issues with either dog really. Our foster just had the week of "separation anxiety" and our boy has the odd dog issue (he doesn't like dominant, large males or huskies with blue eyes). No counter surfing, trash stealing, chewing, barking, etc.

Omeprazole is more potent, and it also takes longer to kick in I believe. We often give famotidine for the first little while that we give omeprazole so the dog is covered by the famotidine until the omeprazole kicks in and becomes effective. I'll have to look up some newer papers on famotidine. That must have literally just come out in the last couple of months because I'm still in school and the moment there are murmurs about anything someone usually mentions it to us (mostly just to further confuse us I think).

Funny Farm Boutique sells them. http://www.funnyfarmboutique.ca/

Never heard of it. I'm pretty skeptical of most dental products in pet stores to be honest. I have heard good things about LebaIII (I think that's what it's called). You spray it on the teeth once a day. Honestly though the best things you can do for your dog's teeth are to brush them every day and provide good toys and chews. Rubber toys are the best, like Kongs. Stay away from tennis balls and rope toys which are abrasive to the teeth. Good dental chews (I think DentaStix are evil personally... I've seen way too many broken teeth from them, however someone recently told me that they were reformulated and are now soft enough to break by hand) like the Zuke's dental chews, beef pizzle, even raw marrow bones if your dog is a smart chewer. I don't like any kind of bone for aggressive chewers. I do give Summit raw marrow bones though as he mostly just chews the little bit of meat off and then licks out the marrow. No cooked or smoked bones as those splinter. Summit's teeth are beautiful now. When I got him 11 months ago I was worried I was going to have to do a dental on him within a couple of years. Brushing his teeth every night and providing safe, good chews has done wonders. I am very hopeful that he will pretty much never need a dental. Edited because I keent speel. This works well for the majority of hounds. Sadly some hounds just have bad teeth. Jet grows plaque like he has fertilizer in his saliva or something. He got a dental a year ago, I brushed nightly and used a water pik (which he lover the dufus) He needs another dental and will likely loose a ton of teeth. Our vet says some dogs are just like that. Since all 4 of our dogs get the same dental treatment and none of them have had a dental since adoption I have to agree. Even 12 year old Jake has good teeth. Yes, granted some greys just have really bad teeth by way of genetics. But I think for any hound the best bet is to start with good hygiene, toys, and chews and see if the teeth can't be kept in good shape that way. I really do find the brushing helps... but it needs to be done every 24 hours if it's going to do any good. And then of course failing that you do have dogs who just need to have dentals done regularly.

Never heard of it. I'm pretty skeptical of most dental products in pet stores to be honest. I have heard good things about LebaIII (I think that's what it's called). You spray it on the teeth once a day. Honestly though the best things you can do for your dog's teeth are to brush them every day and provide good toys and chews. Rubber toys are the best, like Kongs. Stay away from tennis balls and rope toys which are abrasive to the teeth. Good dental chews (I think DentaStix are evil personally... I've seen way too many broken teeth from them, however someone recently told me that they were reformulated and are now soft enough to break by hand) like the Zuke's dental chews, beef pizzle, even raw marrow bones if your dog is a smart chewer. I don't like any kind of bone for aggressive chewers. I do give Summit raw marrow bones though as he mostly just chews the little bit of meat off and then licks out the marrow. No cooked or smoked bones as those splinter. Summit's teeth are beautiful now. When I got him 11 months ago I was worried I was going to have to do a dental on him within a couple of years. Brushing his teeth every night and providing safe, good chews has done wonders. I am very hopeful that he will pretty much never need a dental. Edited because I keent speel.

"Growing pains" is known as panosteitis. It is relatively common in growing, large breed dogs. German shepherds and Rotties are the poster children but it can happen in Boxers. It is typically seen in dogs under a year old (i.e. while they're growing quickly). Radiographs will diagnose this. It is typically self limiting and will resolve on its own... we typically just give some anti-inflammatories like Metacam to help with the pain. There are other things that can cause pain in a young, growing dog though so if x-rays weren't done I would recommend that they do just to make sure it really is pan-o.

She's gorgeous. I think someone needs a little work on recall though!