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Ha, Ha! He is stuffie crazed! I'm not sure if I should allow him to have them at all in the house because he does go to destroying them immediately. Literally seconds and they are toast. And now with the growling . . . I don't think it was happy growling (which he does ALL THE TIME when greeting). But then again, I did not hear it. I will ask hubby though, but I think he could distinguish. I will work with him more and get Husband to as well. BTW- Maggiespet- how do you move the dog away so that you can grab the toy with your foot? Also, I am no fun either. My mother used to call me a Nazi because I am so rigid with my rules.

I'm so sorry. But I am glad they got you in today and you got an answer and that they are allowing her to be loose. I will keep you both in my thoughts.

Last night we brought home a stuffie that my parents gave Kevin for Christmas. By way of background, we have taken all stuffies from Kevin except the really huge bones. He kills stuffies when he starts to play with them. He goes right for the squeakers and may ingest some plastic and he starts the pull the stuffing out of the holes created. As far as I can tell he doesn't eat it or the appendages he rips off, but I haven't waited to find out. He was horrified that they have been confiscated. Big bones appear to be safe- he treats them more like pillows and has yet to kill them. I say yet- and I of course watch him. New Stuffie seemed tough and not stuffed with much. So we gave it to him. Made him lay down for it. He was thrilled. He had a hole opened and was going to work on a squeaker within 45 seconds. My husband went to take it from him (I was making his dinner) and Kevin growled at him. He did this once before with a stuffie. My husband that time grabbed his snoot and said "no" firmly. This time he did not get to really grab his snoot because Kevin pushed his nose into the ground (I guess guarding stuffie). I heard the commotion and I walked over with his food and showed Kevin his food and lured him away while Husband snatched the toy. If it were me, I would have offered a chew toy in exchange and Kevin likely would have stared because he would not have valued it like the stuffie. But maybe it would have been a distraction. But, that's not what happened. Any tips on stuffie/toy aggression? He has no bed or food aggression issues at all. No animal or people aggression issues. He is a very mellow guy otherwise.

Anyone know of a greyhound-specific obedience class in CT or RI?

Thanks. We're working on "leave it" everyday. He's making a lot of progress. As for greyhound-specific obediance - I'm not sure if it exists anywhere near me. If anyone knows of a class in CT or RI, please let me know. When we got Sadie I took her to a local place and she had to go to the puppy classes because she did not know basic commands. She did not enjoy it. We watched and then worked on everything at home. She was a well-behaved hound. Kevin would be much better in that kind of environment but needs something different, I suspect. We had an incident last night with Kevin, a toy and my husband. I will start a new thread.

I am so sorry. I will keep her in my thoughts. I hope you will have answers. I hope she is comfortable tonight. Good luck tonight getting some sleep. Let us know how it goes tomorrow when you can. I hope for the best.

I'm sorry about Steak. I hope you get answers from the vet. Yes, stress is a trigger (in people and I presume dogs). And exhaustion and confusion can last for hours afterward. We had a Cocker Spaniel when I was growing-up that would drop on walks and have grand mal seizures. She would defecate. Scary. The first time it happened I ran down the street crying that my dog was dead. Then she popped-up. It seemed like a miracle to me. What type of injury lead to the stitches in his neck? did he have a head injury?

Ok, I could have used this thread the first day we got Kevin. He loves to roach on his back and roll around. I have never had a boy before. So I noticed what I call the "bulbous" immediately. (Turns out I wasn't far off on the name!). Oh no, that looks weird. I explained my concerns to my husband and a friend. I did notice there was more swelling when he needed to pee. When we took him to vet for weight check I asked a tech and she told me of the gland. But the conversations I had with my friend and husband about it were hysterical and yes, i got accused of being a pervert for looking!

Glad you asked this - because I thought it....Even if she has an underlying condition - the thought of not having time for you senior hound after years of having her as part of the family is just unfathomable. I only meant that I hope that she doesn't have an underlying medical condition given her weight loss- if it is neglect then hopefully she will have the chance to live more happy healthy years with a new loving family. Though the alternative is awful too. It does sound like neglect- like she did not even have water. It does not sound like they had been taking her to the vet either. How can you neglect your senior hound that way? Sadie's senior years were some of our best with her. I'll go a step further and say those people shouldn't be allowed to have kids if they can't provide basic care for their dog. Please keep us updated. We're eager to hear what the vet says. She'll be in our thoughts.

Thank you for all the suggestions! For now I have been taking the watch him when I'm here and crate when I'm not approach. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll be like Huck and in another two months be through this phase. I will try June's suggestion re: associating the muzzle with good things. But right now I don't really have a good "dog room". We had a flood this Spring in New England and we have to re-carpet the finished downstairs. Once we do that (could be another 6 months), we'll have an eligible room. But he does seem to panic when confiined to one room. If I close him in the bedroom because I want to keep an eye on him he gets ancy. If the door is closed and my husband is not in the same room we're in he does these little barks (I call them puppy barks). but leave the house open and he doesn't seem panicky. -April

You'll be in my thoughts. I am glad you will be with her and hope they will be able to do something.

How awful. She'll be in my thoughts. I hope she doesn't have an underlying medical condition. Our 13 year old that we lost in July had several mystery things going on, along with kidney failure, and lost a lot of weight rapidly. Did they indicate if her weight was something new or if she'd seen a vet? Also, out of curiosity, it seems WAG is getting a lot of bounces lately. What is going on up here in CT?

He licks the peanut butter off and loses interest- at least on the nylabones. Haven't tried it on the antlers yet. Would a stool guard reduce the ability to seek and destroy? I must admit I have considered trying to spy on him to see how he acts and if he gets into things at all when we're not around (because he seems more anxious when he can't get to us but we're around than when we leave and he's crated- if I had to guess), but we don't own a video camera.

Oh, BTW, he is a very strong and aggressive chewer. So if he decides to chew it, it's toast. He doesn't like the really durable nylabones. The not so durable ones, and other chews, he destroys in seconds and starts to consume the bits so we have to take them away. Stuffies meet their maker in minutes. Once he decides to stop squeaking he starts chewing. It takes seconds and they are de-limbed and the squeaker is dead and a hole is open. We have had to remove them. He found Sadie's old dental rings under the couch (who knew they were there) and he had a field day. He loved them. What a battle to remove those. We got antlers for him. Occasionally he chews them. Kongs he likes but everything we can stuff into them gives him wicked gas!! So if they can eat and play with stuffies can they chew-up books and furniture, etc?

Oh, I hope I did not imply I thought muzzles were punishment. I have no problem with muzzling him. I just have a problem with how he acts when he's muzzled. Like a runaway train trying to rip off the muzzle. I just hate to have the house destroyed in the process. I guess I can try leaving it on everyday when i can watch him and make sure he doesn't destroy anything important. Stupid question- can he drink with the plastic basket muzzle on? Oh, I can't believe I forgot what he put in his mouth today! My husband was laying in bed this morning and Kevin came over and tried to take off with his nipple! We wondered if it was nitting, but we're pretty sure he thought it was a piece of food. Kevin quickly realized a mistake had been made of enormous magnitude and retreated!! Hysterical.

Ok, this is the post I promised to do last night prompted by the other GTer's muzzle questions. Sorry it was delayed. Kevin has been with us 4 weeks now. He just turned 3. He is nothing like Sadie, who we lost in July. She was so well behaved we never muzzled her. He likes to get into things and put things in his mouth. At least once or twice a day I go from thinking he's quiet and angelic to "oh no, what's he got now!" And the answer has been the doorstop that sticks out of the wall, a paperback book, pebbles from the driveway, lint, kleenex, etc. He has also "tasted" the stove knob, the side of a cabinet, the wainscotting, a knot in the flooring, this list goes on. He gets corrected immediately. Usually it's a one time thing. He gets told no. I give him something he is allowed to chew and take away what he is not allowed to chew. He refuses what he is allowed to chew and stares at me as if to say "why are you taking the good stuff?" The repeat offenses are kleenex (one of which he retrieved from the toilet) and displayed on the living room floor. Outside on walks he indulges in nature's raisinettes (deer poop) when he can find them, and picks up pine cones. But I thought it was confined to inside the house and outside the house. What's left then you might ask? The car. I was driving and heard "crunch crunch" the other day- he was starting to munch the rear cigarette lighter in my car. Why? who knows, because he needs to put everything in his mouth. He has only gotten into something one other time in the car. When we first got him he managed to dig through the whole rear compartment and find the bunch of bananas, pull the bag onto the back seat, remove the bunch, peel the bananas and begin masticating them all over his bed in the back set. I was gone from the car five minutes. Impressive, I know. So, currently he is crated when left alone. But eventually I want to be able to leave him loose in the house. But I am afraid of what I'll come home to. His foster mom told me he was left out sometimes and muzzled because of the cat. Well, when I put his muzzle on he runs around and rubs his face on every available surface. Walls, doorjambs. I relent and crate. I am afraid he will target antique furniture and other things you don't want scratched or slammed into by a 75lb charging hound. But it is becoming apparent that he may need to be muzzled in the car. If he munches my interior I'll be tempted to put him on a one way rocket to the moon. I assume if he gets bored he'll munch. But if I muzzle I worry he'll start trying to remove the muzzle using my upholstery. So, do any of you have suggestions as to alternatives to the plastic basket muzzle? And, do you have suggestions as to how to stop this rubbing behavior? Any other suggestions based on this post as to how to handle the situation(s)? PS- my husband thinks I'm being harsh. He doesn't think Kevin will rip apart the car. I think it's too early to tell and he's watched too closely.So do others out there have hounds that mouth everything and destroy nothing? I will say Kevin is very puppy like.

I am so very sorry. We just lost our heart dog Sadie in July to an unknown combination of kidney disease and probably cancer. It is hard not knowing. We had her for ten years but it doesn't make it any easier. But, in the end, as others have said, what matters are the memories and knowing that you did the best for him. And, right now it is hard and the pain is great, but eventually more and more the painful thoughts will be replaced by remembering happy times. Again, I am very sorry.

Oh I'm so very sorry. You did everything you could for him. I'm so sorry you had to go through this but am glad that you two found each other. If you want to talk more you are welcome to PM me.

How is Enzo this morning? Any improvement?

I wish Jax good news as to the pathology and a speedy recovery.

Best of luck to your special white girl in her tests tonight. I'm thinking of you both.

My only experience is with people with babesia. The parasites cycle and cause symptoms like fever and severe exhaustion. Their life cycle causes cyclic flares of feeling terrible- it then abates some. Then flares again as the parasites reproduce and die. It causes anemia. It also causes damage to red blood cells. I'm not sure how it affects dogs. Have they done a babesia smear (I believe that is what they call it when they do the test in people, a special test that can be done a couple different ways. But it's been a couple years). I hope they figure out what is wrong. I'm glad they found no mass. Fingers crossed for improvement very soon.

I was thinking of asking some muzzle questions myself but don't want to hijack so I will start another thread later today. I never used a muzzle on Sadie as we weren't provided with one and it never occurred to me to get one because she was so well behaved. Kevin (who we have had 4 weeks today) is another story. Great with everything living but at least once a day he puts something in his mouth he shouldn't. We just watch him right now and crate him when we can't. But we bring the muzzle to the vet. And until I know how he is with little dogs reliably I will continue to muzzle him at the vet and at friend's houses who have small dogs/cats. I might have gotten some looks at the vet but it did not bother me. I'm proud of my ex-racer and if people are taken aback by the muzzle I suppose it's better than the alternative. But as soon as we saw the coast was clear off came the muzzle! Beautiful picture of Summer romping- such a pretty girl! I'll post my muzzle questions in another thread.

My Sadie was on Enalapril for probably her last 1.5 years for BP in her kidneys. What we did because she got so nervous at the vet's (even though they all loved her an would cuddle her) was put her in the car and let her calm down and the tech would go to the car a little while later and take the reading. The car was her cocoon of safety. Seeing a high reading (and yes, greys have higher normal readings than other breeds) in the car convinced us to put her on Enalapril, 10mg. The first day on it she vomited like she hadn't in years. poor thing. It was terrible. But we called the vet (a Saturday morning- I was upset and worried she was on too high a dose). The vet was sure she had eaten something that did not agree with her. Sure enough, no more vomiting and she was pretty much herself after that. Later she went to 20mg. She did better than I thought she would. I'm not sure what is going on with your girl and the seizures. She didn't suffer any head trauma did she? Does your vet feel the medication is controlling them adequately? Also, the "symptoms" she's exhibiting sound as though they could be related to medication adjustment (complex and long process sometimes) and/or her neurological condition. She's going to be more sensitive to sound, light, movement, etc. Please also consider talking to someone about her nutritional requirements- perhaps a holistic vet. In humans, and so maybe in dogs, medications used to control epilepsy strip many nutrients, vitamins and minerals from the body, vitamin D being one of primary ones. I sure hope she feels better and improves soon.

I'm sorry. It's hard when you know things aren't right but don't know what's wrong. If there is a question about his result/putting him under you could look into having his teeth scaled without anesthesia. There are people that travel around and do scalings. In the last couple years for Sadie we would not put her under and I scaled her teeth myself. It did help quite a bit. I'm sure a pro would have done a better job.