Riverhound

I'm so sorry for all of you.

Totally normal. Some people grow the hair back with melatonin, and some of us embrace baldness. My feeling is that if the skin itself looks ok, it isn't bothering the hound, and I can leave it alone. That said, fleece/silk/velvet lined collars are nice, as are the braided bolo collars from Longdog Leather. I strongly believe in keeping a tag collar on at all times.

For outdoor practice, look at older churches. Many have fairly wide concrete or stone steps with a large landing to turn around on. Probably don't do it this morning though -- the church goers might not understand!

Lunchmeat. I used smoked turkey. Put it on the first step, let him take it. Put it on the secon step, let him take it. Etc. Don't do all the steps at once. Down is hard and scary for them, and can be terrifying for you (and dangerous) if they decide to jump it. A harness makes a good handle so that doesn't happen. If there are any outdoor stairs you can use to practice, that may help. If the stairs aren't carpeted, but stair treads. Make sure his nails aren't too long. Don't rush it. Letting him settling in the way you're planning to do is the best thing for now.

Can I borrow Lucy? Joe nests holes in EVERYTHING.

I'm sorry, Irene.

Frigging Brees, somehow, while on leash walks only, crated when we're gone, no toys, no zoomies, no fun house arrest (except last weekend's camping trip, which was also pretty strict) has managed to rip (mostly) off a good chunk of paw pad. She and I are having I battle of wills over a bucket of warm water and epsom salts. She magically removes the Therapaw in about half a second. She's got whale eyes, and I can't reach my beer. She's lucky she's pretty!

One of mine, I'm guessing Joe, has also just starting pottying in the house. He's physically fine. I'm attributing it to the kitchen being a construction zone and general turmoil. Fortunately, he's only going in the kitchen, so we can't complain much. We're walking him more, and I'm trying to avoid wearing earplugs at night so he can wake me easily. (Hard to do with snoring hubby and nesting hounds.) It sucks. I'm sorry.

Where are you? In the unlikely event you're near Trenton, NJ, I have ex-pens I can loan you.

Always listen to Batmom. Always.

Sending good thoughts.

Re: Feisty49's comment -- my Brees chases balls, fetches, and is generally crazy about toys. Joe loves stuffies -- if they are brand new. Glad to hear Rizzi is playing more and pottying where you want. That makes life much easier!

That's wonderful! I'd keep doing pain meds, cause they're stoic (and dumb), YMMV.

Sending good thoughts and a virtual glass of wine!

SaltiDawg, from what I understand, torn ACLs are uncommon in greyhounds, but do happen. Brees had a career ending injury that I understand was nasty, but I haven't been able to get her full records. That said, her leg seems to be feeling much better, but she had massive diarrhea this morning and I just came home to puke puddles-- not sure which dog, but voting for her. I have a call in to the vet, but am assuming she comes off the Rimadyl now and goes back on Tramadol. She gets pretty out of it on the stuff, but that might be better for the leg, anyway. As Mary Pat noted, keeping her under control is, well, difficult.

Peanut butter? PopTarts? Velveeta? Will he eat raw? The Hispanic grocery stores here have slightly questionable random chicken pieces for almost no money. Sometimes unidentifiable pork things, too. My guess is that you could feed Cody Jujubees and licorice whips and his poo would bounce to the ceiling. He's a doggy-dog! (and cute as all hell)

Thanks for all the support yesterday. I was out. of. my. mind. She's much better now that the shot has worn off. Still in pain, but being bossy. Her Daddy slept on a mattress on the living room with her last night, and is planning to do that again tonight. She's upset she can't go upstairs, where she belongs. I *love* that I have a husband who insisted he be the one to stay with her. We are so lucky to have him. Both dogs have tech visits for shots Tuesday morning. I'll change hers to a follow up. She won't potty on leash in the yard. We have to go to the vacant lot across the street. No big deal, but kids play there, and I'd rather she not "go" where children play. Working on it. She's subdued. Didn't get up when we came home from work today. Not eating or drinking properly, but she'll eat PopTarts with Rimadyl stuffed inside. It's weird to see her so calm. Joe is jealous of all the attention she's getting. Last weekend was his turn, the beast!

When Brees's went, we were in the car, so I didn't see the initial ick flood. It kept streaming out clear-ish stuff for several hours, and I think I picked the scab out the following day. It was fairly gross. I took her to the vet several times before it drained, and no one could find a place to lance. Then it blew on its own. If the swelling has eased, you may be just fine. Cat scratches and bites suck!

Wonderful!

That doesn't look good. Warm compress to try to bring it to a head and encourage draining? That close to the eye makes me nervous. If you play with it, have something handy to prevent funk from flowing into the eye if it decides to drain. We were at the vet the very morning Brees's face burst, and they couldn't feel the abscess. They were swearing on a stack of bibles she was having an allergic reaction. Search "Brees" for many, many threads about cat bites.

I chugged it while I unlocked the door. It was in a koozie, so it was still cold-ish. As she comes off the heavy meds, she's acting more like herself. She's still in pain, but bossing her Daddy around whenever he stops petting her. I had a twin mattress in the attic, so one of us will be sleeping on that in the living room until she's cleared for stairs. The vets must think I abuse my dogs. Seriously. A week and a half ago, Joe was in for stitches. A few weeks before that, rabies shots for both because of a disemboweled critter in the yard. The month before, a UTI. Etc, etc. They're gonna get repo'd!

Proliferation from a previous injury and does not look like cancer!!! Wheeeee! And I can give 50mgs Tramadol every 6 hours, not every 12 as they said previously. Gonna finish my bottle of wine now.

She just got up. That wasn't good. She's high and still in pain. The leg is clearly feeling worse than it did initially. I just called the vet to see if I can up the meds at all. I get the feeling I'm sleeping on the floor with her tonight. Thanks, everyone, for saying the x-rays look ok (other than the weirdo thing on her pelvis). I will continue to freak out, cause that's just what I do!