philospher77

First off, I have used this drug with my cats. I have one that is very wiggly, with a very sleek coat, and she is very difficult to contain when she wants to get loose. Even the vets sometimes have issues with her, and we have learned to do some of the physical checks with her in very odd positions. Trying to get pills in her is pretty much impossible. So yes, I go with the shot so that she gets the full course of antibiotics, rather than the spotty, occasionally skipped days, shorter course that she would get if I tried to pill her. As to saying that the drug shouldn't be used to treat most animals, because it's only approved for skin infections, welcome to the world of medicine. Many, many drugs are used off-label, because the costs of getting approved for all the various things that they can treat is astronomically high. Convenia is a cephalosporin class antibiotic, and it is perfectly reasonable to expect it to treat the same sort of things that other cephalosporins do. So companies get a drug (or device) approved for a certain indication, knowing that they have to have some sort of proof for FDA to approve it, but also knowing that the doctors will decide to use the product off-label. (FDA doesn't have the power to regulate the practice of medicine, so there is nothing they can do about that.) In some cases, the "gold standard" medical treatment for a particular issue is an off-label use of a particular drug. And finally, while my heart goes out to the families who have lost pets, I know how easy it is to say "the last thing done is what killed them", when that may not be true at all. And four deaths, while tragic, has to be compared to the number of pets who have taken the drug and not died (which, I admit, I don't know). Hundreds, thousands, millions? And then you have to consider how many of those pets might have died without the drug (once again, numbers that I do not know). No drug, device, or medical treatment is 100% safe. We hedge our bets by trying to make sure that we don't have the predisposing factors for the adverse events (in this case, penicillin sensitivities, which can, unfortunately, appear in people/pets who weren't sensitive previously), and, quite often, just assume that we are not going to be in the 0.0001% that have the serious adverse reaction. But someone is, and the fact that you happen to be the one person who suffers serious adverse affects, does not change the fact that, in general and for most people, the outcome is good. I'm not saying you should blindly trust every medicine. It's good to be informed, and to make decisions based upon the risks and benefits of the product. Newer is not always better, but neither is older. It's just as bad to say that Convenia should be banned because of the four deaths as it is to say that everyone should use it because it is more convenient. I will say that I strongly encourage anyone who thinks that they, their pet, a family member, etc, has suffered an adverse event due to a drug or device, that they report the problem to the manufacturer and FDA. Try to supply as much information as possible, which may mean a necropsy is needed. "Your drug killed my pet" does not give a company much to research, and it will be reported, but will, quite likely, be written off as "not enough information provided to determine if the drug was the cause." "After using your drug, my pet went into convulsions, and eventually died. Here's my vet's phone number so that you can get the records." is much more likely to be acted on. Here's the link to how to report adverse reactions: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ucm059044.htm

I hate running bloodwork b/c there is always SOMETHING "off" just a little it seems...been down some VERY expensive rabbit holes chasing down possible diagnoses only to have the vet come up empty and just decide that's just "normal" for that dog. That's why I always try and have them run blood work at at least one "well-dog" visit. That way, if they get ill and do blood work, I have a "healthy" baseline to compare to. If X has always been a little high (or low) in the past, then it's not something to worry about when it shows up in the blood work when they are ill.

Medical costs are going up, in general. Partly because advances in human medical care drive changes in vet care. For example, most human doctors are switching over to digital x-rays. Which means less X-ray film is made, and it becomes more expensive. And at some point, the film makers just won't make it anymore, because the market is too small. At that point, the vets HAVE to switch to digital, because they can't get film. And that means buying new equipment, and that means passing the costs to their customers. (And, to be honest, digital x-rays are much nicer than film.) Having said that, I do question costs and treatment plans more now than I used to. I have a cat who is 15 years old, and has a large mass in her liver. I did spring for ultrasound, which showed three large fluid-filled masses, and blood work, which showed that her liver levels are actually normal. The fee I was quoted for mass-reducing surgery was $4,500. And that's not a cure, just a palliative measure to take the pressure off her other organs. I am taking a wait and see approach, given her age and the fact that liver masses in cats are almost always a secondary site, not the origin. At the last check-up, I discussed whether we should repeat the blood tests, and my vet looked at me and said, "Either the results will come back bad, in which case I am going to recommend putting her on prednisone, or they will come back good, in which case I am still going to recommend putting her on prednisone." So we skipped them, and I now have prednisone, compounded into a gel so I can actually get her to take it. When I was younger, I might have gone for the surgery, and probably would have done the blood tests, just because I want to know. But now I am pickier about "will this actually make a difference in how I treat my animal?" If not, why spend the money? I also have pet insurance for the dogs (the cats were too old to enroll). So far it seems to be working out good. We'll see in the future how things go.

I will second the many suggestions of Xanax/Valium and possibly Prozac. I have a spook with generalized anxiety, and the combination of Prozac (given daily for quite some time now) and Xanax for known scary situations (going to the vet, class, boarding, etc.) has made a huge difference. If I were in your shoes, I would be trying to find a behaviorist, preferably a vet behaviorist, to consult with. I dislike the thought of the Ace, but on the other hand, your dog is at a level where she does run a high risk of injuring herself, so you may need some sort of sedative to go with the anti-anxiety drugs. It's possible that the experience of the storm the time she was on the Ace is the reason that she is reacting more now, but it could also just be sensitization from the repeated exposure to the storms. I am somewhat disturbed by your vet first giving Ace, and then recommending Prozac. Prozac is not something that has an immediate affect. I think it was around 4 weeks for the drug to start showing some affect in Katie, and more like 6 to get to a truly therapeutic level. If he means that you should give that daily for all of storm season, that's one thing. But if he wants you to give it right before a storm, it seems like an indication that, while his heart is in the right place, he does not have the level of expertise that you need with a severely storm phobic dog. My heart goes out to you and your girl, and I hope that you find someone who can help you.

When we go over Stays in my training class, they impress upon us that we need to work on duration first, then distance. Also, they frown on food-refusal stays, so we start off by working right next to the dog, asking them to hold a stay for 3-5 seconds while we reinforce them for staying in position. Gradually build up the time, and then start varying the reinforcement rate. THEN you start adding distance, and increase the reinforcement rate. The most important part of the stay is the release cue, so you want to be sure that you are not asking the dog to stay longer than he is capable of. Better to have him consistently holding a stay for 3 seconds than to ask for 5 seconds and have him break at 4. And finally, stay is not an exciting command, and I, personally, would not ask my dog to do it repeatedly in a row. Maybe a couple of times, interspersed with doing a lot of other things, so that he stays engaged and motivated to work. It's not the easiest thing to train, and takes some time with short intervals to get right. Hope something in this was helpful!

The other thing to consider is "what is your dog actually learning" while at a dog park? I have a rat terrier to go along with my greyhound, and they don't really play together. So I decided to try taking the rattie to the small-dog side of the dog park. She will wander around and greet the other dogs, and she will run if I run around. The only thing that she does that resembles "play" is that she will fence run with the big dogs. And, when she fence runs, she barks. And then she will bark if the other dog wanders off to play with other big dogs. So, I am asking myself, do I REALLY want to teach little Pixie that it is acceptable to bark at dogs much bigger than she is, and to go running up barking at big dogs? No, because if she does that to the wrong dog, in the wrong situation, I could wind up with a very dead dog. Add in the fact that when I whip out the leash at the dog park, she is at my feet, tail wagging and mouth grinning, and I think she is making it quite clear that she would much rather go for a hike than hang out with the other dogs. So, we won't be going any more. And I disagree that even young greyhounds need to go to the dog park. They need a place where they can run off energy, and they need a place where they can socialize with other dogs in a controlled, safe manner, but that does not need to be the same space. Granted, since I also live in southern California, I do understand that it is difficult to find a large, fenced in area to let a dog run that is NOT a dog park. People outside of California may not realize just how difficult that is. In fact, one of the local dog parks in my area is smaller than most midwestern yards! So if that's your only option, I would strongly suggest going well outside the normal hours (as in, when it's dark) so that you can, hopefully, have the place to yourself.

If Cetus will not back down from a fight, he does NOT need to be at a dog park, period. He's quickly outgrowing his puppy license, and dogs will be more apt to correct his bad behavior. Which is what Mr Rumbles did, and, if Cetus had backed down, would have been the end of it. But if Cetus starts feeling his oats, and thinking he's a big dog now and doesn't need to back down, and the other dogs get tired of being pestered, you are going to get more of what happened. Also, whether or not you think he should be allowed to play with Mr Rumbles may be a moot point. Your dog instigated a fight that had to be broken up physically. No way in the world would I let my dog play with yours again after that, if I were Rumbles' owner. Partly because your dog has shown that he is an instigator, and why risk my dog's health? And partly because I wouldn't want my dog practicing fighting as a means of putting other dogs in their place. So you may find that the owners who previously let Cetus play with their dogs will now leave when you arrive.

And, by keeping some things that he CAN have within reach, and (apparently) leaving other things that he CAN'T have within reach, you are sending him very mixed messages. If there were other things at the same level as the cigar box, he has no reason to understand that those are ok, and the box isn't. But, as others have said, you get the kong, tell him something like "Trade", and offer it to him in such a way that he has to physically move away from the box. If it's on the left side of him, offer the kong on the right. Or off the sofa. Then you quietly and calmly pick up the No item, and go on with life. If you offer the higher-value item close to the item you want, you can wind up with an issue since he now has two items to guard close to each other.

It sounds like this dog is not a good fit for your household. There are dogs that would be... my first greyhound, over there in my avatar, was a bombproof dog, probably exactly what you are looking for. My second dog came to me a spook, with the same kind of issues about spooking to noises blocks away. She's on Prozac now, and that has helped a lot with the situation, but she's always probably going to be a bit more difficult to deal with than a "normal dog". But given your situation, especially with the cats, I would be thinking about returning the dog. That was one of the points I emphasized with my adoption groups: the cats were here first, and if the dog didn't get along with them, the dog would have to go.

Clickers are wonderful for training greyhounds. One of the best things I did with Katie was play "101 things to do with a box". This is a game that the dog can't lose, because you basically click them for doing anything with a box that you have set out in the room. The entire idea with this is to teach the dog that it is a GOOD thing to try offering different behaviors. Once they get the lightbulb moment (oh hey! I can make my owner click and give me treats!), then clicker training becomes much easier, because it's all about catching and shaping behavior. Here's some video of Katie playing 101 things to do with a box And here's some of her showing off what she knows: If you are going to go with clicker training, it's a very good idea to use dinner as the treats. Hope this helps!

The reason that my adoption group gives on why they do not adopt to families with young children has nothing to do with aggression, but I do think needs to be considered. And that is that a small child, who happens to be standing in the wrong place when a 60 pound dog goes flying by at 30+ miles an hour, doesn't just get bumped. They get hit with a large force, knocked down, bruised, etc. And that can happen with the most friendly dog around. Perhaps even more likely with them, since they are going to be the ones more likely to be running around everywhere. Now, I grant you that this is more of an issue with the younger kids, and smaller ones, who are less likely to be able to get out of the way and more easily knocked around. But they apparently had many dogs returned from homes with young kids for this reason (apparently one kid even wound up with a broken arm from it), so now the rule is that they don't adopt out to families with small kids. However, if you bring your kid to the meet and greets so that they get to know you, your kids, etc., it's a lot harder to say no. Just some things to ponder.

I have two dogs, Katie the greyhound and Pixie the rat terrier. Katie is a bit of a spook, so my issue is actually getting her to go on walks. Pixie has helped immensely with that, since she LOVES walks! But still, I get into the situation where Pixie wants to stop and sniff, and Katie wants to keep going. Or Pixie is ready to go, and Katie is stating. It's a little frustrating, but I handle it by generally walking them together once a day, for a shorter walk, in areas that I know Katie can handle. Those walks are generally oriented towards motion, with minimal stopping, and Pixie mostly does well, with just an occasional reminder to loosen up on the leash. And then I do a second walk that's just Pixie, so that I can work on introducing her to new surfaces, obstacles, work on obedience, and practice commands and leash walking. It's more work, but it does seem to work out pretty well.

I used acupuncture on Trinkett towards the end when her back and hip were bothering her. They never asked me to leave the room, since the needles need to stay in for 10-15 minutes and they don't want the dog to move during that time. Moving makes the needles hurt. Vets like doing acupuncture on greyhounds, since all the landmarks are so easy to see! The techs used to love getting to monitor Trink, since she would just lay there, so it was really easy for them. And it did seem to help her a lot, probably the most out of the alternative therapies I tried. There was a time or two when she yelped as the needles were placed, which, according to the vet, meant that she really needed them in that area, but most of the time she was perfectly fine with them being placed, removed, the whole experience. On the other hand, this was a dog who "objected" to the vet manipulating her broken leg by lifting her head off the ground, so pretty stoic.

I'm not sure I agree. On the face of it, it sounds good. But a 60 pound greyhound in a 45 mph crash is going to hit the crate with 2700 pounds of force. At 60 mph, the dog will hit with 3600 pounds of force. (Numbers from http://www.bucklebuddy.org/crash-force-calculator) The question which needs to be answered is whether the crate, especially if it's plastic, can withstand that impact force without shattering. And that isn't something that crate manufacturers seem to advertise. If the crate shatters in impact, you now have the dog being a projectile, and lots of shards of really sharp plastic flying around. I'm not entirely sure that the seat belts will work in a crash, but they will hopefully keep the dog from moving around too much in the car. To be brutally honest, I see them more of on the lines of cargo tie-downs: meant to protect the humans in the crash from the dog, but not necessarily to protect the dog. Here's some video of crash tests, unfortunately in German: Please note in this case they are using a 4 kg (roughly 9 pound) cat dummy on the back seat. They do say that the safest transport method is either crated in the footwell, or crated perpendicular to the line of travel and secured against the back seat, in the page I could find to translate. Sorry.. the second link should be this:

This is a good website to find out information about pet doors: http://www.petdoors.com . Clever name, huh? Their FAQ page gives a lot of advice about measuring, rise, flaps, etc. One thing to be careful of with greys is that too large of a flap can allow people in, AND make it difficult to use the slider yourself. So take a hard look at the measurement page so you can figure out what you really need.

My parents had seatbelts in the back seat LONG before they were standard equipment (they had to install them themselves!), simply because they quickly figured out that three kids strapped in seatbelts were less likely to be poking, punching, and crawling on each other. So yeah, the dogs do not NEED to be able to wander all over the car. I did have a problem in my Scion of not having any cargo tie downs. I put down the back seats, so I wound up attaching the restraint to the metal loop that keeps the seat backs locked in an upright position. It may not be ideal, but it seemed like the best option. I figured if they were strong enough to keep the seats stable in an accident, they would be strong enough to hold the dog.

The Thundershirt is based upon Temple Grandin's discovery that firm pressure around the torso can be extremely relaxing to some people. If you look at her research, it appears that about 68% of the people she had try her "squeeze box" reported favorable results. Of course, that means that 32% didn't, and for the claustrophobes, it was very stressful. So, which group does your dog fall into? You won't know until you try it. If you do not want to shell out the money, even with the refund policy, and have an old t-shirt you are willing to sacrifice, you can try an improvised one. Put t-shirt on dog over head, front legs in sleeves. Cut a slit up the back, and take the two pieces and tie them in such a way that the shirt is firmly against the dog (without choking him, of course!) and with the knot off to one side of the spine. If that seems to have an affect, then you can look at getting the Thundershirt, which is much easier to put on and adjust.

I have a seat belt that I use with Katie, and just got one to use with Pixie. However, today when I was using it I got to watch her just squeeze her body right out of it, after I thought I needed to go up a size because it was too tight! So I am going to have to see what I can do with the adjustments, or go back to crating her, which I would rather not because that takes up much more space and is less likely to stay in one piece in an accident.

This is just my experience, with my dog. Katie came to me a terrified, spook of a greyhound. It's taken time and patience, but once she had the "ah hah!" clicker moment, she has been a treat to train. Knows a lot of tricks. Now, I'm not interested in straight obedience, so I don't know how I would do with her in a class, and I have a trainer that is very much a "go at your own pace" kind of person, so it all works for me. Having said that, the little rat terrier that followed me home is a much faster learner. So, I do think you need to go and watch some of the sessions and see what is going to be expected. If you find the right greyhound, you may not have any issues. On the other hand, there are definitely breeds that would be easier to work with, and if the group is one where you WILL be expected to have your dog at the same level as everyone else at the same time, it may be best to go with one of the other breeds. I'd also want to know whether they are corrective or positive reinforcement trainers, since that would influence whether I even joined the group or not.

Which shows you one of the issues with dealing with shy/fearful dogs: competing, and complete opposite, advice, depending on who you ask. When I first adopted Katie, I brought in a trainer from Gentle Guidance, which is owned by Nicole Wilde, author of _Help for your Fearful Dog_. And their advice was to ignore Katie for the first two weeks, except to feed and take out for potty breaks (so no eye contact, no speaking to her, no approaching her, etc), so that she could settle in and learn the routine and start approaching at her own pace. Their view is that even something as simple as looking at an extremely shy dog puts pressure on them, and that causes them stress and can shut them down. Forcing the dog to endure petting, especially when cornered, could result in the dog feeling they have no way to get away except by biting, and that isn't what we want them to learn. As I have learned from the shy-k9s Yahoo group, a lot of dealing with shy dogs is "what works for this particular dog?" Because they can be very individualistic in their issues, and in what helps them get over them.

Hi! This evening, Katie decided to go out and do some zoomies. Gorgeous to watch, but when she was done, I noticed that one back leg was trembling badly. Visibly trembling, from the hip down to the foot. Just on one side (the right leg), with the left one seeming perfectly normal. I have occasionally thought that there is something odd about how she walks on that leg, but it's been the really subtle "did I really see anything, because now that I am concentrating on it, it seems fine" kind of thing. So, does anyone have any thoughts on this? Later this night, she was walking on it fine (and, technically, she was walking fine on the leg when it was trembling. Or at least it seemed like she was weight-bearing on it, which seems kind of odd given that the foot was vibrating.) The only other symptoms I can think of is that she has had some soft stools recently, which the vet thinks was just the intestinal flora being out of whack and which seemed to have resolved with a shot of antibiotics, until this evening after the zoomies. On the other hand, it was after some intense zoomies, so maybe that's not so odd. And the vet said that her thyroid level was low, even for a greyhound, being 0.4 where normal is 1-4. However, she said that could be a result of the stomach issue, so we will be retesting in a month to see what happens. So, thoughts? I will probably be making a vet appointment, but want to know what sort of questions I should be asking. Rebecca and Katie

Hackles are a sign of arousal. That could be aggression, excitement, or several other things. It's something to keep an eye on, because it means your dog is getting worked up. Whether that is to suddenly attack a dog or to go darting off because he wants to play, you need to be aware of the potential for sudden activity.

You cannot reinforce fear. You may, inadvertently, reinforce a behavior that happens when a dog is fearful, but you are not reinforcing the fear itself. What I am trying to say is that it is perfectly ok to comfort your dog when she is fearful. Think of it this way: if you are scared of something, and someone gives you a hug in the presence of the feared item and tells you everything is going to be ok, are you going to be more scared when you see the scary item the next time? That's what would happen if comforting actually reinforced fear. Odds are that you might feel a little better about the item, or perhaps just as scared. Now, you do want to do the comforting in the right manner. Be matter-of-fact, reassuring, motherly, if you will. But do not do the frantic, baby-talking, quick motion kind of comforting, because that can make a dog more anxious, since that doesn't translate as comforting in a dog's world. It is possible to, as I said, inadvertently reinforce fearful behavior, much the same way that a kid can learn that if they start crying after they fall down they will get a kiss and a treat, and start doing that even when they are not that hurt. But it should be fairly easy to tell when they are faking it, and then just start working on changing that behavior, if you find that you are in that situation. I will also add that being scared causes certain physiological changes, due to hormones, that can take up to a week to dissipate, and which will pre-sensitize a dog to fearful situations that happen in that week. In other words, if your dog is scared (like many are on the 4th of July), and then encounters a feared item on the 6th, they are going to react more strongly than they would have if they met it on the 3rd, since the body is already dealing with fear-based hormones. It's like when you deal ok with the rush-hour traffic, and your boss yelling at you, and spilling red wine on your favorite blouse, and then blow up because the soda machine took your money. Things just build up until the body can't take it.

Sounds like my Trinkett post-amputation. They said that they would normally keep her overnight after surgery, but she wasn't settling down at the vet's so they sent her home that evening because they thought she would do better in a less-stressful environment. (She always acted like she had claustrophobia, and being in a crate would make her pace and pace.) It was a long rough night of her panting a lot, and pacing somewhat. It was tough on me, but she was a lot better by morning. If you are really concerned, you might try calling your local e-vet and see if they think this is a pretty normal reaction or not. I can almost guarantee that Bari will be doing better by morning, if you can wait that long.

Hi! I can relate to where you are. Katie, as beautiful and smart and clever as she is, came to me terribly noise-phobic, and terrified of being outside. If I were you, I would be calling around to some other trainers/behaviorists and seeing if you can find someone you feel more comfortable with. This Yahoo group http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/shy-k9s/ could probably point you to some good leads. It will take a few days to get approved, so if you want, I can ask there and see who they recommend in your area. Oh, and I have Katie on Prozac, and admit to being a little surprised at how easy it is out here in California to get that prescribed and filled. 15 bucks for a 40-day supply at WalMart. It makes a huge difference in how Katie feels and behaves, but the time until a loading dose built up was hard. It tends to make her lethargic and depressed, and then one day she is just "all right, I feel fine now!" Just curious why you recommend starting with the Reconcile and switching to the generic, instead of starting with the generic? I started Katie with the generic, and didn't have any issues with it.