brianamac
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Posts posted by brianamac
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Hmmm, I still think it could apply, it would just involve a change from the current routine.
You've asked for advice on this a couple of times, sooo... as they say-- keep doing the same thing, continue getting the same result.
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What a beautiful story, sounds like your home and hearts were made specifically for her. Lots of warm thoughts going out to you and your family.
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Glad you had a success! Sounds like a good step that you and Hester can build off of.
I know what your beaches are like and I understand why you take Hester there to run off leash... Gorgeous and few chances of escape/danger.
I second what NeylasMom talked about anyways. Boo is also 'picky' about what dogs he meets and he has NO patience for high energy dogs (unless it's another greyhound, of course!). We do not risk his 'warnings' turning into a provocation incident with another dog. Therefore, we walk him on leash in the neighbourhood where we will meet other dogs that are (usually) leashed. It is a slow work in progress in which we ignore approaching dogs that are high energy by walking quickly past, and then verbally reward him for not paying attention. When we encounter dogs that look to be 'Boo safe', we let him make a quick (2-3 second) sniff greeting with the dog and then we carry on and treat him. The key to this is that we do not take him to beaches or off-leash parks while leashed. I think this desensitization process is most effective when the dog interactions occur between two leashed dogs. When we encounter an un-leashed dog on walks, as is inevitable sometimes, we simply give a wide berth and ignore. He is becoming increasingly patient with other dogs, even rude ones.
As for running off leash--which Boo loves to do of course, as it appears Hester does too--we take him to areas at times we know he will not likely run into other dogs. If another dog arrives, we leash him back up and carry on.
As first time greyhound owners, until we can work through his dog 'issues' (or at least gain a reliable understanding of how he will react), we feel off-leash interactions with other dogs are irresponsible on our part. While potentially negative interactions aren't frequent, we know the possibility is there and will avoid it until we feel fully comfortable with Boo's dog to dog interactions.
It's working for us and may be worth a try with Hester, even though it will disrupt the current exercise/socialization routine you guys are on. -
He felt your heart in all of your actions over the years, but especially the last couple of months. Peace wishes for you both.
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Seizure. My guy has idiopathic epilepsy. His seizures started at about age 3. I know way more than I want to know about seizures.
Here's the run down. Seizures can be caused by a few different things. They can be partial (absent) where they only affect one part of the body, or they can be grand mal, where the entire body is affected. What you described sounds typical of a grand mal seizure. In seizure dogs, you'll see kicking of the legs, voiding the bowels or bladder, disorientation, foaming of the mouth, an unfocused gaze, etc. The duration varies, but the actual seizing may last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. In the last stage of the seizure, it's also quite common for the dog to appear "out of it" for awhile. They may pant and appear confused. During "cluster seizures," the dog may repeatedly have seizures one after the other.
Because your guy is still fairly young, it's likely that his seizures are idiopathic (meaning, there is a blip in his brain that causes them randomly) as opposed to things like cancer, brain tumors, encephalitis, etc. Seizures can also be caused by medications, environmental stimuli, food, and situational stress, so it's a good idea to document when and where your dog's seizures occurred, how long after he ate, how long it lasted, if he took flea/tick/heartworm preventative that day, etc. Sometimes you can find patterns that way. As far as your vet goes, your first step is to get bloodwork done. It's a good idea to do a CBC (complete blood count) including a full thyroid panel and a Tick Borne Disease panel. Although it's not as common as epilepsy, sometimes thyroid conditions or TBDs like Ehrlychia can cause seizures. Don't be surprised if the tests come back 100% normal and your vet sends you home without any medication. There's not much treatment information the vet can give if this is his first seizure and isn't experiencing other symptoms.
If nothing seems out of the ordinary on that end, then it's largely a waiting game. Because many seizure meds have side effects, vets will generally hold off medicating unless the seizures start occurring on a fairly regular basis, usually more than once a month. If the seizures increase and you think it's time to medicate, I highly recommend doing a consult with a veterinary neurologist to talk about medications. BE VERY CAREFUL, as many vets without much seizure experience will put a dog on Phenobarbital as a blanket solution. The side effects of Pheno can be worse than the seizures themselves. These can include liver damage, sedation, wobbliness, digestive problems, etc. If you have to medicate, Pheno is the most "tried and true" drug. However, there are other options besides Pheno, and the neurologist should be able to tell you which one is most appropriate for your dog. We chose a newer drug called Zonisamide, and Henry has been seizure free since December with very minimal side effects.
Like I said, some dogs don't require medication right away, if at all. Your dog may continue to have seizures regularly, or he may never have one again. Henry went a good two years before medication became necessary. In that time, his seizures were 6-7 months apart. Having a seizure dog isn't the end of the world. There are some precautions that you should take if you share a home with other dogs, if you go to dog parks, if you board your dog, etc. But otherwise, they are quite capable of leading very normal lives without many problems. There are also several online support groups and websites that are excellent sources of information.
If you have questions or want to talk, feel free to email me. Good luck with your boy
alicia dot daerr at gmail dot comBible of information right there Alicia! I will definitely contact you with any questions I have if it starts happening at any frequency.
Thanks for all the responses and great advice, guys. We have started a log with all of the details, and hopefully we never have to use it again.
Glad we know what went on now, the scariest part was not knowing what had happened to Boo during that time.
Since I have never yet posted a picture of him on greytalk, now is probably the time-- cuddling with his main lady, Karmen.
http://
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It was probably a seizure. Our Lab had them too and she would loose bladder and bowel control. Hers were infrequent and luckily controlable with Chinese Medicines. After she started these she never had another seizure.
Which Vet do you use?
We see Dr. Dan Schlesinger at Landing Animal Clinic. I just called and talked to them and they said it sounded like a seizure. A different vet reviewed his blood results over the phone and said he did have one liver value that came back high, but she wasn't sure if that was a normal greyhound result. I'll probably phone and talk to Dr. Schlesinger again in the morning and get his opinion.
Thanks for the responses all.
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Hopefully some seizure people may respond. I'm wondering if this is worth another vet visit or if we should just monitor him closely for another?
I should have also mentioned that he is 2.5 years old.
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Sorry in advance for the length of this.
This morning I was sitting in bed, checking my email, and Boo was laying in bed with me like he always does.
He had been dozing a bit and switching positions and was laying forward on his legs at the time. Sometimes his legs twitch while he is in a deep sleep, but he is always laying on his side when this happens.
His back left leg suddenly started kicking, and at first I thought maybe he was dreaming. But then his leg started kicking quite violently, much more than I have ever seen him do. I leaned around to look at his face and his eyes were open but he was just staring ahead, his head was up a bit (not resting on his legs). I said his name a couple of times but he didn't acknowledge me and the kicking continued.
Then it stopped. He turned and looked down and he (and I) realized he had lost control of his bladder. I got up and called him off the bed to go outside, but he didn't want to get up. I tried a few times but wondered if he was nervous about getting in trouble for peeing in the house, so I sat down and petted him and talked to him for a few minutes and then called him outside and he got up and went.
He doesn't really ever have accidents in the house. He seems to be walking and acting fine now, although he has been sleeping on the couch since it happened and didn't go for his usual run in the yard when he went out this morning.
He had a full blood panel done 2 weeks ago, mostly normal. Thyroid low (even for a grey, said the vet), but TSH came back normal. Cortisol test normal. Urinalysis and physical exam normal. Only issue was hookworms, which we are currently treating.
Does anybody have any insights into what might have happened?
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We bought our boy one too, because we thought he had a bully stick sensitivity and he has a chewing need.
The lady at the store said the ones that are split in half are a good 'introduction' to see if they like them, cuz it lets them get at the good stuff inside faster.
I'm not upset I bought it, because he does chew it occasionally. However, he doesn't care too much for it. We've had it for a four months or so, and it is still basically intact.. I think it totally depends on the dog. I think they're worth a try though.
Maybe start by buying a smaller split one to test the waters so you don't waste too much money though.
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Ahhh! This is familiar! Our boy doesn't like going for walks anymore, and consequently gets bored inside the house. Even with awesome treats, he doesn't enjoy training for more than 10 mins MAX.
His favorite non-walk activities to quell boredom:
1) Car rides. Even if I don't have anywhere to go, I'll put him in the car, crack a window so he gets a breeze and some sniffs, and drive to the way far away convenience store to get a pack of gum or magazine for myself (or... chocolate bar!
) It seems to quell the boredom and he gets excited to go.2) Kongs, even when full of super tasty things, don't interest Boo. He just gives up. But then we discovered the line of Martha Stewart plush toys that look like a branch with crinkly little squirrel stuffies they can pull out of the hole (or the Martha honey pot, with bear stuffies), and while he has no interest in digging the squirrels or bears out, we fill them with kibble and a few other smelly small treats. Then we put the squirrels back in to plug the treats inside and he spends at least 20 minutes on this 'project'. Having a plush toy with treats inside seems to work much better than a hard rubber object with treats inside.
3) Scavenger hunts! I will pick a super smelly and unusual treat and break it into many pieces, then and hide it in boxes, behind the tv, and in other random spots within the house. Then I give him a smell and taste of the treat and he runs around searching for the rest of the pieces. It seems to wear him out mentally a bit, and a nap usually ensues.
Hope this helps, good luck!
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Been following your and Neko's journey. What a horrible toughie to go through. Lots of good thoughts going out from our family to yours. I've been checking every day for progress reports... Stay well.
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Our meet and greet location at Petsmart is one door away from the vet office... Everyone takes their greys in to get weighed every week. The receptionists just smile and say hi, no biggie.
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Haha, this made me laugh too. As new greyhound owners 9 months in, we regularly check our SUPER tiny yard for any debris, bottle caps, anything that could cause injury (he navigates okay around the round picnic table)... and find nothing. He still sometimes comes in with bleeding cuts on his feet from hidden ice under the snow, or some small, bleeding, missing skin pieces from who knows what. We watch him EVERY time he is in the yard... we are now just getting used to the fact that he scrapes easily. No matter how much we freak out over it, it doesn't seem to bother him and we have learned that he heals quickly from these injuries that seems scary to us, but are par for the course for him.
I agree with the poster that said to cover railway ties or other obstacles with a bucket though. That could help make you feel more comfortable.
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Truman is a cleptomaniac. He steals anything and everything, then takes it out the dog door. An incomplete list includes: shoes, undergarments, electronics, bed pillows, tupperware, utensils, oven mits, remote controls, magazines, the mail, bags of flour, toilet paper, cardboard boxes, DBF's retainer, K-Cups, banana peels, toothpaste, cat toys... the list goes on and on.
We have a clepto too! Sometimes he piles the items up in his crate neatly. But yes--books, coffee mugs, remote controls, empty gum packs, toilet paper, bras, and
tampons have all been found...The only ones he likes to chew are books.... except the one rogue wine glass he chewed, which ended in a panic.
Now we are okay with him stealing things occasionally, but keep the potentially dangerous goods closely guarded.
I think its kind of a cute habit...
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I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but....
We have always crated Boo when we leave the house and he doesn't mind it, but at one point we decided it was 'time' to start leaving him out. He was alone for about 5 minutes and peed. We tried again a few weeks later, and again, gone 10 minutes and he peed (even though he had gone out and done all of his business before we left both times). He has never had accidents in the house otherwise.
He doesn't have SA when we are gone when he is crated (we've recorded him), but for some reason being left out when we are gone is stressful for him.
Of course, we could slowly try and train him into being more comfortable... but if he's fine in his crate, why would we?
I don't love the idea of him always being crated when we leave the house either, but I now realize that is my human guilt projection. Obviously being crated is preferable to him since he shows no signs of stress that way.
If Camo doesn't mind being crated, maybe that is the best solution for now (or maybe forever).
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Super cool that you have all this inside info from someone who knew him in the kennel... that's great!
I'm sure it's more the 'image' of a man, but to help at home maybe you could find some youtube videos where a man speaks, turn it up loud, and feed him yummy treats. Even though he may not react negatively to voice alone, it may help acclimatize him to one of the aspects of men he is scared of (the deep voice).
I understand, our boy is WAY more afraid of men then anyone else.
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Two weeks ago, Tracker was attacked by two off leash dogs (one a pit bull type dog, the other a mutt that seemed to have GSD in him and whatever else) that broke through a dilapidated fence. First off, Tracker "only" had 4-5 spots where the other dogs broke skin, and a number of scratches that removed some hair, but nothing that required stitches, so we were extremely lucky. I as kicking and screaming away at these dogs, until the owner came out and was able to grab her dogs by their collars. She was as shaken as I was, and felt terrible. Tracker was shaken like I've never seen him on the way back to the car, frequently looking back over his shoulder to make sure they weren't coming after him. I couldn't calm down for 2 hours after that, feeling like I had let him down by not carrying a spray etc, but he was fine, and didn't seem worse for the wear afterwards.
The Pit bull clearly was the instigator. The other one, the mutt, was jazzed up, but seemed more along for the ride and some "fun". Everything is a blur now, but I mostly remember a huge amount of barking, and my only kicking the pit bull. I still have an image burnt into my mind with the pit bull having her muzzle wrapped around Tracker's throat, but when I checked there was not a single hair missing of his throat fur. My question is: if dogs want to kill, they will. Considering the amount of frantic energy around, I expected this to end extremely badly, while in the middle of it. But considering the paper thins skin of greyhounds, and what damage a determined dog can havoc, and then considering the relatively mild damage actually did inflict, I can only come to the conclusion these two dogs didn't set out to kill/damage, even though they sure looked it the way they were thundering towards us. So what motivates dogs like that? Are they just out to release frustrations quickly (territorial/too little exercise/generally messed up), and once the energy has been released, they quickly calm down? Tracker also valiantly tried to fight back, or at the very least barked his head off (I can't really remember), which may have had an impact on the outcome. As soon as their owner had grabbed them, they just sat there, quietly and calmly, while she and I were talking.
At any rate, I know that we can thank our lucky stars that nothing worse happened.
SO SO sorry this happened to you guys. I do hope Tracker doesn't sustain any emotional damage that affects his daily routine as a result.
It's great that the owner was upset about the situation too.
Our dog was attacked while on leash by an off-leash rottweiler (nothing against the breed itself) back in August, but the owner was MUCH less accommodating than the owner you encountered. So in my experience, the attack arose from an owner that trains/encourages his dog to be an intimidation tool. Not applicable in your case, so I have no advice on that front.
How is Tracker doing now though? Is he going for walks like normal after the attack or is he having issues?
Normal walk are still an issue we deal with on a daily basis, post-attack.
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This picture is hysterical. Between this and the most recent ones from Greg I am laughing my butt off.
And I'm right back to what I said in my first post - you just know a smile when you see one. It's so ridiculously silly.
Although looking at these photos, you do see a lot of gum. The lips are pulled SO far up, not back but up, and I think that may be a key difference.
Glad to hear this, too. Many posters noted to watch the body language, but in the original post my question was that there was no concerning body language... when we backed off, his mouth relaxed and covered his teeth a bit, but he continued to lay on his back/side looking for belly pets.
Until we know him much better, we might just back off when he does this to be safe.
However, given the relaxed pose and lack of body language to indicate we were upsetting him, I am going to assume it was some sort of smile. Having seen him snarl and bare teeth at us in the past, this certainly looked different... like Greg's photo. It was a big teeth and gum show rather than the usual twitchy lip showing the canines.
If/when he does it again I will try and snap a photo. Either way we will try and watch for further signals.
Thanks for all the help and would love to see more pictures if anyone wants to share. The smiles certainly like unique on different dogs!
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Ahhh, very helpful! Thank you guys. Love the pictures... so cute!
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Hmm, I don't exactly have experienced advice, but a similar situation. Boo was around my niece's puppy mini schnauzer (5 months old) who would approach him on his bed and he reacted the same way. Lots of warning growls, and the puppy didn't take the hint. He got more growls and a couple of warning snaps.
I know a lot of people might disagree with this advice, but I would just muzzle the greyhound and let him growl and snap away so the puppy learns. Then you don't have to worry the puppy will be hurt if he gets in the way of a snap, but they grey feels free to express what his boundaries are.
Could be totally wrong, but that is what I would do in order to feel comfortable letting your greyhound express himself around such a small dog that might sustain injury more easily than a larger dog.10 weeks?! That seems so young. No wonder the puppy is testing boundaries.
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Super cute pictures! No advice though.
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Maybe he is crying/whimpering out of excitement in his sleep? Maybe his dreams are just more active and exciting him more? I suppose you could always just wake him up by calling his name and give him some cuddles when it happens. Even if it is a happy dream I'm sure Jack would enjoy it
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Hmm, very interesting! I had youtubed 'greyhound smile' previously to see, but watching multiple videos (kestral greyhound smiling, particularly) helped. They do seem to show ALL of their teeth in a smile, as opposed to just a few when they're upset. Was just curious to see what other people's greyhounds do and how they can tell.
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Does he use any other body language with this, whale eye, yawning, licking lips
He kind of always does some calming signals like licking lips, yawning, etc. anytime we approach or pet him. So we go slow. And he seems to enjoy it when he laying down, lifts his legs and rolls onto his back to get more pets.... so during the belly rub process, he gave no previous calming signals like you mentioned.
However, when he bares his teeth when we manhandle his feet, he doesn't give any signals then either, prior to the teeth.
The only way I can differentiate is in the manner he showed his teeth.... just don't know if that is reliable
It's working for us and may be worth a try with Hester, even though it will disrupt the current exercise/socialization routine you guys are on.
alicia dot daerr at gmail dot com
) It seems to quell the boredom and he gets excited to go.
tampons have all been found...
Help! Miami May Have Licked Up Shards Of Glass!
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
Phew! Glad Miami seems to be doing okay. Indeed, when this happened to Boo I almost had a heart attack.
We were on poop patrol for a few days, checking closely for blood. Also, you may want to check with your regular vet for antibiotics? Our vet said that bread should help minimize the likelihood of a puncture or anything, but to give antibiotics in case the glass scraped his throat or stomach on the way down.