quarrystepper

After reading your post more thoroughly, JJNg, I have to say that our vet was STRIVING for a primary closure rather than a granulation approach. He insisted that the goal was to remove the last vertebra and leave plenty of skin with which to overlap the tip, just as your diagram depicts. That said, Brooks's tail POST-OP looked a lot like your pre-op photo dated 8/6/2011. That's basically the amount of red, inflamed, exposed skin that was left to heal AFTER his tail was docked. It was at least two inches of furless, compromised tissue that we were left with after his final surgery. As I have said, it took four months to heal, literally one millimeter at a time. Your final photo dated only 17 days later is making me feel like we got a pretty bad deal, or we were just incredibly unlucky.

Wow, that's an impressive heal. Wish we had had your expertise in our case, JJNg. Brooks's tail doesnt even look that good now, and it is ostensibly healed after docking and 10 months of stability. The most noticeable difference between those photos and Brooks after his first surgery is how much the contours of Brooks's vertebra were apparent during the healing process. In your pre-op photos, the skin appears almost completely flat over the remaining vertebrae. In Brooks's case, it never looked that smooth, but instead was much more bumpy toward the last inch or so. To this day, we can almost see the white bony end of his stump through the skin, and unlike your post-op photo, his fur never grew back over the tip. During the docking surgery, our vet also added a "padding layer" of grafted skin at the tip (something I had read about on GT and suggested in my desperation for a good outcome). I honestly still wonder if that was a bad idea. Especially considering he actually took my advice, and I'm far from a DVM! Ebscearce, how is Trump doing personality-wise? We noticed quite a change in Brooks during his recovery. Luckily his mood did eventually improve once he was stable (but that was weeks after the e-collar came off). Hope Trump is managing okay.

Personally, I think the "30 beanie babies" comment demands a bit more detail...

Brooks's happy tail returned pretty quickly after his first surgery, guess it started feeling better after a few days on pain meds, and with the plastic syringe over the too-tight wrap it was a constant whapping sound on walls, etc. We tried the backwards kids' t-shirt and the loose tie-the-tail-to-one-leg trick to no avail. The bone was totally exposed when we finally returned to the vet two weeks after surgery and they unwrapped it. After the second surgery (docking it) the setbacks occurred the one or two times he got around the e-collar, ripped through the wrapping and licked off the scab. When that happened, there was always some good new skin higher up the tail that wasn't quite stable yet and would come off too. Looked like a chicken neck. It was so upsetting and frustrating to watch the slow progression. We weren't always patient with the process toward the end, and a couple of times, we thought he could be trusted (while we were home) to stay off it... but of course, we were wrong then, too. The lessons learned were definitely the need for daily rewrapping and constant monitoring, and no exceptions on the 24/7 e-collar. I think the Granulex and OnSite helped but they only helped offset an otherwise shoddy job of providing enough skin over the tip of the tail for a more natural and speedy recovery.

I'm sorry I didn't see this post until now. I'm not a frequent GT contributor, but if you look at my posting history you'll see that I first came here to talk about Brooks's tail injury and subsequent surgeries. Brooks had a similar incident as username: kudzu. Freak storm door accident after being walked by my mom, only three months after we adopted him. In this case, he lost about 2.5 inches guillotine style in the initial trauma, then another two vertebrae (which had been crushed) in the first surgery. We live in a rural place and unfortunately our local vet (good people, but not greyhound savvy) didn't have a good plan for healing his tail. They tried the v-cut incision and wrapped extra skin around the bone, but what you described re: a plastic syringe and toilet paper roll sounds eerily similar to the initial post-op treatment suggestions we were given. We were also instructed NOT to remove and change his dressing, which seems like a no-brainer bad idea now but at the time seemed reasonable. The wrap was on for two weeks, and was apparently too tight, so when we finally took it off the very top of the tail was pink (healing) but most was necrotic and the bone was exposed. The vets were determined to help us by this point, so we stayed with them and scheduled a second surgery which was either going to be another 2-3 vertebrae or a full docking. We felt like the best decision for Brooks and his chance to heal was the dock, so that happened. It, too, did not heal well or quickly. We watched it like a hawk, had some setbacks, became rewrapping pros, and eventfully after four long months the skin was finally pink all the way to the end of his tail. The fur even grew back everywhere but the tip. Brooks wore the e-collar that entire time. Ten months later, it has never opened up, but when we finally saw a greyhound pro vet (our adoption group's preferred doc) she was very disappointed that it had come to that decision, and pointed out that the layer of skin covering the tip is VERY thin, so we might run the risk of a problem down the road. Anyway, I have a couple suggestions. We used Granulex spray to help promote healing and removal of exude. If I had known about manuka honey we might have tried that too. My stepmom is a wound care nurse (for humans) and sent me a bunch of vials of a topical called OnSite that also worked well at promoting healthy, pink skin where there had been gray, unhealthy, furless skin or dying, blackened tissue. Sounds like you've got a great thing going with the daily rewraps from the vet. Wish you the best and hope it heals quickly from this point on!

Brooks is immensely food-driven too. He is my first greyhound (my wife's second, but first in ten years) so this first 14 months has been a learning curve for dog-proofing our lives. On the short list of things he's discovered, frequently by counter surfing at the beginning of our time together, and more recently as he had to become more crafty and deliberate, are: several baggies of candle beads one hour after bringing them home as an Xmas gift, a brand new HUGE bar of green soap (broke into the closed bathroom for that one, blew soap bubbles from his mouth for 12 hours and then erupted in vomit for another 8), my wife's makeup case which was buried in a suitcase left half-zipped on a tall four-poster bed (still don't know how he got up there, it's too tall even for him, and when I say case, he ate the entire thing contents and all), and most recently a new cardboard box full of microwaveable breakfast cups of some supergrain blend that my wife had just bought on Amazon. So many gnawed-upon items that we managed to save from his wrath, too. We're talking about a grey who has managed to carry a HEAVY glass food processor (not the base, just the top) out of the kitchen sink to his bed in the other room without breaking it. Lost several wooden spoons and rubber-blade kitchen utensils in this way, too. The worst was the first few months before we got Kali, and Brooks was a terror any time we left him home alone. Our kitchen trash was his favorite method of showing displeasure with our infrequent date nights. It has a foot pedal to open, so we assumed we were cool... until the day he realized he could just knock it over. I should post the photos of the first few times he completely destroyed a trash bag full of old coffee grounds, wet food leftovers, empty yogurt containers, etc. strewn about the kitchen, with his favorites brought to the bed. OR! I just remembered the time he found an old pomegranate in the trash and rescued it from its landfill fate, traipsing seeds across the white dining room carpet, splitting half of them open in the process. Bought a Bissel that weekend. The thing is, we now leave the trash in the laundry room behind a bi-fold wooden door, and he recently has figured out how to pull the door open to gain access. They say sharks develop a taste for blood; I think Brooks has developed a taste for garbage now. This thread is a great place to vent!

Brooks was a lot like Victoria (from the OP) at first. He tends to hang back at the dog park. He'll survey the scene but won't initiate play or race around -- favoring a slow trot around the perimeter once he gets his bearings. The one time we took him to the mega-dogpark in Middletown, DE there was a woman with both a large dog and a small dog (a Jack Russell) in the 25+ lb. dog section. I held Brooks firm on his leash and his muzzle was still on, while this little nuisance yipped and jumped at his backside. Not a pleasant experience. So, suffice to say, he used to be mostly pleased with the company of new humans and that was it. Sounds a lot like Victoria. This was similar to his behavior in foster care and at m&g's, which is why the adoption folks thought he'd be a good solo dog. Of course, what lurks beneath some dogs' calm appearance can be a totally different story when they're a lone dog without a pack. Now that we have Kali, Brooks is a whole lot happier at home but he still doesn't assert himself much at the dog park. We're using the new park here in Chestertown while it's still relatively unknown (only been open about six weeks), so it's not uncommon to be the only ones there. Kali sprints the length of the park at least once, very quickly approaches all newcomers, and loves to play chase with the smaller dogs on the other side of the fence. Brooks will join her in the greetings and occasionally tag-team sniff a more timid dog, but he'll come back to wherever the humans are within a minute. Some dogs just aren't as gregarious!

Agree with this... on all fronts. Sounds like normal transition time re: nipping while he's laying down, being a little wary. We were lucky with our two current greyhounds. One had been fostered and was a champion stairmaster. The other was fresh off the track but gave it the old college try and, though awkward, was at least capable of scrambling to the top when it was clear we'd be hanging out upstairs for a while. She now loves going up the stairs because it almost always means she'll find a ball of yarn to toss around. Good luck, and can't wait to see a photo!

Adaptil is another thing we used during her first few weeks in the crate. I haven't plugged it in lately. Maybe worth another couple weeks. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks for both responses. Re: softer beds, the mat she sleeps on is actually a dog bed, it's just an inexpensive one that has been flattened from use. It's not very big, so she often overlaps onto the carpet or nearby rug. I could see that being part of the problem. We do have two full-sized XL memory foam beds in the house. One is primarily Brooks's, as it lives next to Kali's daytime crate, and the other is in the den, where we watch TV or movies a lot of nights, so it's first-come first-served. I'll sometimes drag the other bed into the den but haven't made a habit of dragging it all the way to the bedroom. Both big beds get a lot of use, so I guess they've voted with their paws -- we could buy a third one for the bedroom. $$$ but oh well. Re: exercise, we have a dog park 3 blocks away and make a visit there at least 2-3x a week. Kali overheated last week on a day that was only 85 degrees, so I'm keeping those visits to a minimum this week (it's about 95 degrees and 90% humidity in Maryland today). Both dogs also get at least one 1.5 mile walk every day, morning or evening depending on whether there's a dog park visit that day. And we have a fenced backyard (about 0.8 acres) which is good for a lengthy play session and zoomies every day. I suppose we could be doing more, for instance I'm sure the 1.5 mile walks, with an occasional 2 mile walk, aren't as lengthy as some greyhound owners can provide. Brooks is more easily exhausted, so perhaps I'll need to drop him off and then keep her going for another .5 mile or more. Food for thought...

I'm going straight to the point with the subject line, as a dose of melatonin is the recommendation of our adoption group. I didn't get any useful hits from search, other than confirming my suspicion -- that melatonin use is somewhat controversial! Here is some background. We adopted Kali (race name Swish) about three months ago. She's so new, I haven't even had time to make a signature image for her yet! She came to us straight from a Melbourne, FL haul. After a brief fostering period, she turned out to be a great complement to Brooks and we made the adoption permanent about six weeks ago. From the outset, she was susceptible to the usual new-to-retirement foibles. Petrified of crossing the kitchen linoleum, didn't understand the concept of stairs, a real pinball during walks, a little leery of new experiences. But thankfully not a spook. This story has a happy ending, because she has adapted wonderfully and, except for a little bit of post-spay health concerns, she's a great pup. The only behavioral issue that still concerns us is her night behavior. When we first got her, she was a very happy crate dog (unlike Brooks, who broke most of his teeth chewing on his crate during his racing years and is completely uncrate-able in retirement). She crates fairly easily when we leave for work and once in a blue moon she'll even go in there voluntarily -- but VERY infrequently unless there are treats involved. However, after the first few nights in the crate, we realized she wasn't any big fan of being crated at night. During those first weeks, despite our best efforts to restrict his options, Brooks would leave the bed we'd placed next to her crate and find somewhere else to sleep, even if it was less comfortable. By 4 in the morning, realizing she was alone, Kali would start a relentless barrage of murderous yelps and whines -- almost like screaming! We ignored as valiantly as we could, had a few groggy days at work as a result, but ultimately -- even without unintentionally rewarding her behavior -- it didn't stop. She was alone, and wanted us to know about it. Although she was still technically a foster at this point, and the foster group insists on crating during nights and work hours, we were told to try letting her sleep outside the crate at night. Boom! Perfect solution. She joined us in the bedroom and settled on a thin dog mat next to the bed, where she has spent most nights since. But here's the problem. Many nights she NEVER seems to settle down. She's not a nester, and not much of a napper in the evenings or daytime (from what we can tell during weekend days when we're home to notice). She is still vigilant about our movements through the house when we're home, which I chalk up to typical adaptation struggles, but I'm worried she doesn't actually get a full night's sleep once the rest of her pack goes to bed. About 4-5 nights a week, she will get up several times during the first hour after bed time. Sometimes she will find another place to flop down in our bedroom for a few minutes, but it seems like she's not finding any comfortable spots. A few nights, she will jump and and pace the hallway for 10-20 minutes, or just stand in the hallway halfway between the room where Brooks sleeps and where we sleep... with her head low, as if she's upset or waiting for something. She will come back into the room, lay down for ten minutes -- then get up and start the sequence over again. Frequently I will wake up in the middle of the night (between 2-4 AM) because I've left her collar on and I can hear tags jangling as she paces the hallway, so it does continue throughout the night once in a while. Maybe she's still wondering where all the other dogs went, and why she doesn't hear the noises of a kennel all night? And on top of all this, she's hitting the three-month mark plateau and starting to act out a little bit in other ways -- during our walks, she's become weirdly skittish about making the final turn for home, and the past two nights, she has refused to come outside at 10 PM for a final pit stop, but then woke us up with a HUGE battery of barks around 4 AM, needing to be let out. Bottom line, is this a normal transition behavior in the first 1-3 months? Brooks used to sleep with us, but once he came to bed, he sacked out completely. Is melatonin a viable option to help her drift off and stay asleep in the same way, or is this even something to be concerned about (i.e. is the idea that she's not getting enough rest a total figment of our human imaginations, imposing our judgments on a dog)? Our bedtime routine is pretty stable, and Brooks has settled into the rhythm expertly (and independently -- he just plops onto his bed in the front of the house around 8 or 9 PM and we don't see him until the morning). We usually have a radio playing quietly in the kitchen overnight, if that matters. If it wasn't for the seeming lack of sleep, I would just wait this period out, but I am really worried Kali isn't able to flip the switch and will be less healthy/adaptable as a result. For reference, here's Kali in happy repose a couple weeks ago: http://www.5thvillage.me/p/474547462880365864_31270770/

Well, you nailed it... it's the new shoots coming up in our backyard that are of particular interest. Heading home to mow in five! She only got sick once (knock on wood) so I don't suspect anything more epidemic. Thanks, all!

Good point, I could just muzzle her every time she goes out. I muzzle her when she's running with Brooks since she's still a foster. It's not convenient but then again, neither is Resolving grassy barf from the white carpet in our dining room.

Sorry to top an existing thread with a slightly different case, but Kali (our foster girl who is six weeks off the track) has taken to eating grass relentlessly while outside in the yard. I give her a stern "eh-eh" whenever I see it, but she is clearly sneaking into the corner and nibbling some because she's horked it up on the carpet a couple times. 1) Is this indicative of bloat, as stated above? She is a bit of a gulper, so I wouldn't be surprised. I will get another gulp-stopper stainless steel ball for her food dish when I go for pet food this week, just in case. This has helped Brooks a lot with his gulping. 2) If it's not necessarily bloat, and more general gastic distress, any suggestions on how I can help diagnose what's really bothering her? I will point out that we switched her food (gradually over a week) when we started fostering her. She doesn't have the firmest stool in the world, but she's not prone to diarrhea so I didn't think we had any issues. 3) Any suggestions on training methodology to help her get over this? I keep the lawn trimmed but if she wants to keep eating grass, something tells me she will find a way.

So sorry for your loss.

Thanks for the numbing idea. I had planned to take him to the vet tomorrow if his condition doesn't improve. They are usually receptive to ideas (not always sure what I'm paying for!) and now it sounds like I'm armed with a good one. He hasn't had the front nails trimmed in a while, so it's possible that's part of it. I honestly don't know how to check for corns or what that would look/feel like, but the front of the paw pad (near where the cut is) does seem tougher and less supple than normal. Thanks for the well wishes.

About three weeks ago, Brooks cut his paw pad on a piece of glass. This hasn't been a good autumn for our pup! It was only a 1.5cm cut but deep enough to reach the "third layer" beneath the rough pad and whatever's just beneath. It was also split open slightly, but the vet opted not to stitch it up because it was in a location that the stitches wouldn't hold. It took about three days for the spot-bleeding to stop, despite shortening his walks consideralby, but we continued with semi-regular epsom salts/Betadine soaks (which we read about on GT) and he was doing much better over the past week. No longer any pronounced limping. The paw appeared to be healing well with no swelling, inflammation or recurrence of blood spots. Then suddenly, over the last two days, he has not only begun limping again (same paw, his right front), but started hopping and resisting moments where he'd have to put any weight on it. I would have guessed he suffered a pulled muscle on Sunday when we were playing in the backyard, but since it's the same paw I am concerned there is perhaps a piece of glass or something else related to the cut. The question is, how does one tell when a dog has a pulled muscle in the first place? Is there a way to know in this situation? Is this something a vet can deduce?

Well, it's been a LONG while and I've been lurking on the site without remembering to top this thread. Figured it was time to update everyone! The last time I posted, Brooks was just about to have his second tail amputation. The vet ended up taking another two feet beyond what had already been removed in the emergency amputation, leaving about six inches of tail. It was a shock and a disappointment, because the vet had indicated it wouldn't be so severe, but we held out hope it would be the last one needed. The first two weeks were critical as we kept the bandage on but remained nervous about how the tail was doing beneath, since a too-tight bandage was apparently part of the reason why the (first) emergency amputation didn't heal well. The other problem, in retrospect, was that we assumed his "happy tail" was padded well enough within the dressing and plastic syringe. After two weeks, the vet recommended removing the bandage full-time so that the area could "dry out" better. It still wasn't healing all that quickly, with almost two inches of exposed tissue that looked basically like a chicken neck. It also continued to be very swollen despite the course of antibiotics. By this time, we were working with a different vet (the guy who did the second amputation was away in Africa for two weeks) and at her recommendation we bought a spray can of Granulex and gave him a decent blast every 24 hours, covering the tip plus the roughly two inches of exposed area above. He was on Traumadol for about 10 days this time around, since his pain threshold wasn't good the first time around. My step-mom, who is a wound care nurse, also helped out by supplying us with some Intrasite Gel from her med kit. THIS STUFF WORKED WONDERS. Not cheap, but highly recommended as it really helped quicken the recovery of new, pink skin and hastened the process of shedding away the unhealthy tissue. And sure enough, although it's been an extremely long process, we're finally on the home stretch. There were a few bumps in the road and setbacks, usually when Brooks would manage to get his mouth onto the tail for an extended period of time. (He cannot be trusted not to lick the stump, so the e-collar has been a constant presence, but on at least two occasions he was able to work himself free and lick the scab off completely, leading to some prolonged oozing/bleeding and some bright red spots on the carpet.) Brooks is still wearing an e-collar at this point. For those keeping score, that is now 2+ MONTHS in the cone nearly 24-7. We tried several alternatives and modifications but none was protective enough. In the end, he got used to wearing the cone, especially after we reinforced it with duct tape to soften its edges -- and he rarely knocks into things anymore. The only scab left (hopefully the last one) is about the size of a dime, right at the tip, and the fur has grown back to all but a couple centimeters above the scab. Best of all, his behavior is much better the past two weeks. He was having a really tough time late in November and peed in the house a few times -- right in front of us, twice -- while managing to get into lots of trouble when we had to leave him home alone. We've settled into a good routine and he started being more peaceful, and in the last two weeks his personality and the playfulness we had just started to see has erupted at some opportune moments. Really restored our faith in the healing power of hugs and TLC!

Thanks, KF. I agree that aesthetic reasons shouldn't trump his health. I like our odds for a swifter healing/recovery period instead of prolonged pain if the minimal approach doesn't pan out. I went ahead and said yes. He will definitely stand out in a crowd now! But hopefully his playfulness will return quickly and we won't constantly have to worry about his happy tail causing recurrences. I'm not going to lie, I'm still disappointed ... and very concerned right now, as he's under the knife this morning. Thanks for the helpful thoughts and advice, GT.

Well, I'm here at the vet, and Brooks isn't in great shape today. The bit of bone sticking out the end of his tail is dead, and although it continues to ooze blood at the site (thus it's likely viable down that far), our doc says his opinion is to amputate another 8-10 inches. This, he believes, is the best assurance that the tail can heal (with the help of our TLC). He will do whatever we ask him to do, but this was his recommendation. I do trust this particular doc's opinion over some of his colleagues, but still regret the loss of such a profound amount of his tail. But he will need another amputation today regardless of the amount. I need to decide in the next 5 minutes, so I post this mainly to help organize my thoughts, but if anyone is reading this now and has a suggestion for the best thought process here, it would be appreciated!

Traumeel is what my wife uses on her sprained ankle! We have a tube of the stuff already in the house. Eureka! I'm curious how many of you would recommend binding his tail to his leg, or otherwise trying to forcibly stop him from wagging it. I don't know much about dog physiology but that seems like it might create a lot of stress and/or bone pain nearer to his rump?

Yeah, I was pretty surprised when I came home and DW said "he was great until the rest of the anesthesia wore off." I would be lining up for meds if I so much as slammed my pinkie in the door, let alone severed it! Thanks for the support, gang. I guess the first amputation wasn't done well enough since his tail was well wrapped until his check-up this morning. I will hope the next amputation gets enough skin over the area, and we will definitely leave it bandaged way beyond the 2-3 weeks our vet recommended! @GeorgeofNE, how does that work, exactly? Does an extra layer of skin really just amount to padding, or is it supposed to be enmeshed with the first layer and supplied by blood vessels? A little confused... but thanks for the suggestion. My vet is an old school guy and we live in the country, so I suspect he wouldn't necessarily heed my advice either way.

Several weeks ago, I was called away for a family emergency when my grandpa became gravely ill in Texas. Unfortunately, DW badly sprained her ankle the night before my flight when Brooks tugged at his leash and pulled her into a dip in the front yard. They say bad things come in threes. Sadly, two days, later, this old maxim held up once again. With DW laid up on the couch and me still out of town, my mom volunteered to come walk Brooks. The walk was uneventful, but upon returning to the house, she wasn't vigilant about his tail. The storm door, with the glass already installed for the winter, slammed as Brooks passed the threshold. It severed about two inches of his poor tail. I'll spare everyone the most gory details, but DW described it thus: Brooks SCREAMED and began rushing around. Blood was everywhere. My wife hobbled onto the scene, and meanwhile my mom couldn't figure out what was wrong and why Brooks was bleeding so much -- until she saw the stump outside the door on the front porch. The vet had to remove another 1.5" of crushed tail that afternoon. Brooks has been home recuperating ever since, lots of hugs and treats. The tail was dressed with a fairly substantial amount of gauze and tape, and a wide plastic syringe protecting about 6" above and below the amputation point. After one week, we took him in for a check-up and it seemed to be healing fine. He was so good about leaving it alone that we didn't even need the cone of shame. But Brooks being a HAPPY TAIL dog, every new visitor or return home comes with a fair amount of tail-whapping on the walls. My wife and I cringed and hoped it wasn't delaying his recovery. It was. This morning, the doc said too much "raw meat" has become exposed at the site of the amputation, so they will need to dissect another inch or more to leave enough skin for a complete recovery. I hope this is a safe space to bring all this up, because I feel genuinely awful. As a new greyhound daddy, I'm still learning more and more about the breed -- and finding that there's a lot more to know than what can be read in the books. This forum has been a great help as I've read several of the threads about "happy tail" injuries today. While it's nice to know that tail injuries are somewhat common, I still feel like a terrible pet owner who should have done more to prevent his injury from growing worse. I wish I'd seen the pipe insulation idea sooner, and I'm grieving for this poor pup's remaining tail if the problem recurs. I really hope this last amputation gives him enough skin to heal the wound! One question I haven't found an adequate answer to: should we have put Brooks on pain medications of any kind? He was only prescribed a course of antibiotics. It seems like his personality hasn't suffered too much over the past two weeks, but he is perhaps a bit more Velcro and a bit lethargic since it all happened and I wonder if he's not experiencing some pain. He is not afraid of my mom or any doors, so at least PTSD doesn't seem to be a factor. But he was VERY touchy and sensitive about the tail at each of his vet visits since it happened, and he's been licking the area a lot today since the dressing/syringe was taken off. (The vet said it won't matter if he licks at it since they're going to amputate more on Monday...) I can't direct-link the image, but here's an Instagram photo of Brooks in the cone the one and only day that he wore it.

Sorry about Cheeto's trauma, but this is a great story! Also, I can confirm that Brooks still likes overturning things. We went out for dinner last night and returned to find that he'd knocked over the kitchen trash can (we thought it was safe because of the foot pedal). We're still learning the limits to his separation anxiety!

Thanks for the warm welcome! @oldrunners, it's really a small world after all. I will say that he definitely takes an interest in cats on our walks, and he basically ignores the squirrels and brown rabbits that we encounter in our yard. All this is nothing compared to his reaction when a small white dog crosses his path. We were at the vet this morning and there were several cats in carriers. Brooks paid a minor amount of attention, even seeming eager to make friends, and didn't have a strong reaction. Then a small bichon frise (in an owner's arms) comes in and BOY did that wake him up. I guess he still wants a piece of that white lure that he constantly chases in dreams. I'll look for some good threads to contribute to. Mostly have tons of questions right now, as we continue to acclimate to him just as much as he acclimates to us.