Banjoman

On Thursday i took Chancey to the vet to check out what looked like 5 small pus filled blisters that appeared on her groin area. He prescribed Cefalexin tablets twice daily (starting Thursday evening), under the brand name "Therios" because he thinks it could be a skin infection. Yesterday evening (Friday) her tummy was gurgling like anything after having supper around 9.00.p.m. as usual. This morning I gave her the tablets in a couple of pieces of tinned tripe to help them down, later she had a treat when I left home to go shopping. I returned home at lunch time but when i started to get the dogs' lunch ready she made no attempt to come out into the kitchen to wait & watch on progress as she usually does & when I put her lunch down (Kibble & added tripe) she didn't really want it. I had to encourage her to eat some & she left about half of it. She's spent most of the afternoon & evening asleep (or dozing) on a settee, although she did get up happily to go for a short walk this evening during which she did a couple of good sized poops. This evening I gave her a small supper of kibble & cooked packet food, mixing the tablets in with the food but the only way I could get her to eat it was to hand feed her. When she didn't eat her lunch I began to wonder if the Cefalexin was making her feel queasy as the adverse reactions listed can be vomiting & diarrhoea & I didn't give her much food with her tablets this morning, just a couple of small pieces of meat. This evening she had a gurgly tum again before I offered her supper and she has spent the rest of the evening curled up on a settee again. Has anyone else's greyhound had a similar response to this antibiotic? The spots on her groin appear to have disappeared already but I know you should always complete the course of tablets prescribed but being the weekend the vet who prescribed the tablets is not working so I cannot check with him whether or not to continue with them. It seems a minor thing to refer to an emergency vet - she seems fine apart from dozing and being off her food. I don't think she has wee'd much today though. Suggestions would be appreciated. TIA, Carol.

After several months I'm still waiting to see if the tyre /wheel from a Lego truck is ever going to make its way through Chancey. I've never found it yet.

I have had whippets for 25 years and though they accepted our cat while she just walked through the room, one whippet would chase her if she turned & ran. Every whippet would scream and want to chase a cat when we saw one out on a walk and several cats have been chased up the back garden & when cornered fought back at a dog until I broke up the hassle & gave it chance to escape. Banjo (whippet) will scream and bark through the closed window at any cat that walks past the front of my house, despite all my attempts to calm him down. Now Chancey joins in, jumping up onto the settee to look out of the window and yelp at it. Both dogs have chased a remarkably stupid cat that keeps returning, down the back garden & it has only just made it over the 6ft high fence. Now at night I put on the light & make a big show of unlocking the back door to allow it chance to get out of the way before i open the door. Chancey left the track at the end of December & i have had her since the end of January. I take her out wearing a muzzle all the time because I would not trust her with any small furry creature yet. She is still highly reactive about any dog except a sighthound (we walked with 61 a few weeks ago & she behaved beautifully) & i have a screaming, bucking bronco on the end of the lead, nothing I offer her will distract her. Seeing a cat when out walking is just as exciting, then I have both whippet & greyhound trying to get at it. I have always accepted that as sighthounds my dogs have the chase instinct inbuilt and whilst I can do my best to train "Leave it" and get them to walk calmly i would never trust them off lead around small animals / birds that move.

Chancey started shedding really heavily a couple of months after I got her, it came out in handfuls & I was worried that it might be because I was changing her food. I was told she was probably losing her kennel coat & in a short while I could see the beautiful new coat coming through underneath. I gave her Cod Liver Oil but it just seemed to add to her poop problems so I stopped giving it. Now she has a much darker coat which I expect will fade over time & the next time she sheds she'll go darker again.

Tea Tree Oil is supposed to be good, I believe, usually used in dog shampoos and I think garlic was an anti flea food additive in the form of tablets..

I have no experience of greyhound puppies but over twenty years I have had four whippets as puppies & if your daughter is aged 12years I would think that a whippet is a good sized dog for her to learn to handle, it is very much like a greyhound in looks and temperament i.e. fast & a bundle of mischief when awake but happy to spend much of the day asleep once it has grown out of puppyhood. In six months or a year's time it will still be a comfortable size for her to cope with. I have just adopted my first adult retired racing greyhound and trying to keep 60lbs of excitable greyhound under control is quite a handful in comparison to a whippet, although they too can be surprisingly strong! If you think you have the time and space for a greyhound I personally don't see why you would not get one but I think you need somewhere safe for it to run off lead and that can be difficult to find unless you have easy access to a safely fenced field. Can you easily refer back to the breeder of your puppy about any problems you experience or get tips from them to help out? A good breeder will always be happy to support their new puppy owners. Whatever your decision I am sure you will end up as the proud owner of a lovely dog!

i wish I had enough room for something like that. My lawn has large brown / bare patches on it where Chancey does a wee & several plants have died or have burnt leaves where Banjo cocks his leg.

I think that very often greyhound eyes are light in colour and look fierce, which makes their faces look alert & possibly menacing, unlike a whippet's face which, if it has dark brown eyes has a more gentle look to it. I had a friend who thought my whippets were skinny and ugly, which didn't bother me 'cos I loved them! Now I have a whippet and a greyhound and think both are gorgeous in their own, slightly different way.

"Sorry for replying so late but I have only just seen your post." Same here! My Chancey came with a big bag of "Odds On" in January. I couldn't find a supplier on-line and wanted to bring the protein levels of her food down as she no longer needed 27% now she was retired. When that food was running out I opted for the Dodson & Horrell Retired Greyhound food, hoping it might reduce the quantity & make her stools firmer if I reduced the water I added to it (I'm not happy giving dogs completely dry food). I also like the idea that it contained Green Lipped Mussel for joints etc. She's been on the D & H for 2 months and we're halfway through the second bag. I also add Forthglade cooked meat or my local butcher's "pet mince" (all their left overs minced up & frozen in a roll). She still produces vast amounts of poo and it is still pretty loose in comparison to my whippet who eats the same amount of meat but has a handful of Dene's wholemeal mixer in with it. Chancey has about 300g. D & H + meat a day, slightly more than recommended for her weight but she needs to carry a bit more yet, she's still too ribby. Had to have a deworming session earlier this month, which should make weight gain more likely now! Hoping yet again to make her stools more solid I'm just starting to transition her to Burns Original Fish & Brown Rice, it is dearer than the D & H, working out at just over £1 per day according to the Burns website. It appears cheaper at Zooplus though. Carol.

Hi Alison, I was given a tube of Advocate for my greyhound when she came to me at the end of January & was told that would do for worms too. Last week I found roundworms in her stools and, after checking a couple of threads here on GT, bought Drontal Plus from my local pet shop. I have been given that by my vet for my whippet so decided it should be fine for a greyhound. She had 3 tablets last week and had no ill effects. I found out I could get them for about half the price on line so I ordered some so that I could dose the whippet now (one & half tablets) & have a dose ready for both dogs in three months. it's good to see another UK member on the board! Carol.

Miss. Jan, we saw Seamie's staar lasst nyte, it waz verreee brite. We send likky kissis, Banjo & Chancey. Ower Mum sends luvving fowts to yoo too.

Maybe it's something to do with the name but my Chancey crunched up ate a Lego toy including a rubber tyre - several weeks later I'm still waiting for the tyre & more plastic to emerge! She's shown no sign of any distress.

I've had Chancey two months & her legs & feet now have so many nicks in them that I feel almost guilty about them, she was OK when she arrived. She has recently lost most of her thicker kennel coat and now has a fine, short coat so I suspect she's always going to have minor injuries like this. She does spend her time out in the garden patrolling the wire mesh fence that my neighbour's Leylandii hedge grows through & there are plenty of my own bushes to catch herself on. When the other neighbour's little poodle type dog is out and barking at her she's racing up and down the lawn & pushing through the shrubs to get to the fence that side.

Will the kennel let you have a single day or an overnight stay just to acclimatise the dog to the kennel?

I have had my first greyhound for just two months but I've had whippets for over twenty years. At the moment I cannot even get Chancey to walk to heel & certainly have no recall on her yet. Would I let her off to run free? Now, no, but if I could eventually get a reasonably reliable recall, yes I probably would because when it comes down to it she is a running dog, that is what she is bred to do, that's her nature. I appreciate that I run the risk of something happening to her but there is risk in everything we do & to me it is unkind to the animal not to let it have the chance to run if it wanted to. My fenced back garden is small, four running strides and she's nearly at the end of the lawn, twenty minutes drive away & I have a beach she could stretch out on, I will be delighted if I can eventually allow her to run on that beach. As for the risks - most days I walk my dogs on Forestry Commission land, some of which is heathland, home to the only poisonous snake in the UK. Whenever I take them there in the summer months I run the risk of them getting bitten by an Adder, a friend's whippet died after being bitten, it wasn't loose, it wasn't running free, it was on a lead, standing on the grass at the side of the path while other dog walkers passed by, it was just unlucky that an Adder must have been hiding in that patch of grass or undergrowth. I know I run that risk every time I walk my dogs in the forest but they need the opportunity to walk in pleasant conditions with lots of interesting smells etc. rather than only walk the pavements around my housing estate. When it comes down to it a dog is a dog & should be allowed to do the things a dog needs to do and a greyhound or a whippet needs to have the opportunity to run. whether it makes the most of that opportunity only the dog can decide but all of my whippets have enjoyed the freedom of running on that beach & chasing a squirrel through the trees in the forest. My heart has been in my mouth several times when they've disappeared for a while but I could never keep them on a lead for the whole of their life with me.

Maybe you should do your training when he is hungry and wanting food? As I have been transitioning Chancey on to a new food i haven't wanted to give her too many treats and upset her tummy so I've been teaching "touch" my hand while waiting for her kibble to soak using pieces dry kibble and she now will 'touch' to earn her meal.. Also been working on "Look at me" using kibble, small pieces of cheese or any other foodstuffs like vegetables when I'm preparing them for cooking. After her first hesitant taste she now loves apple cores & comes out to the kitchen when she realises I'm peeling an apple so she has to "Look at me" for her piece.

I am delighted to find this thread. Chancey has been with me for six weeks and for the best part of three weeks I've been transitioning her from the high protein racing greyhound food that she came with, to this:- http://www.dodsonandhorrellpetfood.co.uk/dog-food/working-dogs-and-greyhound-food/pet-greyhound In the last week she has suddenly gone scurfy along her back & today when a friend rubbed his hand along her back there was hair coming loose everywhere. As I was near the pet shop this afternoon I bought a large bottle of Cod Liver Oil as I thought a spoonful on her dinner might help improve her coat. i wasn't sure if it was because I've kept the heating on during the time she has been with me & the temperature difference was making her moult or whether the new food didn't suit her. As my whippet isn't moulting i didn't think it could be just an annual moult but it appears it could well be!

Thanks Chris, I hadn't thought of a squeeky toy as a treat, she does like them but kills them within minutes. I find I run out of hands when walking with two dogs. As the whole idea of getting another dog was to keep Banjo company I don't want to walk just her & leave him behind to stress out! Providing nobody else wants to use the kennel run I think I can have it when I want so could hire it 11.30.a.m. - 12.30. p.m. and have half an hour playing with my dogs in the run with other dogs around and half an hour training / playing time without too much distraction. I feed the dogs around 1.00.p.m. so I need to use it before their lunch time but, being an outdoor run and with the recent weather conditions I might just need to ask them if I can go on a certain day & time my visit to suit the weather. A lot of the fields around the kennels are flooded, with water running off them and across the roads.

Chancey has been with me for five weeks now & has settled in at home very well. She is straight off the track (her last race was the end of December) & when out walking she is permanently on the alert for anything that moves, people walking in the distance, a cyclist riding away from us & especially people walking dogs have her pulling like mad. I am working on stopping her permanently pulling into her collar & by the time we are nearing the end of our walk she is usually a little more relaxed. When she sees another dog she is frantic to get to them & I sometimes have a screaming bucking bronco on the end of the lead, yet she walks happily with my own whippet and the whippet & IG who walk with us most mornings. I don't think she is aggressive, she just wants to go and see them, although I'm pretty sure she would chase any small fluffy that ran away from her! I am currently working on "Look at me" at home but at the moment when we are outside nothing distracts her. i have been unable to get her to sit at all, she almost seems to have to think about getting into a "sit" when she wants to! Because I am aware that she is still "keen" & there are often small dogs running loose I have a plastic muzzle on her when walking in the forest but she often nearly knocks me over or trips me up when rubbing her head against my legs trying to get it off. When walking around the housing estate where we live I prefer not to have the muzzle on as we are unlikely to meet a loose dog and I can always cross the road or detour if I think I need to avoid another dog & owner. I have found a local boarding kennel that is prepared to rent out one of their exercise pens which would give Chancey the opportunity to have a little freedom and a lope around & where I can safely do off lead recall work with her. We investigated it & spent a short time there this week and Chancey spent the early part of the time running the fence watching the smaller dogs that were out in a neighbouring exercise area but after a while she seemed to lose interest a little. I can choose what time I want to use this area & wonder if it would desensitise her to small / other dogs if I go there when I know the kennel dogs are going to be out in their exercise pens & she gets to see them & used to their proximity but cannot meet / chase them? Or I can go at lunch time when I know there will be no other dogs out so no distractions if I want to do some training with her. We have not done much training outside in my small garden as the weather has been wet & windy since she came to me & all grassy areas are just sodden & squelchy. Suggestions would be appreciated, please. Thank you. Carol.

I was always told that with sighthounds like whippets, salukis and greyhounds six feet high fencing was necessary. Greyhounds have been known to clear six feet high fencing in kennels. My neighbour has just replaced wooden fencing that came down in the gales we've been having in UK. Some of it is six feet high and some five feet. I am buying extra trellis to go on top to make sure it is all six feet high.

I've had Chancey two weeks and she pulls like mad 'cos she is just so keen to see people, horses, other dogs and everything on our walks. I'm working on the stop and go the other way system with her but cannot interest her in even the smelliest bacon flavour treat to reward her for looking away from what interests her, her intensity is amazing. She is only a month off the track so everything is new for her, although I was told she was used to horses. Unfortunately I have nowhere to exercise her before we go out & the weather has been so bad (rain & gale force winds) that most walks are short and sweet with very little distance covered because we backtrack every few paces. I have to walk my whippet at the same time so life is certainly interesting at the moment!

"Any suggestions on how to practice the recall for newbies? " Hi, I am not a trainer but I have had sight hounds (Whippets) for over twenty years. My first greyhound arrived in my house two weeks ago & I have nowhere safe to train her recall except my house and small back garden. I was taught to do all recall work on the lead at first, gradually using a longer & longer lead. If you have somebody to help by holding the dog's collar once they are let off the lead that helps unless you have perfected a reliable "stay" or "wait" command. With luck, after a little while you can do the recalls between you. If you find Wiley ignores the command "Come" or whatever word you use, try using a new command & work with him on the lead so that he cannot ignore you. Whether you use treats, clicker or verbal praise will probably depend on what you've used so far. After a while I add in a dog whistle to the command because that sound carries further than the human voice, especially on windy days. This is something I am going to have to work on with Chancey because unless I can get a good recall with her she will never have the opportunity to run free as there are no safely fenced areas I can let her loose in. Hope this helps. Carol.

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I have had Chancey just a week & she is currently eating the racing greyhound dried food that I was given, a 27% protein one. I was told to give her 4 cups a day + the equivalent of a tin of dog food. She needs to put on a good bit of weight and is getting two good size cups + half tin / packet of wet food at 1.00.p.m. & the same again at 9.00.p.m. I am trying to get her to produce nice firm poops and have cut down the amount of water I soak the dried food in. It seems to be working but she still produces quite a few poops daily, some better than others! Chancey is 5 years old & my first greyhound so it is trial and error here.

We know how much you will miss Lucas.