rsieg

I would love to let him stay outside, right now there is not a good reason not to, but I'm afraid he will want to come in and not be able to wake me from outside. Mosquitoes are also a concern going forward. I may have a fan around and can try that, and/or will get the cooled mat. The old guy deserves his creature comforts!

This is Max' new thing. Last three or four nights, he gets me up around 3 am to go outside. Then he lays down in the grass and goes to sleep. We have had nice evenings so he won't freeze to death or anything (I let him stay out about an hour two nights ago, but it was colder last night so I woke him up to come in), but we will be getting mosquitoes soon and I don't want him dying of blood loss a few weeks from now :-) Any thoughts as to why he is doing this, or how he might be discouraged from this so I can sleep through the night? I don't mind getting up at 3 am to let him out (has been on that schedule for a while) since I can get back to sleep, but if he sleeps outside for an hour then wants back in that is a different matter. He is 12 years 8 months old now, and I suspect it is just comfortable for him. I'm wondering if some sort of chilled bed indoors might be good, since it might be the coolness of the grass he likes.

Thanks for the heads up. Max just went onto Tramadol, haven't decided what to do for ticks this season but just to be safe will take Preventic collars off the list of options. (I don't really like the collar approach anyway).

I can give no help on the hip dysplasia, but I recall you had a post recently about how Snow is sometimes unwilling to walk very far. I would think this condition affects her willingness/ability to walk, maybe folks with veterinary knowledge can add something on that (e.g. should her walks be limited to some shorter distance?). Hope you can get the hip dysplasia managed well.

Max is 12 years 8 months and still walks 2-3 miles per day, usually 1-1.3 miles in the morning and 1-1.8 miles at night. (I use the Walk for a Dog app so track this). He loves his walks, but I'm not sure how much longer we will be going these distances, he is beginning to show some weakness in his back legs :-(

FWIW, my Logan had something similar happen not long after I adopted him. Woke up in the morning to find him not putting weight on one foot. It went away in a day or so by itself. Keep in mind that a greyhound fresh off the track may have never walked on cement before, and may have never gone on long walks before either. So it could be something simple like a sore muscle, sore paw pad, or so on. Good luck...

I want to thank the OP and everyone who has posted here for this timely thread! My Max is 12 years 8 months, and started panting this weekend as it has been getting warmer (only in the 60's, but still warmer than recently). My dog sitter mentioned he was panting in her note from around noon today, and Max was panting pretty heavy when I got home. But ... that is the *only* issue. He walked his usual 2.5 miles today (1 mi morning 1.5 mi this evening), was panting some on the evening walk but still led the way over me and Logan. I also notice he does not pant when he is sniffing things. When we got home his panting seemed to stop like throwing a switch off, and he ate his dinner with gusto. and is chewing on his stuffed bone. My suspicion in Max' case is it may be the temperature of course, but possibly also in this instance psychological. I went to an event on Saturday night and got home around 12:15 a.m. That may not sound like much, but we skipped the evening walk, for the first time in months. Max is a two-time bounce who came to me at 10 years old, so it seems to me it may be possible he is upset about the change in schedule and (especially) missing one of his beloved walks. Or, maybe it is just an old dog thing :-) Anyway I'm feeling better about him reading other folks having similar experiences.

My group has its own kennel, so mostly straight off the track with a stay in the group's kennel. Logan was fine with that, except for about a month of going into the pantry before he got something that upset his stomach enough to stop. Max was a two-time bounce I got at 10 yo, so that was different. Besides the arguments above, one other argument for straight off the track is that it is easier on the dog to make a single transition from track/kennel life to adopted life. The thinking is that it is harder on the dog to go to a foster home and then to move again to the permanent adoption home (extra transition there).

Each is different. We go to greyhound only play events a few times each year. Max loves loves loves them, running around until he is exhausted then collapsing in a kiddie pool. Logan hates them, avoids the other greyhounds, hangs around with me and if I move anywhere near the exit gate runs over in the hope we are leaving. Good for you that you figured out what Laila likes and doesn't like -- go with her preferences.

I have had only one greyhound at a young age, Logan (Max I got at 10 years old). With Logan, my experience is he must move fast occasionally, but not necessarily running full-gallop outside. In fact, he rarely runs in the backyard even though it is large enough to do laps. Rather, he prefers doing zoomies in our living room -- he jumps up and does 360 degree spins, grabs a toy, throws it and runs after it, that sort of thing. My guess is that since greyhounds have more fast-twitch muscles than other animals they do need to exercise them occasionally -- but it does not need to be an outside run. (Of course, I do have one hole in the plasterboard from where he threw one of my boots, and it is only by the grace of God that my television is not (yet) broken). That said, they are amazing to watch running, so if you get a chance to let the dog run full-out definitely worth it. You might check around, if you adopt from a group (most people do) there may be some other adoptees around locally, if one has a fenced-in yard perhaps you can set up an occasional greyhound play-date.

I had my guys on Frontline Plus which stopped working, went to Comfortis which worked great on fleas (got rid of my infestation overnight) and now on Trifexis. But my understanding is that neither Comfortis nor Trifexis work on ticks -- is there an equivalent (same active ingredient for fleas) that does also work on ticks? No cats here if that is a concern. I did try the Preventic collar, but Logan got an irritated neck from it. Not sure if it was chemical or just the constant abrasion of a 24/7 collar (he goes bare-neck in the house).

Thanks for the info. Max is 75 lbs, so that would be 1 mg/lb right now.

So Max just turned 12 1/2, as I mentioned in a post in C&F. About two or three weeks ago, I took him in to the vet as he seemed to be beginning to show some signs of old age, especially back leg weakness. The vet identified some numbness in his back legs (flip the back foot upside down, and it takes him a couple seconds or more to move it back), and general arthritis. He was put on Vetprofen (which I understand is generic Rimadyl), 75 mg pills. The dosage was one morning one evening (2 pills per day) for one week, then 1 pill per day thereafter. We have been doing that (now on the one pill per day) and it does seem to be helping him. But, I think the two pills per day may have been helping more. He still shows some back legs numbness, and is unwilling to get into the car. Understood those will not go away entirely at his age. Also, that said, he is doing really well for his age, walks about 2.5-3.0 miles per day (adding am and pm walks) still in the lead at the end of a walk, and spends probably 15 minutes to a half-hour per day in the backyard. So, I have been thinking I may discuss with the vet about going back to two pills per day. My understanding is that the main potential bad side effects are upset stomach (which he has not shown so far), and liver failure. Given his age, my thinking is that improved comfort is worth the risk. Any thoughts? Of course I will be discussing with the vet and will likely go with whatever she recommends on this, but I know there are some gray health-savvy folks on here and wanted to see if this is a really bad idea to start with. I don’t know what is considered a “high” dose of Vetprofen versus a “low” dose, and am assuming what he is on now is pretty low? Thanks in advance for any thoughts,

I wonder if the act of picking the puppy up could have set this off? I recall reading elsewhere that racing greyhounds can be attracted to long-haired small dogs (think Pomeranian or Shih Tzu) when they are being held up above the greyhound and presumably wiggling around. Not sure what the attraction is, maybe looks like a track lure, or a toy?

Welcome. Good name. My Max had something similar ("Iowa Rainey Day") as his racing name.

Many greyhounds figure out pretty quickly that it is more fun outside the crate versus inside the crate. My Logan went in the crate by himself the first night, actually cried to get me to open it for him; a couple nights later I had to give him a firm push to get him in; by the end of the first week he would start wandering away if I opened the crate and it was becoming clear I would need to (try to) manhandle him to get him in the crate if we were going to continue that route. However ... many greyhounds end up not using their crate after the first week or so, or maybe after the first few weeks, once they are acclimated to the house. The crate is an obvious convenience when you are starting out, as he cannot have an accident in the house or get into things he shouldn't when crated. But, once he is housebroken and you have things dog-safe (like child-proof but for dogs :-) and you begin to trust him, you could stop using the crate if you want. At that point (which may be a week or two away for you) just leave the crate open so he can go in if he wants, and you will find out his preferences. Good luck,

Sportingfields, that sounds exactly like I observed with Max. I was right behind him, and he was excited though he kept moving away from me into the kitchen. I was thinking he was excited because he lost track of the peanut butter, but he may also have been hearing me but not know where I was, and that was goading him on as well. If that is what it is, should not be a problem. We are very highly scheduled here, I know dogs love to have their fixed patterns and we try to follow them. Most of the time Max keeps track of where I am so I think even if he has bad directional hearing he usually knows where I am at.

Hmm, now I'm not too sure. I tried more tests, and he does seem to be hearing. He was lying down and I was behind him and said we should go to bed, loud voice but not shouting, and he lifted his head up so I think he heard it. But it is weird, in the kitchen earlier in the peanut butter treat incident, I was behind him and yelling pretty loud and he kept moving forward like he did not realize I was behind him. Wonder if it could somehow be just that he has lost directional hearing, i.e. cannot figure out where the sound is coming from?

I have noticed he has been ignoring me (I thought) when I would call to him when he spends a long time outside. But this evening I was getting peanut butter out for him. This is his very favorite snack. When I walked into the living room to give him the nearly empty jar, he was heading into the kitchen the through the opposite pass-through. We have an open bannister between the living room and kitchen so I could see him. I called to him from the living room, and he kept looking for me in the kitchen. Since I cannot imagine he would willfully ignore me when he is looking for his peanut butter, I have to conclude he really could not hear me - and I was calling pretty loudly from only maybe six feet away. Not sure I'm really looking for any assistance here, but assuming I have a now-deaf dog is there anything I should be doing for him? I suppose I could take him to the vet to confirm, but seems pretty clear to me now, and he is 12 years 4 months old so I expect it is old-age and there is no treatment. Since I just noticed it now, I think he is getting along with it well, he watches me and Logan and I suspect is taking cues from us. Thanks in advance for any thoughts, Quick follow-up, I just clapped my hands as loud as I coud, and he looked up, so not totally deaf. But he went right back to the peanut butter jar :-)

I assume Leanne is used to wearing clothes generally (coats, et cetera)?

So have you got him trained to chase the cat yet :-)

I was amused the first winter snowfall I walked my guys. They always would sniff, move around and eventually "find" something and spend time sniffing at it. After the snow, I could see what they found -- always stopped to sniff at a yellow patch of snow :-)

0.9-1.3 mile walk in the am, 0.9-1.9 mile walk in the evening. Logan gets additional exercise by doing the occasional zoomies, Max is pretty much too old for that though once in a while he will run around a bit when I get home from work. If you haven't done so yet, try taking Molly down to a local park, the different smells there may get her more interested. But I would say you are doing at least 40 min per day (4x10 min) which probably works out to 1.5-3 miles depending on how fast you walk, so that should be enough exercise. If she is keeping proper weight that confirms it.

Darn it, I so wanted a glow-in-the-dark martingale :-)

Max talks mostly to Logan. Like when Max has a bone and Logan is anywhere in the room, Max lets out these plaintive barks that sound like "get awaaaaay!". Or on our walks, when Logan gets lazy and lies down and Max wants to keep going, he gets agitated and eventually stars barking at Logan as if to say "Come oooonnnn already!". It is hilarious to watch. They "talk" with me as well, but nearly not as much as Wendy apparently does. Max is effective at communicating that he wants is evening peanut butter, and Logan is a leaner -- he likes to lean against me. Logan doesn't make much noise and actually doesn't communicate too well, but over time I have gotten to know what he wants. Like after a walk he will just lie down -- but as soon as I sit on the couch he jumps on to get petted. Hew wants that, even expects it, but will not do anything to ask for it.