rsieg

Good luck on Pogo's treatment. For portable steps (not sure that is what you want) I followed the instructions on this thread: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/312008-styrofoam-stepsramp/?hl=styrofoam I made mine for a non-tripawd 11 yo., and it is cheaper looking than the ones shown in the thread as I skipped the carpet remnant tops and the side duct tape, but they work great and are light enough to lift in/out of the trunk. You can design the number of steps and height of each step based on thickness and number of styrofoam slaps per step.

I can't tell regular v overweight myself, but I seem to recall the experts here who can tell usually ask for a second photograph showing how wide the hips are, say shot from behind the dog.

Might also keep in mind that if she learns that the patio is ok to pee, she might not quite grasp the idea that while the patio is ok to pee it is NOT ok to pee three feet away from the patio, that is just inside the doggie door and inside your house. You are asking the dog to make a fine distinction here and if the weather is bad and you are not around she may think to herself "this seems close enough" :-)

Absolutely agree with this, my two live for their morning and evening walks (especially the evening when we have more time). One thing I might add is to remember the dog sees the world through by nose, so I think it is important to give the dog time to sniff around. That is, while you certainly need to control the dog and the dog should not be pulling on the leash, I don't think it is good to strictly heel" all the time. The dog needs to be given freer leash during at least part of the walk to investigate bushes etc.

I have thought about this. I have not seen anything on his feet though I'm not sure I would recognize a corn if I saw one. He does sometimes lick his feet when he first lays down at home at the end of a walk, but he also sometimes does zoomies after dragging during the walk. One thing I do note is that Logan is never limping when he stops or slows down, and he seems to do it when he is not being engaged by the walk. For example, when we go down in the park with lots of things to smell and see he almost never slows or lays down. He also seems to slow down near the end of the walk, I think when he knows we are finishing up and doesn't want to stop. So I think it is mental/stubborn rather than physical -- but hard to say for sure. Could he have arthritis (he is only 5 yo) and not show symptoms like limping, and maybe keep going on exciting walks (e.g. park) just because he is having enough fun he ignores the arthritis? One other annoying thing he does: if he is getting tired you would think the simple solution is shorten the walk. But no ... if I try to turn around early he gets stubborn and statues. Then if we keep going he gets tired and slows or lays down. I know dogs don't foresee things like we do, but still...

Not my property, he goes about half-mile usually before finding a shady spot. I keep waiting for some homeowner to come out and complain my dogs are messing up their grass, but so far everyone has been fine about it. Mind you, he went last night after dark for 2 miles without laying down at all, though he did slow down at the end. It seems to be the sun that makes him tire out. Thanks. He usually does find tree shade, but we are in a relatively new development and this stretch of road has no trees -- the fire hydrant was all he had, and he did line it up perfectly. BTW, he tried to do it again this morning but I was able to stop him before he got down. I can stop him if I catch him before he lays down, but after he lays down its hard to get him up.

So here is my problem. Logan is lazy. On walks with the sun out, he will go maybe half-mile, then find a shady spot and lay down. For example, this morning he found this patch of shade: I'm not the only one who is annoyed by this -- so is Max: Of course, Max has the attitude "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em": ...and, now I'm going to be at least 15 min late to work, and still waiting... It's a problem.

As far as doing more outside, keep in mind that greyhounds can overheat VERY quickly. You're in Houston which (I assume) is hot and humid right now. Also, being just off the track, he is not used to long walks, and probably did sleep in his crate maybe 20 hours per day. So, even a walk of a half-mile to a mile in the midday heat might be too much for him right now, you may need to work him up to longer walks. Might try taking him for walks in the late evening or even at night, or playing in the back yard where he can come back inside to cool off when he gets hot.

Just a follow-up, its been 36 hours now and two large poops, nothing odd in either, so I think Logan is ok :-)

Thanks for the encouragement. Logan seems to be fine, roaching on the couch now, was throwing my shoes around earlier. I'll keep an eye on his output, but it is normally dark and hard (i.e. "good" poop) so may be difficult to see anything.

Thanks, I gave him a slice of bread with a little honey drizzled on it to get him to eat it. He does seem fine.

All, So on our walk this morning, went down to a picnic area got the dogs out of the car -- and Logan immediately grabbed a chicken bone on the ground by a garbage can. I tried to get him to drop it and only succeeded in scaring him into swallowing it without chewing well (though he did crunch it a couple times, did not swallow it whole. I think it was pretty soft, but it was also pretty large, maybe a shoulder bone? So my question is, what to do about it? I expect if I took him to an e-vet they would just say wait to see if he has any symptoms, and he seems fine right now (ate it about an hour ago). I figured it would be good for him to move around so we finished the walk and he was fine there (1.3 miles). He did not eat his breakfast this morning (pretty common for him) and I took the bowl away figuring it would be better for him to fast a few hours. He did just drink some water. Is there anything I should feed him to maybe lubricate the pathway? Thanks in advance for any advice...

Not intending to hijack the post, but for those who do add fish oil, how much do you add (just a ballpark, tablespoon/day, quarter cup/day)? I have been experimenting with swapping sardines or salmon for Bil-Jac which has been my go-to additive for Max & Logan's food, so I'm assuming they get some fish oil there, but I was thinking of adding more since I have seen it recommended for the coat and now apparently for hind leg weakness (which Max is just beginning to have very intermittently at 10.75 yo).

Dogs are pattern creatures, and anything deviating from their usual pattern makes them upset, and they can be incredibly stubborn. Sounds like that is your problem, and if you can get Roxy into a "new" pattern you will be fine. That transition to the new pattern is the hard part :-) That said, since you indicated you got Roxy just before winter, please be aware that greyhounds can be very sensitive to heat. My dogs start having a problem even in the 70's. Its kind of counterintuitive since they have no fat you would think they would be fine with heat. So when it starts getting warmer, if Roxy looks like she doesn't want to go on it might be that she actually is getting uncomfortably hot and should be given a chance to rest. I was really surprised when I first got Logan in May 2013 he would walk anywhere for any length of time, but as we entered summer he would stop and lay down in the grass after only a half-mile or so.

I tried canned sardines tonight -- they like :-)

Thanks for the comments/suggestions. Seems like a lot of sardine fans here, so I may try that, and maybe the salmon as well. On the Internet I found sardines packed in water, olive oil, or tomato sauce, I assume any of those would be ok (oil might be good for the coat). My only concern is, as before, the sodium. Am I off-base in worrying about that? The sardines are higher sodium than tuna, although I suppose since it is more, ah, fragrant, I can get away with less sardines to entice them to eat.

Question: Is canned tuna a safe "regular" greyhound food additive (say, several times a week?) Max and Logan each normally get the following am and pm (i.e. twice a day): 1 cup Taste of the Wild (salmon) and 1/2 cup BilJac. This has worked well, good BMs, except that lately they have not wanted to eat it, especially in the morning. That is a problem since I then have to either pick it up (in which case they go hungry) or leave it -- in that case it is usually gone when I get home, but not sure if one dog (Logan!) got a double-serving. So, a few times I have substituted canned tuna for the BilJac, actually going closer to 1 1/2 cups of TOTW and a quarter-can to half-can of tuna for each dog. I am using "light" canned tuna in water, listed as 280 mg sodium. (BTW, I have seen some tuna listed as "low sodium" and was buying that, but checking the label those had the same amount of sodium as regular "light" canned tuna). They still have good (perhaps even better) BMs with the tuna instead of BilJac. Since they seem to like the tuna better, I'm tempted to go to that as the standard add-in (or maybe just in the am, and go with BilJac in the pm), with each dog getting 1/2 can of tuna (140 mg sodium). As I'm sure you have guessed, I'm thinking the sodium might be too high doing that, but I would be interested in any reason (sodium or other ingredients) that might make this a bad idea. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Yes, my 5 yo brindle does that as soon as it gets into the 70s, and especially if it is sunny. Tends to make me late for work in the morning since he will lay down in the grass and refuse to move for 5 to 10 min. I reduce the walk to just a few minutes in the summer, try to go for a longer walk at night.

I had this on my last non-greyhound dog, a 25 pound mixed breed, in the 2011-2012 time frame. Went very well, but as a previous poster said it tends to show up in the other leg later and that was the case for my dog. It was about $2000 per leg but that was for a small dog in Cleveland, so I'm guessing $4000 is reasonable for a large dog in California. I'm sure the vets can tell you more, but what I was told is that for a small dog they can use a "rubber band" type ligament, while for a larger dog (e.g. a greyhound) they need to actually attach it to the bone so would make it more expensive (again, making $4K seem reasonable to me). Recovery was good, dog walked out both times. Did not put weight on the leg for a few days, started "toe-tapping" and gradually used the leg more and more as it healed. There were instructions about not letting the dog put much weight on it for a while, don't recall the detailed schedule. First night was pretty bad, dog crying once the sedation wore off. Based on my experience I would recommend going with it if you can afford to.

Two cups is reasonable, especially if you are feeding him high quality food. My two males (75-80 lbs) get 3-3.5 cups/day (plus treats). Usually need more of a lower quality food (e.g. grocery store brands) than of a higher quality food.

cometdust1, I use that WoofTrax walking app (which I highly recommend btw, it does a great job of mapping the walk), so I do almost always have the cellphone with me. But still makes me nervous -- Max is a big boy and I don't think I've ever actually picked him up. I've done the "pick up front feet into car then lift back end in" once with Max, and it did work. (Logan on the other hand doesn't believe in exerting himself to get into the car, so I do it with him almost every time.)

All, Thanks for the comments. Just to update, he has not had any further incident. I walked both dogs last night at around sunset, it was cooler and no sun beating down (Max' black coat acts like a solar absorber) and he had no problem. This morning it was warmer again (probably mid 70s) and bright sun and Logan (the lazy one :-) did not want to go, so I took the hint and we skipped the walk. I did have them out in the backyard for a while and Max even ran a bit, and I walked Max alone a few houses down until he did his business, still no sagging rear end. So I just need to keep watching him. Of course now I'm nervous taking him for a long walk (1-1.5 miles) in case it flares up again and he can't go any further. But my understanding is that it is that walking is the best therapy for this, so as long as he is moving well I figure we will keep going for walks as usual. I usually work late and we walk around 8 pm or later, so that works well from a heat standpoint. Thanks again,

Hi all, So Max is 10.75 yo now, and I got him just after he turned 10. Since I have had him, he has always had a bit of rear leg weakness, but really very little, just an occasional stumble on a walk when he trips over something, and he has the "old greyhound man" gait overall. Always jumps into the car and onto the couch by himself with no signs of trouble. Yesterday I walked him and Logan about 3 miles overall, in three different trips spread over the day, no problems at all. This morning I took them out around 9:30 am but both Logan and Max got overheated pretty quick so it was short, dogs came home and I went out. I got back home just before 1 pm, and the dogs greeted me as usual. Brought the groceries in, dropped something got upset and yelled a bit. Then I noticed Max' back end was sagging. Looked like he does when he is squatting for a BM. He walked around like that for a minute or two, ended up laying down on a bed on the floor. Since then he has been fine, ran back into the kitchen, jumped onto the couch. He and Logan wanted to go for an afternoon walk, so I took them to the park and he jumped into the back seat both at the house and at the park. We only walked a few minutes mainly due to the heat, but I was watching Max and he seemed to be walking fine (except the old man gait as usual). So I understand at his age he may be getting the rear end weakness, and if I see it more I will take him to the vet to get it checked out -- not asking for a diagnosis since I know that can't be done in a board message. But my question is this: Could my yelling when I dropped the groceries stressed him (which I'm sure it did as he is sensitive) enough to cause his leg weakness to flare up? And/or, could the walk three hours before in the heat (it was around 82 F, but we have been in the 60's up till now) have done it? Sorry for the long setup, and thanks in advance for any thoughts. BTW, just to end on a lighter note, I bought an ice cream cone at the drive-through on the way home from the park, and let Logan and Max lick some of it. They were soooo cute licking it together, one on each side. Then they got it down to the point were only one tongue could fit into the cone, and the sudden snarling made me think I was going to lose my hand :-)

They take the smell of urine to mean "potty area", so maybe try to walk her in a park or neighborhood were you see a lot of dogs already going? Along the same lines, maybe walk her with another dog that does go on walks and she might get the idea.

There is another possibility. He might just be stubborn/lazy/annoying. This is 15 minutes after I parked in our garage, went in, fried eggs and made toast, and then went back to the car to see if Logan was planning to get out sometime soon: Max, on the other hand, who is 10.5 yo and presumably must have at least some arthritis, jumps right out. On a more practical note, I will second the possibility of some sight difficulty. When I first got him, Max did tend to be nervous about getting out when the car was in the garage until someone on GT suggested that possibility. Since then I turn all the garage overhead lights on when I park, and he has no trouble getting out.