GreytXpctations

Great stuff here. I'll second (or third) the advice about getting the puppy smell on a fabric first, and the introducing the dogs outside for the first time, and the x-pen or other means of confining the pup to a limited area (good advice for a pup alone even). You may also want to gradually (and sneakily) reduce the number of toys and bones that may be laying around the house before bringing in the pup, if your current dog is even a little possessive. Our dogs have a play room, so we keep the new ones out of that area until we are sure how they get along. Congrats on the new pup!

Praziquantel is effective against the tapeworms that are transmitted by fleas. Fenbendazole (Panacur and other brand names) is good for just about everything else, including some other tapeworm types. Tapes and roundworms are usually the only easily visible worms, but if it was roundworm, the poop would be full of them after a deworming. With a new dog recently from a kennel environment, a flea transmitted parasite seems reasonable. Whips seem to be more prevalent lately depending on location. After a deworming, there can be enough of them in the stool to see with the naked eye if you look closely (like thin translucent hairs), but for the most part, off meds they are about as visible as hooks (not). Your Eukanuba, like Iams green bag, is one of the "gold standard in solid poops" dog foods. Unless the food itself is incompatible, chronic soft stool may be indicative that there are still parasites present. Another trip to the vet may be in order. If you can collect a visible worm, that would treatment more effective. Good luck. The Olewo carrots are a good post treatment cleaner and can help firm things up, or this time of year pumpkin with the seeds included ran through the food processor or a good blender will do pretty much the same thing.

(should have been included with the above) I agree with both of these comments. Racing greys are bred for performance, and care is taken to keep their lines relatively pure -which is why they do not "conform" as well as show dogs. For their size, they generally are longer lived, healthier dogs than other breeds of similar stature (not necessarily weight). Considering how much this dog has been selectively bred, especially in the last 200 years, this is remarkable. With that said, the breeder plays a part in this as well. Having had a number of greys from both reputable and questionable breeders, there is definitely a correlation between health and where the dog came from. Following the fosters that I have worked with over the years seems to confirm this as well. One breeder I know of seems to have a higher than average incidence of OS and organ/immuno issues. Another breeder consistently produces healthy, long lived, well adjusted dogs. Prior to greys, I worked with other breed adoption agencies that placed a lot of bred-for-work small shepherd dogs. Again, bred for work, many of these dogs didn't meet AKC standards, but they were long lived, very healthy dogs. 15-17 years was not the exception and long term placement was extremely important. Like greys, they also had special considerations for placement, so adoption groups were very important. And, like greys, where they came from also made a difference in their long term health.

Not everyone bakes with pumpkin guts (or Jack-o-lantern brains), but most of us have fed it to our greys. I usually fill cottage cheese containers with the filling (after running it, seeds and all through the food processor) and freeze it. In a chest freezer, it will keep up to a year (although I have never had it last that long). One of my grey friends freezes it in muffin pans and large ice cube trays, then dumps them into freezer bags for pre-portioned snacks/supplements, which I thought was a great idea, because by the time I think to start saving the containers, I usually don't have enough time to save enough. An alternative to canned pumpkin, especially if you have friends and family that just toss it out anyway, and much easier than trying to portion out a thawed one gallon bucket of it in February.

Regardless of "dosage" size of a particular food, the general rule of thumb is 4 cups of kibble per day = 1 - 30lb bag per month. The smaller the kibble, the more weight per cup because they pack tighter in the same space. So give or take a few days worth depending on size of kibble and rounding of cups.

Or use an enzyme based gel like PetZ that helps break down plaque and tartar buildup.

We switched to Advantix from Frontline+ a few years ago for the same reason. It seems to work for 3 months at a time too.

In addition to a night time walk, a bed time snack might also help. We had a foster that was restless through the night and food obsessed through the day, but once we started the snack at bedtime (1/4 cup of kibble) she would sleep through the night at the foot of the bed. Some dogs get upset stomach when empty we were told, so we tried the snack and it helped.

Heartguard Plus has ivermectin and pyrantel and is effective for preventing hooks (everything but tapeworms, I think). Old heartguard just had ivermectin and many of the generic "heartguards" just have ivermectin. If you have wiped out the hooks with fenbendazole (Panacur, 4 in one, and other names), then HG Plus should be enough to keep hooks at bay since it wipes them out before maturity. Pyrantel is also Nemex and Strongid brands, which are sold as treatments for hooks and rounds. I have never had an issue with hooks, whips or rounds while using HG Plus, unless the dog came with worms in the first place. Many of the rescue groups just use ivermectin alone for the fosters, which I think puts them at risk for hooks, especially when bringing them to meet and greets and using the pet store common potty areas. I wonder if the dosage used wasn't strong enough to wipe out the full adult population of hooks? I use the fenbendazole powder, dosed by weight, for 3 days, and that is usually enough if the next HG Plus dose is within 3 weeks or less.

Thanks, FiveRoooooers. The productive grieving link is helpful.

Thanks, macoduck.

Good to hear! At least now you know that you are moving forward and not dealing with a new issue.

Not related to thyroid, but we have seen the flakes get worse before getting better with a few fosters. For a week after making some changes to treat dry flaky skin and fur loss due to poor/malnutrition, they went from dandruff to snowflakes just before noticeable improvement started to occur. "My theory is this big, sudden shedding of skin means that underneath all this is healthy new skin waiting to be revealed. Like a snake, Chase is shedding his old skin." I think this sounds reasonable, and if correct it should start to clear up within a week or so. As long as the skin underneath is not irritated or inflamed.

We are very sorry to hear this news, but are wishing Taylor and you all things positive.

I keep writing and rewriting a response here. Maybe later, but for now, thank you GTers. No one outside of grey people seem to understand.

Thanks. She was very much a work in progress from gotcha, but seeing this spooky girl come out and enjoy the world was worth it. She left us much too early, but at least her deterioration was quick and she didn't have to suffer.

After a rapid decline related to liver and kidneys, all within < 6 months. She is now truly free and no longer scared of anything. Yay for steroids in racing dogs.

Fabulous!

Don't be too discouraged. 30 only seems old until you are 30, then it seems to get younger every year

Science Diet Active Longevity is available without RX and has lower protein and phosphorous. I think it's 19% protein (min16%) and 0.6-0.7 phos. I have Carlos on it after clearing up some issues with Hills Prescription Diet U/D, and he does well on it. It isn't rx like Hills U/D, so I would carefully monitor him to be sure it is doing what you need it to, but its the best readily available low protein/low phos I have found that can be bought without a prescription (Amazon, Petsmart). In our case it is doing the job.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I drilled extra holes in the stool guard (9/32") to prevent the "runoff" problem while walking away from the water dish. Just make sure that you smooth the edges after drilling. The holes are large enough to allow good flow, but not big enough to lick through. As KF said above, just make sure the water bowl is big enough and full enough for her to get the muzzle into and be able to drink. A pasta pot works well in the short term.

I picked up a flexible extension for my dremel that attaches to the end of the tool and holds the emery wheel at the other end. It makes it much easier to trim the nails because the trimming end is much more lighter and easier to maneuver, plus the noisy tool is on the floor behind me and not buzzing around the dog. My female is a spook with black nails and this is the only way I can keep her nails at the right length. I usually only do 3-4 passes on each nail at a time before moving on to the next one, then work my way back to each nail as necessary. This keeps the nail from getting too hot and keeps me from getting to close too fast with the black nails. I trim once a month to keep the quicks from extending, but when working on a dog with overgrown nails (new dog or foster, usually), I usually trim every week or two to encourage the quicks to recede. Cleptogrey's link above is how I do mine. Sorry, I can't post pictures here. ETA: this all varies depending on how much walk time they get on pavement/sidewalks which will keep the nails in check to some degree. In the north you get less of this in the winter, and in the south we stay away from it in the summer.

Less than a month is not enough time to develop a full blown case of whips, but depending on where the dog was before, they could have already been there, especially if the dog has heartworm. It wasn't likely on any type of preventative. Fenbendazole is the dewormer in Panacur and is also available under many other brands, and is readily available at most pet supply stores. Pay attention to the dosage, because an 80lb dog would need two packs of some brands. One of my dog walking friends across the bay dosed his foster that had checked out negative for worms (fecal) but actually had an advanced case of whips. Once dosed the whips started to appear in the feces and within a day after the three day dosing, started to gain weight again. Usually, the regular dosing with the pyrantyl in something like heartgard plus (not plain ivermectin) will keep whips, hooks and rounds at bay, once treated. BUT... since the dog has tested positive for heartworms, I would check with the vet before administering of any dewormer, depending on the HW treatment. Most often, they are fine with fenbendazole, but it doesn't hurt to check.