GreyhoundGuru87

The other thing you can do is add beef or chicken baby food (1-2 TBS) to the kibble. Even when our dog was sick, he gobbled down baby food. And, it is healthy for them - which is super helpful with picky eaters. Good Luck!

Hey All! I just wanted to reach out and say thanks for all of your help when we first adopted. Our boy is doing very well and he has taken into the retired life quite well. We did find out that he had a VERY minor UTI in the beginning (even though initially he had tested negative) which seemed to be contributing the the initial SA. Overall, though - we have worked through it and he appears to understand that we always come back

As others have mentioned, I would strongly recommend having him tested for a UTI. When we first adopted our Grey, he only had sporadic accidents here and there so we didn't think much of it. Then, it escalated to a crate accident and we brought him in and found he had a very low-grade UTI but it was enough to bother him. Often times when Greys have accidents in their "homes" they can become anxious as well. If he isn't feeling 100% he could just be reacting. They are quite sensitive that way. Good Luck!

Thank you, everyone! To date, Keeper is doing well. He has not had a fever post-procedure which is very important. In addition, his appetite is good and he has had two bowel movements and his urinating normally. He will be spending his days with the clinic in observational care, and with us in the evenings and weekends. Overall, we are cautiously optimistic and so thankful we have made it this far. This has been very traumatic as he declined so quickly, and started with something as simple as vomiting. We are going to take each day at a time and hope that he continues to improve as he has been - Keeper is a fighter and we are lucky to have him. If you would like to follow his story and get updates, he does have an instagram (@Keeper_The_Sleeper) and a Go Fund Me (https://www.gofundme.com/keeperthesleeper) account that was setup on behalf of my family and friends. Thank you again for the kind words and support

Hey All - Believe it or not, Keeper's vomiting and not wanting to eat had zero to do with the hookworms. Following the visit to the vet on Monday, we started antibiotics as his WBC was notably elevated. Tuesday evening, things turned for the worst and Keeper became extremely ill. His temp skyrocketed to 105.6 and we ended up in the ER where an x-ray showed he had fluid in his abdominal cavity. Keeper underwent emergent exploratory surgery and we found his Gallbladder had ruptured and was he had sepsis in addition to peritonitis. Needless to say, he was very ill and more than likely has had an underlying gallbladder issue since before we adopted him 5 months ago. The surgeon performed a cholycystecomy (gallbladder removal) and to date, Keeper is recovering well. He has a long road ahead of him, but he has achieved all of the landmarks we have wanted throughout recovery thus far. Wish us well, this has not been easy.

Thank you for your post. Yes, my vet recommended the same and Keeper has started on a 4 day treatment that he repeats over several weeks, with stool checks in between and 3 times following a clear test. He did race in both Alabama and Florida. We ALWAYS pick up his feces immediately as we live in a development with other dogs in it and we want to be as safe as possible. Hoping for the best for our big guy! Appreciate the luck

Well, we are home from the vet and in addition to the hookworms, his White Blood Cell Count was elevated. Poor guy just can't catch a break. The vet we work with did not feel like the vomiting and cell count necessarily ties to the hookworm; therefore, in addition to the medication for that he gave us an antibiotic and some prescription soft digestive food. We started the first round of antibiotic tonight.... wish us luck!

Hi There, Keeper is about to be 4 years old this coming March. Overnight, he was visibly uncomfortable so we made a vet appointment this morning and brought in a stool sample. They called back and he is positive for hookworm... he had it initially when we adopted him off of the race track and tested clear after one round of treatment; however, it appears it is back. We will start treatment today (we have another f/u vet appointment at 1:30 PM).

He did not get anything out of the ordinary for treats. Just his usual biscuit before we left. He has not vomited since this morning but does not want to eat tonight, we figure best not too push him to eat if he doesn't feel well.

Good evening, I am seeking advice regarding an issue I am having with my Grey (Keeper). About a week ago, Keeper did not want to eat his breakfast and I could hear his stomach gurgling. After reading some posts, I gave him a Pepcid Tablet and within 1 hour - he ate normally. My vet also recommended that I try to feed him a "snack" before bed as this may help with the stomach acid buildup overnight. My husband and I started that this last week and have had no problems since then (yay!). When Keeper does refuse to eat, it is usually accompanied by some loose stool; however, once he eats he gets back to normal very quickly. This brings us to last night. My husband and I were out for dinner and came home to find he had vomited in his crate, when we let him out he continued to vomit (approximately 5 more times), with the last few episodes consisting of mostly bile. Tonight, he doesn't want to eat his dinner. We plan to do the following and are open to suggestions/thoughts of what this may be and / or potential treatments: We will be bringing a stool sample into the vet tomorrow morning. Continue to give him a snack before bed (unless recommended differently from our vet) Please note the following: Keeper is drinking normally (without issue) and does not appear to be dehydrated (skin and gums in good color and responsive) He has seemingly normal energy overall and did play with his toys a bit today He has not had any blood in either his stool or his vomit - even when its been on the looser side There has been no new foods added to his diet and he has been eating the same food for over 5+ months without issues He has yogurt (plain, greek) and pumpkin added to his diet regularly Thank you for any thoughts/advice. I will keep you all posted on what the stool sample reads tomorrow as well.

Hi All, I would like to say thank you for the advice. We opted to use a taller baby gate (since the previous one was too short and didn't really work) in the laundry / common area. From this location in the home, he can see us come and go, but also serves as a "den" all on it's own. We did setup his crate, but left it for him to choose whether or not he wanted to lay in it throughout the day. We are on Day 3 with this new steup and things are dramatically improving. He actually jumps into his crate and is waiting for his treat when it's time for me to leave. I have not heard any cries when I leave, or when my husband arrives home. He appears happy, but not overly anxious or hard-breathing, etc. when we return at the end of the day. He has also not soiled in this space. I think he is starting to feel (1) a little more at home and (2) trusting that we always come back. Hopefully this is the beginning of some positive progress as his Separation Anxiety has definitely appeared to lessen. I know it's early and things take time, but I do think this is a good direction to be heading. Thanks again!

Hello Sr. Grey Lover! Thank you for your response -- please see my response(s) below: First off, 4 weeks is nothing, it took us 3 months to eliminate my first hound's SA. So there is hope in your future This is good news! We were not sure what a "realistic" time-frame is as this is our first adopted dog (our previous dogs were puppies when we got them). Second, I wouldn't put him in the crate again if he doesn't like that, he might hurt himself trying to get out again. Thanks for that insight. I would agree. The adoption agency felt like we just need to reinforce the crate positively and latch the handles better so that if he tries to escape, he doesn't "win" and learns he cannot get his way every time. With that, do you think it was that he doesn't like his crate? Or, that when he escaped it was due to being overall anxious in a new place (he did this within the first few days of getting him). He goes into his crate and loves it when we are home, and he doesn't mind being locked up in there when we have done test runs. You could check that there isn't anything medically wrong with him (UTI?) We did check on this, he is healthy - no issues there. Then you can put a belly band on when you are leaving. If he pees, he will immediately feel it and there you have the training. Some dogs won't even go with a belly band because they don't feel naked. We tried the belly band, it did not give us much promise as he got it off -- I tried a few other ways but he is quite a houdini. The band did not stop him from soiling on the rug. Could you switch the morning run? If you wake up, quick pee break, then feed, allow an hour to digest and then go for a long walk, he might empty himself more. Give him plenty of opportunities to go to the bathroom. I know that when I run with mine, he doesn't go as much as he should because he is busy keeping up and not sniffing around. That being said, it is very good for him to go running as you likely tired him before leaving, which is good! I should have noted in my first post, the run is in the morning (between 5:45 - 6:15 AM), always at least an hour before we feed and then I walk him a shorter distance again before leaving for the day. Do you know if he is drinking a lot during the day? The peanut butter could make him thirsty, then he drinks lots when you leave and he has to pee? Maybe try giving him melatonin in a small block of cheese or something and see if it makes any difference? Per the recommendation from the group we adopted him from, he was getting minimal water during the day when gone so this should not be the issue. Maybe he REALLY has to go. Can one of you come back for lunch and let him out? Or have someone come by? Unfortunately, this would not be an option as we both work 20+ minutes from home and we just moved to a new development and do not know our neighbors well yet. Now to answer your questions: 1. YES, routine is very important to them! My first hound, we kept the same schedule (including week-ends) of leaving and coming back for about a month and that made a huge difference. Along with a DAP diffuser. Where did you purchase your DAP Diffuser? I have heard of these and unsure how / where to get them. 2. If he got out once, he knows he can and will try to come out again, which could lead to injuries. What is strange is that he escaped but then appeared to want to go back in his crate (seen via webcam), but he had locked himself out. The whole instance was very stressful for him. When we got home, we re-opened is crate and he went in there voluntarily and slept.... 3. The longest I have crated is about 9 hours. It is long. And the dog must be comfortable in his crate. That being said, I don't think it is your solution here. Lastly, I want to say THANK YOU for the great information. As we said, we are open to any ideas and thoughts. We don't want to give up on him, and we feel like if he can learn to be "okay" and handle himself when we are gone - we will be okay. As far as the crate goes, I am hesitant to try it again; however, I cannot have him peeing in my house daily. Is there anything we can do to ensure he will accept the crate as his "comfortable place?"

Good Afternoon, All! I am new to this forum, and a new Greyhound Parent. I adopted my Grey about 4 weeks ago and I will start by saying he is a very GOOD dog. He has been very easy to walk, have in the house, etc. He enjoys sleeping, and playing with a few squeak toys here and there. He has seemingly welcomed both me and my husband into his life very well. Upon arrival, we did everything “by the book” as far as welcoming him, letting him explore, practicing leaving, etc. All was seeming to go pretty well, until Week 2 (this is where I am seeking thoughts / advice). Previous to living with my husband and I, he was with a foster (around 3 weeks) and was crated in the day, not at night. The foster said she crated while at work, but did have other Greys (we only have the 1). In effort to keep things the same, we crated as well in the beginning. By day 3, it was clear that he had developed Separation Anxiety and would scream and howl when we left and start pawing at the cage / Chewing at his bedding. My husband and I setup a webcam, and we could see him get progressively more upset, until he finally maneuvered his way out of his crate and was free. Upon being free, he seemed to do okay. So, this leads to week 3… we decided rather than crate, we would baby gate off an area in our home and let him have more space to roam. Same thing happened, he got upset and would cry, then jumped the baby gate and was free to roam the entire house. Following him escaping and jumping the gate, we attempted to let him have free-roam of the house (main floor and upstairs). At first, that was appearing to work and he never destroyed anything (chewing, etc.) in the house. My husband and I thought, “well, maybe he just doesn’t want to be cooped up.” Although, he still voluntarily goes into his crate and doesn’t have any hesitance when entering, or exiting. Last week, unfortunately he started to pee on the rug in the living room. He was always more of a “crate trained” dog than a “house trained” dog so we knew this was a risk going in when letting him have free roam. I cleaned the pee up with Natures Miracle and we trekked on a few more days. By week end, he was peeing one time every day (different spots on the rug) every time we left him alone. He NEVER has accidents when we are not home, and had never soiled in his crate. Now, this leads me to the question(s)… Since his arrival, his anxiousness when we leave and come back has dramatically improved – do you think his SA has subsided just from us sticking to a routine and him getting more used to us? The adoption agency recommends that we try to crate him again (with reinforcements on the latches) until he learns he cannot pee in the house when we are gone. Their opinion is that since its only happening when we are gone, he isn’t learning not to and it will continue. How long do you typically crate with a new dog? My previous dogs (not Greys) were never really crated, so this is new to me. Here is a snapshot of the day routine: 5:30 – 6:15 He gets exercised (walk/jog) and typically relieves himself 2-3 times during the walk 7:15 – 7:20 He gets his morning food 8:00 – He gets taken outside again to relieve himself one more time in the AM 8:15 – Administer Melatonin with Peanut Butter and Crate Him, Turn a Radio On 8:30 – I leave for the day for work 4:15 – Husband returns home from work and walks him / potty 5:30 (or earlier) – I am home from work and we all hang out, etc. 6:30 PM – 7:00 PM Second Feeding 9:30 – 10:00 PM One more Potty Break (there may be one in between this time and his feeding if he has to go) Thank you very much for any thoughts, advice or comments. We are wondering if this is pretty normal for the first few weeks and if there is anything else we can try to do to help him through the transition. Lastly, if there are thoughts as to whether or not he is just not a dog that can be alone (i.e. needs to be rehomed to a house with other Greys, or people home all of the time).