Toffeesdad

He was a big brindle boy, great track record.

Diagnosed with lymphoma the week of Thanksgiving, a few good days the week of Christmas. Went to the bridge, January 2. His passing was so peaceful and we loved him.

Not sure this is the right section but here goes. We lost out boy Toffee during the holidays to lymphoma. We miss him but glad he’s no longer suffering. My wife and I have really fallen for sight hounds but looking at the rescues in our area, (KY), ex racers are pretty scarce compared to when we adopted Toffee. I’ve looked at akc puppies but they’re expensive and at my advanced years I’m not sure about a puppy. Does anyone have experience with adopting galgos? Borzois? Sloughi? Saluki? This forum has always been such a resource for us, thanks to all.

Our brindle boy came to us with a flaky,dry coarse coat. Like others here have said we added oil to his food for about a year and continue to give a daily brush with a hounds glove. It took him about a year to year and a half to turn his coat over. His coat now, 4 years later, is soft and does have a shine when the sun hits it obliquely. He still has a ruff down each side of his neck which is just a little rough and his slight feathering on his tail. I call it his inner saluki coming out 😂

We started once a year for our hound but since the pandemic we’ve just brushed him daily and he is good. No smell or oily residue

Not that much experience here, but our grey is an ex racer. He has kind of a limited prey drive. Cats, squirrels, other dogs don’t seem to trigger him usually. However if a cat does certain things like climb a tree in front of him, or a rabbit runs across his path, he will fixate on them. Ears pricked, eyes focused tense stance. He has never attempted to chase but it would pay you to keep your attention on your dog around other animals. When they fixate their drive is engaged, in my experience. You’ll get great advice on the forum.

Our grey has never slept with us but he does indeed sleep on the floor across the room from us and has never even tried getting on the bed. I think you’ve taken a plunge into the deep end of the pool. Greys aren’t cats and they’re really not like golden retriever’s. Please don’t leave her outside at night alone.

I’m wondering if he’s regressed with lock down and getting use to being with someone a lot more. If that seems the case then I’d suggest revisiting alone training. They are such creatures of habit, our guy had SA for the first three or four months when we got him. Eventually we established a routine that prepared him to be alone and I’m guessing he knows when the country music comes on and he gets a Kong, he knows we’ll be home eventually. Good luck.

Our hound does this as well. It appears to be soothing behavior. He will even lick while asleep. He gets anxious rather easily and it appears to be linked to that. So far he’s not had any side effects from it.

Our last dental was $380 US without lab work. The lab work quote was $80 and optional because he’s under 10 years old.

Just to add my 2 cents. Our boy can find anything remotely edible on a walk and have it swallowed before I can react. I worry about it but he hates his muzzle, which is weird sense he was a successful racer. I avoid the garbage can storage areas in the neighborhood and keep an eye on the street gutter. It’s surprising how much food scraps get tossed on the street in a residential neighborhood.

Sorry I asked. 🤮

No suggestions as you’ve gotten some great ones. Question…what’s a meat farm?

Thanks for the responses. Toff is 8 and has been with us 3 years. He gets his teeth brushed 5 out of 7 days and like some of the above responses thinks it’s a treat so is down for it. He was pulling away from having his front teeth brushed and it turned out the two pulled were in front. I started brushing his teeth when his breath started reeking, and it improved almost immediately. We also use an additive to his food. Beyond the expense of cleaning, I’m more concerned about yearly anesthesia but guess I’ll see how it goes. Thanks again for your help.

Good afternoon, just looking for some advice. Toffee had his first dental since he came to us three years ago. He had two front teeth extracted, vet said he had seven others that he would’ve pulled if he didn’t know we do frequent followups and daily brushing. My question is the vet said he probably will need yearly dental cleanings. Is that something anyone else has experienced? Seems like a lot of anesthesia to me but what do I know? Toff is fine by the way, drunk but doing ok.

I had a similar but not identical issue with our boy. He weighs 85lbs and wouldn’t get in the vehicle for some reason. I carried him to the vehicle about three or four times and he finally got the idea that it was ok. Never knew what his issue was. Grey’s are mystical beasts. You could also try looping his leash behind his haunches and pull. It puts pressure on his back legs. It works for others it was not helpful for our guy. Good luck

I’m sure you’ll get some good insight from more experienced folks, but our hound sleeps well til around 4am. If one of us gets up to the bathroom etc around that magic time he thinks it’s time to get up and is hard to get back to sleep. It appears that the racing kennels usually let the hounds out at 430. The hounds are very schedule oriented. Does she need to go out? Is there a scheduled noise like a garbage truck happening at the time she gets up? You mention neighbors, is it elevator noise? Sometimes it’s like a mystery novel trying to figure things out.

Our boy will steal every cooked potato he can wrangle.

Our boy likes country music so we leave it on while we’re out, a Kong keeps him occupied for the first 15-20 minutes while we leave. Our boy paced and panted, Roo’d and was pitiful while adjusting. We also used an old iPad to monitor while we were out. Setting up a schedule that he will recognize and find comfort/security in is what you should aim for.

So I thought I would update this in case someone else has this issue and wants a success story. So we decided to take him on a ride. I put his muzzle on and he went out the door and down the steps then balked and statued. He got that wild eyed look again so I talked to him gently picked all 85lbs of him up and walked to the truck. I sat him back down opened the door and he jumped right up in the back seat of the truck. The ride was fine after that and he got back in the truck without issues when we came back home. So I guess that’s a win and hopefully he’ll calm down with repetition.

Yes no injuries, and it doesn’t seem to be the jump itself but the vehicle.

So I’ve been searching threads and seeing what folks have done to get their hound to get in the car, but mines a little different. Toffee is 85lbs and 7yrs, he retired and we’ve had him going on 3 years. When we got him from the foster he would get in a vehicle no problem. If he encountered an open car door he would get in it. About a year later he jumped into the back of a black suv cause he thought the lift gate was open and gave himself a pretty hard bump but no injuries. Since that time he is understandably anxious about vehicles. Generally we have to time a car ride to coincide with his routine walk. If he’s at the door and we open it he will reluctantly jump in. Ive tried cheese, a Kong, chicken, I’ve tried putting his favorite treats on the bumper so he could find them but nothing. If he thinks he’s being lead to the car he won’t take anything. Once in the car he’s fine no issues riding. I haven’t tried just picking him up and putting him in the vehicle, luckily we’ve never had an emergency car ride. Picking him up in that situation would require muzzling him as he would definitely snap at me. Otherwise he’s a real gent and a joy to have around. Any suggestions?

When our grey first came to us he would pee on the floor as soon as he heard us return from being out. Whether excitement or a submissive response we weren’t sure. Luckily he got over it pretty quickly. We used a panty liner in a belly band which caught most of it. Realize that’s not much help for a lady grey.

You might consider giving your dog something like compose (a treat that calms nerves it’s available at pet stores and on Amazon) about 30 minutes before you leave and establish a routine for leaving. Our dog knows when country music is turned on and a Kong is brought out we’ll be gone for a bit. Alone training is likely to help a lot. Greys are true creatures of habit and don’t like change. Good luck

Our boy struggled with pudding poo for nearly a year. We give him olewo carrots and beets etc. switched him to farmers dog mixed with low protein kibble and fixed him right up. Also help with his weight and energy as well. Worm check first though.