mangos_mom

Okay, my friend's vet is about 10 miles north of Denton proper. If you want, PM me your friend's new address and I will check with my group, Greyhounds Unlimited, to see if we have any adopters in that area that can recommend a vet. Denton actually covers a pretty large area, too.

I only live about 10 miles east of Denton, but my vet is farther east and south and probably not practical. Let me check with a friend who lives closer to Denton and she who she uses.

Aw, Jan, so sorry it was time for Sweet to go join Seamie. You gave her a wonderful life full of love and companionship, though. Hugs to you and the rest of the campers.

Hi, all, thanks for your answers and kind thoughts. I've been traveling and haven't come into the forum since Friday. I a call in to my own vet to talk things over with him, and will consider reaching out to Dr Couto when I get paid this week. Surgery and travel expenses have me maxed out right now. (Travel wasn't exactly my choice: I was due to leave for Philly the week Del broke her leg because my Mom was coming home from the hospital after having major back surgery. I postponed as long as I could, waiting until Del was well on the road to recovery. She is being watched over by a friend who is living at my house while I'm away.)

Yep, here I am again, asking for cancer advice. Long story short - Delta broke her leg 2 weeks ago, just above the wrist joint on her right foreleg. My general vet couldn't repair because the location made it complicated. But, we also saw "pitting" in the ball of the joint on the xray. So, off to an orthopedic vet for help. They took one look at the xrays and said "amputation", not repair. Their radiologist did more xrays and concurred that we were looking at cancer as the cause for the break. The biopsy of the removed leg bone came back today and the verdict is "fibromyxo sarcoma, presence of spindle-cells, soft-tissue sarcoma". I tried a search on Bing of fibromyxo sarcoma in dogs and come up basically empty. Can find info on it in humans but not dogs. I'm just wondering whether anyone else here has dealt with this type of cancer and might offer some advice on what to expect. I've dealt with osteo in 2 dogs, and what I suspect, but wasn't found in time to treat, was lymphosarcoma in another. Fibromyxo is a new one on me. Any info anyone has is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I agree with the OP's sentiment so much. I've worked with 3 shy and unsocialized dogs now, 2 of whom are still with me, and know the rewards of gaining their trust and love. I'm about to embark on a new adventure (waiting on group approval) of a reportedly aggressive dog and am looking forward (although not without some misgivings) to helping this boy, too. I've learned much from my shy girls and boy, and my 2 confident girls and protective boy (some angels now), in the times they've shared with me, and have not one iota of regret about having brought any of them into my life, or my pack. Thank you for the reminder.

Noooo...no,no,no,no,no. Not Seamie. Oh, Jan, I am so sorry to hear this. Sending thoughts of huge hugs for you, my friend.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Mary. Hugs to you. Letting them go is never easy.

Oh, Jan, I'm so sorry. You posted such great pictures the other day and she looked so well in them. Oh, run free, sweet Sorella. You have many friends waiting to greet you at the other end of the Bridge tonight. Jan:

Seeing this thread for the first time and reading with interest as I had been wondering about this exact thing. Holly is just turned 7 mos and I'm seeing fear responses to the odd thing here and there all of a sudden. Most aren't huge, just that she hadn't reacted that way toward whatever the stimulus is when she encountered it at an earlier age. Biggest one I have right now is that she seems to be afraid of engine noises. When the lawn service comes, she hides under my desk until they are gone. And in a car, she's happy as a lark until the speed of the car gets up to around 50mph, then she comes diving through into the front seat and down under the dashboard on the passenger side. And that's where she stays until the car stops again. I've thought of tethering her in the back using a harness and leash, but I don't know whether that will make it worse or not. Happy to see that puppy fear stages aren't a figment of my imagination, or a result of something I'm not doing right with her, though.

Oh, no! Don't let Izzy talk to Holly. Things on the wall are still safe here - then again, Holly may be running out of things on the floor and counters. It's only a matter of time before she turns her eagle puppy eyes to the walls.

Welcome to GT. As you can see, we DO love fuzzies here. My beloved Takoda was a fuzzy, and he was just the sweetest boy, although he was a bit of a lost soul. In January, I added now 6mo old Holly to my pack, who is an UN-fuzzy staghound. Your new girl is just beautiful! Edited to add, to me, there is just something special about the greyhound-deerhound mixes. I can't put a description to it, but they always steal my heart.

You will get a mixture of responses here about dog parks in general. Some folks use them, and some avoid them like the plague. Here's what I can tell you about my personal experience. Of the 5 greyhounds I've have over the past 7 years, one would get in the middle and play until it got too rough and then she would back off. The other 3 want nothing to do with rough play. However, I've had at least one foster who gleefully got into the middle of rough-housing and often needed to be pulled back. It depends on the individual dog as to how they will react, but one thing to always keep in mind is that greyhounds don't have all that extra fur that the herding types have, or extra skin that some other breeds have. A simple nip can turn into a costly injury. Also, with a high-prey drive dog like Sherlock, you will have to be extra vigilant when there is rough-housing, because he will quickly kick into that predator-prey attack mode. The one question I can't answer, but hopefully others can, is whether he will "get" that it's play with experience. Not sure about that one because I've never had a high-prey grey. Love that you are posting here and asking so many questions. Good for you! And good for Sherlock having someone who cares enough to ask the questions!

tsmith1: just a quick clarification: are the fences in your neighborhood mostly solid or more chain-link or open-slatted? Are the dogs on your walk seeing Sonic (sorry, I can't remember his new name) or are they just hearing/smelling him when you walk? (In my neighborhood they are all solid fences, so when I walk my girls, we get mostly aggressive barking because the other dogs can't see what's going by, so they are warning us away.

I, too, love working with the shy dogs. Have two right now that I've had for 3 years and believe me, I'm still learning little things that work/don't work with them. Don't stress over things you unwittingly did because you didn't know differently. You do know now and can use your new knowledge to help Luka move forward. Our dogs are incredibly forgiving. The shy ones just take a little longer to get over it. You're doing fine, and the fact that you love Luka enough to come looking for advice, and to pay attention to his reactions to things, puts you miles ahead of most dog owners. Keep on loving him and be patient with him and all will come right, you'll see. And thank you for caring enough to take on a shy dog. They so often get overlooked and yet they can be the best companions with just a little extra work.

Welcome to Greytalk! I met Sonic and he is a great galoot of a dog who just loves people. You have come to a good place for advice on how to handle some of his issues. Don't forget that you can also keep in touch with GU's adoption coordinators when you need help, too. I tend to take on the shy and fearful hounds, rather than the boisterous and high-prey ones, so I don't have any good advice for you on either front. But there are plenty of folks here on GT that can, and will, offer advice. So glad to hear that you love Sonic, though, and want to work with him through his issues. Good for you!

OH, no! Gracie. Oh, my heart is breaking right along with your's, Jan. I will always remember her twirling at Christmas when I was there. I am so, so very sorry. Gracie, twirl your way over the Rainbow Bridge, sweetie, but don't forget to send your momma a sign that you made it okay. Then go find Ruger - he's sure to know where the softest clouds and the bestest biskie trees are! Hugs, Jan!

We are, too!

If they do xrays, can I suggest considering xraying the leg he is limping on as well as the spine? I don't want to scare you, and Ruger was actually limping, not dragging, his leg, but what my vet at first thought was compressed discs turned out to be a tumor in his knee joint. My gut said xray his leg on the first visit and I didn't listen so it took 2 more weeks and a trip to a specialist to find the tumor. Good luck and hoping for a "good" diagnosis this afternoon for you.

Okay, original plans for Sat got cancelled, have beginning plans for dinner with a friend that I can shift around probably. Anytime is fine by me. And my email is katelhowell @ sbcglobal . net I remember the feeling of the first playdate I got to have with Mango way back when. It is fun to get the hounds, and the hoomans together.

I have tentative plans for Saturday, but don't change plans for me.

But it's nice and quiet out here... The bad part is that I don't know where to suggest going. But if you tell me where you'll be, I can find my way there.

I might be able to. And I might be able to get some friends with hounds. I would offer my dog park in my community but I'm out in Baja Oklahoma, as you know, Pam.

Took these yesterday of The Sheriff. He was doing good, but I finished the Tramadol my vet sent home and today he's a little painful. I had Tramadol here from the specialist I saw pre-surgery, as well as the Previcox my vet had me giving along with the Tramadol. So I added Tramadol back into the mix, just at a smaller dosage, which I'll wean back more gradually. Mr. Ruger insisted on getting up on the sofa himself tonight. Everytime I got up to help him, he walked away. Finally he succeeded, but he couldn't circle enough to get comfortable so he abandoned the sofa after the second try and retreated to the theraputic bed. Stubborn is a new name I have for him. Hopefully, he's stubborn enough to beat this cancer, at least for a little while longer.

Oh, Jan, how special Pal was, and how special your bond. I'm so very sorry it was time for him to leave you.