fionasmom
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Posts posted by fionasmom
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I just adopted a 2 1/2 year old grey from the track. She is exhibiting many of the same behavior. I second what everone else said. Consistency is important; even the children must make sure they enforce the training. Maggie and I start obedience classes this Saturday to get some rules in place.
How much exercise is the dog getting? A busy family with three children probably has a lot of other things going on; however, excercising the dog must be a priority. A tired puppy is a good puppy.
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Maggie has been here about 2 weeks. She still loves to collect my shoes but has also discovered the toy basket. Obviously, collecting is hard work.
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Can't edit the title but I am starting to think the tattoo/racing name the rescue gave me is not correct. The dog they identified just raced on Friday so I could not have adopted her in central NY on Saturday (also my girl broke her hock in early October) . The tattoos are hard to read but I think my girl may be XT Pistol. The tattoos are one number off and Pistol last finished a race on 9/27 and my girl had surgery for the break on 10/6 so the timing seems to fit. Doesn't matter other than idle curiousity...
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After losing my pointer I returned to the greyhound breed. Yesterday I brought home Maggie from Forever Greyhounds. She broke her hock in October and retired to my couch. Her foster mom did a great job. She whines when she has to go out and crated herself last night while I was locking up downstairs. She is a champion counter surfer but I was trained by Fiona not to leave food on the counter.
And she loves shoes
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We use honey or sugar to heal un-stitchable wounds. Works great every time
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. How do you apply the anti biotics/honey? I am thinking apply it to a gauze pad and place over wound with a gauze wrap holding it in place?
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Sooo, on Sunday some of the stitches on Nessa's hock popped open again. The open area is now about the size of a silver dollar. The vet can't suture again so we are managing the wound. I have been cleaning it twice a day with a mild cleaning solution and applying a powder containing anti biotics and an astringent. I am using a baby diaper to cover the wound and securing that with vet tape.
The vet wants to give it a few days before I bring her in again. When I remove the bandage I am seeing less blood but still a fair amount of weeping. I am hoping that less bleeding means that the tissue is starting to form over the area. I am hoping that someone with experience in this type of wound management can confirm this is the natural progression.
Meanwhile Nessa seems to be doing well. She eats well as long as I add some mix ins and she wants her treats and her walk. Last night she climbed on my lap for the first time since we did the initial surgery.
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When Grace had the skin webbing removed from between her toes due to a recurring abscess, gentle bathing with saline solution helped to sooth it and keep it clean and aid healing. That took a good couple of weeks to stop weeping.
To make saline solution dissolve a teaspoon of salt in 1 pint of boiled water and let cool.
Thank you. I live in a rural area so the vet does a lot of large animal work, He gave me a cleaning solution used for cow teats...
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Have you tried manuka honey?
Not yet but the other night I searched the Greytalk topics about it. May order some and see if it helps.
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Thank you to those who talked me down from the ledge yesterday. The vet was actually pretty pleased with the incision site. There is a section that has to form granulation so that will be slow to heal; however, he can see the granulation starting so we are going in the right direction. He have me a mild cleaning solution and a powder that contains some anti biotics and an astringent to help with clotting.
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Nessa (pointer) had a fast growing lump removed from her hock on Halloween. I put a sock over the leg but she kept licking even with an e-collar on. Last Friday I saw that 2 stitches had popped. By Saturday they all had opened up so a second surgery on Monday to put in new stitches. I have been keeping a bandage on it (gauze covered with vet wrap) because it was seeping blood and a pale liquid. I took a good look at it today and the stitches are still in place but still blood and seeping 5 days post surgery,
We have an appointment for tomorrow morning but I am hoping for some advice with those experienced with this type of problem. The vet says that the hock is a difficult spot because there is not much extra skin to work with. It just does not seem to be scabbing over at all.
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Fiona was a champion counter surfer when I first adopted her. As others said, do not leave food on the counter. The top of the fridge or inside the micro wave were my favorite places to put food out of her reach. Eventually, she stopped looking on the counters because there was no reward for it. If food is only on the counter while prepping meals you may want to crate her during that time.
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Scrambled eggs always worked well for us. On day 2 add in some pasta.
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Could be worse. With Fiona, we could not leave a glass of wine on the low coffee table.
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Yup. Fiona cured me of leaving food on the counter. If I had to leave the kitchen during prep, anything prepared went on top of the fridge. I cannot tell you how many times, after dinner was over, I remembered there was supposed to be a salad. Sure enough, there the salad was on top of the fridge.
She did get better over time but still was not completely trustworthy. The worst was when I turned out 3 lb of ground beef into a bowl and stepped out side to throw away the Styrofoam tray. Came back in to see Fiona with her elbows on the counter and her entire head in the bowl of meat.
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It does sound like LS. My American Eskimo had it. She got around pretty well, stopped doing stairs and back end weakness when pooping, but in the last month it really did accelerate. She was on an anti inflaminant and muscle relaxer which made her more comfortable but did not slow down the progression.
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I think puppies are pretty self absorbed. I don't recall Nessa being overly snuggly as a puppy but as she matured she was more likely to seek attention from humans. I am sure it also depends on each dog's personality but the obedience training should help with the bond and also teach her to look to you for direction and attention.
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Milo has an Outward Hound harness but even with a lot of adjusting it's a slightly loose fit, and he's slightly more barrel-chested than a full-blood greyhound. Also, the only loop for the leash is in the middle of his back, so it's a good thing he's not a puller because you have no control when the leash connects there. But having said that, it's time for us to go to the farmer's market so I can fill up those saddlebags on him.
I do not attach the leash to the back pack/harness. The leash is attached to the martingale collar as though she were not wearing the back pack.
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Not sure about fit for greys but chewy.com has outward hound harnesses
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When my pointer Nessa was a puppy I thought I would never be able to burn off the crazy energy. I would walk her for an hour and she still ran around the house like a nut job. Our solution was to have her wear a back pack with some weight in it when we walked. The added work load really helped burn off the craziness. Also, I never fed her from a bowl. I divided her kibble into three treat dispensing toys so that she really had to work for her dinner. I highly recommend the tug-a-jug toy for that.
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I second the need to check for UTI. Fiona stated peeing in her crate after about six months, even after a long walk. UTI was the problem and cleared up after a round of antibiotics.
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Could it be a sign of excitement rather than aggression? Fiona used to air snap when she was excited. It took me a while to realize it was not aggression.
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I still suggest taking in a stool sample. Fiona had an awful case of hook worms which makes for pudding poo.
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I would try a bland diet of chicken and rice for a few days then gradually add kibble back in. Also, take a sample of the stool to the vet. It is not unusual for recent adoptees to have internal parasites.
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There is actually a third option you can discuss with your vet. Alternate prednisone with lukeran (sp?). The lukeran is chemo drug administered orally; it will slow down the progression of the lymphoma but will not result in remission. I used this option with my grey Fiona. She was diagnosed in April and I lost her in October. Honestly, I do not know that I would do it again though, she had a gradual decline and was not the feisty alpha she had been before the diagnosis.
On the other hand I had a pointer I fostered who was diagnosed with lymphoma. We opted for just prednisone. The improvement was immediate and he was himself for a few months. When the prednisone stopped working it was immediately apparent and I knew it was time to let go.
There is no right answer. You know what your dog will tolerate. Fiona just was not a dog that liked her schedule changed or for strangers to touch her. Chemo treatments were not the right option for her.
Antlers As Dental Chews
in Food and dietary discussion
Posted
My previous dogs never cared for antlers; however, my new hound Maggie has been chewing on one occasionally. Maggie has also chewed the leg of a wooden chair while I was sitting in it and has chewed up several slippers so she seems to have more of a chewing need than my previous dogs.
They do not have any smell that I can detect.