greylyn

Gracegirl, you are using my favourite line - when people think it's OK to let their little dogs come rushing over to "meet" my two big black beauties, I just tell them their dog looks a lot like the lure they chased when they were racing - usually the light goes on and they quickly get control of their little dog(s). If they ask me first it is OK, I use the same line because frankly, the cute little dogs have cute little sharp teeth that can do serious damage to my dogs' leg(s). That being said, I really don't think my dogs would hurt them, but I prefer not to test the theory since these are not dogs we regularly meet on our walks. We occasionally meet and walk with a man who has a small pom-type mix. When we first started walking with them, my dogs were interested, but a firm hold on their leashes and my firm "Leave it!" let them know that the little dog was to be left alone! We hadn't seen them for a few days and my girl was more interested than I liked, so I just reminded her that she knows this dog, and told her to "settle down" and we all walked together with no issues.

I'm sorry to see this! Thank you for giving him a real home and family for the last few months of his life!

I hope you were able to get the name of his former "family" so that you can warn adoption groups and/or shelters to put them on a "do not adopt list" to prevent this from happening again to another dog!

This is similar to my usual line if people let their off-leash small dogs come running up to my two big sweeties! I just tell them their little dog (regardless of colour!) looks too much like the lure they chased when they raced! The owners very quickly grab their dogs! Sometimes people just don't think - you would think they would at least ask me if my dogs are "friendly" before they let their little dogs get too close to us! Some do ask, but most don't!

tbhounds, thank you so much for this fascinating article!

Maybe Ernie just doesn't want/need to pee in the afternoon

Our vet had never heard of it so I gave her the link to the website several years ago; she checked it out and was willing to try it . Then she went off to have a baby! She passed the info off to the other vet in the office and after reading it carefully, she was also willing to try it. I think it helped Kieran for the first few injections but was less effective after that so we discontinued the shots.; Kieran died at 13.5 years old so she'd had a good life with no other serious health problems. Our current two GHs are 9 and 6 years old and do not appears to have any back or joint issues. I hope it stays that way for a long time!

Another vote for the WWW harness ! Autumn doesn't really need it but I put one on her anyhow for my own peace of mind, if nothing else! Jack's head is quite narrow though and he can slip out of his collar very easily, no matter how snugly I think I've adjusted it! And, to tell the truth, I just feel that they are safer when they have their harnesses on!

I'm very happy to say that our vets here are excellent - knowledgeable and willing to listen or research when I ask/tell them about things I've read about on GT and elsewhere. I always run new-to-me info by my primary vet and she always takes the time to either explain (or find out about) things I have asked her about. I feel that she loves them almost as much as I do! She's worth her weight in gold! The other vet in the practice is new/younger but is also excellent about explaining what's going on (I use her mainly for the cat). This is a small town and we are very lucky to have both of them here!

Yes, the lump was removed and sent to the pathologist for identification. Our vet was pretty sure but we opted to send it out "just in case" - much better than wondering and worrying! Jack gets his stitches out on Tuesday

Just an update: Jack's lump turned out to be what the pathologist described as a "routine benign cutaneous histiocytoma" Greysmitten, did you have your vet look at your pup's bump? Fingers crossed that the word benign figures prominently in your results too!

My Jack had a small lump on his forehead that looked just like that at first, but over a week or two it had doubled in size so off the vet we went to get her opinion! She said it could be a histiocytoma or a hemangio (sp?) sarcoma, so we decided to remove it and send it out for testing. We are hoping it comes back as a "harmless lump" but wanted to be proactive just in case! He looks like a pirate now with the stitches on his head - it's a fairly large incision because she wanted to get clean margins!

I cut up a couple of old sleeping bags to make their "eating mats" - no mess on the floor unless they happen to wander off. I stay close to see to it that they stay on the mats in the kitchen and also to keep Autumn from "helping" Jack and Kieran! I give each of them a whole turkey neck for breakfast but the ones I can get certainly aren't a pound each! I buy a case every two weeks from the local supermarket.

Good luck with that!

Maci Grey is beautiful, Holly!

I'm so sorry to see this, Holly! Yes, I think the last year and a half were Bree's happiest!

Kieran is just finishing a week of Robaxin (muscle relaxant) plus Tramadol (for pain) along with NovoLexin and Meloxicam. She's doing much better and has had no bad reactions at all. She's not always being too obedient about the vet's "REST" instruction, but I watch her very closely so she can't go running around like , well, like a greyhound!

I'm sorry.

Oh no! I'm so sorry,Michelle!

In no way did you fail her, Kari!

My DH has become a convert too - he even tells random people about the improved dog breath and nice firm small poops!

One of my concerns when I started feeding raw (almost 6 weeks ago now!) was to be sure I was giving them enough to eat. We were at the vet a couple of days ago to get Kieran's corns hulled, and as I always do at the vet clinic,I weighed them - perfect! So I think we'll just continue what we're doing. My vet is happy and is actually quite supportive. Both dogs' teeth look good, their coats are beautiful (Otis is black so he's especially shiny!), and their general health is good, so we'll keep doing what we're doing. I keep a close eye out for specials in the meat department and we even bought an upright freezer strictly for the dogs' food! The vet had asked what meal preparation I do, and I told her I take the meat of the day out of the fridge, hand it to them, and wash my hands! When I bring home meat (for example, I had the meat dept. in the local supermarket bring in a case of turkey necks for me), I do spend a short time dividing it into daily portions and freezing them, so that all I have to do is remember to take the next day's meals out of the freezer the night before and put them in the fridge. I have a kitchen scale, so if I'm not sure, I weigh what I'm giving them, but I'm finding that I'm getting pretty good at eyeballing the size of the portions, and now since I've weighed them, I'm even more confident that they are getting adequate amounts of food.

I think I'd be more concerned about poop consistency (hard? runny?etc.) than colour.

I'm so sorry, Wendy! He had a good life with you and Kevin.

Judging by Otis and Kieran's poops, I think there is plenty of bone in the chicken quarters, Kari, but as a beginner at this, I'm very interested in what other people think.