turbotaina

Neylasmom's advice is spot on. And she's a dog trainer, so there's that

This is exactly what I would do. For Turbo, we used Therapaws and tramadol and that worked most of the time for his corn pain.

I would also do some massage and gentle flexion/range of motion exercises in the wrist area to help restore flexiblity and mobility. His tendons are probably quite tight from being casted for so long.

Good to see you back here, Aaron - it's been a while! Sorry about your foster's skin issues. Have you tried a thyroid panel yet? Low thyroid can cause skin issues, so that's one avenue to explore, anyway. If the issue were only on the shoulder, I'd say fronline reaction, but you're right that it doesn't make a lot of sense with the areas behind his ears and legs. One thing you may want to try is a Coombs/ANA test to see if maybe something autoimmune is happening. Autoimmune likes to attack where the skin is "transitional" though generally that would be around the nose, eyes, pupace, etc., so I don't know if it would be worth exploring that or not. Has the vet recommended any antibiotics to be sure those open sores don't pick up an infection? Hope you can get it resolved!

I'm so, so sorry, Judy :grouphug

Re: avocados: And from the ASPCA site:

Hi there, I'm also in Maryland and volunteered for a group for many years. Yes, there are quite a few groups in our region and they all do things slightly differently, so it's important to find a group you like and work with them. Greyhound Welfare (the group for which I formerly volunteered) places to homes within about an hour of DC. They can be slightly flexible on that, if they have a volunteer who is willing to travel to you for a home visit. Greyt Expectations places in a wider geographical range and they have volunteers all over our area. Both of these groups foster off the track dogs prior to placement and offer post-adoption support and I can highly recommend both of them. Fast Friends is based in Boonsboro, they foster and they are another good group, but I'm not sure what their geographical reach is. Nittany may be too far away, but you can contact them and ask. I think some groups around here will choose dogs for you (based on your lifestyle) and put them directly into your home, but those same groups usually do foster bounced dogs, though they are not primarily fostering groups. I am mainly familiar with the groups in Maryland, but there are a few more in Virginia (Blue Ridge Greyhounds, GPA NoVa, VAGA, etc.). Since you're not adopting for a few years yet, you've got plenty of time to go to various meet & greets and open houses sponsored by these groups, fsee how you like their volunteers, how they do things, their process, etc. You may even want to try volunteering, if you have the time. Good luck

Glad you got some answers

If she's food motivated, try throwing a delicious treat in and see if she'll go for it. My old boy would always get into the car when we were leaving the house, but almost never agree to get back in the car when we were returning home. So, I'd put his front legs up and hoist his butt in. He was physically capable of doing it, but he was also stubborn and didn't want the fun to end A thought - you have other dogs, right? Are they loaded up before her? Maybe try getting her in first, then load the other dogs. Some pups are reticent to jump in a hatchback with other dogs because they don't want to risk getting told off by getting in the other dogs' space.

My thought, too. Vet check?

Just wanted to add that my greyhound was much like yours when I got him - he would bark and whine and pull towards my cats. He would hunt them when they were out of sight. He even got my female cat once when my husband picked her up to get her out of the way and turned the wrong direciton, basically putting her in the dog's mouth (everyone turned out OK, except me and the hubby who were each rewarded by deep scratches from the cat). We had our house rigged up with babygates all over the place. Anyway, my dog loves food. Loves. It. So he was trainable. Anytime he glanced at the cats, we'd say "no kitty", he'd glance at us and he'd get a treat. Before too long, he'd look at us as soon as the cat entered the room. So we rewarded him for looking away and ignoring the cats. He was crated a lot then, but we started letting him out on a leash, then off leash with a muzzle, and finally free rein. It took 4 months, but it worked. He lived peacefully with the kitties for another 3 years, but both of the cats passed away earlier this year (from geriatric health issues). So there's hope, but you have to really commit to it and do a lot of work.

Can he not come up to your room after the first potty? I find dogs tend to be much calmer when they're in the same room with their humans, though I understand sometimes folks have allergies or whatever and need a dog-dander-free room, or there may be other reasons. I'm generally a proponent of letting the dog sleep in the same room as the humans if at all possible. Also, generally speaking, if you want your dog not to bark, don't respond to the barking, even if it's just saying no (easier said that done, I know). That's still attention and it encourages the behavior. Wait until he's done barking, then reward the quiet with attention, treats or whatever. I had one foster who not only would not sleep in, but she had no patience for waiting and would soil her crate as soon as she got her first bark out. She was like a little kid who tells you she to go potty, then immediately pees her pants Anyway, what worked for her was to give her a very brisk 20 minute walk at about 9:00pm. She liked the walk, burned off some energy, emptied herself out, and slept a little later

My first greyhound was fine with my cats from the moment he first stepped into the house. Never a problem and never a need for separation. My second greyhound tested cat safe at the kennel, but was not in reality. We did *a lot* of work with him and after about 4 months, we could trust him uncrated around the cats, even when we weren't home. So yes, it's absolutely do-able if your dog is, in fact, cat trainable

Hubby walked the dog around the local community center and came back with at least two ticks on him (hubby not dog!). 'Tis the season *shudder* Re: Advantix - I'm not a fan of it because it contains permethrin. That being said, most greyhounds do just fine with permethrin, I'm just neurotic . Note: it should not be used around cats. Not sure how it affects chinchillas, but Oscar likely wouldn't come into contact with it anyway We use Frontline and have not had any issues. You can use a tick collar - Preventix - that's safe for greyhounds. Not sure if it's available in Canada or not.

Yeah, sorry, it'll be a few seconds of trauma, but it needs to come off. The longer it stays, the longer it can transmit a disease. You'll probably want to get him tested after this anyway since it's been attached 48 hours Use a tick key - they're widely available and making removing a tick super easy. Good luck!

I love, love, love LDL collars

Jay, I don't know how I missed this. I'm so sorry for your loss

Try not to panic too much, Kristin. I'd have his blood run and if you haven't had a recent TBD test, do one. Hope he's back on the mend quickly.

Carol, how did I miss this? I'm so, so sorry. He had a good life with you.

:grouphug :grouphug

That won't find them either. You need to take each toe by the side and give a firm but gentle squeeze. If the dog pulls back or lip licks or otherwise looks uncomfortable, it's likely a corn. If you have a "country vet" near who knows how to give nerve blocks, you can try DX'ing that way. Many small animal vets won't think to do it, but it's commonly done to DX lameness in horses. If the pain is in the foot, it'll help isolate where it is. My last greyhound had horrible corns where he would be toe-touch lame at a walk well before the corn even became visible. With years of corns, he did have some muscle wasting on the corn side because he just wouldn't weight-bare on his right hind with regularity. What worked for him was therapaw boots and tramadol. NSAIDs generally won't help with corn pain. When his corns were *really* bad, even the boot/tramadol combo wouldn't work and we'd have to wait to get the corn hulled, then for a few days/weeks after for him to start bearing weight again. All that being said, yes, your dog could have had a racing injury and been retired for that reason. Adoption kennels are usually given a give-up paper that has the reason for retirement on it (at least, that was my experience when bringing in dogs for my former group), so you may get a clue there. You can also look at her race record to see if there were any long lapses in time between races. That will usually indicate an injury. If she had a fracture, then yes, she could have some arthritis or calcification going on there. For joint supplements, look at Actiflex. You can get it in horse or dog formulas. It's got all kinds of good stuff in it and was recommended to me by a racing trainer. Hope you can get it figured out! ETA: Jen you posted when I was writing my novel here

There are some folks who meet with their greyhounds at a dog park in Germantown, irrc, but that's might be a bit far for the OP. The Georgetown runs still happen, I think, but they don't use muzzles, so I can't recommend them at all. OP - I also go to Frying Pan Park Well, I couldn't last time because I had something else going on, but our boy is super energetic and that run is the only thing that knocks him back a few notches for a couple of days (He didn't read the greyhound manual about being 'laid back'). I'm sad it's only monthly. I used to organize a run in Maryland that was weekly and also in a horse arena. Allegedly, their insurance company didn't like us having dogs off lead in the indoor, so they stopped letting us do it. It was a huge loss. I looked around for a while to find a place to do a weekly run, but came up short, sadly It's once a month because it's an equestrian facility that sees a lot of use - time slots have to be managed.

Can she put a webcam on him to see what he's up to when she's not home? Could be some separation anxiety. Also - is he getting adequate exercise and fully emptying before she leaves him crated?

My old boy Turbo was a large, confident dog and the target of humping and excessive licking. He was targeted so often and so intensely at dog parks that I asked my vet about it. My vet (Jen - this was Dr. Vall ) said that sometimes there can be something going on with the adrenal gland that will make a male dog smell like a bitch in heat, and there are forms of cancer that will do that as well, but Turbo was cleared of all that. The vet went on to say that when he was doing his residency in CO, he worked a lot with cattle and sometimes the steers would pick out another steer and engage in mounting behaviors. There was no rhyme or reason to it, and dogs are certainly not steers, but the vet theorized that some animals just put off a certain scent that other animals find attractive, thus the behavior . As for Turbo, he mostly let it go until a huge (as in 100 lb) mixed breed wouldn't leave him alone and it turned into a scuffle. The stupid woman who owned the dog wouldn't control him, didn't so much as have a freaking collar on the dog and I couldn't pull him off myself, so Turbo went after him and ended up with a tiny puncture wound on his head. After that incident, if anyone went to sniff him a millisecond too long, he would growl and show teeth and spin around. He just decided he was not going to tolerate it anymore. I will note, however, that Turbo was never, not once, mounted by another greyhound. Ever. .

. OK, good. Many vets won't consider it, so I'm glad he's open to the idea I didn't realize they had a water treadmill over there now. Turbo was a patient when he first opened the practice (actually, when Dr. C was still at VCA and whispered to me he was leaving and I should check out the practice ) so I'm sure they've made a ton of changes since I was there