Sighthounds4me

In my house, Manero is free, and the others are crated. It's fine here. Dogs don't really have a concept of "fair" when it comes to crating and the like. I don't think they really care that one is free, and the others aren't.

At 7 months, I would think you'd be fine switching to an adult food. Science Diet and plain ol' Purina are pretty low on my list of recommendations. Many vet suggest them because they are well-known. Most vets have little-to-know knowledge of canine nutrition at all, and so are not necessarily the best resource for advice. What are you feeding your adults? If they are doing well on it, I would bet you'd be fine to switch her over to that. If that does not solve the skin issues, you might want to do a skin scraping/seek a second opinion.

We use a very narrow nylon buckle collar for tags, and a martingale for outings. The tag collars stay on all the time, and the martingales are used only for training/outings, and come off at other times. I love martingales, and will likely use them for all breeds I own in the future. Besides, you can get really cool ones from many vendors on GT!

My suspicion would be this is vulvar hypertrophy. The vulva enlarges due to the hormones recieved on the track to suppress estrus. IIRC, after the bitch is off the hormones for a while, and spayed, it will normalize on its own. Might not hurt to call a Greyhound-savvy vet and discuss it, though.

What you CAN do with a flea collar, though is this: Cut it into pieces, and vacuum it into your vacuum cleaner's bag. That way, you'll kill the little buggers when you vacuum them up, so it will help stop the cycle.

If he's healthy, I wouldn't worry about it. He's eating enough to stay healthy, and that good enough. I have an almost-three year old Borzoi that is VERY lean. He looks starved, but he is fed. He often chooses not to eat, though the food is there at all times. He is also VERY active, and rarely stops moving while outside. He is very healthy, just thin. I'd rather he be thin than heavy, because as he matures, he will fill out. Same with your guy, I suspect.

Having had a few intact males, and hanging around with more, I agree - the urine is strong. But, as has already been said, the dog himself should not have that odor. Even my guys with long hair that gets peed on do not smell that bad, and clean up fairly easily. I'd get him checked out by a vet. *ETA: I have definitely noticed that neutering help this odor. Manero's urine had such a foxy odor to it, my whole backyard stunk. When he was neutered in January, the odor disappeared very quickly, and now he has little "extra" odor to his urine at all.

I agree... not something I'd wait a day for. Get the dog in ASAP.

I agree with all the other posts. In addition, I might call A/C to go talk to the neighbor and her step-son, not the dog owner. What they are doing is a recipe for disaster: the boy taunting the dog, while parent ignores the problem. I doubt there would be charges filed, but it's possible an ACO might wake the parent up, and let them know that what they are doing is not just stupid but unethical, and bordering on inhumane.

Glad that you are taking him to the vet. My money would be on UTI, but it could be something else. Good luck...

My nephew has the path report. But I have not talked to him, only commented on his posts on Facebook. I will call his mom later, I think (he's nearly impossible to get a hold of!) Yeah, I hope this isn't as bad as hemangio, but I'm not holding my breath. I believe she did have a splenectomy, but did not get the whole story. Poor girl is such a sweetheart. I adore her!

Forgot to mention: Shady is 8 years old, and has been spayed since puppyhood.

Late the week before last, we got a call from DH's sister. Her son's dog (GSD mix) had to have emergency abdominal surgery for suspected tumors. She had been bleeding internally. Looks like hemangiosarcoma (nephew said it's cancer, but still waiting to find out for sure what the vet said). If that's the case, are there any treatments? I can't find much via internet search (still looking, though). Vet's giving Shady 4 months to a year.

He is or has already done all this! In fact the owner sees no problem with the digging at all! (drives me crazy!) He already tries to leave the dog in the back yard no matter how many times i remind him that the dog has no common sense whatsoever about what not to eat (plum pits in the yard....) and what behaviors are good, bad, ugly. He has tried socializing (As much as he can with the dog not fixed yet-next month), that part he is doing well on I will admit. The dog is very social, it just knows no boundaries.... the puppy does know sit....but that is it... I appreciate all your input, i know nothing about puppies! I don't see what being fixed as to do with this. The puppy is not really at sexual maturity yet, therefore he doesn't need to be fixed in order to socialize. And even dogs that are sexually mature can still socialize, there are just precautions that need to be taken so as not to end up with an accidental litter. My friend didn't neuter her German Shepherd until he was a year old but he was out being socialized with people and other dogs from day one. Our retired racers socialize with each other all the time at turn out at the track, and they weren't neutered. When foster dogs arrive from the track the adoption agency doesn't tell you you can't socialize them until after their neuter/spay has been done. I even begin socializing puppies before they have had their vaccinations. I usually socialize them mostly with friends' dogs that I know are vaccinated, but if I'm out walking and meet another dog I'll ask if that dog is vaccinated and take the risk. In my experience parvo and distemper kill far fewer dogs in this day and age (since almost all dogs are now vaccinated) than poor socialization and owner surrender. Your friend needs to start socializing and training this dog or he is going to be an absolute nightmare that no one wants to be around. Agreed. I have a youngster who is almost 3 and intact. He is a very social dog. My Manero was not neutered till he was almost 8, and we have taken him everywhere.

I'm surprised your adoption group didn't tell you about Greyhounds' tendency to sleep with eyes open! It can be a safety issue to assume the dog is awake when he's not, so knowing about it in advance is a good thing!

Nope - ours came from Hancock Fabric. My understanding as to why they come in later is due to body fat. Because sighthounds, especially larger sighthounds, have less fat than similarly sized breeds, they develop slower. Think of it like a marathon runner, and how her monthly cycles can be messed up. My friend had an Afghan bitch who did not come in till about 18 months, IIRC. *ETA: I am in the "wait for maturity" camp. Henley is 2 1/2 and is still intact. I don't plan to neuter him til at least next year. Manero was almost 8 when he was neutered (but then, he was shown, and possibly breedable).

OMG... we have the same statue, also on our fireplace hearth! The only benefit I have heard about waiting to spay till after the first heat is if she has a...what's the correct term...inverted (?) vulva (the type that would need surgery later, because it tends to retain urine, and cause vaginal infections). I have heard anecdotal evidence to suggest that allowing one season helps with this issue. BUT, it is only anecdotal evidence, I have only read it on internet forums like this, and I do not know the actuality of this. All in all, I agree with the others: no reason to wait, get it done ASAP. The little brat is ADORABLE! Please blow raspberries on that tummy for me!

Welcome aboard! Got your message, BTW - thanks for the compliment!! I actually have to revise my signature to include my newst addition Henley. Nephew to the two older boys pictures.

And that's why I said what I did. I would not rely on symptoms alone, nor would I trust a vet who did, unless other possibilities have been ruled out. This is what happened in Naples' case. We did not want to subject her to anesthesia for the laryngoscope because she'd had problems with anesthesia in the past. Instead, based on her age, my research, and our vet's experience and opinion, combined with his ruling out several other possible problems, we were comfortable calling it LP without definitive dx. Yes, there are many other things that could produce similar symptoms. I will never disagree with that, or with the fact that LP symptoms are, for the most part, rather vague. But when you combine several different factors, as we did, it's pretty easy to see that LP is the most likely scenario in some of these cases.

I agree with this. There's much more to it than just this... It's nothing I can type out on my phone, but LP can't be diagnosed by a "gacking" sound. True. But when you combine it with raspy breathing, lots of panting, a dog that tires easily, a dog that has trouble eating/drinking without choking, and the signs are there. My Naples was not actually diagnosed, because we did not do a laryngoscopy. But she had all the signs, and our vet was comfortable calling it LP. I wouldn't want my vet to diagnose it with only that one symptom. I our case, we ruled out other things (such as masses on the lungs), and came up with this dx.

Damn...wish I'd have known this two weeks ago... Thanks for the info, Diane. I will file it mentally, and hope I never need it again.

Just got back from the vet. I got home from work today, and she was having a VERY hard time breathing. I tried to calm her, but could not. She would not even eat the cheese in which I wrapped melatonin and prednisone. It's VERY unusual for her refuse food. Her tongue and gums were blue. She went very peacefully. She's breathing easy now.

I hadn't heard of the co-owner situation, either. I know of a few groups where actual ownership supposedly stays with the group, but not co-ownership. I'm not sure that either if those is an advantage over a standard adoption, though. Whether it would make it easier to repo a dog is questionable and It opens the group up to liability. As far as I'm aware the blue slip is only going to matter for ownership as far as NGA ownership for racing and breeding rights. Once a dog passes from a racing kennel to a group and then to an adoptive owner, it's a hard argument to make and I doubt you can make it without invalidating the ownership that the group had. It's an interesting idea though. I agree. Possession is 9/10 of the law. Once a dog is willingly handed over to another entity, the bulk of ownership lies with whoever possesses the dog. even if paperwork says otherwise. At least, that's how it is in WI.

Also, lot of the "leashless" photos you see have been Photoshopped to remove the leash. I have also been known to hid leads in creative ways (behind a sitting dog, among brush, for example) for pics.

Mine are always leashed. Breed does not matter to me. Sighthounds or not, the temptation to run is always there, for any breed. Besides, it is the responsible thing to do. Most of the places we go with our dogs require leashes for all dogs. But beyond that, I never like it when off-lead dogs bound up to me, so I don't want to be one that allows it of my dogs. They are VERY BIG dogs, and as such, can be intimidating to people unaware of their calm temperament. As for the days when people actively hunted with sighthounds: most people leashed dogs till prey was sighted, then slipped them. This is similar to modern day lure coursing or open field coursing. Also, as has been mentioned, cars did not exist, so that threat was not there. And, in those days, dogs were more or less required to put food on the table. Certain risks had to be accepted. These days, these dogs are our companions. Most of us have jobs that pay us money, whit which we can put food on the table. Thus, since we don't *need* our sighthounds to hunt for us, it is our responsibility to keep them safe. I just don't think there is any comparison between then and now. *ETA: Last fall, DH and I were at our favorite state park, to lead a bird hike. No one showed up for it, so we hung around the nature center, chatting with the naturalist, and other members of the friends group. A lady burst in, covered in blood, to tell us that her Lab had slipped her collar, and chased a porcupine. (The blood on the lady was from the dog - she had removed as many quills as she could). We got the lady and her dogs (she had two - one stayed on lead) into the building, and started removing the quills. Let me tell you, those things HURT (I got stabbed a couple times)! I also worked as a bather for a groomer for about a year. I had to bathe my share of skunked dogs. NOT something I would wish on anyone. I would NOT want my dogs injured in this way by wildlife. Keeping them on a leash (with a well-fitted collar!) is one way to prevent that, and is an easy thing to do.