sobesmom

Welcome to GT. Can you find a less "busy" place to take her for outs? She's going to have a transition time and it sounds like it's a bit overwhelming! If you could find a quieter, less busy place that would be great. If not - you may need to find a grey that has already been fostered to adapt to a busy environment.

Luckily Diana LOVES her eggwhites! And double-lucky - my friend has chickens that produce way too many eggs so we have an unlimited free supply!

I've bumped up her protein a bit. Some of the research I've read states that in mid-kidney disease it's the phosphates, more than the protein that is the worry. She's still eating well. I haven't had her weighed recently, but her spines are smoothing out a bit. I know the poor girl is wanting more food because tonight when I was cooking up her grub (I cook almost a week's worth at a time), she was pacing about, so I decided to throw some rice (leftover from Chinese takeout) and canned NEO in her dish to tide her over until I got done cooking. I put the rice in her dish, and turned to grab the canned food to put in - and she was scarfing up plain white rice!!! WHAT! Diana would NEVER eat plain white rice! We're now looking at feeding her 4x per day. If she'll eat it - we'll feed her. I won't have her hungry.

I think the "no-pull" harness sounds like a good idea. I've never used one of those. I only ever used a standard harness on my Sobe when he had a neck injury and couldn't wear a collar. It worked fine for him, but he didn't have any walking issues to contend with. When he had healed, but was still in the harness, he had a startle incident (very rare for him) and put me on the ground. He was a sled-dog in that harness. I could never have used it to control him. He went back to a martingale as soon as possible. The power he could put into that harness humbled me. I personally don't feel comfortable with a dog in a harness. But - it might work for you if you get the right one. I will tell you that I thought my Diana was going to strangle herself and/or dislocate my shoulder on many occasions going after rabbits for the first few months we had her. We kept her in a 2" martingale, and she hit the end of the leash then up into the air more times than I can count. It was painful for both of us. I quickly learned to keep one hand in the leash-loop, and the other hand holding the leash a foot down, so I had 2 hands to handle the lunge. She got over it and quit after a while. She'd still go after bunnies sometimes, but stop when she felt the end of the leash. It's not the "nicest" way to deal with it - but with a hard-headed, determined dog, it worked for me. You need to figure out what works for you, and your dog. We're all different.

The OP isn't asking about counter-surfing (stealing food off the counters) she's talking about JUMPING onto the counters.

I've normally used flea and tick prevention during the summer and fall. It's worked out fine. I used Advantage or something like that for years, but last year I switched to the chewable (can't remember the brand). Now.... I'm thinking of waiting and maybe not using it. With Diana's kidney issues I really don't like the idea of adding anything into her system that I don't have to. I need to research it and talk to the vet. I dunno. I'm thinking "wait and see". Some years fleas are a big issue in the area, some years they're not. It's June and I haven't heard anybody talking about fleas yet, so it might be a light year after our super-cold winter. Your thoughts?

No issues here when Diana ate one. Gross, and sorry for the bird, but it happens.

Cool. Rule that out. Good for you. Your dog is too young to just write it of as "she's getting old". Try another vet, do some more research, and try to give your dog the best quality of life possible. We got into this crazy greyhound thing to give these dogs the best life possible. Sometimes you have to step out of the box to do that. I'm doing it now with my grey. My vet doesn't agree with what I'm doing. I'm doing it anyway. I'll switch vets if he won't support her.

I have no experience or advice to offer - but congrats on your new pup! I have a grey that I think would've made a greyt therapy dog if I'd had the time and resources to train her. So - try it.

2 months is about what it took Sobe to stop being under my feet constantly. I got used to him following me everywhere, and always keeping a line of sight on me. I gave up trying to have privacy in the bathroom. Then he started chilling out. The stalking wore off over time. 6 months in he'd not follow me room to room. His SA when we left was another matter. That was bad. I don't know that the super-clingyness and SA are 100% related, but Sobe had both. The clingy-ness wore off, the SA... took a LOT more work. Sobe was my 1st grey, so I probably messed up a LOT of stuff on that. You at least have the experience of having had other greys, and that's a plus for you. You know how to do the separation training. I don't know the right answer. I'd probably let him follow me all the time in the house, but go outside, sit on the porch, and let him deal with it. Keep doing what you're doing - casual departures and arrivals. Hopefully he'll "get" that it's ok. Work on alone training. Maybe it's just a "new dog" thing and won't be a big deal. I know you've had 4 others, but this one just might have a very different personality. Of my 14 fosters, I had like this. Most weren't that way. Those 2 fosters got over their clingyness, never developed SA at all, and were just FINE. It just took a couple weeks of staying in their sight when I was home. And we went to work every day from day 2 and left them alone for 4-6 hours. They're all different .... some just more different than others. Don't freak out yet. It could just be "greyhound quirkiness".

My grey, Diana, walked into my house on her 1st day as a "foster", and immediately jumped up on the kitchen table. She quit doing it pretty quickly, realizing it wasn't her kennel. I think the girls are just used to "walk into building, jump up into top kennel". She did look a bit baffled up there - like "this doesn't look like my kennel". Keep your counters clear of edibles or breakables and she'll quickly realize that isn't "her" place. (And don't fool yourself - she could, and would jump on a much higher counter if you had one). I doubt you'll have to correct her, she'll figure it out, break the habit and be fine. Of course, if you catch her, tell her to get off. But I'll bet it'll just end as soon as she discovers she can enjoy a nice, comfy bed that she doesn't have to jump into! Another thing to look out for - you may not be able to use babygates as barriers. My Diana thought they were just fun to jump over. They worked for ALL the others, though. On the up-side, you shouldn't have any trouble getting her to jump into a vehicle! Some girls just "expect" to kennel-up to a top crate. It's not super-common, but I've read of others besides my Diana. Of course, it does indicate a bit of spunk and goofiness - so look out! It could be a fun ride!

Diana was a jumper when she was younger (no encouragement needed, she had enough hyper of her own). I don't think there's anything wrong with getting your dogs amped up and excited. DH used to wrestle with ours, and it was a sight to behold! Rolling on the floor, play-growling, lunging.... all in good fun. But there was always a cool-down time. You can't just flip a switch and say "ok, now you're revved-up but stop because I'm done.". He's do it by getting up off the floor, funning around a bit more, toning down the levels gradually until everyone was chill. They "got" it and calmed when play-time was over, after a few times. Eventually, it got so that when he stood up they'd immediately go crash on a bed - "you're no fun now!" LOL. Anyway, it's fine to rough-house and play (IMHO). But you've GOT to keep control. Any time something not-cool happens, end it. Immediately. If it's a jump, turn your back and end the fun. I used a high-pitched squeak, back-turn, and arm-cross when Diana jumped. It worked (eventually). You're pup will realize if you're consistent that jumping ends the fun. Good luck - and have FUN with your dog. Not all greys are cool, calm and classy ALL the time!

I used plant stands before, one for food, one for water. Functional, look nice, stainless steel bowls fit nicely, and cost about $7.

Just another thing to check - has she had bloodwork done recently? Hind end weakness can be one of the symptoms of kidney disease. My dog was recently diagnosed so I answer "check for kidney disease" to everything, it seems. I had mentioned my Diana's hind-end weakness (age 11) to my vet a couple of times and he never thought to check for it. We only discovered it through bloodwork before a dental.

Stop worrying. Happy dog.

This seems contrary to everything I've researched. Diana was diagnosed with kidney disease. We tried to feed her the prescription food from her vet for a week. She ate nothing. I went to homecooked (very closely regulated) from info from GT and research. At her 3 week checkup after diagnosis she'd lost 3 lbs. 2-ish months after diagnosis, she's still a bit lean, hasn't lost any more weight, but eating like a horse! We're feeding her 3 times per day now, instead of the 2 she has done for years. Her energy level has gone up to where she was 2 years ago. She's the boisterous girl she used to be! She looks fabulous. Why is she so hungry though? Is it the dramatic change in protein? We always fed high-protein, no grain food. Now she's eating a lot of grains (pasta, rice, sweet potatoes) and very little protein. I'll feed her all she wants. Kidney disease is a no-win game. So as long as I can keep her healthy, happy, and eating - I will. I've read that kidney disease causes loss of appetite, and wasting. Apparently - we're not there yet. The girl is eating - so I'm just going to keep feeding her as much appropriate food as she'll eat. Any suggestions? Thoughts? BTW - I'm not blind or uninformed. I know that at some point her kidneys will end this game.

Greys drop and gain weight pretty quickly, so don't beat yourself up for not noticing before the "oh crap!" notice. It happens, and it's not always a crisis. There are tons of factors that affect weight. KF in Georgia asked all the questions I would ask. If you could answer those, you'll get better responses from GT. Not knowing any details about the dog - I'll go to the basics. Check for worms. Parasites can cause weight loss and need to be dealt with. it's cheap and easy. Except hookworms. They take forever to get rid of, but it's do-able. . Go to the vet. Get a physical and a fecal analysis. It's probably something little. Don't panic.

I've done home-cooked for 2 of my dogs that had medical issues. The first thing I'd suggest is DO YOUR HOMEWORK! When I've done home-cooked it was for dogs with life-ending medical issues, and I still did my homework and tried to give them the most complete diet possible, that worked with their medical issues. If I was doing it for a healthy dog - I'd do even more homework. Doing home-cooked can be VERY healthy for your dog. And I found that it cost no more than a premium dogfood. You just need to shop well - buy high quality proteins in bulk. As far as time - I boiled up pasta and sweet potatoes and eggs, cooked chicken, and put it all in a dish and added ground eggshell in 45 minutes tonight. That will feed my dog for 5 or 6 days. At each meal, just scoop it into the bowl and add fishoil caps and supplents. Done. I'm also adding canned prescription food. Yes, it takes about an hour extra per week more than feeding kibble. But once it's done, put it in the fridge, and scoop it out for each meal. Or - you can throw it all in a crock-pot, let it cook, and you're set for meals for a week.

As far as my vet - I'll call him and have a discussion, but I know he won't like that I'm choosing to do a different feeding regimen. So - what do I do as far as vet visits? How often do I get blood-tests?

Oh - cool! Thanks for that! The BUN dropped, which I believe indicates fewer baddies left that the kidneys are trying to kick out. I picked up some Neo brand canned, and I'll try that as an add-in, alternating with the Hills canned, because I'm not 100% confident in my home-cooked yet. I'm not going to bother buying any more prescription dry food. I can barely sneak any of it in. DH is crude about such things, but as he said "A year of having her eat well and fell good and be happy is better than 2 years of her starving and feeling miserable". We're going to give her the most appropriate diet we can, but she needs to eat. Wasting is a horrible thing to see. When my other grey had hemangiosarcoma, I put him on mostly home-cooked (different) and he did well for a year past what the vet said he'd live, and he didn't waste away. He got to leave at his time, but never suffered. My friend visited my house tonight when I was mixing up Diana's food. Pasta cooked in no-sodium chicken broth, sweet potatoes, chicken thighs, cooked eggwhites, and ground eggshells, then more broth added in. She said "Heck I'd eat that!". The eggs came from her chickens, so I know they're what is now called "organic'. Used to called home-raised.

I'll look into that. From what I've read, extra fat in the diet of a kidney-compromised dog is a good thing, as they need the calories. We're also doing chicken thighs, with skin, for the extra fat. But - her meat content is only 1/2 c per day. Is Pancreatitis something that develops along with kidney disease, or a separate condition?

Probably not. I'll check it out. Dogaware is awesome. I'll explain to him more on the phone that I'm not just winging it. It would've helped if the levels proved me out, but again, I don't know how quickly levels change. Anybody know how long it takes to see progress?

See some of my previous posts. I think one of them is entitled "HELP quick!" LOL Lots of GTers gave great advice, and sites for more info. Dogaware was very helpful to me. Basically we're doing pasta and/or rice. Sweet potato, 1/4 c fatty hamburger or chicken thighs and/or egg white per meal. Low-sodium chicken broth, fish oil, ground eggshell. I need to add a supplement but haven't settled on one yet that's low phos. I cook up a batch about every 5 days. She loves it. I sneak in the Hills when I can, dry or canned. She'll eat some of it if it's mixed in with the good stuff. Oh, and we put her on all distilled water. We have well water and I know it's full of minerals and stuff. He weight maintained over the past 3 weeks, so I'm pretty happy. She's been dropping weight for a while, prior to diagnosis.

He wasn't trying to be rude. I wanted out of there too! It got crazy. Cars lined up, vets going car to car giving vaccinations, dumb people getting their dogs out when they shouldn't. They don't normally schedule any appointments on clinic day, but he really wanted a reading on her so he snuck us in. We'll do a real consultation over the phone, we just couldn't that day. I'll definitely post the levels as son as I get them. I guess I'm just disappointed that I didn't get "Great job, keep up what you're doing" lol!

Diana was diagnosed with kidney disease 3 weeks ago, so the vet put her on Hills k/c and told us to come back in 3 weeks for follow-up bloodwork. Well.... Her BUN went from 66 to 40, but her creatinin barely budged. I'm pretty bummed, but we'll keep working on it. I made the mistake of mentioning to the vet that we had her on part Hills, part home-cooked. He was NOT happy. I tried to fill him in that I'd done research and wasn't feeding her pizza and ice cream, but he was SUPER busy so we didn't get to have a discussion. He did ask me to call back and keep in contact with him on food, and her condition. They were having a rabies clinic that day and we were supposed to come in before it started, but people came an hour early. It WAS A ZOO!!! We were so rushed I didn't even get the bloodwork printout from him, or buy another back of the nasty Hills food. He actually brought the results out to me outside where we were trying to stay out of the way. I'll get the printout out tomorrow. How quickly should levels drop, and by how much? She's been eating great and really looks good.