Ez Was Zapped When He Was Racing

[6greyhounds]

EZ does the GSOD but a few time while sleeping he has let out the most alarming scream, I wonder if he was having a bad dream of beeing zapped. I ran over to him and he was sound asleep it was similar to a wail but not like the GSOD which he does quite frequently when he can't see me...

[Guest RedTigerJazz]

I suppose wide runners would have more of a chance of hurting themselves, but they have preventatives in place.

 

Your poor boy must be one of the only ones to have hurt themselves running into the hare rail x

 

Actually in the US the lure is run on the inside rail. I've seen plenty of dogs with minor scrapes on their left shoulder from brushing against the non-electrified part.

[Guest RedTigerJazz]

Read on another message board that EZ rain into the rail and was zapped when he was racing and the operator dropped the power long enough for him to get off the rail. The scars he has both myself and his vets thought were from a header but they are not they are from burns. It was also posted he was one lucky dog. I am now wondering if this is the cause of his seizures. His neuro vet is interested to see when his seizures started. How soon after this accident. Also, a radiologist where I work told me that is could be the cause of his seizures. Wish I knew when he started having seizures

 

 

I'm trying to do a bit of research for you. Did EZ race at Wheeling? What is his registered name?

[6greyhounds]

Read on another message board that EZ rain into the rail and was zapped when he was racing and the operator dropped the power long enough for him to get off the rail. The scars he has both myself and his vets thought were from a header but they are not they are from burns. It was also posted he was one lucky dog. I am now wondering if this is the cause of his seizures. His neuro vet is interested to see when his seizures started. How soon after this accident. Also, a radiologist where I work told me that is could be the cause of his seizures. Wish I knew when he started having seizures

 

 

I'm trying to do a bit of research for you. Did EZ race at Wheeling? What is his registered name?

Do not think he ran at Wheeling - his racing name was EZ Lord Penske and Thank you

 

Just back from my PCP and he believes that this was the cause of his seizures along with some other people - too bad we don't have any documentation from the 6 months in the other kennel after being zapped but the kennel he was racing out of when he was zapped has no hx of seizures

[Guest RedTigerJazz]

Thanks. I'll see if I can find anything out. Slim chance, but I'll try.

[Guest kydie]

since the brain and the heart, both operate on electrical impulses, no matter how small the SHOCK it can cause issues in either or both areas, at least in humans, so I am sure dogs are not much different

[Guest 2greygirls]

It is rare that a dog would somehow hit the electrified part of the rail...it's behind other rails..Bonnie used to give me a heart attack , when she first started to run, she would dive headlong into the first turn, sometimes bouncing off the rail...usually killing her chance at a good finish and resembling a pinball .she was just a nut. We had one dog in our kennel somehow dive through the rails, missing the hot rail, and running like a mad woman through the infield...looking at the rails, I have no idea how she managed that... I never saw a dog get zapped, I heard that it had happened from some of the old trainers, but it is very very rare.

..most of the scars you see on retired racers come from when they were puppies...they play hard and rough...MY arms are scarred from those little land sharks!!

 

It is possible that this has somehow contributed to his seizures, If he had them in the race kennel it would have to have been at night. A hound having a seizure in turnout is sure to be attacked by the others..we had it happen, and it was horrible...It would be interesting to know if any others in his litter developed seizures.

Edited May 20, 2010 by 2greygirls

[6greyhounds]

Have not heard of any others in his litter having seizures or even in his line. Oshkosh Racey who was his grand sire and Flying Penske was his sire.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I have no idea if the rail accident could have caused his seizures. It might have, or it could be a coincidence. It should be interesting to see if you can get any additional information about it.

 

 

Have not heard of any others in his litter having seizures or even in his line. Oshkosh Racey who was his grand sire and Flying Penske was his sire.

My foster girl Sophie has seizures and she and EZ are distantly related. Sophie has Oshkosh Benefit and Unruly in her pedigree (those are the parents of Oshkosh Racey).

 

The seizure dog in this thread (Lord Johnson) also has Oshkosh Racey in his pedigree. Hmmmm.....

 

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

Edited May 20, 2010 by LindsaySF

[TheFullHouse]

None of Saint's siblings have seizures either. You may never find out where they come from. I've been going through my family history because I have seizures and both of my kids do. None of my siblings have them, my parents don't have them and none of their siblings have them either. They could have skipped a generation but I don't think I'll ever find out either. You can only go back so far with seizures and then you get no information because Epilepsy is one of those diseases that weren't talked about when my parents were growing up. It was one of those things families kept quiet about.

[6greyhounds]

I had Queen Softee (Softshoesureshot) Oshkosh Racey was her sire also Highway had Oshkosh Racey as his sire no seizures

Penske (Magic Penske) I have, Eclipse, Buddy & Gracie who's sire is Flying Penske no seizures either

 

How do we really know if any of these pups had seizures when racing as there in no one in the kennels at night and BTW that is when EZ has his seizures at night and during his sleep time.

 

It is something to think about tho with the electrical shock he had

[TheFullHouse]

I knew Saint was having seizures in the kennel because his trainer witnessed them. Saint always seizes between 10:00 - 11:00 at night and the trainer was there because live racing was going on and he had dogs entered so he saw Saint having them. If EZ had seizures between say 1:00 - 6:00 a.m. you won't have any witnesses but most trainers will tell you they know when someone in the kennel has seized because the dogs get worked up and they will come in and find wet & messy beds in the morning. Unfortunately, they won't be able to tell you which dog it was that seized.

[6greyhounds]

EZ had his first seizure with me at 6 am, he has had them at 2 am and also at 7 pm - the 7 pm one was involved with a cluster of three and the 2 am one was another cluster of three. Every seizure that EZ has had has been when he has been in a deep sleep.

[Guest brit1]

Part of the cruelty of the racing game brit

This is a photo of the motor and lure arm, power is provide to the motor from a pick-up at the bottom of the motor. It's hard to see in this photo but the pick-up is at the bottom of the motor on the left side.

[Guest GreysAndMoreGreys]

Thanks for the wonderful input there Brit any other wonderful words of wisdom on this subject?

 

As far as dogs having seizures in the kennel. It's something you will figure out very quickly in your kennel. Most of the time you can figure out who is having them by checking crates and looking the dogs over.

Dried up drool in a crate from a dog that had a seizure. Scrapes or dings to the legs and feet from thrashing around during a seizure. Also some dogs will just act off the next morning if they had a seizure during the night.

And Judy is correct. A trainer knows pretty dang quick if someone is having seizures in the kennel. Peed beds, agitated dogs in the morning things like that.

 

As far as the whole lure thing and how common it is for dogs to get bumped into the rail and zapped.

I think I have seen in once or twice in over 15 years of being involved with greyhound racing.

I've heard of it happening a few other times at tracks I did not work at.

So in all those years and seeing all those official races, official schoolings, and morning schoolings, that's a sh*t ton of races.

So the % chance is extremely low.

I believe that Raynham had an enclosed rail so no chance of getting zapped there. Not sure what other tracks have that set up.

[dmdsmoxie]

Brit,

 

I agree with Heather, great imput.

 

It's pretty tough to hit the rail as most falls occur at the turn and centrifical force is pushing you away from the rail.

 

If you figure over just the past 40 years there have been millions of individual runs around the track and I'm not sure you could find 5 that have died.

 

When you see the comment "Hit The Rail" they are not talking about the live part of the rail.

 

The greatest dog that ever lived, Downing, would rub the rail in most of his races and come back to the kennel with grease on his left side.

 

On a side note, here in the U.S. we run an inside lure and in the U.K. and Ireland they run an outside lure.

 

Dick