How To Pack On Some Pounds?

[Guest Houston1219]

Contact with he owner/trainer was very limited, and we had none directly. Most of the dogs that make it up to Michigan are "dumps" that come with little send-off or fanfare. Many are those that make it as far as Ohio, and when they run out of room, they call rescues up here to take some of the over flow. so, we don't get much back story, only the pieces the vet can put together with scars and racing timeline. My boy was lacerated badly, vet assumed it was a lure and cut very deep (scar in the picture). He got a couple months off, but then he was back racing. He has badly torn ears, cuts, and puncture wounds, appearing to be of varying severity and age, and what can only be described as a "chunk" missing out of his thigh. The vet said it healed so badly (the extra skin formed a skin tag type growth) because of the "hold and stitch" back-ally quality repair. ("One guy holds him down, the other stitches"). The other dogs that came in the same truckload from Alabama were a pretty pitiful bunch

[JJNg]

Unless you have details from the racing kennel, your vet is just guessing about how those scars were acquired. There are a lot of assumptions about a racing greyhound's experience at the track that simply aren't true. Lacerations are actually not very common injuries at the track. Most scars and torn ears are from them playing with their littermates on the farms where they are raised. Some litters are rougher than others, and greyhound puppies are called 'landsharks' for a reason. They have no direct contact with the lure at the track, so for him to have received a severe laceration from the lure is extremely unlikely.

 

I'm sure there are lots of different circumstances surrounding how greyhounds make it up north. But many are well-organized transports through the cooperative effort of track-based adoption groups, haulers, and kennels at the track working with the groups in the north. The condition in which they arrive after a long transport is not necessarily reflective of their condition when they raced. They are finely tuned athletes, and as the goal is for them to perform well, it's in the kennels' best interest to keep them in top form. The stress of a long transport itself can result in dogs losing weight and arriving in visibly worse condition than they started.

 

Keep an open mind. The majority of racing greyhounds are very well cared for. That's part of the reason why they have such a good reputation making the transition to a whole new life as pets. Much of what you may read or be told about the racing industry from those who are against it are no longer true, or have never been true. Here's a good article that provides a little more insight: http://www.greyhoundinfo.org/?page_id=1043

[rascalsmom]

That's a great article. Thanks for sharing that.

[Guest Houston1219]

Lure or no lure, something sharp badly injured my boy. The laceration was so large and deep it tore through muscle tissue, more like a knife wound than a scratch. Had it been angled differently and didn't follow the curve of his ribs, it would have likely hit an organ and been fatal.

 

I realize that the majority of dogs are treated well on the track. I also realize that there are exceptions to every rule, and bad guys in every industry. Prime example, I work in a pharmacy. Doctors are educated people backed by an oath of ethics. Are some of them neglectful, greedy, and dishonest? Most definitely! I have encountered doctors that save lives, comfort the sick, and deliver babies on the daily. I have also encountered doctors that scam medicare for millions, run narcotic drug rings, and neglectfully write potentially lethal combinations of medications.

 

Are all dogs mistreated? No. Do I strongly believe that mine was? Yes. Why did his trainers/owner have so little to say? It's not uncommon for the really shady ones to simply set up a meeting and not even show their face. Although I envy people with detailed back stories about their greys, I know that the ones like my Houston who are just unloaded in a parking lot no-questions are the ones who need a loving home the most.

 

Don't take it as my putting down every trainer/owner, I'm just not blind to the fact that there are bad eggs out there far outside of the spotlight.

 

p.s. We are up to 3 cups twice daily and some sardines for fun and no tummy troubles yet , fingers crossed!

[JJNg]

I fully agree that the racing industry isn't perfect (what group or community is?), and that there are 'bad apples'. Maybe Houston was one of the minority that are mistreated, but so far, I'm just seeing a lot of assumptions. Accidents happen, and a bad scar doesn't necessarily prove abuse. Also, regarding the badly healed injury to his thigh, how is your vet so sure that it was stitched at all to assume that it was a 'back-alley' job? Some severe wounds don't hold sutures well and have to be left to heal on their own.

 

What attempts have been made to contact his trainer or owner? Since you mentioned that you didn't have any direct contact, what did your group tell you? Based on their website, I see that Motor City Greyhound Rescue is strongly anti-racing. I know there are many anti-racing groups that refuse and prevent contact with trainers/owners even when they want to stay in touch with adopters. Sometimes, contact is lost just because of multiple transfers between groups. Some owners/trainers aren't interested or are too busy for correspondence, but that doesn't prove mistreatment either.

 

ETA: I'm sure most aren't interested in this discussion. Feel free to send me an email at JJNG13@JUNO.COM. I'm really interested in whether Houston's owner/trainer really isn't willing to provide more info. I have contacts in the industry and can try asking around discreetly to see if anyone has more info about his past. Do keep us posted on how the increased food Houston's weight!

Edited January 16, 2014 by JJNg

[Guest rockingship]

The dog's name is PJ's I'm Houston. He began racing at Bluffs Run weighing 68 pounds. His owner was David Petzold, who is an NGA member, and can be contacted through them. Petzold is a highly accomplished breeder, who bred P's Raising Cain, one of the finest sires of the past decade, and before that, P's Rambling, who many believe to have been the greatest middle distance racer in our history.

Edited January 21, 2014 by rockingship

[Guest Houston1219]

Wow, I had no idea! All I was really told was that there was little contact with the previous owner, and that he had a rough time on the track with multiple injuries. I know he was born in Idaho and spent most of his life in Alabama. I wonder if i were to contact this Mr. Petzold if he could tell me anything about that huge scar or the missing chunk of his thigh?? He does sound like quite a busy man though...

[Guest twoskinnydogs]

It appears that your boy raced a few maiden races at Bluffs and all the rest at Mobile. Your dog is not the only one with "puppy ears". The chunks missing are from the litter mates being a little too rough. Most scars on our hounds come from puppy hood, prior to the track. Your vet is speculating, your dog ran 87 races, he didn't do that while being abused or injured for that matter. Mr. Petzold may be able to tell you about his puppy hood but he's not going to know about what happened after the dog left his farm, Your dog was also co-owned by Stacy Junk. I'll see what kennel he raced out of in Mobile if I can and get you a contact. Regardless of what your AR group or your vet said I am sure that dog wasn't abused while racing. Remember that once the dog leaves the racing compound all bets are off, no state inspectors govern the groups....

 

One question, when did you adopt this boy???

[Guest sarasid]

All dogs must be cleared by a veterinarian before each race they run. If Houston had to miss a few starts to recover from injuries then he would have to be judged fit & healthy to race again before a return to the track. I understand you may feel he didn't have enough time to recover but the veterinarian is there specifically to protect dogs from any such abuse.

Edited January 21, 2014 by sarasid

[Guest twoskinnydogs]

Something isn't adding up, If you had him a year and he retired in March or 2012..... well he could have been injured where ever he was for a year, and I can promise that was not a racing kennel!!!

[Guest Houston1219]

This all makes sense, I had no idea how any of it worked, only what I was told, and mostly negative at that. Guess I was pretty misinformed

 

Houston spent about 8 months in his foster home with one other happy, well-adjusted greyhound and a single middle-aged woman. I am positive that he got nothing but love there, and I visited often and still keep in touch with her. He is ecstatic to see her or her dog. She even cried when we took him home. She had decided that if no one had adopted him by new years, he was there to stay. We adopted him December 29th, 2013, just in time! Houston and I actually share a birthday, even. Everyone said it was must be meant to be, and they were right. He is the greatest thing that has ever happened to our family. He's a stereotypical spoiled only child, and boy does he know it! He is a mamma's boy at heart, but is quite attached to dad as well,

 

Also, the very large scar in the photo is a least a few years old according to the two vets he has seen since he has been with us. I did exchange one letter with Stacy Junk who was the breeder on the farm in Iowa. I'm not sure how Mr. Petzold fits into this picture... How does that work? the dogs are bred on a farm somewhere, then sent to a track when they reach X age, but still belong to the people that bred them, with whom they have no contact after puppyhood? As I said, I am very poorly informed on all of this...

[Guest twoskinnydogs]

This all makes sense, I had no idea how any of it worked, only what I was told, and mostly negative at that. Guess I was pretty misinformed

 

Houston spent about 8 months in his foster home with one other happy, well-adjusted greyhound and a single middle-aged woman. I am positive that he got nothing but love there, and I visited often and still keep in touch with her. He is ecstatic to see her or her dog. She even cried when we took him home. She had decided that if no one had adopted him by new years, he was there to stay. We adopted him December 29th, 2013, just in time! Houston and I actually share a birthday, even. Everyone said it was must be meant to be, and they were right. He is the greatest thing that has ever happened to our family. He's a stereotypical spoiled only child, and boy does he know it! He is a mamma's boy at heart, but is quite attached to dad as well,

 

Also, the very large scar in the photo is a least a few years old according to the two vets he has seen since he has been with us. I did exchange one letter with Stacy Junk who was the breeder on the farm in Iowa. I'm not sure how Mr. Petzold fits into this picture... How does that work? the dogs are bred on a farm somewhere, then sent to a track when they reach X age, but still belong to the people that bred them, with whom they have no contact after puppyhood? As I said, I am very poorly informed on all of this...

Stacy raised him and Petzold is a owner. If Stacy finishes dogs at her farm he stayed there until he was 16 or 17 months of age. If she dosn't finish dogs then he was shipped somewhere at 12 months of age for his race training. I looked at his race lines and there are races missing. He cannot go from not making maiden at Bluffs to starting in grade B at Mobile. He had to have been somewhere that didn't report races to greyhound data. My concern is that his injuries came after March or 2012 when he graded off the track in Moblie. If he was in foster for 8 months and you adopted him in Dec of 13, then there is a year of his life unaccounted for. He could have been anywhere during that time, but I can assure you he was not at the track in a racing kennel. They only have so many kennels and have to keep active racers in them.

 

He could have been in a kennel fight too, there is no telling... Really all that matters at this point is that he is loved now without a doubt. Even if you were to talk to Mr. Petzold he wouldn't remember your boy.... he breeds and raises many many greys each year.

Edited January 21, 2014 by twoskinnydogs

[Guest Houston1219]

I'm sorry, I meant to say i adopted him in December of 2012!! We have had him for a year. Why do you supposed there were races unaccounted for?

Edited January 21, 2014 by Houston1219

[o_rooly]

Not all tracks report to greyhound-data... there's also trackinfo and RosNet (though I'm less familiar with those).

Just wanted to say WELCOME TO GREYTALK! and scritches for Houston. As you probably figured out, the racing component of many of our greys' lives is a hot-button on here. In the end, we are all concerned for the sweet hounds.

I am trying to get weight on my guy, Aston, after prednisone turned him into a stick-dog. I've found that he has a kibble "threshold" at which the extra kibble will go right through him, along with the normal amount, and just end up as exponential waste (and bubblegut). I supplement with boiled chicken, which is low-fat and seems to absorb WAY better, even on top of his normal amount of kibble (1.5 cups).

Hope this helps!

[Guest twoskinnydogs]

I'm sorry, I meant to say i adopted him in December of 2012!! We have had him for a year. Why do you supposed there were races unaccounted for?

I'm sorry, I meant to say i adopted him in December of 2012!! We have had him for a year. Why do you supposed there were races unaccounted for?

Not all tracks report to greyhound data, there are races missing out of my boy's lines also but I know he raced many more than what's showing. Greyhound Data is run by volunteers and up until recently everything was entered by hand.

I looked on Trackinfo and only his Bluffs Run lines are there. Hopefully I can find out what kennel he raced out of and find out if he had the scar there or after he left.

[Guest twoskinnydogs]

Looks like JJNg is gathering some info for you in another forum. I'll let her post

[JJNg]

I'm not sure how Mr. Petzold fits into this picture... How does that work? the dogs are bred on a farm somewhere, then sent to a track when they reach X age, but still belong to the people that bred them, with whom they have no contact after puppyhood? As I said, I am very poorly informed on all of this...

 

Thanks for being willing to learn about how things really work. You'll find that the racing industry is one that has been extremely misrepresented by those who are against it. There are a lot of different arrangements in terms of breeders, owners, and trainers. I don't know the specifics of Houston's case, and I'm still fairly new to this myself but will try to provide a little background info. I'm sure others can add more or correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Most racing greyhounds are bred on farms. Some breeders have their own farm, while some use farms run by others. Some breeders own the dogs they breed, while others may lease dogs owned by others. And owners may keep all the puppies, or sell some or all of them. The official owner of the puppies is responsible for covering the cost of raising them and training them to race (called 'finishing'). Once dogs are ready to race, they are moved to a track, where a trainer is responsible for their care. Dogs are usually leased to the racing kennel, although racing kennel owners and trainers can own some of the dogs themselves. There is no monthly fee for the lease, but money that the dog wins while racing is split between the racing kennel and the owner.

 

Sorry if that's a bit complicated since there are so many variations. Here's an example from my own experience. I co-own a racing greyhound with a friend of mine (Just Saying, the black greyhound in my siggie). Just Saying's litter was bred at Crossland Farm, and my friend Carl initially bought half-ownership from the breeder when she was little (so the breeder owned the other 'half'). After she was raised and finished, she started racing. Shortly after, her breeder decided to sell his share, which was how I got involved. So after buying the breeder's half, I now co-own Just Saying with my friend Carl.

 

Because the tracks are only in specific parts of the country, they are often not near where breeders and owners live. Carl lives in NC, and I live in SC, but our dog is racing in FL. We visit when we can. I'm actually in FL for a conference and will be taking the opportunity to see my girl at the track tomorrow. When she retires, she'll be going home with Carl. She's already been to his house because he took her home for a few weeks and rehabbed her after a minor injury last summer.

 

If you're on Facebook, here's the site for the farm where Just Saying was raised. Lots of pics and videos. Crossland Farm

 

And a couple more photo albums that show what life at the track and kennel is like for racing greyhounds before they come to us.

Life at a Greyhound Track - Behind the Scenes by Rachel Hogue

Racing Greyhounds and Their People

 

[Guest Houston1219]

I'm so excited to hear even small facts about my boy. This means so much to me that all of you would go through this work to clear up my misconceptions and go digging for info for us! I could not have asked for a greater response!

[JJNg]

Looks like JJNg is gathering some info for you in another forum. I'll let her post

 

A couple people in the other forum know Houston's owner and trainer, so they're contacting them for more info and to see if they know/remember how he got his scars. I'll let you know when I hear back.

 

ETA: We work to clear up misconceptions because we love greyhounds. And we wouldn't have the greyhounds we love if it weren't for the professional racing industry. My love of the breed started with adopting retired racers, but I decided to get more involved to support the racing side because I came to see how important it is to the future of the breed.

Edited January 21, 2014 by JJNg

[Guest Houston1219]

EEEeeeeeeeekkk squeals of excitement! I sent Stacy some recent photos of Houston when I had her sign his "retirement papers" and I would be happy to send some to David as well. Any information at all would be nice, whether there is an answer about his scars or not. I realize he left them years ago and they have seen so many dogs since then, so it will be all the more flattering if he stood out of the crowd enough that someone would remember my boy!

[Wonder]

Contact with he owner/trainer was very limited, and we had none directly. Most of the dogs that make it up to Michigan are "dumps" that come with little send-off or fanfare. Many are those that make it as far as Ohio, and when they run out of room, they call rescues up here to take some of the over flow. so, we don't get much back story, only the pieces the vet can put together with scars and racing timeline. My boy was lacerated badly, vet assumed it was a lure and cut very deep (scar in the picture). He got a couple months off, but then he was back racing. He has badly torn ears, cuts, and puncture wounds, appearing to be of varying severity and age, and what can only be described as a "chunk" missing out of his thigh. The vet said it healed so badly (the extra skin formed a skin tag type growth) because of the "hold and stitch" back-ally quality repair. ("One guy holds him down, the other stitches"). The other dogs that came in the same truckload from Alabama were a pretty pitiful bunch

Sounds like the vet needs some education!

[LisaB]

Hi, all! I came to this discussion via Jennifer's post on Facebook...love all the learning! :-)

 

You may know this, but just in case you don't... Stacy Junk passed away this last fall. Here is an obituary .

 

I just thought that, when communicating with others in the industry in pursuit of info, you'd want to be aware.

[brianamac]

EEEeeeeeeeekkk squeals of excitement! I sent Stacy some recent photos of Houston when I had her sign his "retirement papers" and I would be happy to send some to David as well. Any information at all would be nice, whether there is an answer about his scars or not. I realize he left them years ago and they have seen so many dogs since then, so it will be all the more flattering if he stood out of the crowd enough that someone would remember my boy!

 

My husband and I were in Iowa in September and Stacy was nice enough to let us come visit her farm for a few hours.

She seemed to have a lot of love for the dogs in her care. She talked to us about naming them, playing with them, training them... she took some out and let us hold them and play with them in their pens.

Stacy also mentioned that she LOVED getting letters and pictures about dogs that were previously at her farm.

If Houston was there, I can assure you he got human love and attention, from what I saw when I visited. She really seemed to have genuine care for the Greyhounds.

[Maddiesmom]

If after ruling out anything medical (thyroid, worms, etc.) and determining that you just have a dog who tends to be lean but you'd like him a bit more plump, feeding canned puppy food can help. It often helps my seniors keep up their weight and has helped with skinnies who needed a boost.

I agree with this and in the next couple of days I will be feeding this to MaDdie . Maddie 11.5 years old and eats 2.5 cups of kibble 2 time a day along with her treats. She is 2 pounds less what she was racing at. I normally like to keep her within a few pounds but she cod stand to use 1 or 2 pounds more. I wish I had her metabolism.

[Guest Greysonsmom]

I mix just a tablespoon or two of wet in with my two's kibble, as I have one that is a finicky eater. They LOVE the large "Old Mother Hubbard" P-Nuttier biscuits. I find I have to be careful not to let them talk me into too many, or they start to put on too much weight. But they are great treats, and seem to digest well.