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Greyhound Wakes Up Screaming


Guest jonathan_stone

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Guest jonathan_stone

Hi all,

 

We've had Barraza over a year now and we just love her. She's currently 5 1/2 years old. She has no health issues OTHER than an incomplete spaying. She's been in heat now twice since we've had her, each one falling at the perfect six-month interval. She will be going for a scan in January to locate the phantom ovary as her body spools up for another estrus.

 

My question is: Does your greyhound ever wake up screaming?

 

I'm not talking about whimpering or whining during a dream. I'm talking about wake-the-whole-house-up-give-us-heart-attacks style screaming. It comes out of nowhere, I swear. She's not giving any visible or audible signs before she screams. She would do this very rarely until a couple months ago. Now it's a nightly thing. Yes, you read that right, NIGHTLY.

 

It doesn't matter if she's sleeping in her crate or in her bed in our bedroom. (She only started sleeping in the bedroom around a month ago).

 

The scream is like a cry for help, or that she's in pain. It's a brief scream (maybe two to three seconds) but loud. After, she either goes right back to sleep, or often she'll get up and turn a few times and lie down again and then fall asleep. There seem to be no ill effects, no limping or favoring a side or anything. There have been no other behavioral changes or changes to her environment.

 

What the heck is going on here?

 

In my house we have two theories: 1) She's having a night terror, or 2) she's getting a cramp or charlie-horse.

 

Your thoughts?

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Guest GreyOrchard

Although it might be a medical issue, if it was enough to make her scream, it seems doubtful that something that severe would only happen at night.

 

If it is something like a cramp or charlie-horse, it seems odd that it would happen nightly, though who knows? - if she is very deficient in some of the B-vitamins, then perhaps it is possible.

 

You might try to address or rule out the night-terror possibility by trying any combination of the following, something I would do when my sanctuary was in full swing for newly arrived greyhounds who were hyper or fearful and I needed them to sleep through the night:

 

- a good 30 minute walk before bedtime until the behaviour stops, and then begin to decrease the walking time by 5 minutes every 4 or 5 days until the habit of sleeping through the night sets in

 

- moments before sleep, a night time "cocktail" of about a quarter cup (measuring cup) of a tablespoon of uncooked oatmeal that has been sitting for 5 minutes in a splash of milk diluted with hot water - without going into the chemistry behind this, the idea here is that it can induce sleep for several reasons

 

 

- if your bedroom is not too warm, put a lightweight coat on her, or "greyhound pajamas" if you can find them

 

- if she sleeps in a crate or a dog bed in your bedroom, take an unwashed pillowcase or t-shirt or even sheet and put it in her bed. In this way, when she is sleeping, she is heavily breathing in your scent, which might be very calming for her....of course your scent is all over the room, but having "mainlining" into her nose while sleeping can make a difference

 

Good luck!

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I would suspect nerve pain somewhere, such as sciatica, which can seemingly come out of nowhere and be very severe, and then disappear just as quickly, although I don't know why something like this would only happen at night. I would consider getting her checked over by a good chiropractor to see if they can find anything. None of mine has ever woken up screaming.

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One of mine would do this and removing the *fleece blanket* from his bed eliminated the static he created when he moved :rolleyes: Srsly.

Old Dogs are the Best Dogs. :heartThank you, campers. Current enrollees:  Punkin. AnnIE Oooh M

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Spirit is my drama king. I watched him wake himself from a nap on his dog bed on evening in a snarling fury because one hind paw was caught in a tangle of his blanket. I believe he thought something dangerous was attacking his foot. So, fleece blanket static as a waker upper makes sense to me. :lol

 

Spirit doesn't awaken screaming but instead awakens snarling and growling. This can happen at any time of day as well as at night. He is not reacting to the actual presence of anything or anyone anywhere near him, much less any kind of threatening presence, so I'm not honestly certain what sets him off. He settles right back to sleep after each episode. Spirit is generally shy and is never as relaxed as my other hounds. His approach to life in general is to feel threatened first and to assess things realistically later.

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Lucy with Greyhound Nate and OSH Tinker. With loving memories of MoMo (FTH Chyna Moon), Spirit, Miles the slinky kitty (OSH), Piper "The Perfect" (Oneco Chaplin), Winston, Yoda, Hector, and Claire.

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Our big guy, Ambi does that once in a while. We have figured out it is a muscle cramp in his case. He gets up limping, we rub his leg and within a couple of minutes everything is OK again. It scares the poop out of everyone when it happens, especially when it's in the middle of the night.

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Remembering Bridge Angel Greyhounds: Tosca, Jamey, Master, Diego, and Ambi; plus Angel Galgos Jules, Marco and Baltasar.

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My first thought it could be something in her bed she rolls onto. Can you change out her bed? Does she use that bed during the day or only at night? Is the bed new?

 

I had my boy react to something when laying on his crate pad, so I knelt on it and felt something hard, a small burr had gotten into it that couldnt be seen.

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Now you understand why we call it the Greyhound Scream Of Death! (GSOD)

 

Cramps or night terrors are both good thoughts. Several of our greys have had episodes of seemingly random screaming. There's never anything "wrong" with them, even after extensive vetting. Cramps is the only thing we could come up with, so we tried several remedies which work for human leg cramps. A half a banana added to an evening meal worked, as did adding in a bit more magnesium (under veterinary guidance). We also began to make sure they cooled down more outside after a big/hard play session - walked around, got in the pool, had a rub down after in the house - just so muscles had a chance to relax before coming back inside to lay down.

 

It could be night terrors, but I don't have any idea how you would go about helping with that. How do parents handle night terrors in children?? :dunno

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Isn't it iteresting to see people assuming dogs are even capable of something like night terrors!

 

I don't know...but every night? Seems odd. And since most hounds that age sleep most of the day, as well as the night, you'd think it would also happen during the day!

 

Is she in a crate at night by any chance? Could she be catching her foot on something?

 

Buck wakes up snarling and growling from time to time.


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Guest jonathan_stone

One of mine would do this and removing the *fleece blanket* from his bed eliminated the static he created when he moved :rolleyes: Srsly.

 

This is something I'd never have thought of. She has fleece blankets on both beds and she has ALWAYS kicked them away from herself after a while, like she doesn't like them. We keep putting them on her bed so she'll be warm. We've now removed fleece from both her beds and last night . . . no screaming! Could it really be as simple as static?! What a lightweight my dog is!

 

If this fails to change the problem, the next thing will be a light coat for her to keep her warm. She's too touchy to allow us to put a blanket over her without serious growling. Of course with a greyhound coat/pajamas, they're usually made of fleece or flannel, which will be static-y!

 

If neither of these help, I'll try the oatmeal concoction mentioned by GreyOrchard. Is it a quarter cup OR a tablespoon?? Little confused there.

 

I want to thank you ALL for your advice. I will follow up with each suggestion in turn until something works.

 

This is a great forum for us first-time greyhound owners. :f_red

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Guest GreyOrchard

 

This is something I'd never have thought of. She has fleece blankets on both beds and she has ALWAYS kicked them away from herself after a while, like she doesn't like them. We keep putting them on her bed so she'll be warm. We've now removed fleece from both her beds and last night . . . no screaming! Could it really be as simple as static?! What a lightweight my dog is!

 

If this fails to change the problem, the next thing will be a light coat for her to keep her warm. She's too touchy to allow us to put a blanket over her without serious growling. Of course with a greyhound coat/pajamas, they're usually made of fleece or flannel, which will be static-y!

 

If neither of these help, I'll try the oatmeal concoction mentioned by GreyOrchard. Is it a quarter cup OR a tablespoon?? Little confused there.

 

I want to thank you ALL for your advice. I will follow up with each suggestion in turn until something works.

 

This is a great forum for us first-time greyhound owners. :f_red

Start with a tablespoon for the first few nights. It just might do the trick. I think the static possibility sounds very plausible. A simple cotton baby quilt might be fine.

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This is something I'd never have thought of. She has fleece blankets on both beds and she has ALWAYS kicked them away from herself after a while, like she doesn't like them. We keep putting them on her bed so she'll be warm. We've now removed fleece from both her beds and last night . . . no screaming! Could it really be as simple as static?! What a lightweight my dog is!

:thumbs-up

Old Dogs are the Best Dogs. :heartThank you, campers. Current enrollees:  Punkin. AnnIE Oooh M

Angels: Pal :heart. Segugio. Sorella (TPGIT). LadyBug. Zeke-aroni. MiMi Sizzle Pants. Gracie. Seamie :heart:brokenheart. (Foster)Sweet. Andy. PaddyALVIN!Mayhem. Bosco. Bruno. Dottie B. Trevor Double-Heart. Bea. Cletus, KLTO. Aiden 1-4.

:paw Upon reflection, our lives are often referenced in parts defined by the all-too-short lives of our dogs.

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Nightly sure is odd. Hope removal of potential static is the answer.

 

I've had Ryder wake up screaming only twice and I nearly screamed too! It's just a terrifying sound. He had pulled a muscle in his shoulder and leg somehow and we were off to chiro as soon as I could get an appt. But what corroborated this theory was wimpering when he laid back down, therefore he also wasn't waking from a bad dream (which I know that has been the case before as well). How he could pull a muscle in his sleep tho....who knows. Even we sleep funny from time to time and get kinks in our neck. So indeed, a muscle cramp could also be likely, but nightly is a little strange. Keep us posted!

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If this fails to change the problem, the next thing will be a light coat for her to keep her warm. She's too touchy to allow us to put a blanket over her without serious growling. Of course with a greyhound coat/pajamas, they're usually made of fleece or flannel, which will be static-y!

 

 

Yes, a lot of coats are made of fleece, but flannel is usually a lot less likely to build up a static charge and there are people who make fleece coats with a flannel lining. Also be aware that anything made with synthetic fibres can potentially build up a charge, including knitted jumpers. :)

 

BTW, I had a dog once who would do this from time to time, and it turned out that it was the fault of a crocheted 'Granny' blanket I'd given him. He would catch a claw in the holes and panic!

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Doodles had a problem with static from a fleece coat. She cried out in the middle of the night, I found her on the floor, she'd rolled off her dog bed. I thought she'd had a stroke, she couldn't move as if paralyzed. I peeled the coat off of her, which because of the static had pulled very very tight around her. She finally got up. She was still new to me and had been spooky when she arrived, this set her progress back for two weeks. I got rid off all fleece coats and pjs, replaced them with cotton. I use big thick cotton bath sheets now as individual blankets. I have a few walking coats that aren't 100% cotton, I spray them with Static Guard before using them, but that stuff scares me, so we don't use those coats often, luckily we live in LA where it doesn't get very cold.

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I have thermal knit pajamas for Zuri that are great (they're like the really old school long underwear material). No static whatsoever and they aren't clingy so he seems quite comfortable in them.

 

I'll see if I can find where I ordered them from and post a link.

 

ETA: here they are. She also has knit fabrics (t-shirt material) that aren't static-y.

http://www.needlenoseapparel.com/Needle_Nose_Apparel/Pajamas.html

Edited by NeylasMom

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My big grey girl does this sometimes. I jumped out of bed to check it out one night and she had the worst charlie horse ever! Her leg was hard. I started rubbing her leg right away and she relaxed and eventually I felt it release in my hands. This went on for about a week. I tried to give her bananas and lucky for me she likes them. I haven't had it happen since then but if it happens again, I will have an idea of what to do for her.''

 

Maybe this is happening to your girl too. Good Luck!

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Sounds like you resolved the issue?

 

The polar fleece used for many blankets and most dog coats is awful for static. When I have dogs who like a blankie in winter, I end up giving them my cotton-covered quilts and the washable wool, and suffer the polar fleece myself :lol .

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For cramping, a magnesium supplement daily can also help. It's used by racing trainers here, and also works on humans for cramping and muscle soreness.

Yes, I didn't think of that! I give Doodle 1 tablet a day of Naturally Bound Minerals from Standard Process for that very reason. It contains magnesium.

Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog)

Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014

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Yes, I didn't think of that! I give Doodle 1 tablet a day of Naturally Bound Minerals from Standard Process for that very reason. It contains magnesium.

 

When we were lure coursing, Brandi was on it daily, along with a potassium supplement. But when I suggested my husband take some of the magnesium (which was human stuff!) he scoffed that he wasn't taking 'dog stuff'. And then it worked.

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