No More Swimming With My Grey

[Guest Islandhopper3]

It's been hot, as usual in the Florida Keys, and I thought today would be a good time to reintroduce Lee to the pool. Her first experience was an unsuccessful attempt to walk across it. Once we were in I put her head on my shoulder, supported her back, and walked around the pool. She didn't struggle, and seemed to be enjoying it as I felt her relaxing. Not wanting to overdo our first swim I took her to the stairs, but she didn't try to use them. So, I lifted her out of the pool, and put her feet on the deck only to see her hind legs sway, and collapse. I realized she was overheated from being immersed in the warmed (86-87 F) pool water, and was in danger of fainting, or worse. I'm relieved to say that after a cool water rinse in the shower she's fine, and enjoying a late morning nap on the love seat. We learned an important lesson about greys, and heat tolerance. While we've avoided having her outside unnecessarily, we hadn't any idea the effect water temperature would have on her!

[krissy]

When we got our first greyhound and were taking him home from the adoption kennel, we were warned to bath him in cool water because if the water was too warm it could cause fainting. That said, I have bathed all 3 of my hounds over the years and always used warmish water (not really warm, but certainly not cool) and never had an issue.

[Time4ANap]

The first time that I took Rocket to a real groomer for a bath instead of doing it myself, I stayed with him and quickly realized that he was getting too relaxed. The groomer adjusted the temp and all was fine, but if I hadn't stayed with him and realized what was happening, she may have had a big pile of greyhound to get out of the sink the hard way.

 

Glad your hound recovered well.

[greysmom]

Yeah. Warm water is a thing with greyhounds. It just causes them to kind of go limp. Some are more susceptible than others to the phenomena. Cool water for baths and pools are best.

 

Also, you should consider getting her a doggy life jacket to help with bouyancy (sp?). It help her float better even if she does go limp.

Edited July 5, 2017 by greysmom

[BatterseaBrindl]

Also, you should consider getting her a doggy life jacket to help with bouyancy (sp?). It help her float better even if she does go limp.

 

[GreyTzu]

Warm water.

[racindog]

It may not have been over heating. It may have been the endearing greyhound quirp of their legs just folding and them going down from the water. I have had more than a few that "collapse" during bathing without support even in tepid water. They are not distressed per se-they just go down. Gilly Boy will actually do it when cooled with the hose straight out of the tap cool water. Never causes any issues and they always "recover" when removed from water. I've always been told it is just another one of those endearing quirps unique to our houndies. Greyhounds truly are unlike any other dog! They are very different and you have to be careful about that and remember that and treat them accordingly-as you did! Your girl is lucky she has such a smart & caring Mom.

[GeorgeofNE]

86 degree pool water? That doesn't sound refreshing!

 

First time I bathed my first greyhound, he collapsed in the tub. I thought he was dead. That's when I learned that warm water makes some hounds go limp!!

 

It was the warm water. She was probably not overheated, per se. I don't know why they have that reaction, but I now use cool water for the annual bath!

[Mercsmom]

This is a good story to read. We just returned from Florida where our pool water was in the high eighties to low nineties. Mercury doesn't like going in the pool so we rarely press it other than to have him stand on the top step with his feet in the water. If we do take him in, it will be good to know what to watch out for.

[sobesmom]

Yep - lesson learned. Years ago my adoption group got PetCo to donate their grooming area for us to use for new fosters coming off the track after transport. Lots of eager volunteers, and some PetCo employees volunteering, put the dogs in the dog baths. And the dogs started dropping like they were dead. Most of the volunteers, and all of the PetCo employees, were hosing the greys in water too warm, and they all fainted. An experienced volunteer, whose dog she was washing was FINE, yelled "How warm is your water?" Then she ran around and turned down the temp, and they were all just fine.

 

Their body fat is so minimal, that they don't regulate changes to temp well. Water temp will affect a grey much quicker than being outside on a warm day will.

 

I had a dog faint bathing in at my home - and I KNEW better. I just thought the water should be a "bit" warmer. I was wrong. Room temp. No higher.

[Guest MikBee]

This is interesting! Can the fainting happen if the water is too cold, too?

 

When I gave Odin a bath the other day, I did it outside with the hose. (safest place at the house to do it... the stairs up to the bathtub are narrow and make a sharp turn at the top. Too hard for him.)

 

Anyway, he started swaying during the bath and sat down at one point. I thought maybe he just hated the bath!! But now I'm thinking different. It was pretty warm outside, but the hose water was kind of cold so I tried to go as fast as possible.

 

There is a pet store we go to that has an open bathing area. We would just have to figure out how to get him into the bath tubs they have... the stairs are tiny!

[Guest Islandhopper3]

Thanks for all the replies, and additional information about our hounds' unique qualities! We've only had Lee for a month, but every day is a wonderful adventure that now, of course begins about an 1 1/2 hours earlier than my pre-greyhound days!

[sobesmom]

This is interesting! Can the fainting happen if the water is too cold, too?

 

When I gave Odin a bath the other day, I did it outside with the hose. (safest place at the house to do it... the stairs up to the bathtub are narrow and make a sharp turn at the top. Too hard for him.)

 

Anyway, he started swaying during the bath and sat down at one point. I thought maybe he just hated the bath!! But now I'm thinking different. It was pretty warm outside, but the hose water was kind of cold so I tried to go as fast as possible.

 

There is a pet store we go to that has an open bathing area. We would just have to figure out how to get him into the bath tubs they have... the stairs are tiny!

It stands to reason that if it was a hot day, and the hose was cold water, it would be a shock to the system due to the lack of temp regulation abilities. But, I've never seen or heard of it happening with cold water. I believe it though. Not a huge deal. You may just want to use your hose to fill a big tub or several buckets in the yard, let it warm in the sun, then use that to bathe. MUCH easier to do baths in the yard IMHO. Oh - get a cheap kiddie pool, fill that, let it warm. That would work, too.

 

I always bathed my dogs outside, but I have a mixer valve on my hose. So, I can regulate hose water temp just like you do in the house. (Thank you contractor FIL).

[Guest Amy_Bee]

Wow, I didn't know about the fainting thing. I've always bathed Gretchen in self-serve dog-bathing places (Petco, most recently), and I've always made the water warm (not hot) because I was concerned she'd get a chill!