Virginia, it seems, has a one bite law. The dog is “allowed” one bite, but will be euthanized with a second one. The circumstances of the bite are not taken into account (c’mon Virginia – keep your heads out of your butts when you make laws. Circumstances ARE relevant!). I know there are adoption groups that will have nothing to do with a greyhound that has a bite history. I’ll keep my opinion on that quiet for now…fortunately, GEGR is not one of those groups. They knew we liked to work with special case dogs – especially aggression – so they contacted us to foster, evaluate and rehab Emma until they could arrange a new placement, a good distance away from Virginia.

Last sunday I picked Emma up in Richmond and was delighted to meet her. In the week she’s been here, she’s been a wonderful dog. She has some fear reactions to unexpected noises and movement. She seems pretty timid of men. She has some space issues with the other dogs from time to time as well. Nothing major, but definitely some areas we can help her improve on with some socialization skills. I’ll also be enrolling her in a training class that will culminate with her earning a Canine Good Citizen certificate (that’s the goal, anyway!). The Canine Good Citizen is an evaluation by the AKC that determines a dog is friendly, well behaved and tolerant of strangers, other dogs, sounds, basic grooming and has proper leash walking manners. Basically, it certifies that a dog has all the skills necessary to be a good member of the community.

Stay tuned for updates on Emma’s progress! I’m excited for her to be the first graduate from the Greystar Kennels Greyhound Rehab program!

Emma says goodbye to the past….

Emma is on her way to a new life with a new family!

When the SouthEastern Greyhound Club posted about their 5K fundraiser Athletes Helping Athletes on their Facebook page, I figured that’d be a good motivator for me to work on my jogging skills again. Since it’s hotter than hell here right now and I’m too lazy to run before the sun comes up, I’m relegated to the dreaded treadmill. I took my first spin on it a couple days ago and it was just as awful as I remember it. Oy. But, this goal is for a good cause – helping greyhounds – so I’ll just let that be my inspiration to keep running.

I am taking this opportunity to start some barefoot running (Vibrams style), so that should be interesting. I was too nervous preparing for my first 5K to deviate from my program at all, so I stuck with my Mizuno shoes. This time, I’m not too concerned about being able to finish the 5K (I may be last, but I’ll finish!), so if I’m ever going to try barefoot running I don’t think there’s going to be a much better time.

I wanted a tattoo that celebrates my hounds. Of course, sometimes I’m sad and cry when I think about them not being here anymore…but most of the time I smile and laugh and revel in their wonderful memories and quirky traits. So, I knew I wanted a happy tattoo…something bright and colorful that would remind me celebrate their life, not mourn their passing. I watched an old episode of Miami Ink and saw someone get a Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) skull tattoo and it hit me: A greyhound version of that would be perfect! The Day of the Dead (many cultures and faiths have one) is a celebration of family members who have passed on. A happy day to honor their memory.

Believe it or not a picture of a greyhound skull is not super easy to come by. I could only find a couple to choose from on the ‘net, so I picked a side view to get the most “real estate” for the design…printed it out and took it in for the tattoo artist to do a preliminary sketch:

I approved the initial design and we set up the appointment for last night. I wanted it in a place I could see easily, but because the subject matter might not appeal to everyone I still wanted it in a fairly discreet place. So, I picked my right thigh (my right leg is my dedicated “greyhound tattoo leg” :lol ) Here’s the outline and shading

I really didn’t give her much other instruction except I wanted her to go to town with lots of color (of her choice) and it for it to be super happy. What she did really blew me a away. It’s *exactly* what I wanted. I smile every time I look at it…

Gratuitous “real” greyhound picture

We talked about Rocky a lot last night as I was getting it…and all of our Bridge kids, actually. It was a great night

Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.

Sutta Nipata

I posted a video a couple weeks ago of Rocky walking in pain. But this is how I remember my Rocky. One of his favorite things to do was to go to the kennel building with me. He loved to spend time down there, gnawing bones or practicing agility or just hanging out.

Rocky shortly after coming home from the track…

With his dad, Grandpa

With his sister, Echo

Helping to GUR Phillypups Donniedude

He loved walks

And lure coursing

He slept by my side of the bed every single night from the time he came home. He didn’t mind sharing his bed, as long as he could be as close to me as possible

I’m sorry we couldn’t fix you, bubby. I miss you so much…I pray one day we meet again, in this life or the next

Rocky has steadily declined over the last few days with increasing pain levels. They were prepping him to do a second MRI today on a different section of his neck and one of the surgeons suggested doing an xray first (Xrays were done by our vet just a few weeks ago). Unfortunately, the xray showed what is probably cancer in one of his vertebrae. They can’t know 100% for sure unless they biopsy, but because of the location a biopsy is not really possible. The other possible diagnoses are extraordinarily unlikely due to the area of the country we’re in, so it’s a defacto cancer diagnosis. Everything has been sent to Dr. Couto (the oncologist here went to vet school there and knows Dr. Couto well) as well as to a radiology oncologist at NC State Vet school. Our ‘best case’ scenario is palliative radiation which could give us 4 more months, possibly. Most likely we will not go that route, but I want to hear what Dr. C and the NC State vets have to say.

They’ve upped his pain meds and added another.

All this time I’ve wanted an answer…this was not the answer I wanted, though.
Here’s a picture of the Xray. It’s the vertebrae in the middle of the picture – you can see the darker area where the bone is less dense. The Xrays from just a few weeks ago looked completely normal (didn’t get a picture of those though).

7/31

Thought I’d post an update on Rocky – he’s doing well. The current episode seems to be subsiding…he’s down to just one or two tramadol a day. He even started trotting a little bit yesterday and looking for poop to eat. He’s still a little hunchy but is holding his head higher. We’ve seen his symptoms wax and wane before, so I don’t think we’re out of the woods. We’re continuing on the doxy for now and waiting to see what comes back on the tick testing at NC State. With symptoms subsiding (hopefully for good), I can’t see us starting any prednisone in the near future.

7/27

We had a really long meeting with the vet. She addressed our concerns about the lack of information and understands where we’re coming from with our complaints and issues. We went over everything in his file, including the MRI images in detail. She apologized and explained a few things on her end that caused some of the communication issues. She also said that most owners don’t usually care about nitty gritty details, esp on negative tests. She now understands that we are not “most” owners

So, we are satisfied with that and decided to keep her on as his primary vet at the moment. We are sending off blood to NC State for PCR testing to make absolute, triple checked sure there’s not some weirdo TBD thing going on. We’re starting him on doxy today and, depending on how he responds, we’ll phase in prednisone. Depending on the tick panel test, we may do a joint tap to see if he has (big long word for a joint auto-immune type issue). At least now I feel like we have treatment plan in place that I understand, so that’s a step in the right direction.

7/26

Well, the spinal tap came back normal. The vet that’s been seeing him was out sick today, so it took me calling a BUNCH of times for them to even have a vet tech call me and let me know that. They called the doctor at home and she said she’d call in steroids and antibiotics. UM….OUR VET OFFERED TO DO THAT A WEEK AGO. W. T. F.

That poor vet tech now understands exactly how frustrated we are with their practice and that this is simply not acceptable. I’m not normally one to kill the messenger, but I was in Mama Dog mode. I got off the phone and let off a string of expletives that would make a sailor blush. Then I cried. These are supposed to be the experts and I feel like the only thing they give a damn about is our freaking credit card.

If the MRI is normal, they ruled out a tumor. If the spinal tap is normal, it’s not meningitis. So, at 10:15 tomorrow this vet is going to sit down with Ken and I and explain what in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks she’s treating my dog for. And then we’re going to switch doctors, b/c I just don’t trust this lady. I’ll take “stab in the dark” treatment from a regular vet, but not from someone who’s board certified and charges $100 just to lay hands on a dog…no ma’am. You need to give me a little bit more the same damn guess our regular vet came up with….A WEEK AGO.

7/23

***update***

Ken went to pick up Rocky…the spinal tap stuff has to be sent to Atlanta, so that will happen tonight. We might hear some preliminary stuff tomorrow afternoon, but the final report might not be ready until Sunday or Monday.

*******************

The radiologist said he didn’t see anything on the MRI to account for his symptoms. Dropped Rocky off this morning for his spinal tap. Poor bubby was whimpering and shaking in pain early this morning as the tramadol wore off. God help the vet if they don’t have SOMETHING to offer today. I can be patient and understanding, but having been to three vet offices and spent over $2500 SO FAR and STILL have a dog in pain with no freaking clue what the problem is, is pretty much going to be my breaking point if there’s no progress today. I just want my dog fixed. 

Deep breath. Deep breath. Deep breath.

7/21

****update***

Well, they did the MRI and they didn’t see an “obvious tumor” but there was a questionable area at the base of his brain. They are waiting to hear back from the radiologist to see what he thinks. Since it’s right in the area where they’d do the spinal tap, they didn’t want to go poking something if they weren’t sure what was going on (ie, a nice little pocket of infection or something).

I’ll pick him up as soon as Ken gets home from the dentist, but he may have to go back tomorrow for the spinal tap, which she said they can do with the propofol (?) sedation rather than full anesthesia like he had today. Even though tramadol doesn’t seem to be super effective at curbing the pain, she wants to avoid NSAIDs in case he does end up on steroids.

Still no answers

**********

Rocky saw the internal med doc yesterday and they brought in the ortho surgeon for a consult…they believe the pain is, in fact, in his neck. They recommended an MRI and possible spinal tap and possible myelogram. I dropped him off this morning for his MRI. Hopefully they find something. Potential diagnoses at the top of the list: tumor, some flavor of meningitis or a disc issue. My poor babe is in so much pain, not even tramadol seems to make a big dent in it anymore. This episode isn’t waning like they have in the past.

7/19

Quick check in with our regular vet today and she gave us the referral to the internal medicine specialist. He goes tomorrow. Poor bubby…he’s having a really bad flair up of whatever it is yesterday and today.

7/14

Hey guys…sorry I haven’t updated. It’s been crazy here lately (when isn’t it ) As usual, Rocky’s episode on Sunday passed and he was fine in the evening. Monday morning I called the vet and we decided to just wait and see what happened. As has happened in the past, Monday evening he had another episode and today he had two. He’s pooping and peeing normally. Poop is formed but a tad soft…nothing terribly unusual. Quantity was normal.

The primary vet that’s been seeing Rocky on on vacation this week, but the other vet in the practice has seen Rocky before and examined him that last time he was in as well…just as a second ‘in house’ opinion. So, we’re kinda in a holding pattern right now. Though having two episodes today means I’ll be calling the vet tomorrow to see if we should go ahead and get the referral to the internist or if they want to see him again… oh…he’s still on the antibiotics.

7/11

Well, I thought maybe whatever it was had run it’s course or responded to the Clindamycin Rocky’s been on for a couple weeks now. Even this morning he was his old self…goofy, tiggering, shaking his head like dogs do when they get up and shake off a nap.

And then a little while ago, Ken and I watched a stiffened up, hunched Rocky sloooowly walk out of the bedroom with great trepidation. I think we’re at the point where we need to see the specialist if our vet still has no ideas…Here’s a short video and a couple pics from today.

This is Rocky about a month ago at the e-vet…you can see his stature is pretty much the same

6/28

Our regular vet xrayed Rocky from stem to stern this morning and found nothing unusual. Ruled out discospondylitis. Snap 4DX test was negative and bloodwork looks good (from earlier this month) so we’re tentatively ruling out TBD.

She is leaning away from GI issues and more towards spinal/back and/or deep infection somewhere. Canine Meningitis is also a suspect…As we looked back through his medical records, he has had off and on issues with various infections and slow-to-heal wounds. We started him on Antirobe and sent out more bloodwork. She’ll also call the vet who did the ultrasound a couple weeks ago and consult with him on his findings.

Basically, Rocky is still hurting and no one knows why. The bulge Ken and I found she believes is just muscle, maybe more pronounced b/c he’s lost weight or because he’s tensed up on that side more than the other.

****************************

6/27

Well, Rocky’s been having the same symptoms off and on since we had him at the vet. It’s been pretty bad this weekend with a lot of hunching and even yelping, holding his head low. He’s going to see our regular vet tomorrow…they should have copies of the myriad of things they did at the last (emergency) vet.

I haven’t seen him poop recently, though there was a couple piles by the back door overnight which I suspect was him but can’t be sure.

afternoon:

After a really close head to to inspection on Rocky, Ken found a large swollen area on his right hip. Like, really obvious…He screams every time he gets up now, which he wasn’t doing this morning, so I loaded him up on tramadol to get him through the night and see if that even helps. At least now we know where to focus.

***********************************

6/11

My boy is home. After quite possibly the world’s most expensive gas bubble, he’s resting comfortably at my feet and he looks worlds better. Apparently he had some explosive Big D today at the vet…hey, that’s almost worth the entire bill not to have to clean that up :blink:

****Thanks for the advice, everyone! Hopefully, we can resolve his gas issue****

6/10

Rocky’s been “off” for about a week…eating fine, but his spark is just not there. More lazy than usual. He has times where he gets kinda hunched up with an arched back but then it passes. The last poop saw him have was Tuesday afternoon. I may have missed one yesterday b/c sometimes he does his business behind the kennel building. We decided he needed to go to the vet and he was supposed to go tomorrow…but you know how that goes. Last night he was really hunched up, head held really low and trembling all over so we decided go ahead and take him in to the emergency vet.

Findings:

Pain when you palpate his belly

very slightly dehydrated

bloodwork: all within normal limits

urine: normal

stool: normal

ultrasound: nothing unusual found

test for pancreatitis: negative

xray: they’re doing it now.

Any ideas? Vets are stumped. He’s been on fluids since 10pm or so last night. He’s feeling better but still showing pain in his belly and is a little hunchy.

eta: Rocky is an avid connoisseur of yard brownies, though we usually keep the yard pretty clean, he wears a stool guard off and on when he goes on binges but it is a possibility he found some old poop in the wooded section of the yard when we’ve been less than diligent about putting his poop muzzle on him. Other than poop, he’s not one to eat or chew on things.

When I saw this classic Ed Hardy design, I knew it was absolutely perfect. Years ago we adopted a dog named Tame Game (aka Grandpa, aka Champ). Grandpa was such an amazing dog, we fostered and ended up adopting his daughter Echo. Echo was such an awesome dog, we wanted one of her littermates as well, so I picked Rocky off Greyhound-Data.com because his name just called to me for some reason. Over the years each one of these dogs has deeply touched my heart and changed my life. Grandpa was just the coolest damn dog you could ever meet. So chill and fun to hang out with. Echo is all heart. She’s brought me to tears on the coursing field many times watching her run with all of her heart and soul. She’s a fierce competitor. Rocky is a big ball of love. Pure, unadulterated love. I’ve never had a greyhound – or any pet – look at me with the unselfish love that Rocky does.

So, my tattoo is three roses of differing colors – Red to symbolize Rocky and the love I have for all greyhounds. The yellow rose is for Grandpa, honoring the friendship that fills one’s life when they share it with greyhounds. The pink rose is for Echo in honor of the admiration I have for the spirit and nature of greyhounds…they are all champions in their own way.

Here’s the final tattoo, healed for several weeks now…I love it. Kate at Monster Ink did another amazing job delivering exactly what I wanted – even better than I imagined it could be.

To celebrate, Ken decided to wear his heart (and my name!) on his sleeve….forever.

Here I am inside my Mommy’s belly a week before I was born. My human mommy picked her up at the track so we could have a safe place to come into the world and grow up.

This was me on the day I was born. I was so small you could hold me in one hand!

When we were a week old, my human mommy and daddy got scared when one of my brothers died for no apparent reason, so we all had to go to the doctor with my doggy mommy. My doggy mommy was a little sick, but they gave her medicine that made her all better. I’m all the way over on the left of the basket…

Most of the time, we all just slept and ate and pooped (I’m in the back!)

But then we discovered our legs and the world became our oyster. I loved to jump on my brother Dot…

This is me and all my brothers back when my human mommy could hold us all at once. I’m the second from the right.

Soon we got too big to all fit in the basket, but we still loved to play in, on and around it. My first name was Tee because of the white on my chest.

This was the day my human mommy and daddy decided I would get to stay here forever! They decided to call me Dash. Soon after, my brothers and doggy mommy left and I moved into the house with my NEW brothers and sisters…there are LOTS of them and they teach me things all the time….

Like the fine art of napping

And how to look for neat stuff in the yard. Sometimes we find things to chase!

They taught me manners that all doggies need to know. They would warn me when I was being bad

I know I can always lean on them

One night I got sick and had to go to the emergency doctor. The staff loved on me extra special because they had never seen a greyhound puppy before.

(I just had a bunch of puppy farts inside my belly and soon I felt all better!)

I also got to meet snow this year!

(it was fun!)

Before long, my mommy couldn’t hold me with just one hand like she used to…even though she still tried tries

And I kept getting bigger! And looking more like a greyhound…

Even as big as my brothers and sisters

But I still love to play and most of them are lazy butts.

And now I’m one year old. Mommy said she won’t call me her little baby greyhound anymore now that I’m all growed up…but I think in her heart she’ll always see me as a tiny little puppy she held in her hand so long ago.

Happy Birthday, Dash and all the Hoochie Mama puppies!!

“The weight that lays on your shoulders
Could be the wings that carry you home” ….Live lyrics

I always thought of adoption as a sanctuary. A voice for those who can not speak for themselves. The ultimate protectors of hounds that are otherwise unwanted or in need. So when I look around our home and I see hounds that have been rejected by adoption, it almost leaves me speechless. Labeled, discarded, even threatened with death by those who have vowed to help them. I am left searching for words. But our hounds found safety. My heart cries for all those hounds we never hear about. Who go quietly, misunderstood.

We brought Sarah here as a foster. To help her find balance and then help her find a home. And even with documented proof of significantly improved behavior, someone still found it necessary to publicly vilify her on the largest greyhound internet forum. A seemingly determined attempt to ensure she never ever had a second chance.

After many long discussions, Ken and I decided that we have enough experience with hounds like Sarah to know that the label of “vicious” will hang heavily around her neck for the rest of her life. And were she to ever have a mis-step, the outcome would probably not be good for her. I still believe Sarah could go into just about any dog-experienced home and be a wonderful pet. But we are just not willing to gamble with Sarah’s life and put her into a situation we can’t control.

The aggression label was the weight on Sarah’s shoulders. Now, she can lay that burden down because she is home. With us. She likes it here and we certainly love her. She joins the ranks of Bucky and Lucas who both faced death at the hands of adoption. And I hope every adoption group out there can learn from her that every dog deserves a chance to be a balanced, happy dog. If egos can be laid down long enough to honestly seek help for something that just might be beyond one’s current abilities, more dogs might find help. It’s easy to adopt out cute, cat-safe, social butterflies. The dogs with issues are the ones that make you a better dog person at the end of the day and perhaps they are the really the ones who need us most.

So,please help us welcome home Sarah Jane Vaughn…Let her success and happiness as our pet serve as a reminder to all of us that circumstances dictate behavior. Labeling a dog is an absolute. And these dogs are anything but. Their behavior is a reflection of our willingness to help them. And I want to thank the adoption folks out there who do get this! I’m so grateful for you…because our house is pretty much full and we can’t take them all!

But I knew looking at that book that if anyone could do justice to my beloved greyhounds, it would be Cesar. I showed him the picture I wanted to do first to see if he’d be interested in doing the piece and he was! He was actually excited about it…so we booked the appointment and I did my best to sit still for the next few days.

The outline is on and he’s got the shoulder detail done:

A close up of the shoulder…Ken said it was amazing to watch him work and see the tattoo materialize from out of nowhere…

The finished tattoo (which, incredibly, took less than two hours to do). It looks a bit dark because the picture is in the shade and it’s still a little weepy. I’ll post a healed photo in a few weeks

A close up…

This is the image he started with: Melody at a lure coursing event. It’s always been one of my favorite greyhound images. There are few things more beautiful than a greyhound in full flight, doing what they love to do best: run!

I do plan on getting a few more greyhound portraits done by Cesar. Eventually I’d like one large back piece with different phases of a greyhounds life represented and special hounds in my life that represent those times. Haley, my first greyhound. Dash as a puppy. Quilty, the senior. Hanna my special needs girl. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to fit all those on my back, so we’ll see…The only bad thing about getting a tattoo done is that you have less room to get more tattoos LOL