Pet Expo

We still need additional volunteers for the Pet Expo on March 23 and 24.  Spend an hour or two or four--your choice.  Help us spread the word about how great greyhounds are.  If you cannot bring your greyhound, volunteer anyway.  There should be plenty of dogs to go around.

Foster Feature -- Reese

I promised photos of this handsome boy and here they are!!!

What a beautiful face.

He is a majestic looking hound.

Foster Feature -- Update on Foster Reese

Foster mom provided the following update on how Reese is doing in his foster home.

While there are lots of words to describe Reese, the best one is HAPPY!  

Reese is easily the happiest dog we know.  He is always happy to greet us, happy to hear his name, happy to eat, happy to play with toys, and happiest when he is getting love and petted.  

In the short amount of time we have had Reese, he has quickly learned his name, mastered the stairs and proven that he gets along with everyone he meets.  His is always excited when new people come over.  In addition, he gets along with our resident male greyhound -- they sometimes even drink from the same bowl.  Reese is great on walks and as long as a treat is involved, he is happy to go in his crate (although he will let us know when he wants out in the morning!)  

Oh, by the way, Reese is also absolutely gorgeous. This is a photo of Reese on his way to Minnesota from Iowa.  Stay tuned for some new photos of this gorgeous boy.

Foster Feature -- Cole has a Foster Home!!!

This beautiful fawn colored boy is finally experiencing what living in a home is like.

Cole will be 2 years old in June and is a very handsome boy.  He is quite tall and currently weighs about 80 pounds.  He needs to put on a few pounds as his ribs are very visible.  Foster mom does not think that will be a problem because Cole loves his food!!!  He races to the kennel when he sees his food dish. 

Cole is tall enough to reach things on the kitchen counters with little effort so he is learning that is not acceptable behavior.  He is a very happy boy and loves to wrap around foster mom and get hugs and pets.  When is is excited, he grins and chatters his teeth at the same time.  It is very cute.

Cole is doing well with learning that potty is outside and gets along with the other dogs (one of which is a lab mix).  He is very interested in the cat meowing from behind the door and is not cat-friendly.

How could you say no to this handsome face???

Follow a Hound to Retirement – Edition 009

Hello NLGA Dog Blog Readers…it’s Max again!

I got a foster sister a few weeks ago!  Remember in January when Reese, Cole, Ann, and Chita made their journey to NLGA?  Well, Ann came to stay with us to experience living in a house until she finds her forever home!  She is spending her time with us soaking everything in.  Especially the petting!  I was not so sure of this foster sister thing at first but I think I am getting the hang of it.  It is really not too bad…you should give it a try!  I hear that Cole is still looking for a foster family to learn from!  

Us with foster sister Ann (in the red coat)

Anyway, Ann’s crate is next to my crate so during those first two weeks we talked a bit.  I knew she had her ‘big day’ at the clinic coming in her future.  It came up in discussions.  After some talking she, under no duress, agreed to share her experience at the clinic with the us!  As NLGA greyhounds, in our journey from our racing careers to retirement, we have all been through the clinic and had our ‘big days’.  It is nothing new to us.  However, all this happens before we meet our forever families.  So, in the spirit of ‘follow a hound to retirement’, she agreed to share her experience for the benefit of our forever families! 

Here is how Ann’s week went…

Last Saturday Ann went on a short visit to the clinic for her pre-operative examination.  She was brave during the whole experience!  She had a physical examination.  And Ann had her blood drawn for a blood chemistry profile, thyroid panel, and heartworm/tick panel.  

The blood chemistry profile is done to check for possible underlying medical issues which could add risk to either the surgery or general anesthesia.  In particular, the liver and kidney values are reviewed as these organs break down and remove anesthesia from the body after surgery.  The thyroid panel and heartworm / tick tests are run as part of getting a retired racer ready to be a pet.  Thyroid levels in greyhounds are lower than the average dog breed.  Thyroid levels are checked in order to establish a baseline for each individual dog.  Rarely are new dogs treated based on the initial thyroid levels as several factors can contribute to these being unreliable results.  The initial thyroid values are merely an attempt to lock in a number at the beginning of the process.  If a greyhound were to display significant clinical signs suggesting hypothyroidism does exist, then therapy would be initiated and the dogs progress closely followed.  The heartworm and tick panel are done as a critical part of the health screen.  Heartworm and tick borne diseases can be potentially fatal to pets and if present, are a huge risk factor during anesthesia.  Screening and prevention are key to keeping us all healthy!  

It takes a day to get all the blood test results back.  Once all of Ann’s results were looked over and deemed to be good she was ready for her spay surgery! 

Ann was scheduled for her surgery on Monday.  She was not allowed to have any food after 6pm on Sunday evening.  This helped ensure that her stomach was empty by the time she was put under general anesthesia.  Having an empty stomach lessened the chance that she would vomit and then inhale it into her lungs.  Which is both dangerous and rather gross.

Checking Ann's weight

On Monday, before her spay procedure began, she was started on pain management medication.  It is good to stay ahead of the pain!  She was also weighed to determine the amount of anesthesia needed.  As everyone knows, greyhounds have special anesthesia needs when undergoing surgery. 

She was then anesthetized and an intravenous catheter was placed in her leg.  The IV catheter was needed for fluid administration while under anesthesia to aid the kidneys and liver in metabolizing the medication.  The spay procedure is a routine procedure but it is also an invasive procedure that involves opening the abdomen.   The incision area of Ann’s abdomen was shaved and cleaned in preparation for her surgery. 

  

Preparing Ann for surgery

During the spay procedure Ann was kept warm and was constantly being watched.  Her heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen concentration, and other parameters were monitored while she was under anesthesia.  A small incision was made and her reproductive organs were removed.  Sutures were then sewn in place to close the incision. 

After the spay surgery was complete and while she was still under general anesthesia, her teeth were cleaned with an ultrasonic scaler.  Digital X-rays were taken and all Ann’s teeth looked great!  She had no pockets between her teeth and gums.  And no extractions were necessary.  With her teeth nice and clean, Oravet sealant was applied.  This is a plaque prevention system which helps reduce plaque and calculus formation on her teeth. 

Cleaning Ann's teeth

Ann was closely monitored as she completely recovered from the anesthesia.  She was put on oral antibiotics and pain medication.  Ann spent the next day resting at the clinic. 

Ann came back to our house on Tuesday.  She was a little lethargic and subdued when she came home which was to be expected!  She rested comfortably and quietly for a couple days.  Ann is now feeling better but she is still not allowed to run or jump for several more days.  She has to wait for 10 days from her surgery before her sutures will be ready to come out and she is allowed to return to playing.

So, that was Ann’s week!  And that is the experience of every NLGA greyhound (female, of course) as part of going from a retired racing greyhound to a pet!

Ann

Until next time,

~Max

p.s.  Did you see the previous blog post?  I sure would like it if you could come join me at the Pet Expo!

Voluteers Needed!!!

Northern Lights Greyhound Adoption needs volunteers on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24 for the Twin Cities Pet Expo.  Do you have 2 hours to spare?  Or maybe 4 hours?

Join us at the Minneapolis Convention Center (with your hounds) and spread the word about how great it is to live with a greyhound.  Admission is free for NLGA volunteers.  We have a booth and desperately need help staffing it from 9-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday.

Please contact Donna at 763-754-9754 or email guber2nac@aol.com to schedule a time you are able to help NLGA.  It is a lot of fun!!

Follow a Hound to Retirement – Edition 008

Hello NLGA Dog Blog Readers…it’s Max again!

In the last blog post we took a look at the racing of Vincent, Destiny, and Cool to see how they were doing as we follow them to retirement.   Today we will review the racing of Snow Ball, Smith, and Crown. 

Smith and Crown were supposed to run a race on January 31^st.  Do any of you remember January 31^st?  Well, it was not one of our coldest days as the temperatures here were around 0 deg F…but the temperatures were dropping fast throughout the day!  And in Council Bluffs, where our "Follow a Hound" friends are racing, it was also a very cold day with temperatures in the single digits as race time neared.  Since it was so cold (remember, they are further south than us!) the races were cancelled.  It was just too cold to race at those temperature!  I don’t mind going for a walk with my nice warm coat on when it is cold but the thought of racing at that temperature with no coat on…burrr, makes me shiver!  The temperatures were back near 30 deg F on February 1st and the races continued.  The greyhounds that did not race on January 31^st raced on February 2^nd instead.

So, let’s look at Smith’s racing:

  

Smith has gone down and up and down again in grades since I started watching his racing.  He started out in Grade A.  He ran four races and dropped back to Grade B.  In Grade B, he placed 4^th and then won his next race which moved him back up to Grade A.  He then ran three races in a row finishing 4^th or below which dropped him back down to Grade B again.  February 2^nd was Smith’s first race back in Grade B and he placed 8^th.  In that race Smith came out of the box well and was in the lead at the beginning of the race.  Coming into the first corner there was some bumping and Smith was in the middle of it.  He spun a little sideways (but did not fall!) and that was enough to bring him away from the front.  As racers, we always do our best to run clean races with no bumping but sometimes it happens!  Sort of like short track speed skating!  Here are a couple pictures.

Smith (wearing #3) at start of race

Smith (wearing #3) bumped going into first corner

  

Here is a summary of Crown’s racing.

Crown had dropped two grades since I started watching him.  He had three races in Grade B and finished all three in 5^th place.  That made three in a row below 4^th place and therefore he moved down a grade to C.  He had a couple restarts in his count in Grade C with a 3^rd place finish on January 2^nd and a 2^nd place finish on January 12^th.  On the 18^th he finished 8^th.  And on the 24^th he finished 7^th.  On February 2^nd he finished 5^th which made three races in a row below 4^th place and moves him down a grade to Grade D for his next race.  At the end of the race Lucky, the white bone shaped lure, goes behind the fence.  All the racers stop and gather right where they see Lucky!  Here is a picture of Crown (wearing the green and white 7 silks) at chasing down Lucky after the race. 

Crown (wearing #7) chasing down "Lucky"

Here is Snow Ball’s racing summary:

Snow Ball has gone up and down a grade since I started watching her.  She was racing in Grade B at the beginning of December.  She had a 3^rd, 8^th, and 2^nd place finishes.  Then on December 22^nd she won her Grade B race which moved her up a Grade.  She ran three Grade A races and dropped back to Grade B.  She finished 8^th on January 19^th and she finished 6^th on February 1^st.  That is two races in a row with 4^th place or below finishes.  We will see how she does in her next Grade B race.  You may be wondering why she had so much time between her last two races.  Well, Snow Ball actually ran a schooling race on January 25^th.  Schooling races do not count towards ‘official’ races but are rather as the name suggests, schooling.  Here is a video of her schooling race.  She is wearing the yellow silks out of box 6.

As we continue to follow Destiny, Snow Ball, Cool, Smith, Vincent, and Crown to retirement, are there any predictions on who will join us in retirement first?  Feel free to comment!

Until next time,

~Max