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Greyt NEWS
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Greyhound Safety Net – From Kennel to Couch, Newsletter Christmas 2015
Editor: Christina Pickersgill
Email: [email protected]
Layout: Sarah Lawson
Website: www.greyhoundsafetynet.org
Email: [email protected]
Contributions welcome
We love members to share their greyhound
experiences with us. This is a great
opportunity to learn from each other. Please
submit articles to editor (details above).
Greyhound Safety Net Contacts
Phone: 0431 747 130
Greyhound Safety Net Inc
PO Box 400
DOVETON VIC 3177
Disclaimer
Articles in this newsletter are contributions
from members and non members and views
expressed do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Greyhound Safety Net Group Inc.
or the committee and office bearers.
GSN is supported by the Victorian
Government through the provision of an
Animal Welfare Grant
From the Editor’s Couch
Welcome to the latest edition of our Newsletter.
In February 2016, Greyhound Safety Net will celebrate its
10th Birthday. This marks a milestone in our
organization. We would love to celebrate this occasion
with as many of the greyhounds adopted throughout the
years as possible, and their owners, so if you know of
anyone who has a GSN dog, please let them know as soon
as details are published.
Spring has been a busy time for Greyhound Safety Net,
with a lot of dogs coming into our care, and a lot of
adoptions as well. We have also been out and about
showing off our beautiful dogs and sharing our love of
greyhounds. The season started off with The Royal
Melbourne Show, where we had 23 dogs on show over the
three days. We were lucky to be given a prime location,
so were able to generate a lot of interest in our beautiful
hounds. Along with the ever-needed offers to foster, we
also had two adoptions through this exposure, Jasmine
and Bianca. It was also little Maggie’s first foray into the
world of Pet Expos, which she handled beautifully. She
certainly captured the heart of the little girl in the photo.
We are always seeking greyhounds for occasions such as
this, and would love for more people to join in and share
their love of the breed. All the upcoming events are listed
on our website, so please keep an eye out on what is
coming up, and join us if you can.
On Grand Final Day, we had a casual get-together at Lang
Lang, which turned out to be a really great day, and we
intend to have more casual get togethers at various times
during the year so we can just enjoy being together with
our hounds.
Last weekend was our Christmas Party. Beautiful weather,
with lots of humans and dogs attending. It was
particularly enjoyable to see lots of new faces, both
human and canine. Some of you have other breeds of
dogs, and they too are always welcome at our gettogethers. Meanwhile, we wish you and your hounds a
very merry Christmas, and a happy and healthy 2016.
Page 2
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter- Christmas
2015
Cats needed!
the base of the tail and inner thighs; with your
boy dogs, check their scrotums (or what’s left).
It is the adult flea that we see on dogs. Hidden in
soil—especially sandy soils, such as in bayside
Melbourne—carpets, dog beds (couches!) are the
eggs and juvenile forms of fleas. So, there are
two steps involved in getting rid of these
parasites: killing fleas on your dog and
disrupting their life-cycle.
Treatments, such as Sentinel, don’t kill adult
fleas, they stop them from breeding which
breaks the life cycle and will eventually eliminate
fleas from your environment. However, they will
GSN is often asked for “cat-friendly” greyhounds,
but unfortunately we don’t have enough foster
carers with cats to accommodate all the
greyhounds Julie thinks would likely be “catfriendly”.
We are asking for those with cats to help us with
the testing, by allowing a visit from those
greyhounds Julie thinks suitable.
If you are able to help with this, could you please
not stop adult fleas from infesting your dog if
you go into a flea infested environment. You can
use something like Capstar to kill these adult
fleas.
If fleas are the specific problem you want to
treat, use products like Advantage or Frontline,
which are cheaper than those combining worm
and/or heartworm treatment with flea treatment,
like Sentinel and Advocate. Note that fleas are
also intermediate hosts for tapeworms.
let Julie know by emailing
Do your research to get the best deal and the
[email protected].
best outcome to protect your dog—remember
that you will need to protect your dog/s from
Ideally, we would like as many areas covered as
fleas, and a spectrum of worms, including
possible, to help with the time involved in
heartworm.
transporting the greyhounds.
To Flea or not to Flea?
Once you have found a flea on one dog, treat all
dogs in the family–don’t think that fleas (like
By Audra Kunciunas
mosquitoes) prefer only one dog over others!
I live in north-east Victoria and, with its frosty
Spring is typically when fleas fire up again, so
just because it has been all quiet on the flea
front through winter, don’t assume your ‘flea
problem’ has necessarily disappeared for good.
winters and long dry summers, I didn’t have to worry
about fleas—until last summer, when dry heat
became humidity. The flea life-cycle speeds up with
warmth and moisture, increasing from months to
weeks. Whenever any of my hounds scratches now I
become alert… and a little alarmed.
Fleas are the most common cause of skin problems
in dogs: damaged, thickened skin is often caused by
scratching and biting areas of flea infestation. Look
for adult fleas, or their faeces (‘dirt’), particularly at
the
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter – Christmas 2015
Page 3
♥ Beautiful Bindi ♥
This caused her pain when she walked, made
worse by arthritis. She was on pain medication, but
having discussed the condition with the vet he
believed surgery would not only straighten the
wrist but leave her pain free.
Thanks to the generosity of GSN supporters, we
were able to raise enough funds to have the
operation performed. This procedure was a carpal
arthrodesis, where the arthritis was removed, a
bone graft, then a metal plate inserted with 9
screws.
After her operation, Bindi went home with Mark
and Jo to begin her recovery. She is a very brave
little girl, managing to hobble about with a plaster
cast nearly as big as herself, even able to do a
“roach”, waving it in the air.
Gradually, Bindi became to come out of her shell,
little by little, and finally the tail emerged from
between her legs and learnt to wag again.
Bindi is now cast free, and learning to walk on four
Part of Julie's job when bringing dogs into GSN is
to imagine what they will be like with some TLC.
Some dogs require more TLC than others; Bindi is
one such dog.
A very small black girl, just seven years old, Bindi
had a couple of health issues. The first was a low
thyroid level, which is being treated with
medication. She also needed several teeth
removed, which was done when she was desexed,
and was also very underweight.
However, she had one problem that couldn’t be
fixed with TLC. A few years ago she suffered a
broken wrist, which was not treated correctly at the
time, resulting in her having a twisted front leg.
legs again. She is still very tentative about putting
weight on the leg, but is improving all the time.
This little girl, with her doe-like eyes, will melt the
heart of anyone who meets her, and we wish her a
happy, painfree, life.
Page 4
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter – Christmas 2015
Mid life crisis - anxiety in the middle aged greyhound
by Sarah Lawson
system and no sign of urinary tract infection. I was
assured that a trace of blood and protein in the
urine of an otherwise healthy dog was no major
cause for concern. Stumped I asked…could the
peeing inside be behavioural? The answer was yes.
As Ruby’s peeing inside became more and more
frequent, her general behaviour had become more
anxious. Always a somewhat sensitive and highly
strung individual, over the years Ruby had become
increasingly spooked by life outside the house at
night - the wind, the rain, the shadows. She was
often very reluctant to go outside at night, even to
eat or go to the toilet. Often she had to be
physically evicted. Once outside she became
desperate to come back in, at all costs.
It sounds strange, but we had decoupled the
anxious behaviour from the peeing, mainly due to
the decoy of the blood in the urine which
suggested a physical cause. The vet suggested we
try her on a course of fluoxetine, better known as
Around the age of 7, Ruby, pictured above, started
Prozac. We took our script for ‘Ruby dog, aged 8’
peeing inside the house overnight. We took to the
to Chemist’s Warehouse where some human
vet, who diagnosed her with a urinary tract infection,
Prozac was procured. Ramping up the dose
based on blood and protein present in her urine. We
gradually over several weeks, we started seeing
treated her with antibiotics, and she stopped peeing
inside.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and Ruby started
peeing inside again overnight. Antibiotics, repeat.
This went on for over a year. The antibiotics mostly
seemed to stop the peeing inside, although not
always. The antibiotics mostly seemed to clear the
blood and protein in the urine, though not always.
Bacteria culture tests of the urine showed no bacteria
present. The peeing became more and more
frequent, and the antibiotics seemed to be having
less and less effect. I started worrying about
antibiotic resistance and took her to another vet for a
second opinion, fearing the worst.
Ruby’s urinary tract was given a very thorough going
over. Kidney function tests, an ultrasound, more
bacteria culture tests all showed a perfectly healthy
some very positive changes in Ruby. She began to
happily trot outside for dinner with the others and
waited patiently to be let back in. She stopped
going to the toilet inside overnight. She started
roaching more and more, something we realised
she had not done for months. She seemed to relish
her outings more, and became a calmer and
happier dog.
We decreased the fluoxetine down gradually but
found that at a quarter dose her anxiety was
rebounding. We are now at a daily half strength
dose. We feel her quality of life is much improved
on fluoxetine and her new found wellbeing, but
thankfully not her urine, spills over to the whole
household.
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter – Christmas 2015
Page 5
Keep your cool….
Do not leave your dog in the car during warm days—
it may not be a hot day but the temperature inside
the car can rise in a matter of minutes.
Do not let your dog run around too much on warm
days. Take advantage of cool mornings or evenings
to exercise your dog during summer. Be especially
mindful if your greyhound is black.
If, like me, you live in a climate that brings on long,
hot summers, make sure your dog has a cool spot to
spend the day (I leave my ceiling fans on and, when it
Heat Stress
is very hot, I put the air conditioner on low).
Sometimes I hate summer: my garden needs
disciplined watering, we always seem to be on
If you do need to move your greyhound around on a
bushfire alert up here, and I am constantly making
hot day, consider getting a ‘cool coat’: soaked in
sure that my hounds are not too hot.
water and wrung out, it will help dissipate body
In hot weather, particularly if it is also humid, heat
heat—never leave this type of coat on without
stress is a real possibility for greyhounds. Like all
supervision, checking whether it has dried out,
dogs, greyhounds don’t have sweat glands apart
because heat stress will be exacerbated.
from some in the pads of their paws. Panting is one
of the main ways of getting rid of excess body heat
Make sure your dog has plenty of clean water. I have
(humidity reduces the efficacy of panting), however,
a bucket inside and one outside. When it is really
the dilation of blood vessels allows for the bulk of
hot, I fill a children’s swimming pool—those ‘clam
internal heat to be dissipated. Heat stroke occurs
shells’ are cheap and effective—and leave it in the
when your dog’s internal temperature rises above
shade.
normal and the usual ways of getting rid of heat
(panting, dilation of blood vessels, etc.) can’t
What can you do to treat suspected heat stress?
adequately cope.
Wiping a cool, damp towel or misting cool water over
your dog’s body, paying attention to the abdomen,
So, how can you tell if your dog has heat stress?
until the body temperature drops under 39 degrees
Excessive panting and what seems an abnormally
Celsius. A ‘cool coat’ can come in handy here.
long time recovering from heat should sound a
Fanning your dog will also help.
warning for you. If left untreated, the body
temperature will rise to 43 degrees Celsius when
severe organ damage can occur—your dog will be
in danger of dying!
Do not leave your dog in the car during warm
days—it may not be a hot day but the temperature
inside the car can rise in a matter of minutes.
Page 6
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter – Christmas 2015
If you notice too late and your dog seems
What are the symptoms of acidosis you should be
particularly distressed, you will need to apply the
aware of?
above treatments and get your dog quickly to a vet
Your greyhound will be suffering from general
for cooling intravenous fluids, supplemental oxygen
muscle pain and showing signs of extreme
and possibly a blood transfusion.
distress. Your dog may appear hunched up and
will not want to be touched (especially along the
Take care during the hot summer months to come,
back and hindquarters), find it difficult to lie
and avoid distress to yourself and, particularly, to
down, and will tend to drag its hind legs when
your greyhound.
made to walk. The dog will be hot to touch due
to severe inflammation and difficulty dissipating
Cooling bandanas are available from GSN to keep
body heat. If the dog’s urine appears reddish in
you, and your hound cool this summer.
colour, this is a sign that kidney failure is
imminent.
Acidosis…
On warm, humid (and, sometimes, cool) days—
especially if your greyhound is not particularly fit
and excited about getting the chance to run about—
excessive exercise can result in a serious condition
called acidosis.
Acute acidosis requires intravenous fluids and
cooling the greyhound’s body for several hours
with cold, wet towels and ice packs on the
affected muscles. Antibiotics may also be needed
to protect the dog from secondary infection.
Recovery can take a number of weeks before the
greyhound is able to run to any sustained degree.
In summary: poor fitness, a highly strung nature
(barking and deep panting), hot, humid climatic
conditions, as well as any condition or diet which
causes low levels of potassium (e.g. kidney
infection, diarrhoea) can predispose a greyhound
to acidosis.
Being sprinters, greyhounds use little or no oxygen
(anaerobic metabolism) when they run fast, and this
is what causes the by-product of glucose and
glycogen metabolism, lactic acid. Acidosis is the
result of a build-up of lactic acid usually neutralised
by buffers in muscle cells and the blood. The fitter a
greyhound is, the less likely the dog will be
susceptible to acidosis because this buffering
system improves with fitness.
Please remember that at events, such as the GSN
Christmas Party, where dogs gather together at a
slipping track, give your dogs a short supervised
run (or a number of runs across the event) and
always observe your greyhound for any signs of
distress.
Audra Kunciunas
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter – Christmas 2015
Page 7
Fundraising Coordinator’s Report
Although Winter was a quiet time for
promotions, it has been a successful time for
fundraising thanks to the wonderfully generous
people associated with Greyhound Safety Net.
We had a couple of very special dogs needing
extra care, and therefore extra funds, which we
would not have been able to cover without the
extra money donated specifically for these two
girls, Bindi and Maggie. Bindi’s and Maggie’s
stories are elsewhere in this newsletter, but we
would like to send a huge thankyou to all who
donated towards their vet bills.
Alana and Catherine have once again run a very
successful Book Swap, raising almost $2,000. It
is a lot of hard work organising this event,
everything has to work like clockwork to get the
books in place and then packed up in the one
day, so our huge thanks to Alana, Catherine and
all their helpers for all the hard work.
The website has had steady sales over the past
few months, with PayPal proving to be a success
for both donations and sales. We have even had
orders from overseas, thanks to PayPal. When
thinking of presents to buy, please have a look
at the website to see if there is anything there
that would suit, as 100% of the money made
through sales goes directly towards helping
save more greyhounds.
This year’s calendar has been commented on by
many people as the best one yet, thanks to
Sarah Jane May very generously offering us the
use of her artwork from her Houndsight
Exhibition, and her skill in doing a beautiful
layout. Many thanks Sarah Jane, your ongoing
support of Greyhound Safety Net is very much
appreciated.
Thanks also to Sophie Tayton for organising a
fundraiser at the Grandview Hotel, Fairfield. This
was a fantastic night, full of fun, as well as
bringing in donations. The highlight of the night
was “Elvis”! All the performers donated their
time and talent, and the Grandview Hotel
supplied the space.
We are intending to hold more fund raising
activities during the coming months, including
casual get-togethers for walks with the dogs
followed by a sausage sizzle, and another trivia
night. If anyone has any ideas they would like to
share for fundraising activities, please let us
know.
With the onset of Spring, we have once again
been out and about at Pet Expos, generating
both interest in greyhounds and money in the
coffers from the sale of merchandise. Our
thanks to all those who attend these functions,
without your input and help they would not be
the success they are.
One of our favourite get-togethers of the year,
the Christmas Party, was held on December 6. A
beautiful day, and a wonderful crowd of people
and dogs turned up. Thank you to all those
people who bring along salads and deserts to
share, and to all those who offer to help.
Lastly, thank you to everyone who has donated
money to GSN this past year. It has enabled us
to find homes for over 100 dogs.
Page 8
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter – Christmas 2015
Maggie’s Story
Maggie, had a very terrible start to her
life-after-racing.
Maggie was handed in for euthanasia
by her owner. Why, we have no idea.
She was consequently de-sexed, ready
to begin her new life. Unfortunately,
something went horribly wrong, and
Maggie began bleeding internally. This
was thought to have been sorted out,
but over the next week she ate less and
less, and finally refused food and drink
completely.
Maggie was then taken to another Vet
for a second opinion. After exhaustive
tests and two days on a drip, multiple
x-rays, and under observation the
whole time, it was discovered that there
was a mass of some kind in her
abdomen, which was blocking the
intestines. It was decided that there
was no alternative but to open her up
again and find out what was going
on. It was discovered that she had
continued to bleed internally, which
had formed a huge mass, which in turn
had strangled her small intestine, part
of which had to be removed. After
some days she began to eat a little, and
it was decided by the vet who did the
life-saving operation that she would be
happier at home, so she went home to
be looked after by one of the
After a few days her appetite returned,
and she was eating everything put in
front of her, licking the bowl clean,
and within a few weeks she gradually
returned to almost her correct weight,
and was once again beginning to look
beautiful.
Each day was to be celebrated, sitting
up in her bed just waiting for
someone else to open their eyes, then
bounding around the house with her
toys, in sheer delight at being alive.
Maggie is an extremely affectionate
and happy dog, sharing love with
everyone she meets.
Having been with her foster carers
through all the trauma, they came to
understand her, and to realize the
type of family that would both
welcome such a playful girl, and be
able to give her the love that she
deserves.
Maggie has just found that perfect
home, with Zoe, Mike, Kyle, Edan,
Casper, and her new four-legged
friend Champ.
A very happy ending to Maggie’s
story, and her journey from Kennel to
Couch.
committee.
When Maggie first came out of surgery,
she looked like a skeleton. The
surgeon warned that she hadn’t turned
the corner yet, but to just get her
eating small amounts multiple times a
day.
Maggie with her new friend Casper
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter – Christmas 2015
Page 9
Adoption Coordinator’s Report
This has been another busy year for
GSN.
We have done over 100 adoptions
this year and have meet our earlier
target of rescuing over 60 black
greyhounds (though some are still in
foster care). On a sad note we have
lost many old friends, but the sadness
is tempered with the comfort that
they have lived good lives and been
loved by their owners.
Next year GSN celebrates its 10
Anniversary. Wow, who would have
thought we could go on from such
humble beginnings when we wanted
to help a few greyhounds. Now over
730 greyhounds call the couch their
home. It is what dreams are made of.
th
To all our supporters I wish you a
wonderful Christmas and a very
Happy New Year. Thank you for all
the support you continue to give
us. Just getting out there with your
greyhound and promoting the
breed is more help than you can
expect. I get many calls from
people saying they have met
someone who adopted from us and
loved meeting a greyhound.
A very big thank you to all those
people who offer us such unfailing
support. Without you, GSN
wouldn’t exist. I take my hat off to
you all.
Regards, Julie.
Enjoying our Christmas party at Lang Lang.
Page 10
Greyhound Safety Net Newsletter – Christmas 2015
How and Why I adopted my first Greyhound - by Catherine White
Years ago, while visiting the Royal Melbourne Show,
I came across a greyhound rescue group promoting
the joys of greyhounds as pets. I was really struck
by the greyhounds calm and gentle natures and the
fact that they were content just to laze around and
have people pat them. I remember commenting to
my friend that my next dog was going to be a
greyhound. I also remarked that as owners tend to
look like their dogs, greyhound ownership would
ensure that I would end up being tall slim and
elegant. A comment that haunts me to this day.
Several years later, after my much loved blue heeler
passed away ( and yes, I looked like my heeler,
short, fat and grey ) I looked into greyhound
adoption and found the Greyhound Safety Net . I
met Julie, the GSN adoption co-ordinator at a
promotion and explained that I was interested in
adopting a greyhound but I had two cats and a ute
with a small single cabin. Would there be a very
small, cat friendly greyhound for me? Julie looked
me in the eye and told me I would need a bigger car
as one greyhound was never enough. She then
introduced me to Peggy as a possible candidate.
Peggy was very, very fat. My vision of being tall,
slim and elegant was fast disappearing….
Peggy later proved not to be a fan of cats and I had
a short lived experience with a beautiful little blue
greyhound who proved not to be a Catherine
friendly hound.
My dreams of having a greyhound of my own
were fading until Julie rang me to see if I
could foster a hound for a few weeks as his
carers couldn’t keep him any longer and his
new family were not ready for him.
So was my introduction to Red. I should
mention at this point that I am a bit of a
Nervous Nelly and being introduced to a
large orange and black stripey dog who was
taller than me when he stood on his hind
legs ( which he did frequently ) was fairly
daunting. After being told that he walked
nicely on his lead, Red dragged me all the
way home by kangaroo hopping on his back
legs with his mouth opened wide in frenzied
excitement.
It was not love at first sight ( after all, he was
going to someone else ), but when Julie told
me that his adoption had fallen through and
would I like to keep him, it became a love
that would endure. Red has given me
confidence and I have helped him learn how
to be a dog. He has since been joined by the
truly beautiful Ebony Orchid and I can’t
imagine life without them. I do wonder
occasionally how I ended up with two
hounds named Red and Ebony when my
surname is White. It doesn’t sound bad until
you go to the vet.
I suspect that the people at GSN not only
match you up with the right hound, but do it
with a sense of humour.
Kev’s fantastic tip for dealing with dog poo
Get a bucket with a lid, line it with a plastic bag (or scented bin liner), place it in a faraway part of the back yard. Over
the week place all dog poo in it, then tie up plastic bag and place in the wheelie bin the night before rubbish is collected.
Start all over again … no more smelly rubbish bin! (It took an engineer to dream this up).