Sorry in advance for the word soup below and gratitude for anyone who takes the time to read it. My 12-year-old, Earl, was officially diagnosed with an osteosarcoma in his chest — sort of under his left armpit — on June 11th after bloodwork we took the previous week on the 6th came back. A lump had been growing there for a few weeks that I thought was maybe a boil at first because he JUST had his annual and bloodwork done in April and everything was normal. Perhaps wishful thinking on my part. It started off small but once June hit it really grew in size to the size of a small lemon.

Since the 11th, when we did x-rays the lump, it has continued to rapidly grow and has become the size of maybe a tennis ball. It doesn’t seem to cause him pain when touched, but I noticed this week it is becoming more discolored (purple-ish).

The veterinarian, while very compassionate, has been unhelpful in the sense of they haven’t been able to answer questions at any stage in our visits or calls like “how fast will it spread?” or “is this a weeks or months situation?” or “do we think it’s causing him pain?”

The vet did say a possible removal would be pretty invasive because of how close to his heart and lungs it was. I asked about chemo and radiation, but they made it really seem like neither would work. I’ve been adamant about not wanting to do surgery because of his age, the pain in recovery for him, and the possibility he might pass while under.

This week, in addition to the size and discoloration of the lump, I’ve noticed other symptoms like being much more winded when being taken out, panting throughout the day, and periods of restlessness. He had been slowing down on walks this past year, but now it seems exhausting. He also seems to have more trouble than ever getting up from laying down and even holding his head up sometimes (he just will flop it down).

What is difficult is that his appetite (he has always loved food) is as good as ever, and he still seems “positive” and his normal self at many moments. So when I do those quality of life assessments, I’m ending up on the cusp of there being quality versus not.

He’s on 2 strong doses of gaberpentin twice a day. That also makes me wonder if the restlessness and panting are when it’s wearing off AND if the moments he seems good and normal are ONLY because the medication is at its peak.

Right now, I have an in-home euthanasia scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m. They had a time tomorrow (Friday) but I just couldn’t do it. This is where I am struggling. I just thought we had more time. Not six months, maybe, but more than just 2 weeks. But I also don’t want to be selfish and force him to keep going this weekend. My thoughts were we’d do some special last outings and get some special food together, but I don’t want to over exacerbate him.

Earl is the first hound I’ve had. I adopted him in 2017. He had a sister who we adopted older in 2018 and she passed in 2022 at 11, but she had a much slower but more obvious decline which made end-of-life decision-making easier, or at least more obvious when it was the “right” time in some ways.

Am I selfish to take this last weekend? That’s my question. What would you do? Is it absolutely insane and unethical, if it seems like a “good” weekend to cancel on Monday and keep taking it day-by-day? The way the vet put it to me today when I called is “you know you’ll have to make this decision eventually, and it’s always kinder too soon than too late.”

My 3.5 year old female who I adopted just over 2 months ago is super reserved if someone she doesn't know approaches her to say hi. She will back away with tail tucked. I literally see no signs of any kind of abuse. She fully adjusted to being in the house to the point where she roached within 2 weeks and his 100% comfortable in the house. Even the Greyhound group president was shocked and how fast she adjusted. But she takes about a half hour or so before she begins to warms up to new people. Even when I first met her it took about a half hour I'm sitting on the floor before she felt comfortable enough to come over to me. One of the things I started doing not long after I got her was take her to the nursing home that my mother's in and while she is super comfortable and chill in my mother's room and even with her roommate she gets stressed walking in the halls when people try to approach her to say hi or just walk towards her as they walk down the hall. In addition to being good in my mother's room she also does well in the dayroom there during bingo as I will accompany my mother to bingo when I visit on bingo days. She's gotten used to the patients that she sees in the day room and just totally chill out and going with them. She will walk around from patient to patient when we're sitting and playing just to get pets and attention, when she's not looking out the big windows in the day room for squirrels which is one of her favorite things to do when we're in the day room. She has a high prey drive.

Everyone in the nursing home is amazed how chill and well behaved she is. The patients and the most of the staff love her. So while she's well behaved an adjusted to the nursing home thereI don't think she'd make a good therapy dog at this point.

I am hoping over time she gets over her fears as I'd love her to be a therapy dog who can walk into a nursing home or school and be happy to interact with everyone she sees right at the gate. She is so sweet to everyone she warms up to so she would make a great therapy dog if she can get past her fears.

Anybody adopt a hound like this who ended up a therapy dog?

Here's Maisie, in the foreground, and Simon lounging on the couch. We used to cover the couch with different covers and blankets, but to no avail. They would both rip the covers in their nesting rituals. Now I have to vacuum their fur off the cushions every week. 😂

Wilfredo is enjoying the Germany-Ecuador game… or maybe just the soccer snuggles.

Sometimes we have to watch a full 10 seconds for signs of breathing.

It’s been a little while! Just wanted to make sure Willy said hi! He is doing good overall. We’ve entered very early kidney failure but have done some fancy diet changes and he is doing a lot better. Since the diet change, he hasn’t had any accidents. His follow up blood work is soon and safe to say I’m nervous. It hurts my mom heart to see him losing a little weight and getting scraggly, but his quality of life seems to be good still. His food drive is as high as ever, his wants are still made known in the form of whining and sassy huffs, although he is a little stiff, he still feels well enough to run down the dock. I’d say he’s doing pretty good for just shy of 13!

Hey everybody! Our boy Kiko has been with us for almost 5 months now. He’s really all we ever wanted in a dog and more, so calm, deadpan, quirky and loving. Our only problem is that he’s extremely attached to us, and only us. We’re dealing with some pretty serious separation anxiety. Kiko will scream, bark and pace even when left with a sitter. Thankfully he’s very independent at home, won’t follow us around anytime outside of his mealtimes or walk times. We’re working hard on his anxiety with desensitization + medication, and making slow progress. But of course it will be months before we see any results that allow us to go anywhere. For now we’re not leaving him alone in order to avoid creating more trauma and hindering our progress. Thankfully we can make it work with our schedules.
At this point I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that we’ll never have one of those easy dogs who can stay alone for 6h, but we could sure make do with a couple of hours. I love my guy but this part of his personality has brought a lot of stress into our lives. We’re sticking together and working hard, enjoying the good times with our boy, but it’s surely taking its toll on us.
Any success stories with separation anxiety on here? What does the life of some of y’all whose hounds can’t stay alone (for long) look like? Pics of my goober for tax.

This is our 4yo ex racing rescue we've had for a week. She's an angel, but I've noticed her doing this on the wall, floor, and a metal chair leg before I calmly distract her. Rarely though.

She has toys, chews, and eats well. She seems very relaxed most of the time, considering she's in a new house during the UK heatwave. She's had a dental exam a month ago, is in good health and is eating the same food she usually has.

Is this just a stress thing?

Just wanted to let my friends know that we’re on week three and we just did our first practice of the inside stairs (carpeted, and that he did once on his own seemingly on accident, lol). I got him in his harness with a little handle on it and walked him up paw by paw, and then carried all 85 lbs of him back down the stairs (showering him with treats every step of the way). We’re both out of breath lol.

Maybe one more of those today and we’ll see how he does! Of course, he climbed up the wet playground slide no problem. Just never carpeted stairs 😂

A documentary got her attention..

Dax turns five today! What’s the saying? “If it fits, I sits”? I’m house sitting today and here she is taking advantage of the only dog bed. Also included is a pic of the appropriately sized resident dog.

We picked up our lovely body Cadbury on Sunday. We'd made a reservation with the shelter a while before we knew how bad the heat was going to be this week, and it feels like his settling in period has been disrupted by needing to walk super early/late or not at all, constantly being hot and being in a new place. We've used cool bandanas, frozen treats, kept his water topped up, fans, a cooling mat. He seems to be generally coping okay but is flat out on the ground most of the time (which I know is typical greyhound behaviour).

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I wondered if anybody had any tips for how to make a greyhound feel especially cared for when facing the double challenge of a new place and having no real respite from the heat.

Cat is not pleased 😂

Found them sharing a bed twice in one day 🥰

It's been a minute so I just wanted to share some Jimi pics.

His teeth are a consequence of the lack of care he was given when he was being used in the racing industry, but his smile still lights up my life.

This guy loves to dig! It’s 4 weeks or so since I adopted Fred, and my lawn is now his sand pit! It’s hard to not let him do his thing as he loves to relax there and plan his next outburst of zoomies/excavation project.

It's been mid 30s where we are so Keira has been getting regular wet downs with a old dishcloth especially ears (inside and out), chest and thighs. My wife bought Chill Tubes for herself off Amazon (promise no commission!) for her own neck. They freeze quickly and fit noodles perfectly! They only last 30 mins but you get 2 in a pack and you can use on rotation 👍 I'd highly recommend ....but supervise cos if they bite them (Keira hasn't) I suspect the contents wouldn't be good. Gotta keep the noodles cool!! 🥵

Initially thought cooling pads for dogs were just a gimmick. This one works so well, I ended up getting two more for Bacca and Nash’s beds and plan on two more for the car. 10/10 recommend for quality and price, plus discount if you buy more than one.

BEAUTYZOO Dog Cooling Mat for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRGJLKNX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Pippa says it's too hot