gapvic

If you get one from Kenol (I have one and it's brilliant!) get some of their fluffy blankets too, the ones that take the moisture away and put it onto the newspaper underneath. They are very expensive but last forever and are fantastic! Can't remember what they are called... maybe wikaway or something? Mine are blue.

Tashnchief, I thought mine was difficult until they told me about yours!!! And I'm stupidly about to go back for more LOL! Yes, we've used a bit and have a yearling colt on the ground. Hope you get lots of beautiful pups from your shipment :-)

Thanks Jerojath. I've raised three litters at home, just haven't done the actual whelping. Unfortunately I don't have the option of sitting this one out as we've already let her go the last two seasons. This is my reason for trying to find someone to sit in with me. As mentioned above I always err on the side of caution. I've done lots of reading and research - I'm not going into this blind :-). When we had problems with Minerva's first litter, I rushed her off to the vet at the first sign that things were not proceeding as they should have.

I can thoroughly recommend Cryogenes too - they helped me get some horse semen into Australia and it was quite difficult. Tashnchief, are you the person they were telling me about who got the semen from Spain? My horse semen came from Spain too :-)

Thanks everyone. My vet is fabulous and always contactable, so no problems there. The grand-dam of the bitch (Magnate) whelped OK no problems, but no so her daughter (Minerva, mother of my girl). We had problems with the first litter so didn't give her a chance with the second two but opted for elective c sections. Regardless, we'll certainly be prepared to rush Maddie off to the vet and I'm a bit of a worry wart so always err on the side of caution. Interestingly, Minerva was only bred using implants and there appears to be a much higher incidence amongst greyhounds of those that are implanted requiring c-sections. Maddie is heading off to stud and being covered the old fashioned way :-). Thanks SBT123 - would just love someone there for the moral support and to show me how to get a puppy going if need be etc. Will continue to put the feelers out to see if I can find someone :-)

Hi all, One of my bitches (greyhound) has just come into season and will be heading off to stud this weekend. We've bred three litters (out of her mother) but they were all delivered by c-section, so I've never actually had a bitch whelp at home. I'm really nervous and am so worried something will go wrong. This bitch is a maiden and means the world to me. Is there anyone in the Kyneton area who might be able to pop over when my bitch goes into labour, to guide and assist? I know it's a big ask :-(. Any assistance would be very greatly appreciated. Warm regards Larissa

These rules have been in place in Victoria for quite some time now and as far as I'm aware, they have not caused an increase in dogs being dumped at shelters. In fact, I believe they force owners to be accountable for their greyhounds. In Victoria very few greyhounds are actually dumped in shelters as it is far easier to take the dog to a vet and have them PTS for a minimal amount. Hopefully this link will work - it is a copy of the very simple form used here in Vic: http://www.grv.org.au/LinkClick.aspx?filet...;language=en-AU If that doesn't work, go to http://www.grv.org.au/Participants/ApplicationForms.aspx and click on Notification of Retired Greyhounds to view the form. As you can see on this form, if the dog is given away to anywhere other than GAP, it needs to state on the form where that dog has gone. I'm really glad to see that this has now been implemented in NSW. It is part of managing and tracking the whole life cycle of the greyhound. Regarding microchipping, this is being introduced in 2011. Initially the dogs will still be earbranded in one ear plus microchip, then slowly move over to just microchip. Currently every greyhound in Australia that is bred for racing is identified through their ear tatoos. And with regards to breeding, I don't know what is happening in other States, but here in Victoria the number of whelpings has been decreasing since 2004 and has had a dramatic decrease in the last 18 months due to implementation of strategies established by the Responsible Breeding Task Force, a group set up by the industry to investigate breeding, rearing and training practices. There are restrictions on what bitches can be bred with and how many litters they can have, and to register a stud dog now costs $1000. The whelping notices are listed in the industry publication, The Adviser, each month and I've been watching as they have gone down :-).

Yes, we do! We love having volunteers come to our kennels. We generally have around 60 greyhounds here. Volunteers usually take dogs out for a walk, groom them and wash them. We are open every day except for Sunday

I agree with what Trish and Paula have both said - not all greyhounds are suitable for adoption. When getting your greyhound, do your research first. Deal with groups or organisations that properly assess greyhounds as to their suitability as pets. Some greyhounds will kill a small dog without thinking twice. These dogs are not suitable for adoption. I'd strongly recommend not getting a dog straight off the track from a greyhound trainer. Every week we receive phone calls from people who have "rescued" a greyhound and it has gone wrong. Most greyhounds are calm and gentle. Around 15% of the greyhounds we assess though exhibit dangerously high predatory behaviour and will not be suitable for adoption. I personally would always prefer to have a greyhound that had raced rather than an unraced puppy, but I'm sure some will disagree with me on that .

Rule No. 1 - to add to what has already been posted, it is ILLEGAL to let greyhounds off lead in any public spaces, including off leash parks, in Victoria. Rule No. 2 - ALL Greyhounds in Victoria, except for those adopted through the Greyhound Adoption Program, are required to be muzzled in public. There are certain laws that govern greyhound ownership that still apply when they become pet dogs. You can see copies of the legislation on our website http://gap.grv.org.au

Does anyone know if dogs can get Ross River Virus? I've been searching the net for info but can't find anything much. Any help would be greatly appreciated :-). Kind regards Larissa

I lost a beloved greyhound to mast-cell tumours a few years ago. Max had a small lump under his rib cage that was there for years. I didn't worry about it as it never grew. Then one day he came up in a large swelling on one of his thighs. Thought it was a bite of some kind, but turned out to be a mast-cell tumour, as was the lump under his chest. We removed the lump on his hind leg but ampution was not an option given that the cancer had already spread. We did chemo, but we lost Max about 12 months later. He was not an old dog. Fingers crossed for your Jack.

We had a young vet come to look at a greyhound to adopt about twelve months ago. She was looking over the dog (male) and he got a little excited, and the lumps appeared. I heard her say "Oh dear!" and immediately asked what was wrong. She replied "This dog has a major problem and I think you need to have him looked at, he has a large growth in his sheath". The sad part is she was serious. Made me really worry about the vets we are producing in this State :-(.

Ian Bidstrupp is a fantastic chiro and he does the gold bead implants. The only difficulty you may face is that he is located in Wangaratta and is very hard to get into... I'm not actually sure if he is taking on any new clients. Don't have his number to hand but if you Google him you'll find it. Kind regards Larissa

I lost my beloved greyhound Max to mast cell cancer about two years ago now. His tumour was on his hind leg - amputation was not an option as it had already spread to his chest. We opted for chemo which did knock him around a bit, but I doubt that we would have got the extra twelve months with him without it. RIP Max.

ps - there is also a paste you can buy called Tranquil Paste (for horses and dogs) that we used with a dog who became stressed while in the car. It helped her a lot :-)

I've had good success with Valerian for thunder-phobic or generally stressed dogs. It's important to get it into the dog before they become stressed though, as it seems less effective if the dog is already worked up.

Panda (and others looking for a greyhound vet) - best thing to do would be to call whatever greyhound track is in your area. If you are not sure, maybe jump on the NSW GRA website (not sure the address, but should be easy enough to find) and they should have track locations there. Greyhound vets are generally great to go to also for any sporting injuries :-). Hope that helps!

Panda - I only pay $20 for mine :-). She is a normal animal vet, but does do a lot of greyhounds. Racing dog people won't pay the sort of prices that pet people pay for items, so might be worth looking for a greyhound vet :-).

I just had our puppies done with C4 at our vet in Bendigo (Victoria), and paid $20 per vaccination :-). Had ten to do so was very pleased with the price (there was no discount though, this is her standard price).