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A monthly newsletter to keep you informed.
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Rescue Results for August
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In August there were 10 adoptions, but no new arrivals.
This makes our year to date totals 92 arrivals, 13 hauled for other groups, and 91 adoptions.
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| Have you moved? Changed your phone number? Don't forget to let us know! We want to make sure we have the most up-to-date contact information in the event your hound decides to go exploring without you. Many times in the unfortunate event of hounds getting loose, someone finds the escapee and contacts American Greyhound. We then contact you using the information that was given at the time you applied to adopt your hound. Often times when someone encounters a loose dog, they will go to a vet clinic to have the pooch scanned for a microchip. Having up-to-date microchip information is crucial as well to ensure that you are quickly reunited with your hound. Don't forget to register your Avid microchip as soon as possible after adopting and keep that information up to date as well. Should your contact information change, please notify Christina Robbins at membership@americangreyhound.org and contact the microchip manufacturer (Avid) to update the microchip information. We want to make sure your hounds have a reliable safety net should you become separated! |
Did you catch AG's live Facebook event on August 28? Foster coordinator Nicole Graves chatted live with some of our foster families, adoptive families, and other supporters about the importance of our foster network and how the foster program works. You can view the video on our Facebook page and see the comments as well. Without foster homes, we simply cannot make a difference in the lives of greyhounds and the people that love them. We are still in need of foster homes for a group of incoming fosters on September 15. Please contact Nicole at foster@americangreyhound.org to be part of the amazing experience of saving a hound and seeing them through to their forever family! You will make memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.
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CAREFUL CONSUMPTION
published with permission of Tom Grosser |
Milk, garlic, onions and sugar-they're all household staples commonly found in the kitchen. What many don't realize, however, is how dangerous-and potentially deadly-they can be to our four-legged friends.
One Munster resident, however, is working to make sure pet owners in Northwest Indiana know just how perilous these common foods and plants can be to cats and dogs.
After losing their beloved Westie, Milou, Tom and Elizabeth Grosser were devastated. Tom knew he wanted to memorialize Milou, who they considered much more than a pet. To them, she was family, and he wanted to do something meaningful that would help strengthen the bond between other pet owners and their four-legged loved ones.
Over the years, while visiting Milou's veterinarian, the Grossers enjoyed talking to others in the waiting room and found that many were unaware of not only the most common poisonous plants and foods, but the hundreds found right in their own homes.
"They loved them and would do anything for them, but were just blatantly ignorant of the things [their pets] can eat or ingest that would kill them or severely harm them," Tom Grosser says.
After Milou died, Tom attended a volunteer event and began working with the Independent Cat Society, a nonprofit no-kill cat shelter in Westville. It was through conversations with the group that he decided to further investigate plants and foods that are harmful to pets-and was astonished at the results.
Although many are aware of common harmful plants and foods like poinsettias, chocolate and grapes, there are in fact more than 700 toxic plants and dozens of foods and beverages.
"Mistletoe threw me, as did stems from sweet potatoes or any potato, or stems from tomato plants," Grosser says. "Tulips are very common household items, and the Easter cactus surprised me only because it's a cactus."
Other foods on the list: caffeine, chives, garlic, liver, mushrooms, nuts, onions, raw eggs and fish, rhubarb, salty foods and the artificial sweetener Xylitol, among others.
Despite the popularity in giving them to dogs, meat bones are a no-no because they may splinter and lodge within the intestine. If raw, bones may contain salmonella or E. coli, Grosser says. Even ham and bacon can cause pancreatitis, he says.
While cats are known for enjoying a bowl of milk, dairy products can cause diarrhea. "About 30 percent of cats are not lactose intolerant, but the majority are," Grosser says. Plants like daffodils, foxglove, hyacinth, lilies, oleander and chrysanthemums can be dangerous as well, he says.
According to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, more than 100,000 pet poisonings are reported each year.
Grosser has been working with Dr. Kerri Ratsalis, a veterinarian at Ridge Animal Clinic in Lansing, to develop a comprehensive list of poisonous plants and foods so pets belonging to residents in the Region don't become a part of that statistic.
Grosser's goal is to distribute the list to veterinarian offices, animal shelters and rescue organizations throughout Northwest Indiana, which would then pass the lists on to patients and adopters.
"If someone reads this and because of it, one cat or one dog is saved, I will die a very happy person," Grosser says.
If a pet ingests a potentially harmful substance, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center operates a 24-hour, 365-day poison-related emergency number at 888.426.4435.
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Foods SAFE to feed dogs and cats:
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Apples (without the core)
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Asparagus |
Bananas |
Bell Peppers (green, red and yellow) |
| Blueberries |
Broccoli Florets |
Cantaloupe |
Carrots |
| Cauliflower |
Celery |
Cucumbers |
Green beans |
| Mangoes |
Peaches |
Potatoes, including sweet |
Pears |
| Pumpkin |
Spinach |
Squash |
Strawberries |
| Watermelon |
Zucchini |
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I wanted to take a minute to share some dog food nutritional information that could make your dog feel so much better and overall health better. Sometimes people don't take the time to read the dog food ingredients or even if they do, sometimes they don't know what to look for. Dog food nutrition has been explained by the vets at McAfee Animal Hospital and I wanted to share that information with AG's membership.
Some companies have a great PR team that create awesome commercials that their dog food make the food look awesome too. But that is not always the case. What you first want to look for when looking at the dog food label is corn and any corn products. People do not digest corn, and dogs are no different. Corn is used as a filler and possesses absolutely no nutritional value at all. Because the food has so much filler, you must feed more food to your dog, meaning more waste to clean up. Many times that inferior nutritional value food also means messy stools to clean up in addition to more of them.
I was recently at a Petco event when an adopter proudly proclaimed that they feed Beneful and I cringed slightly as I knew that was one of the food with the awesome PR team for a very poor quality of food. In preparation for this article, I went to
DogFoodAdvisor.com because they are independent and give straight up reviews on the best and the worst foods to feed your dogs. Here are some of the more popular foods from the ONE and TWO star dog foods. Some of them are very surprising and if your food is on this list, please go to this website to see why they received such a failing grade. It is all spelled out in layman's terms so you know what to better feed your pet. It goes back to the old saying, "Garbage in, Garbage out" and I mean that literally.
So try to find a food that contains no corn products at all, and high source of protein. This same website has lists for 3, 4 and 5 star foods too but the lists were too long. In fact I cut many of the one and two star foods out to save space and only kept the more popular foods. So I encourage each of you to take a look at what you are feeding your dogs to assure it is the best food for your family member.
ONE and TWO Star Foods
| Alpo Dog Food |
Beneful Dog Food |
Full Balance Dog Food |
| Good Sense Dog Food |
Gravy Train Dog Food |
Halo Vegan Garden Medley |
| Hank's Dog Food |
Heartland Reserve Dog Food |
Hill's Ideal Balance Crafted |
| Hill's Science Diet Adult |
Hill's Science Diet Mature |
Iams So Good Dog Food |
| Iams Veterinary Formulas Intestinal Plus |
Kal Kan Dog Food |
Kibbles 'n Bits |
| Kroger Value Chunk Food |
Member's Mark Dog Food |
Natural Balance Original Ultra Reduced Calorie |
| Natural Balance Vegetarian |
Nunn Better Dog Food |
Ol' Roy Dog Food |
| Ol' Roy Skin and Coat |
Ole Jack's Dog Food |
Pedigree Dog Food
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| Purina Be Happy Dog Food |
Purina Dog Chow |
Purina Dog Chow Natural |
| Purina One SmartBlend |
Purina One SmartBlend True Instinct |
Purina Pro Plan Focus |
| Purina Pro Plan Savor |
Purina Pro Plan Sport |
Purina Puppy Chow |
| Rachael Ray Nutrish |
Retriever Dog Food |
Royal Canin Breed Health Nutrition Adult |
| Royal Canin Breed Health Nutrition Puppy |
Royal Canin Giant |
Royal Canin Lifestyle Health Nutrition Urban Life |
| Royal Canin Maxi |
Royal Canin Medium |
Royal Canin Mini |
| Shep Dog Food |
Simply Right Dog Food |
SportMix Dog Food |
| Sportmix Premium |
Trader Joe's Kibble Dog Food |
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-Barb Coggins |
| First Aid Kit For Your Grey |
When I adopted my first greyhound in 2007 I never had a first aid kit for my dogs. After attending some greyhound health seminars I realized the time to put together a kit was before you need it. It has been a life saver for me and my boys.
My greyhound Luka is lovingly called the Boo-boo king. He does not have a thick coat of fur and he has a very bare butt which offers no protection from scraps and cuts. It never fails that after a few months of no cuts he will suddenly have a cut that needs attention. He is also known for taking a small wound and making it much worse by constantly licking. I have learned that a muzzle with a poop guard is my friend. I have become quite the expert on bandaging and caring for wounds.
I have noticed that putting vet wrap on Luka's bare skin irritates it so I put the pad on the wound, wrap the area in gauze and then put vet wrap over the gauze. Be sure to wrap above and below the wound. Make sure the vet wrap is not too tight so it cuts off circulation. The vet wrap does seem to get tighter the longer it is on.
I bought a plastic tool kit to hold my supplies. I take it with to my meet and greets and whenever we travel.
Here is what I carry in my kit. You may think of other things to add but this is a good list of supplies you might want to have on hand in case of an emergency.
Wound Wash- a saline solution to clean out a wound
Hand sanitizer
Gas-X
Benadryl
Pepto Bismol- (break tablets into small pieces)
Pepcid
Hydrogen peroxide (to induce vomiting)
Poison Control phone number: 855-764- 7661 (cost is $49 per incident)
Vetericyn - this is a great item for wounds. Spray on non-stick pad and wound
Non stick pads
Gauze
Vet wrap
Scissors
Cotton buds/cotton balls
Manuka Honey ( I buy my from Resq Organics). Manuka honey is great for wounds and rashes. It will not hurt your hound if they lick it.
Paw Butter
Muzzle with poop guard
Jan Brinegar
Oak Lawn, IL
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| What Do We Mean by Greyhound? |
Every year for the past dozen or so, American Greyhound has held an annual picnic. This event allows us to socialize with like-minded folks, compare greyhounds stories, and most importantly it allows our hounds an opportunity to socialize with more than 100 other long nosed canines.
And usually somewhere in the invitation it is mentioned that the only dogs allowed are
greyhounds. Of course, the reason for this can be summed up in one word...SAFETY!!! All of the dogs entering the run must wear a basket muzzle to prevent any sort of scuffle turning into bloodshed.
However, if we were to allow all dogs to run with the greyhounds, some smaller dogs may be run over and injured. Likewise, if we allowed dogs larger than greyhounds, they could run over one of the greyhounds and cause some level of bodily harm. So we stick to just greyhounds.
But, what exactly do we mean when we say "greyhound"? Well, to get that clarification we went to our source...American Greyhound, Inc.'s By-Laws. One of the purposes for American Greyhound, Inc.'s existence reads:
(a) Prevent cruelty to animals, specifically unwanted greyhounds*; with a primary focus on racing greyhounds.
That asterisk leads us to a definition of what exactly American Greyhound, Inc considers to be a
greyhound. Here is that definition:
*Greyhound shall include but is not limited to NGA (racing) greyhounds, AKC (show) greyhounds, greyhound mixes (lurchers), and other sight hounds that may find themselves in need of help.
So that pretty much makes just about any sight-hound welcome at our annual picnic. Have a
Borzoi, bring him along. How about a dachshund, better leave him at home. A saluki, Afghan, or Galgo,
welcome to the picnic. An Italian Greyhound? Better keep them at home too (Italian Greyhounds while
possibly related to it's larger cousins are just much too small to run with the big dogs. And, besides
possibly being injured, a small running Italian Greyhound could incite the prey drive of some of our not-
small-animal- safe guests as well).
Also, one last note. Maybe you didn't get your greyhound, or Lurcher, or Irish Wolfhound, or whatever dog you have that fits into the criteria above, from American Greyhound. Well. Guess what? That doesn't matter to us. You are welcome too!!!!! |
A few years ago we rolled out a new monthly giving program to help assure that well into the future, American Greyhound would have the financial resources to continue making a difference for our long nosed friends. That program, Greyhound Guardians, is already helping to make a difference with American Greyhound's plans for the future.
Currently, American Greyhound houses all of our adoptable dogs in the homes of our wonderful foster families. This gives each pup the opportunity to learn about life in a home as part of a family. This experience gives them a tremendous leg up when entering their adoptive families life, and home.
And, while there is always a transition period when entering a new home, that dog's experience in the foster home certainly makes that transition much easier. And when we were a much smaller organization and we could drive up to Kenosha Wisconsin any weeknight, this was a very workable model.
However, we have grown considerably, and we cover a much larger geographic area (that's a good thing), and the drive for dogs is quite a bit longer than to Kenosha, Wisconsin. While we'll always have fostering as part of our operation, the days of being an all-foster operation are soon coming to an end. In addition to adoptable dogs in a foster home, we are working to put together a land and building purchase that will allow us the extra latitude of maintaining our fostering program, while housing additional dogs in a kennel until a foster home opens up.
Why? Because often, when a dog is adopted, there are no dogs available to take that dog's place in the foster home for several weeks, when a trip south can be put together (unlike our trips to Kenosha, where we may pick up as few as three dogs, when setting up a trip to Florida, Alabama, or Arkansas, we must have at least a dozen dogs or more to justify the trip). With a kennel, as soon as a foster home was ready for a new dog, they could pick up a new one, one that has been bathed, possibly vetted, and treated for parasites, at our kennel.
Now, what exactly does all this talk of dogs, and fostering, and kennels have to do with
Greyhound Guardians???
Everything!!!
Our Annual "Winning Hearts, Not Races" benefit auction will go a long ways toward financing that land and kennel that will allow us to ratchet up our operation. But, there will be monthly costs associated with running a kennel as well. And, there is nothing like a steady source of income to cover these costs and allow the funds that come from our other fund-raising efforts to continue to do what they do: cover the costs of preparing these dogs for life-in a home-as a companion to a family that loves them unconditionally!
So, here's where I need your help. I need you to become a member of Greyhound Guardians. For as little as $10 a month you can make a difference, not only in the life of a dog, but in the lives of dozens, maybe hundreds of dogs, by helping us cover the expense of running a facility like I've described.
And, how do you do this? Well, it's very easy. First, you can go to the Greyhound Guardians page on our website, https://www.americangreyhound.org/support/greyhound-guardians/ You can sign up there, or you could contact me, Jeff Coggins, at (219)771-0892, and I can help you over the phone. We can use your credit card or debit card, we can debit directly out of your checking account, or we can set up a monthly mail in arrangement, whatever is the most comfortable for you. It really is quite easy, and you can make a world of difference.
If you have any question about how the program works, how the funds will be used, or any other questions about American Greyhound and how together, we can help more and more dogs, please don't hesitate to contact me at president@americangreyhound.org or call me at (219)771-0892. I'd love to speak with you about what we can do for greyhounds (my favorite subject, by the way).
Jeff Coggins
President, American Greyhound, Inc.
PS-I'm not just a proponent of Greyhound Guardians; I am a member and have been since day one of the program. |
Does the recent heat wave have you longing for cooler weather ahead? Even if it doesn't, it's time to start thinking about Freezin' for a Reason!
The 2017 Polar Plunge is a unique opportunity for brave people to support American Greyhound in its mission to find homes for unwanted greyhounds all over the Midwest. As is our tradition, our plunge will occur in the morning on January 1, 2017 at North Avenue Beach, Chicago, IL. This year American Greyhound is making it's tenth annual plunge into Lake Michigan and the event promises to bigger and better than splashes of all the polar bears of the last ten years combined.
If you're certain you have what it takes brave the few seconds of cold to make a big difference in the lives of some unwanted greyhounds, please register to build the easiest fundraising page ever. It makes it simple for others donate and easy for you to fundraise. Participants who raise at least $50 in donations from friends, family and co-workers get the privilege of receiving a commemorative Polar Bear Plunge long sleeve t-shirt and entrance into a Post-Plunge Warm Up Party, plus the chance to win additional prizes as you raise additional funds!
If you're not quite certain about you ability to freeze yet, you can also make a donation to one of our polar bears here. Any amount, no matter how large or small can go a long way to helping anunwanted greyhound find a forever home.
If you have any questions at all, please contact Sarah Gasienica, our Polar Plunge Coordinator at (219) 263-8742 or vicepres@americangreyhound.org
http://www.firstgiving.com/fasthounds/2017-american- greyhound-polar- bear-plunge- chicago |
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