Tender loving care

One of the really great things about Greyhounds is that they're a purebred dog that comes with very little in the way of genetic issues due to in-breeding or over breeding. They're bred as athletes and because of this, they suffer from few of the health issues that plague other similar sized breeds.

This said, eve the most healthiest of greyhound needs maintenance and proactive going health care.  Here's what we do with our two hounds. So far it has worked a treat

One of the least considered yet most important health concerns of any dog is dental health. Many older dogs end up loosing a huge amount of teeth and this can affect what they can and can't eat.

Thankfully dental issues can be avoided by regular tooth brushing. This is such a simple and dead easy way to ensure your dog has quality of life in their later years. It'll also help counter stinky dog breath.

The tools needed are incredibly simple - just buy a soft bristled kids toothbrush fro the supermarket and dog toothpaste from your vet.

DO NOT under any circumstances ever use human toothpaste on a dog - While harmless for humans, it'll burn a dogs digestive tract and stomach. Doggy toothpaste also comes in a variety of flavours, including chicken and fish, our two hounds love it.

We brush their teeth every night and give them dog safe treat bones or rawhide chews on a daily basis. This not only means they don't have really strong dog breath, but will also have healthy teeth even in their senior years.

Getting your hound used to teeth brushing and building it into their routine can also make for far less canine stress too.

Another biggie with greyhounds is joint care. As ex racers, greyhounds like any other athlete can suffer from joint pain and arthritis in their later years.

One method we've adopted to keep the joints of both hounds supple and pain free also has the added benefit of making their fur incredibly soft and shiny.

We've been using New Zealand Hoki fish Oil from Newflands (www.newflands.com). It isn't cheap but its benefit vastly outweigh any costs. Since using it, both hounds have developed incredibly soft and shiny coats, clear eyes and there isnt a hint of any joint issues either.

We add a couple of squirts onto their morning dog food.

Staying on the topic of their coats, regular nightly brushing also does amazing things. Not only does it help keep their fur fantastic, but it is also a great opportunity for us to check for cuts, scratches and anything else untoward. They also love being brushed too.

We use two brushes, a furminator which can remove loose undercoat fur and a standard grooming brush which also massages their skin. Done nightly, the results are shiny and fantastic looking fur.  

Straying on the high tech front, we have also fitted both Lottie and Bomber with Heyrex fitness monitors. Just like those smart watch pedometers, Heyrex tracks movement but is smart enough to know when they're walking, running, sleeping and even scratching.

Heyrex sensors fitted onto our dogs collars with a few simple modifications (unlike most dog collars, those used with greyhounds tend to be wider and don't have a catch so they wont slip over your hounds narrow head).

These sensors store up to 7 days data on your hounds movements and when your dog come within range of a wireless Heyrex receiver, the data is transmitted to heyrex where is it is analysed and accessible to you via an easy to grasp collections of charts online.

So there you have it - a beginners guide to a healthy shiny and happy hound.