I recently got an ex-racing greyhound who is 5 years old. This morning I took her to the vet as she looks a bit motheaten on her rump, the vet looked at her and said that her huge muscles are a result of being given steriods in her racing day :( , I have to say she does look like arnie schwarzenegger but she is our first greyhound and I assumed they all looked like that when they have just come off the track just as a result of all the running they do. Is this true? do they really give them steriods? I would have thought big, bulky muscles would have slowed them down :( Also does anyone know if this will affect her long term health? and will her body shape change as the steriods wear off?

Thanks for any help
Clair

Its amazing what some low life people will do for there dogs to win!!!!!aarrrggggggg...moth eaten on rump....have its thyroid checked, as this can be a sign of over active thyroid. Enjoy your greyhound..they are wonderful dogs!!!!!!

Charley

EVERY Greyhound is tested for illegal substances by a vet at the track before it races. A fit Greyhound will look muscular, they are supposed to. In the main you will see them with hair loss on their back legs, a friend of mine had extensive tests done on her x-racer and NOTHING could be found wrong with him, its just some Greyhounds.
Dawn.

Hi Dawn, thats exactly what the vet said about the hair loss on the rump, that some greyhounds/whippets seem to get this problem and that no medical explanation can be found. I've got some stronghold to put on her just in case.
Thanks
Clair

Hi I race whippet's, they are much like the greyhound's bit a lot smaller. All racing dog's have muscle and It may look big but that's normal. Your greyhound would not have been given steroids as they get tested fairly often unless it ran at a track not NGRC (flap track). Any sight hound make good pet's but just watch as they will chase anything that moves. Hope this help's Susan

Hi one of the reasons the back end gets bear can be because of not enough bedding or lying in urine, in other words the bedding not being checked or changed regularly. The other reason is a condition called in greyhound circles 'riff'. The skin will feel hot and it tends to run along the underline as well. In kennels the dog would be covered in a smelly oily lotion which kills the mite that riff is and cools the skin. At home I used the shampoo from the vets that you use for mange etc. Benzyle Benzoate ( not quite sure of spelling) from any chemist is also very good. The muscles will tone down with time as will the skin problem although it may take a year or so. I would suggest that at 7 years you get a full blood screen done on. It appears to be at that age that any health problems start to show up especially if the dog has been messed about with drugs. Good luck, Im sure she will repay you for taking her in. Jan

Thanks everyone for the advice, the vet gave me some stronghold to put on just as a precaution. I will get some Benzyle from the chemists. Her muscles are already starting to tone down and she is not as stiff as she was. Gypsy has already repaid us for taking her in :D :D she is such a sweetie. It's lovely to see her personality start coming through, she's definately got a myschievous sparkle in her eyes now :) . I will definately get blood tested in a couple of years. Her teeth need a bit of work done so I shall ask the vet to give her an MOT at the same time.
Thanks again

Clair

what absolute rot :( i suggest your vet is either extremely ignorant or a trouble maker.....either way, get a new one! A fit running dog has huge hard muscles on it & racers are tested for illegal substances & any vet who talks such utter rubbish should jolly well know better. :(

Thanks for the advice sam :) Like I said in my original post she is our first greyhound, and I know absolutely nothing what goes on in the world of racing, which is why I asked the question in the first place because it didn't seem quite right, and I wondered what other people thought of this revelation - especially as I have only just changed to this vet :rolleyes:

Hello storm,i too keep a greyhound amongst others,your vet will probably suggest your dogs teeth be scaled £££££££s try a hard cooked knuckle bone from your pet store, give one a week and you will see a huge difference even after the first one given to his rear back teeth. and weekly there after and your dogs teeth will soon look like a puppy's again. she will enjoy the stimulation prob never had a bone before in kennels. Also with running dogs sighthounds keep their nails clipped to a minimum just below the quick esp if she has the odd run and try to only let her run on soft ground following regular down pour (winter is best) and will save her from knocked up joints and toes etc , hope this helps. ps get yourself another they dont take up anymore room or time curled up on the sofa lol...and good on ya for giving her a caring home remember also as a breed sighthounds are the most physically perfect of all dogs and how all dogs should be.

lol I have definately been converted to sighthounds, are yours rescued? indeed they are the most perfect and do not take up much room. I wish I could get another but I have run out of arms :D :D as I already have a westie, cocker and pharaoh :D She does love having a rawhide chew, but some of her teeth do look rather dodgy.

Thanks for the advice about her feet, her pads are very soft,

At flapping tracks dogs are not pee tested.
Whilst working for a trainer as a kennel hand at an NGRC track I have seen the lengths some trainers and kennel hands go to hide a dog that has been drugged including two kennel hands from the same kennel getting out of sight of the stewards and half a bowl of pee from an okay dog being tipped into the bowl of the dodgy dog to be produced for drug testing.
I have seen a dog so drugged up that as it ran around the first two bends it stopped at the 'pick up' thinking that the race had finished and was so totally disorientated its eyes were rolling in its head.
We had dogs arrive from Ireland that had be totally detoxed before they could run again. They were total wrecks, they went through withdrawal and had to be built up again to full health. Some of these dogs cost up to £20,000.
Greyhounds with substance abuse die young, their insides are rotten.
I also saw many happy healthy dogs with caring owners and trainers. It really depends on this vets own experience why he has what appears to be jaundiced view of racing greyhounds. Jan