Greyhounds often have bad teeth. After we got Cassius, we bumped into a woman who was interested in him. She would have taken him, but he had failed the cat test. She chose another dog, a very handsome greyhound. That hound went to have eighteen teeth pulled.
We saw Cassius, when he and other hounds had arrived a week before at the shelter. The dogs needed to heal. For whatever reason, Cassius had not raced. He looked pretty good compared to others that made the journey. Some dogs had stitches, and scars, and dull coats. He was underweight, and so were others. They were giving him more than average rations at the shelter. He is a small male. We soon found Cassius had tapeworms, and he had swallowed odd items in the house. After 5 pills we got from the vet's office, he was cured. In a short time he gained six pounds (about 10% of his weight).
The racing kennel life is not good. The proof is the difference in the animal from the time he comes to a shelter, comes to a home, and how he is a few months later and beyond. I thought Captain was autistic for months, he was very timid, and unresponsive. Captain is as smart as he wants to be, and can figure things out to his benefit. He has become very comfortable. Since his presentation of personality has come slowly, i cannot pin the point in time that he became thus. Perhaps eight months with us. He is still not fully open. One notable development is i can't remember when he last had a nightmare. They had been frequent. It was very apparent he was exhibiting distress. Some movements hinted at it, but the sounds of discomfort were unmistakable.
Now Cassius' personality has been pretty stable. He has liked attention the first time we saw him, and he has not changed. He has learned some stuff, but he is not too bright. Most people who meet the two, warm to Cassius.
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