By Dennis McKeon
Copyright 2022. The original post can be found here.
Uh-oh.
Apparently the retired, canine digestive apparatus (RCDA), more commonly known as the Greyhound, is malfunctioning. Its noxious, sulfuric emissions are causing eyes to water, stomachs to turn, noses to quiver in revulsion, and smart phones to become half-wits.
We often hear and read of these type complaints, as retired racing greyhounds adjust to pet life. We can sense the fear, loathing and panic of the novice adopter, as the clouds of lethal vapors seemingly develop lives of their own, assaulting the olfactory sensibilities of all and sundry who find themselves within the domicile at the time of the eruption(s), enveloping them in a miasma of fetid murk and mire, from which there is no escape or relief.
For those who don't mind wearing a full-face, military issue gas mask while relaxing or working in the home, this is not a problem. For everyone else, the near constant emissions of rank, airborne effluent into a once fairly fragrance-neutral atmosphere, can be a reason to question their decision to adopt one of these foul-air-blasting, canine bazookas.
For those of us who have lived and worked among colonies of greyhounds as professionals, the myriad reports on social media, concerning greyhounds who suffer from various food allergies, who are gluten-sensitive, who have developed irritable bowel syndrome, who have projectile diarrhea, who are constipated---all of whom are apparently capable of producing enough gas to open their own Shell stations---are somewhat vexing.
While it is perfectly natural for developing and performing greyhounds to pass normal amounts of gas in the kennel facility, they have not yet been cited by the powers that be, as noteworthy contributors to climate change, or even to air pollution.
Whereas greyhound trainers spend a good deal of time observing the size, shape, color, consistency and frequency of their greyhound athletes' digested output, it is always quite apparent to any competent handler, when one of their greyhounds is afflicted with any condition that causes intestinal catharses of serious concern or of any duration.
On a purely personal level, encompassing thousands, I cannot recall ever handling a greyhound who required a special diet, or who suffered from any chronic gastro-intestinal complication while being fed the basic, developing and performing greyhound dietary staples of meat, meal and water.
Moreover, adding a rudimentary cooked stew of vegetables, lamb, whitefish, barley and bones to the feed (after removing the bones), always seemed to enhance their enjoyment as well as their contentment afterwards, in digestive mode.
Certainly, any diet or dietary ingredient that might cause an actively performing greyhound serious, internal, core distress, would be a performance inhibitor and game changer. In a sport where nano-seconds are what separate the great from the good, the good from the ordinary, and the ordinary from the loveseat decoration, this would be all too obvious to a trainer who was paying attention to the greyhound's output, internal-to-external, and box-to-wire.
So that begs the questions, "Why, if that is the case, is it so? And why does our home smell like a slaughterhouse?"
The greyhounds that most of us know and cherish, have been bred for several centuries, and for countless generations, to compete in formal, documented, athletic competitions. From the coursing field to the racetrack, by empirical and data-based evaluation of competitions among the most consistently successful and dominant performers, we have been able to accurately identify which greyhounds from each of these many generations, were among the most desirable and worthy individuals to produce the next generation.
Additionally, we have a pedigree record to show us which of our selections in this highly selective process, throughout history, produced the best results, and which failed to meet expectations. In any event, where we breed "the best to the best, and hope for the best", we are working with greyhounds who proved to be outstanding competitors, both as a matter of temperament and athleticism. Individuals who, obviously, must have been very well-suited to and thrived within the formal, competitive construct, and with all that it entailed, affecting their soundness of body and disposition, their nutrition, physical comfort and well being. Naturally, that would go double for their food.
So, what we have developed over the centuries, via this meticulously selective process, is a breed that is physically very well-adapted to the long time, basic staples of the greyhound diet. They being, meat---about 65-75%---meal (in olden times, rough toast) and water.
Then, upon retiring and beginning the adoption process, the greyhound is, for economic reasons, switched from that racing diet, made up of about 65-75% meat, to a what is most often an all kibble (meal) diet.
Needless to say, this can have a rather dramatic effect upon the greyhound's capacity to digest, process and eliminate. Not to mention their willingness to even ingest it.
Be that as it may, by the time the adopter brings the greyhound home, the dog has likely come to some sort of terms with his/her new diet, grudgingly or not so grudgingly. Albeit, perhaps a few pounds lighter for their efforts. The adopter is usually told by the agency which brand of kibble the greyhound has been eating, and they generally try to obtain that product.
Now, the greyhound must confront the stress of habituating to their new universe in the home world outside of the kennel colony. This, minus every canine and human friend and familiar they have ever known and with whom they have bonded. They may have even been given a new name by their well-meaning adopters, whose mannerisms, voices and temperament are entirely unknown and as strange to them as that new name.
The one thing they might expect to provide them with a comforting sense of deja vu, or just to evoke the secure and familiar, might be the highly palatable food they were given as performers. Instead, in most cases, they are served the same kibble they unenthusiastically choked down to ward off starvation while awaiting adoption. Or perhaps they are offered an even more exotic, designer-kibble concoction, developed by who-knows-who, more for smarty-pants, snob appeal than for optimal, canine digestibility or nutrition. In either case, these foodstuffs are usually quite a bit more fibrous than what the professional competition greyhound has been fed for most of his/her life.
Dietary fiber is not a high priority for canines, and perhaps even less so for greyhounds. What fiber in the diet does, is to draw fluid to the large intestine, and in so doing, adds bulk to the later-to-be-eliminated waste material.
Canines have remarkably efficient and versatile digestive systems. They ordinarily do quite well with a minimal amount of dietary fiber. This is especially the case with greyhounds, who are naturally lean, and who do not tend to store body fat as easily as other breeds, and who can dehydrate relatively rapidly, moreso when under stress. Hydration is critically important to the performing greyhound, and being adequately hydrated is a pre-requisite to good greyhound health, weight and body condition in all stages of their lives.
So, summing it all up, the greyhound's system may be undergoing a bit of shock, as he/she adjusts to a new dietary regime, and a new life. Since they are heritably, quite well-adapted to the traditional greyhound staples of meat, meal and water, that adjustment can take some time, and is not entirely without unpleasantness.
For those who are able to afford or who have access a meat wholesaler, or who are inclined to feed a raw or BARF (bones and raw food) diet, which are, roughly, improvisations upon normal greyhound fare, there are reams of how-to information available online. Otherwise, it is probably a good idea to use the brands of kibble manufactured by companies whose products are the result of adequate research, development and field testing, and which are most commonly used by greyhound trainers and breeders, for they are likely to cause the least upset.
Probiotics like plain kefir, yogurt, or even whole buttermilk, can be of some comfort to a greyhound who is experiencing a digestive upset.
If none of the above is applicable in your case, there is always the Army Surplus, tactical gas mask option.