tollerjosie

Hi all! As you can see from the topic, I am currently waiting for a new addition to our family, a female groenendaelpuppy :D Right now she's about three weeks old, and I am struggling to find a suitable name... It is so difficult! So, I'd like your help... I'd like a name that is easy to pronounce, and if at all possible, a name of a jazz-, soul- or bluesartist (just because that's kind of "my" genre of music), that will fit with Josie (the dog I currently have). I'm open for all suggestions, and I'm hoping you guys can give me some new suggestions. I have a thread like this on a Norwegian forum, but I figured I'd try here, too, that can't hurt -Miriam

I got the results from Josies bloodwork yesterday, and the vet said she'd tested positive for indoor-allergies. The vet sent the blood back to the lab for further testing, and I'll get the new results within next week.

Hmm.. That's interesting, Bub, and I'll try it if the vet's remedies doesn't work. I'm getting desperate here, as we're due to start competing in obedience trials soon, and I can't train her as much as I'd like to because of her allergies. Heel on lead while she itches will just get us thrown out of the ring.

Hello again, everyone! I took Josie to the vet's today, and now we've got some progress! You can read about it in my blog - www.englishtollerjosie.piczo.com ----> Activities, training and diary. Can't wait to get those blood results Maybe I can finally get it in writing that my dog has foodallergies/-intolerance

Hmm, this has turned into just the discussion I was hoping for! Allthough I don't mind spending time on making Josie's food, I can't help thinking that it'd be nice to have some dry food that she can take. I just heard about an allergy food from Royal Canin, called hypo-allergenic... Has anyone here tried it? Pros? Cons? Anything, really?

Thank you all so much for your replies! It's been very helpful to have your inputs! I start working as an obedience instructor in August, and on the course I took to become an instructor we had a weekend about nutrition. I know the basics of nutrition, but when it comes to severe allergies like Josie's, I feel I come up short. I've checked my "papers" of Josie's illnesses and trips to the vet, and I've tried beef as a meatsource and that didn't work too well... So I'm thinking she's allergic to wheat and cereals, in additon to corn and some other vegetables. Until I've visited the vet again I'm keeping her on the raw food diet (not BARF, but something similar - it's a Norwegian produced product), combined with a little bit of rice to fill her tummy up. I'm going to try adding eggs for protein, just have to figure out how much she need of the different things... Since Hill's z/d has such a low protein level, I know that's what caused her to lose wheight ;) When I put her on it, she lost 3 kilos and when I took her off it and put her on the raw food, she gained 2,5 (and counting) kilos. I don't mind spending more time preparing her food since I'm very organized in that department, and if that's what it takes for Josie to have a good life, well, that's what I'll do I'll keep you posted regularly, and when I've been to the new vet I'll give you an update

Hello! I have a fantastic little female toller born on July 23, 2006. Ever since I picked her up from the breeder I've had problems with her diet. She started out on Eukanuba Puppy which she wouldn't eat at all. I then put her on Hill's Puppy which worked fine for a while, but then she had a rash that neither I or the vets could figure out, and she started to vomit pretty often (like every other week at least) and she also had diharrea (unsure of the spelling, bare with me - I'm from Norway ;)) often. Around Christmastime last year she had a stomach infection, and was then put on Hill's i/d, that didn't work, so I put her on Royal Canin Medium Puppy after she'd recovered from the infection. That also worked fine for a while, but the rash still wouldn't go away and she was still sick all the time. I went to the vet's (again) and they told me to put her on Hill's z/d, on which she lost 3 kilos (!!! ). The poor thing Now she's on a raw food diet, and she's gained 2,5 kilos :p But she still gets diharrea pretty often (not as frequent as before, but still often compared to dogs at normal health). She's also started "gagging" but nothing comes out, like she has the flue or something, but she doesn't have that either. I've given up with the vets almost, because they just sit on their bottoms and tell me to change her diet again. She's almost 11 months old and she's already changed the diet more often than most dogs do their entire life. Finally, I found a vet who just did a light examination of Josie and she actually listened to what I had to say, and she said that Josie probably has a combination of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome/Disease), atopic dermatitis (if that even makes sense?) and food allergies... Anyone out there who has similar experiences or advice to give to an owner at her wits end? Sincerely, Miriam and Josie

Hmmm.. Difficult to say in a way, at least for me without experience from agility, but my philosophy in obedience and search is to finish what I've started. If something goes wrong in training I complete the excercise and start something different after. If something goes wrong during a trial, I would say to the judge "I want to withdraw from the trial, but I'd like to complete the excercise". Usually, that's not a problem. I do this (and so does several of my friends) because I want the dog to have succeeded the last time he/she does the excercise. I have an example of what I mean: I have friend who's an obedience instructor. She has a two year old GSD, and when they started obedience class two (the Norwegian program is different from the British/American/Australian), there's an excercise where you send you dog out to a cone and when the dog stands there, you are to give the dog a new command. So on this excercise, she gives the command and the dog runs straight for the broad jump. He did this because that was what happened the last time they trained before they started. Feel free to PM me, or post it here if you have questions about the different programs :D