Daggles

Run free Asher to the bridge and play in the daisy filled fields whilst you wait for your beloved human family. I am so sorry Bella, he was taken way too young but he knows you did the best that you possibly could. I dont think you will ever get over this tragic event but I hope that time dulls your raw pain and dries your tears. Asher was one very spunky boy!

Ah funny you should say that 4 paws because Mav is on Nutro Lamb & rice and I have bought $400 worth of it hoping that by the time I run out AQIS and Nutro will have sorted the problem. He gets fish oil, evening primrose oil and other supplement. i just want to know the best way to control it outside the body....

Out of "A Handbook of Natural therapies for Dogs" by Dr Barbara Fougere. Flax seed oil Flax seed or linseed oil is very high in omega 3 fatty acids (58 %) and is also high in lignans that have anti-cancer properties as well as antibacterial, antiviral and antifubgal properties. It may be benificial in a number of disoders including heart disease, stroke, arthritis, eczema, behavioural disorders, allergies, immune problems, kidney disease, obesity and sone forms of cancer. Dose. Flaxseed oil should not be the sole fatty acis supplement but used in rotation with other oils. Small dog 1/2 to 1 teaspoon daily Medium dog 1 to 2 teaspoons daily Large dog 1 dessertspoon to 1 tablespoon daily Doses can be increased under supervision of a vet. Hope this is helpful to you.

Hi! I realised that Maverick had a yeast overload on Monday, his ears were smelly, he was scratching at his muzzle, under his elbows was smelly and hairless from scratching and he was licking his front pasterns. On Tuesday I washed the affected areas with Malaseb, left it on 10 mins and rinsed it off with water & ACV. Today (Saturday) I noticed that his pasterns have small sores on them from licking and between his toes was very red and sore looking. so I soaked his feet in a bucket with a little Malaseb and also shampooed a little malaseb into this pasterns and paws, he soaked for 10 minutes and the he soaked for 5 minutes in another bucket of 1/2 ACV & water. Ok my question: Do I need to do this feet soak stuff everyday? Should I just wipe them with ACV & water Daily? Has anyone experience this before? Have any tips?

I feed Nutro Lamb and Rice (well I did) but switched to Advance Turkey and rice, (he has sensitive skin and stomach.) Maverick is going well on Advance but doesnt really like it so I mix in a tin of sardines or a tin of Tuna in brine just to make it yummy. We also tried ProPlan when he was younger but it wouldnt put any wieght on him.

Sorry for your loss, Jordan looked like a gorgeous boy

Very sorry to hear that your boy has Mast cell cancer. Do you mean the cancer releases histamine? Why did you start again? was his immunity low?

Thanks Tess. How do you pronouce it?

I have been reading another thread where a Dol member asked her vet for a titre test? I have never heard of this. My GSD also has allergy to grass and constant hot Itchy skin and has done since he was 15 weeks old, he is now almost 12 months. reading betwenn the lines, am I right in thinking that vaccination might caused this or aggravated hi skin? He is also on monthly heartworm and advantage spot on for fleas ect.

Ok so the beef liver treats need to stop. Spotted Devil, what training treats do you use? Cooked chicken is impractical because it needs to be planned and is kind of messy. I use treats when we are caravaning and we might go for a walk, when we see another dog he tends to want to lunge to at it (to play) so I sit him and then reward him with the treat as the other dog walks by, kind of diverts his attention. As well as using them for most daily training, Liver treat seemed high value to him. Can you get Lamb Liver anywhere? about the SWF I just thought if she had mange or mites Maverick could have caught them off her.

No he doesn't get a smell about him after washing but he use to. Funny you mention the Nutro Lamb and Rice because he is 1/2 through his second large bag and I too think it has contributed to his itching subsiding. Been to 3 vets and tried many treatments natural and not so.

My GSD has had itchy skin since he was 15 weeks old, he is now almost 11 months old. His itching has been under control for about 6 weeks now with the exclusion of Beef and oatmeal from his diet and with the addition of evening primrose and fish oil to his food. Except that over the past week I have been training him almost daily with dried Beef liver, I didnt give it a thought until yesterday when I notice he is scratching heavily again. Over the past week I would say he has had 1/2 a packet of the liver, do you think that is enough to cause the itchiness? He has also just spent Easter in the home of a SWF who is also very itchy, has been for sometime but never been to the vet about it. He was also at the same home (inlaws) when he was a pup and his itching because cronic at 15 weeks. So now I am wondering if the SWF has mange or mites and Maverick picked them up from there when he was a pup. I gave him revolution a few months back just incase and I gave him another lot yesterday. He never plays with the SWF, it mostly lives inside and is antisocial but could the mites be in its backyard?

Yes Puggles meant exocrene pancreatic insufficiency, I should have put EPI, will do a search. thanks

Just wondering how common it is?

I am so sorry Heather. RIP Zed you gorgeous dog

Thanks Daggles for the response - yes (brain dead this morning) I do blow dry him and he is also taking the EPO in his food. It has only been a week, so I do not expect to see miracles but I was curious about his coat. Just wondering if you have ruled out mites? just a thought because they leave the coat with a greasy feel. I havent tried the shampoo yet so I am not sure if it would leave the coat greasy, I remember Westiemum saying how soft her dogs coat was. The shampoo seems like it is very good, I will be ordering some soon and will let you all know how I go too. aloveen too, it bought my dog up in welts!

I have a GSD with itchy skin, he is on Evening Primrose oil capsules. Just reading between the lines, do you have to blow dry the dog after washing with EPO shampoo?

Rest in Peace Lucky He was a gorgeous boy Roxikda! so sorry for your loss.

oooh, my thoughts are with you Springergirl RIP Max

Really I think any club who only presrcibes one approach over the other is less than ideal. However, you seemed to not want to use a check chain from the outset. Have you previously used a check chain with little success on your 6mo GSD before? i guess I am saying that what one *wants* for their dog, might not necesarily be the best thing for it I used one on my rotti with very little success IMO Check Chains are very '70's and I want to train in a more modern, positive way, I am not saying the infin8 is the long term answer but at least it given me instant control in situations that could be dangerous to Mav & maybe me if he was to pull away from me.

If you don't want to use a check chain the don't and don't let anyone, make you feel intimidated enough to use one.. years ago i showed up at an obedience club with a gentle leader on my 6 month old pup, the trainer came up and told me i would need a check chain, i asked why does she think that... the reply was simply that the dog was too young to weara halti/gentle leader... lucilky for me i had enough experience in the use of the gentle leader and the check chain to explain that i would be continuing using the gentle leader and not a check chain... i also had my dog in a crate and played crate games, they also couldn't understand this.. and when i pulled out a tug toy for a play session they were quite confused as well... i think it comes back to some trainers know what they know and are comfortable with it and if approached with something new they may feel out of their comfort zone and would prefer all class members use what they know how to deal with... Thank you for Sharing your experience with me BC4me, I have decided to leave that club & train with a local club who do not use check chains. I think you are right, I am thinking that the 50 year odd old instructor was not familiar with the infin8 and may not have even recongise it and thought it was a gentle leader or halti, who knows but moving on is the best thing for my dog & I because I have lost respect for that trainer.

The place that I did a 5 week basic puppy course sold me the martingale on day one.

Thanks but I have been using a martingale on him since he was 16 weeks old, it is effective for teacxhing social walking & heeling but does nothing for the sudden lunging that 9 times out of 10 happens from a sit or a drop.

Hi PF :rolleyes: Would you mind explaining this to me? The Infin8's work from behind the dog's neck via the martingale style section of collar. You get less physical directional movement in this way, so I would have thought less leverage/strain/injury risk than the usual head collars? Howdy Erny!! The one I looked at had had a tape starting at the nose part and going down behind the collar. The action, although working behind the collar draws the nose section towards the neck, forcing the head/neck to flex where they meet. It's a similar leverage to draw rains on a horse and the pressure can be considerable. In eliminate the potential for sideways pressure, they've now caused another kind. If you try to touch your chin to chest between your clavicles you'll get a similar feeling. Poodlefan, Drawreins on a horse I understand, I have never used them because I think it is a shortcut to training, a quick fix. I guess if I look at it that way the infin8 is also just a quick fix, but I keep stressing that I dont want to use correction chain! Maybe I need to find a more positive place to train.

He stopped lunging totally with the infin8, his attention was back on to me but I have only used if for 1/2 an hour really. I am very open to understanding why you/anyone thing they are bad/wrong for training. I am happy not to use it but I dont want to use a chain.