trinabean

OMG the hugeness! Sorry for those using phones. This is why I rarely post photos. :laugh:

Ye gads, sorry about ginormous size!

Hmmmm, not sure if this will work.

thanks. If you have a pic on FB I can look there? Yes, I'll put one on FB. I have issues with iphoto, photobucket and DOL. They are not talking to each other!

We have the 'buddy' bed in XL. It has been great, and fine for a non-destructo dog. We've had it for about 2 years now. I will try to upload a pic for you Fivers. :D

Yes, definitely go to the vet if she has scratched until bleeding. As Labtested and Staffyluv said, secondary infections are a risk once the skin is broken. I've written a huge essay reply in Redangel's thread about her itchy dog. It might be worth a read? Let us know how you go at the vets.

Yes, ours is under vet and dermatologist supervision too. Our regular vet got us started on the basic elimination diet, and then referred us on to a canine dermatologist. Bruno is having the immunotherapy vaccines at the same time, to hopefully desensitize him to the environmental allergens.

The advantage would be a far greater quantiy of probiotics for the dose There is a brand for dogs but you can also use probiotics from the fridge section of the health food store.:) Yes, HW that is my understanding too. :) My dog had coccidia as a puppy and after treatment our vet recommended a probiotic called 'Paw.' It's made by Blackmores. Edited: for jumping the gun and hitting reply too soon

The tricky thing with allergy dogs is that the itching might have an environmental cause or it could be an adverse food reaction. Or it could be both (my dog). The only way to find out about specific environmental allergens is by doing the expensive intradermal and blood serum testing through a dermatologist. Treatment options then include allergen specific immunotherapy, along with antihistamines and other topical measures to manage the itchiness and minimize infections. The best way to work out if the itching is caused by food allergies is by undertaking a strict elimination diet for 6-8 weeks. After 6-8 weeks, you then feed your pet their original diet for 7 days, including all the food you normally fed your dog. If the itching, redness etc returns, stop feeding the original diet and resume the elimination diet. It would probably be best to see a vet dermatologist then, to oversee a sequential re-challenge. This is where you systematically add one 'challenge' food at a time (for 7-14 days) to the elimination diet, noting any allergy symptoms. While on the elimination diet, it is important that you don't feed any vitamins, kibble, rawhides, milk, treats, etc. Some worming medications contain flavourings and should be discontinued for the dietary trial. A spot on heartwormer (eg. Revolution) can be used. If due, I would use an intestinal wormer before commencing an elimination diet. Amongst the leaflets, the list given of the most common causes of adverse food reaction are proteins such as: beef, mutton, chicken, wheat, corn, soy, dairy foods and eggs. Plus chemicals such as additives, preservatives and food dyes. Some of the suggested 'novel' proteins are: Kangaroo, goat, donkey, horse or venison. Meat can be cooked or raw, but use whole meat only, no mince. Suggested 'novel' carbohydrates: sweet potato, pumpkin, kidney beans, lentils or barley. Quinoa is what we ended up with this time, as none of those carbs were new to my dog. I recommend keeping a record on a notepad to help keep track of the date, food given, plus any noticable symptoms. Try to record a number out of 10 of how itchy the dog is for each day. It can show patterns of increase/decrease that are otherwise hard to spot. A record may be useful for when you next go to the vet too. You can certainly start an elimination diet but I do recommend getting a referral to a dermatologist too. Good luck. :) Edited: Is the dog a miniature poodle Redangel? If you let me know the her weight I can look up the guidelines for the recommended feeding quantity.

Hi Redangel, yes my dog is currently on an elimination diet. I will look up some info for you amongst the handouts I have from the dermatologist. Basically you use a protein and a carb that the dog has never had before. This can be more difficult than it sounds, if you have tried the dog on a variety of foods (and commercial foods often mix a number of different proteins). The ratio is one third protein to two thirds carbohydrate. So 200g kangaroo with 400g of sweet potato. :)

Thanks Aussie3 and Ness, I'm hoping it's muscular/simple to heal and not a luxating patella. This gorgeous boy has enough health problems, we really don't need another one to deal with.

No, not today. After taking him to the vet last time I came away feeling I must have over-reacted. The vet couldn't feel anything wrong by palpating the leg, and Bruno didn't limp during the consult. I thought I might try and video the leg skip on my phone to show the vet.

Yes Steve is our usual (and favourite) vet. :) He was away last time it happened, which is why we saw a different vet. Thanks Mim, she sounds excellent. :)

That is sad! My dog is one of those that is really hard to keep enough weight on. He has allergies though, and can't tolerate a wide range of food. He is not food-motivated (no fun at dog obedience!) He is often disinterested in food, or eating much, maybe because many foods have made him feel sick? On the flipside, he is not one to bench-surf, beg, or steal food at least. Just not that into food I suppose...

The last few days I have noticed Bruno seems to have a sporadic limp in one of his rear legs. He is walking normally most of the time, except when we do our short morning walk. After about 5 minutes of walking, he misses/skips putting one of his rear legs to the ground. There is no visible injury to his paw. There is no history of hip dysplasia in his lines as far as I'm aware. He had the same symptoms about a year ago and I raced him to the vet. The vet on duty was not our usual one, and he wasn't able to help much. He suggested resting Bruno and if the injury didn't settle, bringing him back for sedation to explore what was going on. The limp seemed to resolve itself after a week or so of keeping him rested, and I thought nothing more of it. This is the same leg. We are in the southern suburbs of Perth. We normally go to Applecross vet hospital for most things, or Murdoch uni (for dermatology). Apart from avoiding exercise and resting Bruno, I'm not sure what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions on who we should see?

Yes, I second this idea. I often add a teaspoon of psyllium husk to my dog's food to firm up his stools. My vet recommended giving him Metamucil when we were treating him for colitis. Psyllium is the active ingredient in Metamucil and is available in supermarkets (health food section). I found it better to give plain psyllium as Metamucil contains unecessary artificial sweeteners/ colours. All the best with spending time with your mum.

Hi Boxbright, I think technically they still have black masks but many have 'flashy' (white) markings on their face. Flashy boxers are probably predominant in the showring over plain (full black mask,- like my dog in the photo on my post). White boxers (who can't be shown) may have little or no black mask evident. They often still have some black pigment or spots on their muzzle or face though. There is a lot more to choosing a show potential pup though, and I'll leave the finer points of that to an expert like Jed. And Jed, please correct me if I'm wrong on the mask info. :)

I think I have vastly underestimated the number of nutters who exist in society. :laugh:

Welcome to Dogzonline Asher76. Both are gorgeous breeds but I am biased towards Boxers. I think if you have owned one before and love the breed, then you are well aware of their special characteristics.:D Contrary to popular opinion, they are not all hyper nutters. Mine is happy with a 30 minute walk and does a couple of minutes of backyard 'zoomies' some afternoons. Mostly though, he is happiest with our company (hello, large snuggly lapdog!) Or the couch if we are out. :laugh: We bought Bruno as a puppy when our youngest child was 4 years old. He has been wonderful with kids and adores them. Bruno has a special affinity with my youngest child and is so gentle (carefully bringing favourite squeaky toys to him). He is more responsive to obedience instructions from my youngest child too, oddly enough. We have done some basic obedience classes over the years and the youngest child took more of an interest in copying the commands, so that may be why.... I strongly recommend regardless of which breed you choose, that you buy from a good, reputable breeder who health tests their dogs. Boxer parents should be heart murmer cleared, among other things. Be prepared to wait for a pup. A healthy pup is well worth the wait. All the best with your decision. :)

Beautiful. :) Talk about living the good life!

Good luck at the vet Teekay. The only time my dog was acting in a similar manner (in particular hanging his head low) I took him straight to the vet. He had apparently wolfed down a chicken frame without chewing it up properly. This became evident as we approached the clinic and he threw up the entire mess on the backseat. He was completely fine and perky by the time the vet saw him. The car seat, well, not so great. Has Teekay eaten any bones etc.?

Yes Bruno is ok on kangaroo but he loses weight if that is the only meat given, it's just too lean. That said, he can't digest too much fat well either. So hard to get the balance right. He's currently having goat and cooked quinoa as the basic elimination diet, plus whatever ingredient is being tested (so beef at the moment). He is on anti-histamines (hydroxyzine) twice a day to keep him at a minimal level of itchiness from his environmental allergies. Apparently it just keeps him stable, and will not mask an increased itchy reaction to a new food. Bad allergy skin flare-ups are treated with Cortavance spray too, luckily he doesn't need that at the moment. He has had several courses of Baytril (twice daily) in his life when the ulcerative colitis has been at it's worst. The longest Baytril course was 6-8 weeks. It does help and settle things down fairly quickly (expensive though). Vets' have not biopsied his colon to confirm it but they suspect it is ulcerative histeocytic colitis or 'Boxer colitis.' The positive response to Baytril fits with this theory. Interesting that Sam didn't digest the rice at all. Sometimes Bruno doesn't digest the quinoa at all, it comes out looking exactly as it went in (ie. it looks like cous cous). Other times he does digest it. I have no idea why! edited: for typos and rotten grammar.

Do you know, I could never figure out why giving Bruno cooked chicken and rice (after gastric upset) didn't settle his gut down. The old adage of bland food like chicken and rice 'until stools are normal' just didn't work for Bruno. Poor runny bum boy. It now seems, from doing this elimination diet, that he can't tolerate chicken. His skin allergies seem to flare when he has chicken too. I don't know about the rice itself, although I doubt it was a problem. Chicken apparently is a pretty common problem food for atopic dogs. As is beef, but he's trialling that at the moment, and going ok on it.

Thank you Lisa. :) He's been on (yet another) elimination diet, and we are now re-challenging him with one ingredient at a time. Painstaking, but hopefully we can work out exactly which foods he can tolerate. He has actually gained some weight and is the healthiest weight he's ever been ...touch wood.

Good advice. :)