Kavik

So hopefully this means that if you got a dog who was not interested in playing with other dogs and who could not take being rushed at, humped, jumped on, growled at etc you would not put them in that situation, right? Hopefully you would find out that they are not suitable for the type of dog interactions you like to allow your dogs before your dog has one bad experience too many.

Not all dogs would react to this the same way. Zoe was placed in similar circumstances and became aggressive towards ALL dogs. What may turn your dog into a submissive dog who is not going to rush in to get into trouble caused my dog to dislike all other dogs. Individual temperament is important to consider. I have also seen dogs in a daycare become progressively more grumpy with other dogs as time went on. While they came in on their first visit as happy outgoing dogs who wanted to play, months later they growled and snapped at other dogs. This is watching up to 45 dogs, day in day out, for 2 years. What really annoys me is when I am walking my dog calmly by my side on the side of the footpath and the person approaching has their dog lunging on their lead, choking themselves, to try to get to my dog to 'visit' because it is 'friendly'. None of my dogs, even the friendly ones, take too well to that. And even if I am off the footpath so they have plenty of room to pass, they still allow their dog the length of the lead, and sometimes even come closer!

I've made a vet appt for Thursday, so will enquire about tests then. Vet is going to be sick of all my questions

I have had Diesel from a puppy. Skin issues have been around for a while, not sure when they started to get bad, but I suspect he's always been prone to it. I'll try to get a pic today of where his skin is icky, and the spot. Just not quite sitting right with me that he should need 5 times as much food as Kaos - he is older than Kaos and not as active, though he is 10kg heavier. Or maybe Kelpies are just better 'doers' than GSDs? And I have increased his food lately and not seeing much result.

I've also found a small lump, a bit smaller than size of pinky fingernail, at the top of the patch on his flank that he chews. With thyroid, I googled and it said they tend to put on weight? Diesel has dropped weight. Deciding whether to go to vet about weight issue and small lump or try changing food/shampoo and possibly antihistamines.

We've used it, it's a good wee product! Did you find it better than Malaseb? Less drying? Any ideas on a good conditioner to use with a medicated shampoo?

May try Royal Canin then, see how we go.

So for phenergan, that makes it one tablet per 10kg? (that topic on dosages got me so confused at Vet Nursing, obviously I still have problems with it )

Does phenergan make them as drowsy as people? I still like (trying to) train him fpr conpetition, and it is hard enough keeping him motivated

I am in Northern Sydney, near Hornsby

current vet suggests Atopica or the dermalogical testing - both of which are expensive. I wouldn't mind if it was $1000 and you would definitely fix the problem, but am not willing to do $1000 to find what he is allergic to, $500 in medication/injections to find he is still as bad as before or only a little better.

I asked about antihistamines, the vet didn't think it was worth doing as they are not as effective with dogs as people? I think I want to get thyroid checked as I am really having problems keeping weight on him. I'll ask about Roo and Sweet Potato - but roo has low fat right? Not sure how that will go with keeping weight on.

Not sure what else I could have tried as an elimination diet? Z/D ultra was recommended by my vet, or the Eukanuba Fish and Potato but as Diesel has had fish as part of his normal diet, we couldn't do that. The Eagle Pack holistic range did include things like chicken fat, which again is something he'd already had. And I am not keen on trying a homemade elimination diet. He does have that thickened 'elephant skin' on his flank where he chews himself. I have heard of Atopica, but out of my price range. Antibiotics does help to clear it up somewhat (can't remember which antibiotics used). I have resigned myself to Diesel being itchy forever, as even the vet said they never really get better, you can just try to make them more comfortable. So I'm mostly looking for low cost things that can help relieve the itching and any dietary help that might improve his skin and coat (and smell). OH is not keen on spending thousands to fix this, as Diesel has already cost probably around $7000+ in vet bills. Kelpies are much hardier and cheaper to keep!

We haven't had him tested for yeast infection (don't think so anyway) - only have done what vet recommended. If I can't get an improvement in a few weeks we will go to vet and it will be one thing I recommend testing for. Should I test thyroid as well?

I did an elimination diet on Z/D. Really am NOT interested in doing BARF/raw. Couldn't do an elimination diet on another dry food as he has had fish etc before, and the other foods recommended for elimination diet had fish in them, so it wouldn't be a novel protein. How much was it for dermatologist consult, allergy tests and allergy vaccines and how likely to be effective? Not sure I want to fork out thousands of dollars, especially if it is not likely to do much anyway (actually OH would have a heart attack! Diesel has already been a VERY expensive dog, broke leg, got ear torn, skin problems, aural haematoma etc, he groans every time I mention taking Diesel to the vet AGAIN) Considering nothing really has made a huge difference, including medication from vet (cortinsone, antibiotics) I am not keen on spending heaps more money for the same negligable result

Well done! :p

Thanks for the tips guys, will try it out and tell you how we go

Go for it Erny, good to share the information Will pray to the anti-itching gods that he is not as itchy tonight!

You see, that sounds too expensive for me! I thought BARF was supposed to be cheaper than dry food? I didn't find this the case, and that combined with the amount of work to pulp the vegies and a hard time keeping condition on him and he still scratched, made it not really worth it to me!

Not sure how long, it was a while, several months, maybe even a year? It was a while ago, he is now 5. Fed chicken frames, livers, giblets, occasionally heart when I could find it (not sure what animal that was from), eggs, sardines, vegies and fruit (variety including apples, pears, bananas, celery, lettuce, other stuff I can't remember )

Haven't tried the Royal Canin GSD formula - might give it a go, been recommended by a few people. Just difficult as I generally give all the dogs the same dry food, OH not all that keen on getting something different for Diesel. I have tried BARF, actually made no difference and I had problems keeping weight on him (hard at the best of times to keep weight on him!). At the moment he is getting 5 times as much dry food as Kaos. Kaos is 20kg and Diesel is 30kg. We have done antibiotics before and it does help if it is a long course. Sometimes cortisone is given as well. He still itches on cortisone but not as much as without.

But what would finding out he is allergic to grass achieve (it is what I suspect seeing as where his bad spots are)? It's not like I can keep him away from grass! If it turns out he is allergic to almost everything under the sun (someone else here did the test and the dog was allergic to something like 100 things!) what on earth is that going to do except stress me out more? Really, if he is allergic to all that, there is nothing really that can be done right? And I've heard the tests are very expensive. We did a 6 week elimination diet where he was only on Hills Z/D and nothing else (including no treats) - made little to no difference. I am tempted to take him to the vet anyway - he has dropped weight and I'm a bit worried about that.

From the website: Option 2: PREPARING A BAKING SODA RINSE and TOPICAL SPRAY Using a final rinse of BAKING SODA AND WATER for the pets body after shampooing can be very effective to reduce the overall itchiness and smell. Mix two (2-4) teaspoons of BAKING SODA per gallon of water; make sure to mix it so it completely dissolves. SPRAY BOTTLE Mix one (1-2) heaping teaspoons of BAKING SODA with 8 oz. of water. Use this with a spray bottle or cotton ball for the itchy rashes areas. Reports show that it is quite helpful with the overall itchiness, skin problems and inflammation. Soaking a cloth with this baking soda solution and leaving it on the more severely affected areas can be helpful to soothe the skin and reduce inflammation. This sounds good and doable How long do you reckon you could keep the spray for? Would you have to make a new one up each time? Could you use it between baths to keep them looking/smelling fresher? I gave him a bath today but we are having guests next weekend, trying to think of what I can do to make him look and smell OK for them.

OK well most of you probably know Diesel has skin problems. Vet thinks most likely allergy. It is not a food allergy - we did an elimination diet to test this and he was still as itchy as ever. He has flaky, dandruffy skin, always scratches, and has a patch on his flank which he chews and there is no longer hair there. It was getting a bit better for a while, but has flared up again. At the moment he is fed Advance and Chicken Frames, with Fish Oil and Evening Primrose oil, and gets bathed in Aloveen (with Malaseb on the flank he chews). He has also dropped weight recently. Any hints, at least to deal with the flaky skin? He always smells, even shortly after a bath, and it doesn't take long for him to look manky again I was thinking of trialling him in obedience, but may not because of his condition

By repeating commands and then rewarding like that you are teaching him he does not have to come on the first command