StubiePie

Hi fbaudry, I thought I'd share my dog's skin condition story here. My toy poodle had terrible skin for about 2 years, after many vet visits and tests, plus steroids trials, shots, ointment, vet recommended diet change and medicated shampoo, nothing worked! For 2 years, her skin condition got worse and worse, to a point her whole chest area, front and hind legs and paws became hairless and raw and crusty from the constant scratch and chew, her belly area is constantly bright red, my mean friend joked about her being drunk all the time. The only thing that could stop her from chewing herself was the cone, but as soon as I took it off, she went crazy at chewing which really made matters worse. At times she bled from the sore wound, it really broke my heart to see her like this. I contacted the breeder and it's not something her parents had, so the breeder couldn't put her fingers on the condition either. I go home every day to find piles of dead skin flakes on the sofa, on the floor everywhere. And she was thin for her size, 2.1 kgs at the time. Diet I have tried including every grain free premium and super premium brands kibble and can, BARF patties, homemade balanced raw (Dr. Karen Becker's book), home cooked elimination diet (Pork and sweet potato, Kangaroo and sweet potato/pumpkin), I see changes from homemade balanced raw diet, but it didn't eliminate her skin problem. I tried organic raw apple cider vinegar rinse and spray method too, it made her skin more itchy and red, so that's a no go either. And fish oil, Krill oil, flaxseed oil, cod liver oil, coconut oil, vit E oil, you name it, I've tried them all, still no change. I didn't give up, I researched on similar cases on the internet and doing food trials and trying different methods from successful cases. One day, I realized all her hair loss was at the bottom half of the body, the hair on her back and top of her head are completely normal, so I threw away a sofa and an armchair, which have been peed on and cleaned using chemical cleaning stuff, so I thought let's start fresh, I bought a new bed for the girls and new blanket and everything. And at about the same time, I started a new diet on her, which is raw chicken neck for breakfast and wild caught Alaskan can salmon (no salt version) with a bit of mashed sweet potato for dinner, nothing else. After a month, I started to see the changes, she still scratches but a lot less chewing, after another month, scratching and chewing reduced again, and 1 more month after that, I can hardly find dead skin in the house. She also put on weight, I remember she weighed 2.7kg at one stage and looked a bit chubbier and a lot healthier. I still bathed her with the Malaseb medicated shampoo each week, not sure if that helped her too. She was on the same diet for 6 months and I always wiped her feet clean every time she comes back from a walk or backyard, she continued to improve, and all the hair started to grow back, at first the texture of the poodle hair was really weird and in a darker color, after a couple of trims the hair became the same colour and texture as usual. All up it took 9-10 months for her to completely recover from the her skin condition. I am not sure if it's the chemical free new sofa new dog bed or the food or something else that helped her, but what I found is GP vets they don't know too much about dog's skin problems, every one of them said she has food allergy and prescribed me with steroids, but in fact I know it's a lot more complicated than just food allergy, she had a suppressed immune system at the time, so the steroids she was on probably made it even worse, once her immune system is functioning properly, this so-called food allergy went away. Now she's on a dehydrated diet call Foodie Pooch, she eats all 4 varieties (chicken, kangaroo, lamb and pork) and I give her 2-3 eggs a week salmon and sardine twice week and chicken necks to chew on, with Greek yogurt and coconut oil and liver treats, and she still does scratch and lick her paw a bit after each bath, that's why I was really happy to find this thread and wanted to try the calendula tea bath for her. And I did try the Blooms brand on the weekend (that's before I purchased the organic stuff from Steve), the result was quite amazing, no other shampoo used just the tea, she didn't scratch or lick one bit after the bath, and it cleaned really well leaving a nice tea scent on her coat. So I can't wait to try Steve's organic calendula this weekend. BTW, she's off flea treatment the whole time while recovering, not sure if that helped her, the area where I live doesn't get much fleas and she's an indoor dog, I use lavender and other herbs as a natural flea repellent. I really hope you can find a way to help your puppy's skin problem!

Great thread, thank you everyone for sharing information on this wonderful tea! Just ordered from Steve yesterday, and looking forward to bath my little girl with it :)