Skin Irritations In Dogs

[Steve]

We will be getting Erny's tea tomorrow YAY and I can't wait to use it, am I able to use it daily or just a few times a week?

You can use it as much and as often as you need to. I do like to give the skin a chance to be dry, but for the real hot flare-ups, it's nothing for me to dab the affected areas 4 times a day or so. If that appeases the angriness of the rash a little, I back off a little .... until the skin is down to a 'cool' pink colour and looking a bit healthy. Then I'll drop off to perhaps once a day, then every other day, until I'm not needing to do it for the while. For me, there have been no rule books - I applied on a "gut feeling/sense" basis, taking into account the angriness of the skin and my dog's behaviour towards it.

Hubby also went crazy with the minimal grass patch we have and cut it right down (now it looks like the rest of out block - MUD).

Lol. I have read of someone's dog who was reactive to kykuya, but then they found the dog was ok if it wasn't cut. Lol ..... I'm sure they ended up with a super long lawn. Not suggesting this is feasible.

As for diet, how would I start an elimination diet? I.e what should I start feeding her with first?

I didn't do an elimination diet per se ..... there wasn't much to eliminate because we'd come to what seemed the end of the road as Mandela simply stopped eating, even though he was obviously hungering for food and too skinny. That's when I turned to the diet recommended/suggested by Augustine Approved. The diet's up there on his website. That's the "full-blown" diet - not everyone follows it to the 'T', but because my boy's issues were pretty extreme, I did and do. And it helped a lot.

Also what do people reccomend for boosting immune systems?

It's not so much that you should aim to "boost" the immune system - it's already working over-time as it is. You need to support it, so it can balance itself out a bit. This is where I turned to the hair-DNA testing. What my boy gets is not just a "one thing" herbal supplement. It's a mix of things. I know Steve will have some input to this as soon as she gets half a second - she's mega knowledgeable about this stuff.

I'm glad it can be used when the need arrises without worrying about 'overdose' that helps settle my mind. I can use it when Indie needs. The health food store i went to today was out on calendula (we are having no luck with anything at the moment), but a neighbour of ours is looking at another place tomorrow that ma have some. I really cant wait to use it and give her some relief!

Ha ha, my 'grass' is more like weeks while I could leave it longer in winter, in summer it gets cut right back to prevent snakes coming to hide. However we could just keep it mud..... I hope Indie isn't allergic to mud, that would be very bad.

Looking at the Augustine website, I like what I'm reading. Does this mean that with the addition of the Augustine boost, with the recipe's on the site, that the meal is then nutritionally balanced and correct? And that I wont have to add things like organ meat/liver to the dogs diet? I only ask as my two won't touch organ meat - (no matter what I try).

The DNA testing may be something that I try out if the vet and I cann't identify the issue and get it solved - It may be something I do anyway just to check

There is a shortage on Calendula flowers in Australia - pretty hard to get at the moment. Look for organic and whole flowers not just the petals. Its better if you can use this instead of shampooing. If you cant find it I can get it to you in a couple of days via mail.

While you are waiting don't use shampoo.

Oatmeal has been used for thousands of years for treating eczema, poison ivy, wandering dew, insect bites and skin infections due to itsanti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-itch properties. For relieving the itchiness caused by contact allergies or even sunburn, grind oats or oat flour into a fine powder and pour it into a cheese cloth and let warm water run through it as you add it to the bath. You can also rub the pouch on the itchy skin.

Oats contain natural cleansers called saponins that can remove dirt and oil from the pores without causing irritation. They have anti-inflammatory properties and are suitable for all skin types human and dog.They are clinically effective in healing dry and itchy skin. Oats ground into powder are known as colloidal oatmeal which is what is in Aloveen or other shampoos with oatmeal. This powder can be mixed with warm water to form a thick paste and applied over itchy skin to get immediate relief from intense itching.

An oatmeal bath is also effective in healing a number of skin conditions including dry itchy skin.You can make an oat milk rinse by adding a cup of cooking oats [even better if you run them through a grinder ] and adding 4 cups of warm water and letting it soak then straining it and adding 4 drops of AUGUSTIFOLIA Lavender oil [The stuff that's in the oats helps to mix the oil into in] and putting it into a squeeze sauce type bottle so you can get it right onto the skin and allow it to stay on for at least 20 to 30 mins before rinsing.

This works even better if you make the oat milk with Calendula tea and AUGUSTIFOLIA lavender and leave it on.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Steve

[Lexi-Taj]

INDIE UPDATE-

Thank you to every one for their advice and hints, ERNY you have been fantastic with your insight, and Steve, your knowledge Of the natural is brilliant, I'll be ordering from you from now on!

Neighbor came through with he calendula tea! Indie got a bath in it yesterday (filled up the people bath and in she went for about 15minutes), it seemed great she pretty much stopped itching.... Until late last night/ early his morning poor girl! Am thinking it could have been her dinner maybe? I'm thinking she may have a chicken allergy (amongst other things), Or possibly the grass, we kept her off it mostly until she pooped last night before bed.

Hubby took her to the vet today, and vet is fairly sure it's allergies. She has given cortisone tablet and antibiotic to clear up the initial reaction since it so bad, and advised us to pop indie on a hypoallergenic diet to see if his helps. She originally suggested boiled chicken and rice, however I think Indie may have an allergy to chicken.

The vet then gave us a huge bag of holistic select, grain free gluten free, salmon, anchovy and sardine kibble..... Free....... Is there a catch, has anyone used this brand of kibble before?

I have been waiting to switch Indie (and Taj) to raw, but waited until indie was 12 months on advice of vet (the hounds were getting kibble and a bit of raw roo, chicken, beef) Now she is 12 months and with her skin issues I was wondering if we start her raw now? OR feed her this bag of holistic kibble first, wait till her system settles down and then switch to raw and use this kibble as a test of sorts, adding raw ingredient at a time to see if she has a reaction to it?