TDG

you are absolutely welcome :)

ugh scooby snacks are nasty. :( your dog would be better off with a slice of human grade salami or lunch meat or even a few of those little animal-shaped baby crackers than with that kind of garbage. it's really sad how so many manufacturers of poor quality pet products are deceiving customers. :(

it's fine. the color can vary, since gentian violet is a natural ingredient. and the color of the flower depends on the soil and other natural influences

generally, even puppies can be fasted, but it depends on the age and they need a little bit of nutrical or honey to keep blood sugar levels under control. the only situation where i'd completely advise against a fast is very young puppies, toy breeds and animals suffering from diabetes or hypoglycemia.

definitely not easy to get to the bottom of things there. my personal first line of defense would really be boosting the immune system. the essiac is really great, when i used it on animals or even myself, i've seen drastic improvements in just a matter of days. if you think that a completely raw diet is not an option for you (understandable, it can be expensive unless you buy in bulk), try to at least remove grains from the diet as far as you can. try a potato or sweet potato based kibble or a home cooked diet. dr. pitcairn's complete guide to natural health for dogs and cats has a number of excellent recipes. i suspect that grains in the diet may be a problem, but using human grade oatmeal, cornmeal or rice can already make a difference and is not the same as the poor quality grains in commercial foods. iams and eukanuba are two brands made by the same manufacturer that i always recommend people should stay away from. have you tried eagle pack? i know of a lot of people with large breeds who have had really good results on it. as far as buying herbs and other things goes - fish oil you can get at any drugstore. not all brands are good quality and some aren't even pure fish oil, but the "nature made" brand sold at sav-on is good quality and not expensive. i buy the natural vitamin E of the same brand. if i were you, i'd stop the pet tabs and look for a better quality multivitamin. pet tabs consist of a bunch of sweeteners, liver meal for flavor, binders, mostly synthetic vitamins (which are not as effective as those in natural form, but of course a lot cheaper for the manufacturer to use) and poorly absorbable mineral supplements. you'd be better off with something like wellness super 5 supplement or dr. pitcairn's DIY supplement "healthy powder". you'll have to spend a little more money on that than ont he pet tabs, but they are really not a good product. with the less common herbs and things like the sheep sorrel/burdock supreme or azmira immune stim'r, your best bet is to order online. there are also some premade herbal skin treatment formulations you can try - personally i prefer compounding my own, but i can see how some things might be difficult to find for people. aromadog and azmira have formulations and halo has something called "derma dream salve" that has a combination of some herbs i mentioned as well as some additional ones. don't beat yourself up too much about all these problems, it's all such a complex picture with many factors involved, such as reactions from over vaccinating or simply genetics. last but not least, feeding a raw or home cooked diet (i try avoiding the term BARF, since i don't believe in that particular following of dr. billinghurst) is not as labor intensive as you might expect. if you are interested, here's an excellent website on the topic. i don't follow that regimen either because i'm somewhat restricted in what's available to me due to living in a big city, but it has a lot of very useful information: [url]http://www.rawdogranch.com[/url] my own dog has been completely off commercial food for almost 3 months now and i need about half an hour or so to prepare all his meals for a 2-week period. everything is then frozen in appropriate portions and all i need to do is to remember taking it out of the freezer the day before. it's easy once you have a good routine going.

treating the hotspots themselves is really only dealing with symptoms. you need to find out what [b]causes[/b] them and work from there to stop them from appearing. since both dogs are getting hot spots, it's more than likely that both dogs are exposed to whatever is causing them - it would be too much of a coincidence that two dogs develop hot spots at the same time for different reasons, unless maybe they are of the same breed and related. first examine what you are feeding. most of the time switching to a food that doesn't have certain ingredients is a solution already, but that is unlikely in this situation. here i'd rather suspect that the quality of the food could be a problem. what are you feeding? brand and type of food, any supplements? my next guess after examining the diet would be allergies or an autoimmune disease. i can't help you to diagnose them - that's a vet's job, and preferably a holistic vet. but i can tell you that boosting the immune system in order to help the body heal itself is a good idea. you can do things like - plain organic yogurt with live cultures or a high quality probiotic supplement. natren's canine dophilus is good quality and easy to use. this replenishes the friendly bacteria int he intestines that help the immune system. these are killed by antibiotics, so i suggest using a high potency supplement for a week or two and then use yogurt for maintenance. - 1000 mg of fish oil per 10 lbs of body weight daily ([b]not[/b] cod liver oil but a fish body oil). if you give fish oil, also give additional vitamin E, since the omega 3 fatty acids oxidize rapidly and increase antioxidant requirements in the body. 400-800 IU daily depending on the dog's weight. - essiac formula (gaia herbs sells it under the name "sheep sorrel/burdock supreme", azmira as "immune stim'r"), dosage is 1 drop per 5 lbs of body weight in a little warm water 3-4 times daily. you can also buy essiac tea and prepare it yourself, but the tincture is easier to use. there are other options, but it's not a good idea to try too many things all at once. you can read more about it at [url]http://www.allourpets.com/holistic/immune-system.shtml[/url] and dr. messonnier's book mentioned on that site is an excellent resource. ([i]side note: i do not endorse the dog food advertised on that site, but the article is good.[/i]) moving on to topical treatment for immediate relief. please try treating these hotspots without antibiotics, cortisone and steroids. all three are temporary fixes that do not address the underlying problems and will over time make it harder and harder to successfully treat the problem. to help the skin heal, you can use the following: use equal amounts of comfrey, calendula, sage, bee balm, thyme and yarrow to brew a tea. soak the affected areas and let dry undisturbed. if the hot spots are really bad already and the dogs are constantly scratching or chewing: equal amounts of fresh or dried juniper (yes, the common landscaping shrub), calendula flowers and peppermint leaf. combine herbs in a glass or stainless steel pot. cover with water and bring to a gentle boil. simmer for 10 minutes, then cover and let cool. drain the cooled fluid through a strainer. soak the affected areas and let dry. if the dogs try to lick it off, use a towel or cloth to cover the affected areas and liberally soak the fabric with the preparation. you can leave this on for several hours at a time. whew, long post, but i hope you'll find it useful. and please let me say it again, it is very important that you find out what causes these hotspots and not just treat the symptoms. :)

my small guy (30ish lbs) gets about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of yogurt for breakfast. i feed a homemade diet (both raw and cooked things) and his morning meal is usually rather light, so the yogurt is a nice addition. you don't have to feed it daily, but to have a real benefit on your large dogs i'd feed about one cup at a time at least 2-3 times a week. you could also alternate feeding yogurt and fresh eggs, the eggs are a great source of vitamin A.

just in case you still need it, you can order pellitol from the following websites: [url]http://www.vetamerica.com/pelli1oz.html[/url] [url]http://www.thomasveterinarydrug.com/mailorder/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1084[/url] [url]http://www.revivalanimal.com/index.cfm/page/Detail=1/Product_ID=773/Product_773.htm[/url]

both cottage cheese and yogurt are great additions to a dog's diet, regardless of whether you feed homemade or kibble. [b]especially[/b] if you feed mainly kibble, fresh, live foods increase the quality of a dog's diet quite a bit. extra calcium is especially beneficial if the kibble has a higher phosphorus content. cottage cheese is richer than yogurt (keep that in mind and reduce the amount of kibble you feed a bit and keep a close eye on your dog's weight) and generally doesn't have the benefit of live cultures, and it may have a higher remaining lactose content, which some dogs can't tolerate. yogurt is a fully fermented dairy product that is generally even tolerated by lactose intolerant animals. see what works for you. in his book "dr. pitcairn's complete guide to natural health for dogs and cats", dr. pitcairn has some excellent recipes specifically for supplementing kibble with fresh foods and also one for a "do it yourself" supplement mix that i find a [b]lot[/b] better than many commercial supplements you can pick up at pet stores.

i would fast the dog for 24 hours, giving nothing but water. this will give his digestive system a rest where it doesn't have to divide resources between digesting food and healing. don't be afraid to do this, it won't hurt your dog. pumpkin is good for diarrhea, but diarrhea happens at the "rear end", and you have to deal with the "front end" (keeping food down) first. after the fast, start with small amounts of food several times a day. cultured, plain yogurt is good (some common brands that contain all the important, beneficial, live bacteria are brown cow, stonyfield farm and horizon organic) and also small amount of rice or oatmeal, cooked to mush. go easy on this and gauge reactions. i once had a dane pup who had to live on oatmeal and yogurt for about 3 weeks until he was able to tolerate normal food again. the probiotic bacteria in the yogurt are really, really important, so don't buy mainstream products that don't have any or not all of the live cultures. if you can't find this kind of yogurt, buy whatever plain yogurt you can find and a good, human grade probiotic supplement. once your dog is able to keep food down again, slowly start on the pumpkin if it is still needed. you don't need to give a whole lot, one teaspoon per 30-40 lbs of body weight per meal is often enough already. hope this helps. :)

always glad to share what i learn. :) i have that (maybe unrealistic) dream that my dog could live 20 years or even longer and to that end i'm going to do everything i possibly can. my worst peeve: don't believe what the pet food industry giants tell you, at 6 or 7 years old a dog is [b]not[/b] supposed to be a "senior" yet, unless it's a giant breed. :evil:

puppy foods are unnecessary. your puppy, regardless of breed or size, will get all the necessary nutrition from a quality adult food and cover extra needs from the larger amount of food puppies consume per pound of body weight, compared to adults. just make sure you don't overfeed your puppy and keep him lean. both labs and GSDs are prone to hip dysplasia and you have a better chance to avoid issues if your puppy doesn't get overweight. here's a link you might find interesting: [url]http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/02/12.12.02/dog-diet.html[/url] if you are interested in learning more about commercial foods: [url]http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/[/url]

depends what kind of rawhide it is. regular rawhide is a choking hazard because it gets mushy and can be swallowed in large chunks. [b]compressed[/b] rawhide is an entirely different story tho. this type is compressed at very high temperatures, which change the texture. the dog can't chew off large chunks and will only be able to pull off little bits and pieces. be careful tho when the leftover stub gets small enough to be swallowed whole. throw it away and give a new one. cow hooves are also a pretty bad idea too, as they are hard enough to break dog's teeth and can easily cause blockages. the best thing to give a dog to chew on are raw, untreated animal bones. not only are they a lot cheaper than all the "especially made for dogs" fad items, but they also don't have any colorings, flavors, stabilizers or other chemicals added. for small puppies, things like lamb ribs and pork ribs (like babyback ribs) are ideal because they are very soft - to give you an idea, you can cut these with a sharp bread knife. for older and bigger dogs, lamb shanks and beef knuckle bones are great. you can get items like that from the butcher or grocery store for a fraction of the price you'd pay for the petstore stuff like rawhides, pig ears, cow hooves and so on. it's just sad that the pet industry has people so brainwashed about what's safe and what isn't and constantly puts out misleading information that people are afraid to give their animals the most natural things.

vitamin E is nice, but i would [b]not[/b] give cod liver oil to a dog who eats a commercial food - especially not a 6 lb dog. cod liver oil is very rich in vitamin A and D and the risk of causing toxicity is way too high, since commercial foods are already vitamin fortified. regular fish (body) oil, at a mega dose of a maximum of 600 mg per day would be a good idea tho. alternatively, canned mackerel or sardines a couple times a week. a raw egg a week. if you are feeding a high quality dry or canned food, the food itself is going to take care of most if not all malnutrition problems. i've seen it first hand with a dog who was seriously underweight and had a coat so brittle that the individual hairs would break off at the slightest pressure. the dog looked short haired but after a few weeks of eating a better diet it turned out it's actually medium length. also, don't do too many things at once, especially if the poor little guy isn't used to a good food. you are likely to just get his digestive system upset, which will put more stress on him while getting used to a new environment. a good thing to keep on hand is a can of pumpkin (not the pie filling mix, just the plain stuff) because it helps with both constipation and diarrhea. you only need a small amount (i use about a scant teaspoon for a 30 lb dog), so when you open a can, divide it up in a few small plastic or glass containers and freeze it. that way you always have an emergency stock. :)

the best foundation is a good, clean food. on top of that, you can give raw egg (if the dog is large enough, 40ish lbs+, even daily) and fish oil, which is better than flax oil. there's also a great DIY supplement (recipe by dr. pitcairn) that you can add to the food daily. 2 cups nutritional yeast (this is not the same as brewer's yeast!) 1 cup lecithin granules 1/4 cup kelp powder 1/4 cup bonemeal or 5 teaspoons eggshell powder or 9,000 mg calcium) 1,000 mg vitamin C (personally i use 10,000 to 15,000 mg per recipe) mix all ingredients well in a 1-quart container. refrigerate. shake well before scooping out the needed amount.

the fact that boric acid is used for killing roaches doesn't make it dangerous, just like corn gluten can be used to get rid of weeds naturally doesn't make the corn gluten a dangerous thing. it's very, very soothing to infected ears and works very well with the rubbing alcohol and gentian violet. peroxide is very drying and might not bring much relief to the dog from the painful infection. if the blue power doesn't take care of it, you might want to look into using pellitol. [url]http://www.medi-vet.com/Pellitol.aspx[/url] it has helped a lot of dogs with extreme ear problems.

if you feed wellness, keep a close eye on your dog's teeth. on all the dogs i've had, no other brand has left teeth dirtier than wellness. i'm not saying it's a bad food (though there are better ones), but i feel people need to be aware of this so they can keep an eye on the teeth and prevent plaque in time. as for brushing - if you feed a dog a lot of fresh, raw, untreated bones, brushing teeth is hardly necessary. green tripe also works wonders. it's not just the abrasive action that has an effect on the teeth, but also enzymes and acidity of the food. :)

[quote name='courtnek']we gotta stop treating them like people....[/quote] that's the bottom line! so many times every single day i have exactly the same thought and it pisses me off how so many people treat their dogs like $%^(@# little people in a fur suit. we would have a lot less neurotic, snappish, or just simply ill behaved dogs if people could get the notion out of their heads that dogs should be treated like people. /rant

innova is an excellent food. my comment was just a general statement that eliminating protein almost entirely from the diet of a dog with failing kidneys isn't necessary.

i agree with doberfanatic 100%. prism is a [b]great[/b] quality food if you are on a small budget. another good one is healthwise (made by the same company as innova and california natural).

obediencegrrl, have you been following up on kidney disease research? it is actually believed now that protein itself is not the culprit as much as [b]poor quality, difficult to digest[/b] protein. for anyone who is interested, there's a really good yahoo group on the topic, i think it's called k9kidneys. i do [b]not[/b] like 95% of the "senior" food products on the market for the simpel fact that they are even higher in grains (which means carbs) than the regular adult foods. grains only supply energy to the dog, nothing else, while both protein and fat are essential for the maintenance of body cells, metabolic functions and other vital processes in the body while they are [b]also[/b] used as an energy supply (especially fat). older dogs with aging bodies have a harder time digesting food and keeping up maintenance and repair of body cells - that's just the natural aging process. why would anyone in their right mind want to speed up this process even more? if anything, senior foods should be more digestible, less fattening and have a higher concentration of certain nutrients than adult foods in order to slow it down. don't walk - [b]run[/b] away from any senior food that has carb sources instead of protein sources as first 1-2 ingredients. pick a product that has a low ash and phosphorus content to take stress off the kidneys. if your dog is inactive and prone to gain weight, feed less and if you absolutely think you [b]must[/b] switch to a senior food, pick one that has a lower fat percentage but doesn't sacrifice protein content right along with the fat. overall, different lifestages foods are about as necessary for dogs as a bicycle for a fish - it's all just marketing strategy. under natural circumstances, once a puppy is weaned it doesn't eat anything different than the other members of the pack, and neither do the older ones. differing nutrient requirements are met by the larger or smaller amounts of food a dog eats per pound of body weight. the only situations where specialized formulas are of use are acute health concerns that canb only be managed through diet.

pedigree is a very poor quality food with a lot of fillers. you'd probably save more money buy buying a better quality food of which you have to feed less because it's more digestible. [url]http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood[/url]

anything you can get your hands on, from bones, heart and liver to kidneys, lungs and tripe! :D organ meat (heart is considered muscle meat btw.) shouldn't exceed about 10% of the daily food intake if you include them in your daily meals.

i do [b]not[/b] give any artificial chews. my dog had a plastic nylabone as a puppy that was supposed to be "indestuctible", but pieces of plastic came off and he ate them. nobody can tell me that is particularly healthy, and neither are all the artificial colors, flavorings etc. if you absolutely have to go for commercial chews, [b]compressed[/b] rawhide is your best bet. it is heat treated so no large pieces of it come off and the dog has to work hard on it to even chew small bits off. the downside is that it is pretty expensive. personally i stick with natural, raw, untreated bones. beef knuckle bones, lamb shanks, or if you need something softer for a smaller dog - lamb and pork ribs. all these you can get for very cheap at your local grocery store.

[quote name='DogPaddle']I do this because my boys have yet to digest vegs fully unless I lightly cook and blend them.[/quote] dogs do not have the enzymes required to break down cell walls and they lack the teeth to do it mechanically. so they can't digest fruit and veggies unless you do it for them - either by blending or cooking. there is actually no need to do both, it's enough if you stick the fruits and veggies in the blender, blend them thoroughly and then stir it into your recipe. preserves more vitamins and enzymes too. :)