XTRAWLD

Ryder has a scab that is coming off naturally, so it's not that I want to take the scab OFF. The problem is, all Ryder's fur is stuck and he actually lay down yesterday and yelped because the scab came off his boo boo and pulled on all his fur. It's a large scab, and I didn't think about shaving the hair when he scraped himself that day to prevent all these owies. We've all scraped our knee at some point, and if you were lucky enough to have it happen in a hairy region, you know how painful it can be when it comes off. I put some Vaseline to soften it up, any other hints?

What a beautiful duck! Sorry to hear the news.

I've tried to train Ryder for a recall, he's much better than Kasey, but I would never trust any of them offleash without a fenced area. When we are at the dog park, Kasey does not listen at all. Ryder is OK, but I'm sure if he were to take off after a bunny on our front lawn I'd never be able to get him back. It's just one of those breeds you can't rely 100% on a recall, and shouldn't really put one in that position trusting they will obey 100%.

Oh my goodness what a story. His story of being captive blood donor is on the verge of animal cruelty. Shame on them. Where is the justice?! You gave him what he deserved and sorry you didn't have more time together.

I was going to suggest an ice pack too, but that usually constricts blood vessels, but reduces swelling....but perhaps a heat pack might be better, works well on sore, tight muscles so.......I don't know which one might be better?

Not having a yard for about 4 years now, I'm sure we have avoided serious injury with our goofball Kasey running like a maniac in the yard. We only do leash walks now with both boys because we don't have a yard. Kasey has three times in the past in our yard ripped his back toe nail completely out. I know a toe injury is likely much more difficult to heal, but I know how you feel about seeing them hold their feet up in pain. Seems like it takes forever to heal. I agree with KennelMom regarding rest and leash walks until it's healed. Feet, toes and nails are crazy things, and you know what they say about horses - no foot, no horse.....

Close to me? No. An hour or more away from me in directions I never travel, yes. I'll actually see if my mentor is willing to take them back for her gang instead.

Seeing the beef heart thread prompted me. I have pork heart in my freezer. We have fed 1.5 hearts. I don't like serving it, and it doesn't agree with Kasey. Alternatively, I fear if I try to cut up what is left and put it in the oven as treats, my whole house will stink to high heaven so no thanks. Should I chuck what I have left (5 hearts I think) or what is the best way to just offload them?

I have heard also that a dog's reaction to raw as opposed to kibble for a direct allergen might not be as bad or even existant when a switch is made. This is why we have gone raw, since we have tried everything with Kasey who is allergic to everything! So far 1 month, and while his allergy reactions aren't as bad as they could be if he were on kibble, he's still having reactions (he has environmental allergies as well, so I have a feeling we will never completely get away from allergy reactions). We are now moving slowly to feeding him his biggest allergy - chicken. Time will tell, and it's always worth a shot.

For sure Krissy. I need to work on him on my own this year before pursuing Agility. Sounds like you are having a great time with Summit. Agility is no longer on my mind because of how much work I see ahead of me just to make him an obedient dog. Maybe next year, who knows. But it's not fair to put expectations on Ryder if I'm not prepared to work on the deficiencies in our training - regardless of attending the same class or not.

We have completed a full month of raw diet on our two boys. The nerd in me did an excel spreadsheet to track amounts fed in weight in correlation with pricing. I'm pleased to announce I was able to feed 2 dogs for $108 in April (based on consumption). It has of course cost me considerably more to buy the food and stock up my freezer, a good few hundred dollars in fact, but now that we are in the swing of things, that is the total I have calculated that they have eaten. A total of nearly 32 kg between the two of them. Avg about $1.35 a pound (for all raw ingredients together). Not including any "additives" like eggs, yogurt, treats, etc. I figure we were spending about $92 a month on premium kibble. So to only do $108 of raw isn't too bad of a deal!! I'm quite surprised and relieved. Kasey doesn't seem to have kicked his allergies yet though. Sigh. After a month, I've noticed that they are happier, they have been shedding quite a lot - probably based on spring, but maybe getting rid of their coats because of the raw too? We've had some bumps along the way but all in all so far, seems like we will stick it out for at least another month and see how it goes.

I forgot to update his final graduating class! We showed up for a performance of Howard's 10 year old border collie - Zed, showing us what Agility, Flyball and Freestyle Frisbee is all about. I've seen it before on TV and Flyball once in person, but it sure was a treat for some owners that had never heard of it before. DH came with me to watch from the sidelines for his kid's final class. It was like a Parent-Teacher Interview for him! We did the traditional circle of friends and sitting. Ryder did well. He was approachable and he sat for people that asked. He was by the end of the course supposed to sit when someone approached, but I never got around to working with him on this, but he does certainly sit if you ask. Yay! Then we played a game of Simon Says. We did ok. He refused to sit for me when asked and I never did get a gentle leader for him. There were certainly two stars of the show though. After this first portion, he allowed us to do what we wanted at the agility course using only the tube, a small jump and a tire, while he pulled people and dogs aside to give them their evaluation. Everything else was off limits. DH and I were determined for Ryder to learn tube so he would get over his fear of the first classes! Thankfully Howard had 3 tubes, so for us to use 1 wouldn't hold anyone else up in the class. DH held him at one end, and I went to the other. We shortened up the tube and with a lot of encouragement RYDER WENT THROUGH. When he first came to me I almost started to cry I was so happy. A few more passes and we extended it further. Ryder willingly entered the tube to see us at the other end. We continued to lengthen the tube and he was able to do passes through each end with it fully extended. Other people from the class began watching our attempts and some folks saw Ryder going through the tube and were elated. Everyone there but DH knew how stressful the tube was for Ryder when we tried it on the second class. We moved onto the tire and he jumped through! He also jumped the small jumps. Doing this class on my own would have been next to impossible. I was so happy DH came with me to help Ryder out. We then went up for our assessment. Howard was impressed the most by how much he has come out of his shy shell. He (and I) both felt that the socialization for the sit and the circle did absolute wonders with him. He suggested we take the same course again. Not an advanced course, or anything agility, he wants me to spend money to do the exact same thing...all over again. It was expected but I was a bit bummed about it too. This is the class, he stressed, that has the best socialization. At the end we received a certificate and Ryder has officially passed Family Dog Level 1!

Fantastic Updates and Greyt News. Thank you for posting her progress.

Love the video. Keep up the good work. You are leaps and bounds ahead from where you were 2 weeks ago. She won't eat, but you know what, she looks great. Try not to worry TOO much.

Thanks for all your comments, I have read them all, but can't comment on everything...so to touch on a few that I can recall: Thank you for all of your suggestions. We used to give Kasey honey but never really stuck with it. However after that post on the weekend, we again started giving him a teaspoon of honey a day, plus I have some, hubby has some....Ryder gets to lick the spoon...it's a win win. It is local and we have a friend that makes and distributes it so it is easily accessible. I do think it's a hidden gem in the world of potential medical super foods! His allergies are food and environmental, which makes life with him to become allergy free nearly impossible. We only had blood testing done because we could not keep him off pred long enough (6-8 weeks) to be able to do the skin testing. While we understand it is not as accurate as skin testing, we had to think about how he would be for 6 weeks without pred....it's not pretty and we feel horrible when we see him scratching his brains out (almost literally) and even see blood splatters on the wall when we come home. A list of major allergens include chicken, oatmeal, dust, tobacco smoke, soy, grass (lovely I know)..... He would literally be scratching himself to bleed everywhere, focused on the head, especially on his ears. The vet originally thought he had scabies because of how bad his ears looked (this is before getting him on pred). I switched to raw because the kibble and exclusive feeding was exhaustive. Yes, we've been there done that, tried almost all avenues. Sure I could live with giving him pred the rest of his life, but why not try something that we haven't yet = here comes in the raw. Aside from his issue on Friday and even Ryder's bile, the dogs really are doing phenomenal for being 3 weeks in. Small poops, no farting, Kasey has gained weight, incredibly hard when on pred which he has been for 4 years. I swear Kasey looks at me and smiles, his attitude is way better, he's not just a lump on the floor anymore, he seems genuinely happy. Beautiful glossy eyes, the teeth get better by the day, and now that spring is here they are blowing out their coats and all the dander with it and they are getting softer. Ryder - I haven't noticed as much of a change, maybe cause he's still new to us, but the farting has decreased as has the poop size in general, nice eyes (the whites of them are beautiful) as are his teeth, they are coming along well, very little doggy breath. I have a mentor, but am also trying to pull my resources from other areas, this forum, other people feeding raw that I'm in contact with.

I did not personally apply it, however when we were on vacation in September, we left our boys with a greyhound sitter, she found a flea on Kasey and applied the Earth after removing the flea. I didn't see a flea since. That was the one time fix. He has NEVER had a flea until that time and I was shocked he got one in the first place! So far, two thumbs up here. I don't know if I would replace the regular preventative entirely for my boys, but for fixing the problem if they have fleas ON them, for sure.

I think I may have heard him about to vomit last night, which would have meant Cerenia wasn't working....but it all stayed down. Last night was the last night for pills, so we are on our own. I think tonight he'll get a piece of bread before bed and see how that goes. I was able to sleep a full night on Thursday night for the first time in about 2 weeks. YAY!

Great update!

Paper plates suggestion, that's amazing! Certainly dampens the spirit. Here's hoping they make speedy recoveries!

OK, again, thank you for your concerns and comments. I will touch on some responses step by step: "trouble walking" for Kasey was that he was walking, but incredibly slow and took his time. He does this now and again on walks as well. I think it was just more prevelant to me because I'm on a heightened alert of how he was feeling that day. I don't blame him for acting off that night after finally getting his pred, since for 12 hours prior he was clearly not doing well. There is no way he would have been able to just flip a switch and be normal. NOW, if he were to continue acting that way the next morning - absolutely something is off. The slow walking, trouble peeing, acting faint - the best way I can describe that - happened on our final pee break/walk that night. He had been sleeping from 6pm to 9pm and the pred was just kicking in for him. IMO, if you were sick, and just took meds, you might be a little groggy and off until they started to work. What I worry about is now that he has had his pred, is that masking something now like an organ issue (which I wouldn't have figured by feeding raw, but clearly this can happen). He has always had trouble peeing on pred, and when he would pee he would pee forever and a day. Friday just took a little longer than normal and he attempted several times before finally going. He's a finicky pee-er even on days he's not on pred. The wind has to blow the right way, the stars have to be aligned, he's just "special" to say the least. The vets and we agreed pred would be the best meds for him to handle his allergies, because other medication just wasn't working, or even had worse side effects. The purpose to us switching to raw is because of his allergies. We have tried virtually every kibble out there, and raw was the first thing we haven't tried. He's allergic to everything and anything. I'm surprised he's not allergic to air. (Well dust is on his list so I guess that's close enough). We have tried bags upon bags of different kibbles that would be good for him over the course of 4 years, but there is something in each of them that just doesn't work with him - for example he's allergic to kelp - KELP! - of all things.....that in some foods is used to provide nutrition in some way/shape/form. What also didn't work with the kibble was what came out the other end was a pile of mush, or all we would smell were farts all day, and I won't even get into his attitude changes..... so we decided to go raw - almost as a last resort by now. On Friday Kasey did not have this - He was salivating and licking his lips and swallowing. He would do this for a few minutes, and then be fine for a few minutes. At times he would try to unstuck something that was stuck in his throat....I can't call it hacking or coughing it was just almost like a clearing of the throat that something was in there. But for arguments sake - hacking is fine. He did not have bone since 3 days prior. On Friday Kasey also did not have this - He ate all his meals, was playing, walking fine, peeing/pooping normally throughout the day, but for the times he would salivate/lick/swallow/hack. From 5:30 am to 6pm he was still exhibiting the swallowing/licking symptoms, from 6pm to 9pm NO SYMPTOMS. Only during our 15 minutes walk he was crappy. IMO aside from the salivating all day, the worst part did occur later at night. If he was going to continue acting like that for a few more hours I agree it would be a signal for a major medical issue and we would have packed up and gone to the e-vet. If you saw him today - you wouldn't know anything happened on Friday. So I guess where I'm going with this is, he is showing no symptoms anymore - why would I take him to the vet right now? (I'm waiting for everyone to do a collective gasp) I get that they could do testing, but it's like taking your car to the mechanic when it's sputtering, but it won't sputter and do it's thing there when it has to get fixed...... Again - my concern now is that the pred may be masking other symptoms. I always thought the pred took care of everything wrong on his body, now it's almost like I have to wait for the meds to wear off before I know if he's ok again...... However, thank you for pointing out the high protein causing kidney issues - I didn't know this. This is the kind of comments and suggestions I'm looking for because this is something I could have control over. Lower the protein, prevent kidney issues (of course this would not be determined until going to a vet). This turned into a WAY bigger deal than I thought or wanted it to be, but now that it's out there, discuss as you wish.

I'm incredibly frustrated with the raw food issue, and both of their problems just seem to be heightened by the fact that we've switched. I'm unsure in my path with raw food which makes me really seem helpless in the whole situation. I was really struggling that morning with what to do with him, and what his symptoms were. It didn't help that it was Good Friday and all. I have to figure out the connection these guys are having, well at the moment that Kasey is having. I don't want to go back to kibble, but I will if problems like this persist. A vet in no way will try to help me grapple this, since they are all trained to push kibble by the manufacturers and are not educated in raw feeding. Our experience with vets is all over the map, but most of them take you for a ride or find nothing wrong, or treat the wrong symptoms/problems, lots of action or inaction. I would take him to the vet if it was a very big deal, but a lot of vets we encountered are just in it for the money. They put your heart in one hand and your wallet in the other and just squeeze. I understand everyone is very caring, and of course reading text and hearing someone speak are quite different and can be taken in many different contexts. I just don't want to hear - take him to the vet - at every drop of the hat is all. Or the fact that I haven't taken him to the vet makes me look like I don't care about his well being. This forum has a lot of culminated experience. By me posting his symptoms I was hoping someone may have been through this before so I can fix the poor guy. Clearly, I'm frustrated.

I forgot to document Ryder's second last class. Must have been because of Good Friday! This class was a lot more fun than any of the others. Went into class, did the usual circle. We then walked around the arena with the dogs, being told when to stop. When we stopped we were to put our dogs in a sit. We were told to walk fast, slow, on left side, on right side. Ryder did great. I wasn't able to get a halti or gentle leader so I just used his harness and he was fine. We then played a game of musical hoops. 6 hoops, 6 dogs. When the music played we went around the hoops, when the music stopped we were to get our dogs in a sit inside the hoop! Ryder placed 4th of 6 dogs - yay we weren't last!! We then taught them how to sit and relax when greeting another person and another dog. Finally we taught them how to leave an object alone that we don't want them touching. He got a whole hot dog as a reward Next week is his last class. I asked if DH wants to come to see him. There will be a little performance by the agility/flyball border collies which should be fun. The dogs in the class will be assessed in their ability so he can point us in the right direction for future training whether that would be agility or advanced obedience, etc. I guess I'll figure out what to do with him next week. IMO he's got a 50% chance of passing LOL His shyness really gets the better of him.

Actually, Kasey has been seen by multiple vets over the course of the years to first determine what was wrong with him and then to control his allergies, and we are responsible parents. He has the OPPOSITE side effects of what is commonly found using prednisone, and this has been documented for years by several vets, and documented by enormous credit card bills to boot. I have mentioned this on the forum before so thank you for jumping on me for that before knowing his entire six year medical history and with what we've been through with him. I was asking for experience in relation to raw, which is something I am completely unfamiliar with. We have been to hell and back with this dog and he has taught us so much - and I would never jeopardize his health if I really thought something was really desperately wrong with him. We do not jump to the vet every time he stubs his toe and I'm willing to bet there are plenty of other people here that would do the same. He's 8 years old, with a weakened immune system and I don't expect him to be a perfect animal 100% of the time. Everyone has their bad days - and yesterday was his.

Now, while I want to do this (pepcid) on my own, I want to get the vet's blessing I think...since he's treating him and all. How do I "convince" him this is the route I want to go down, something I want to do and try and get a proper dosage idea from him...... I want to give raw an honest go and not flip back to kibble or feed kibble with raw (although admittedly I'm on the fence to not feed him raw exclusively). In regards to food change for Batmom = I'm going to consider replacing the pork belly in his diet with chicken. We are only 3 solid weeks in to the raw feeding introduction, so I need to be a little slow with replacing his diet to see if it will work, but now that I'm over 3 weeks it presents itself with a good option.

He's fine! He still had a case of hacking for our evening walk but this morning it's gone. It takes a while obviously for all the swelling to go down. I'm so mad at my stupidity and forgetfulness and not being able to put 2 and 2 together sooner. He had to suffer for 12 hours.....cause I was dumb.... He did have a lot of trouble trying to pee at 9pm. He usually has a bit of difficulty the day he gets pred, but yesterday was sorta bad. He walked really really slow, and he tried to pee umpteen times. He also looked a bit faint at times, but he held up ok. I think the pepto and gas-x might have done a number on his system, plus he had been "short of breath" all day which I'm sure didn't help. We won't be walking him with a collar to choke him for the next couple days, and only have him on a harness so his throat can recover. He is older and walks really well on leash, so he should be fine in a couple days. I'm happy that it isn't a raw connection, since what is happening with Ryder and his bile is frustrating enough.