Puppy Training Techniques

Poor Ranger, she must be miserable! I encourage to get a copy of this month’s Whole Dog Journal… and start keeping notes. When is she most itchy, what does she eat, what’s the daily pollen count, etc. The more information you have, the better you will be able to sort out the cause.

As much as I like raw , I’m not a big fan of Nature’s Variety. It’s expensive and they add a multi-vitamin supplement, which is typically synthetic stuff from China. One of the less expensive and “simple” pre-made raw foods is Oma’s Pride (my husband has recently become a distributor for them). However, because of what’s going on I’m going to suggest a more “square one” approach first.

Ranger needs you “clean up” her world as much as possible. I would thoroughly clean the house (vacuum, damp mop with just water, wash all dog bedding and extra rinse, etc.). Change your furnace filters and keep doors and windows closed for the week. Wash both dogs. She is to have no flea or heart worm meds, no commercial treats, no processed foods.

Fast Ranger for 24-48 hours (but give lots of water), then give her very simple raw meals for one week… one protein and one starchy veg, like chicken and sweet potato (if you can, I would opt for organic meat for this test, bony pieces are fine). No supplements or fish oil (while generally good, some dogs are itchy with fish oil and the balance of fatty acids matters). Just as basic as can possibly be for a full week.

Your goal is to get her itching under control by removing as many potential allergens as possible. I would also give her 3 doses of the homeopathic remedy, Nux Vomica 30c, 12 hours apart. This helps clear toxins out of the body. If you succeed in getting her feeling better by week’s end, then we can discuss where to go from there.

Our small golden mutt, Ranger, has been biting and scratching her whole
body a lot lately and we are noticing red areas on her skin. We are
suspecting allergies but we don’t know the source or whether it really
is allergies.

Nothing has changed in her diet or environment. She seems to be eating
grass more lately but of course we try to stop her. She is on flea and
tick
preventatives so we are assuming bugs are not the problem.

Her vet suggested we give her Benadryl (1.5 tablets every 8 hours–she
is
about 40 pounds) and we have been doing so but it doesn’t seem to be
helping.

We are planning to go to the vet to have tests done.

I personally always thought dogs scratched and bit themselves as a way of
> cleaning themselves. I scratch myself so I never thought this was a problem
> My wife spends more time with the dogs and she said for several months
> Ranger has bee scratching more than usual. Looking at Ranger this morning
> we see that she is wet from licking and biting.
>
> We are feeding raw and have been for about a year. Mainly Nature’s Variety
> raw and cuts of raw red meat. She only likes certain flavors or Natures
> Variety and we keep her away from chicken because it seems to give her bad
> stool.
>
> Both dogs have been on the same flea/tick preventative since pups (they are
> going on 2 years of age) which is Vectra 3D. We very rarely bath them
> because we do not want to diminish the effectiveness of the Vectra 3D.
>
> We are extremely careful about cleaning products and usually use water. We
> use no air fresheners.

Here’s my problem. About a week ago we were having one of our walks. Within
what now seems like a split second, a man with a dog jogged within sight. I
didn’t see Garth running to to greet them. I had the leash around my wrist.
When he got to the end of the leash (still not very close to the jogger) I
went flying through the air and did a very hard belly flop on the hard
ground. I may even have passed out for a few seconds; the next thing I knew
Garth was sitting near me and I was in extraordinary pain all around my
midsection and couldn’t move for a few minutes. Fortunately nothing was
broken and I managed to make my way back home. I guess my ribs are pretty
bruised since it’s still painful to move, but my biggest concern is that I
haven’t taken Garth out for a walk for a week (he has ample time in our
backyard with his bf our other poodle). And, I don’t know whether I can use
the 20 foot leash he enjoys so much again. As alert as I try to be, it seems
impossible to be 100%. I am hoping y’all have some advice for me so that
when i feel better we can resume our long-leash walks. By the way, there are
NO dog parks anywhere near me that I can take him to instead.

My something pound 3 year old German Shepherd pulled me over on some black ice
(on a 15 foot lead) and i’ve been recovering from a rotator cuff tear (unable
to type for some time)……I used to walk him on a 30 foot lead hoping to give
him extra exercise because I can’t let him off lead……but as Cricket said -
he got up WAY to much speed and dropped me too many times.
What I’ve been doing is walking him – on the 15 foot lead – but having REALLY
yummy treats with me – and breaking his interest in the environment with games -
like a collar grab and release- or just simply saying his name and rewarding him
for coming to me….I even bring his favorite toy and put it in my pocket and
show it to him when he least expects it. Working really hard to be more
interesting in the environment – but then rewarding him sometimes with sniffing
trees, etc. I’ve seen a change in him and now he is beginning to always have an
“ear” out to see if I will be starting a game that ends up in a liver treat.
He’s pulling less.
It’s a lot of work trying to be more interesting than a running rabbit

Wow…how sad. You don’t usually see the other end of the spectrum like this. There was another dog in England, a Rottweiler, on a show on Animal Planet. The owner fed her dog on enough meat from the butcher to feed a whole family. That dog looked like it weighed 200lbs+. Sad thing was, the owner felt there was nothing wrong with the dog…who could only waddle, and looked like a pig being fattened for slaughter.