Stitch

One of my dogs has a phobia whenever our ride on mower, grass blower or electric edger is used. If I am inside he sticks to me like glue and appears really quite nervous/frightened. I know he has never been actually scared by any of these things and when they are being operated I don't make a big deal of his reaction - actually I just ignore his behaviour but ignoring it isn't helping at all. He has had this phobia for quite a while now and I would say that it is getting slightly worse as time goes by. It is interesting to note that he isn't a bit scared of the neighbours ride on mower and actually barks and has attitude towards it. Anyone have an insight into why he has this kind of behaviour and how, if possible, can I help to reduce it??? Without mower = normal, happy, outgoing dog! With mower = scared, shaking, unhappy dog! Wish I could fix it!!!

I totally agree with Miranda!!! It is an amazing thing that feeding dogs on a diet that nature intended them to eat actually improves their health and their dinner isn't highly processed and doesn't naturally come from a bag or can! Try feeding raw all natural foods - dogs love them!!

Took dog to vet this afternoon and was very pleasantly surprised. Vet was really nice, thorough and very pleasant plus found out that the new surgery is owned by a prominent vet specialist! Yeah!!!! Vet took a sticky tape sample of nose end (ouch) and looked at it under microscope. Bacterial infection diagnosed at this stage - Clavulox & Neotopic Ointment. Working on the theory that a grazed nose has become infected. If that doesn't work then they will take a biopsy - so lets hope it doesn't get to that stage. I am going to get some of that PawPaw ointment though - it sounds great! Thank you all for your ideas - much appreciated!

Thank you very much for that JayGee. I will get some of that ointment today. Did your dogs nose look scraped in just a few areas, and those areas were red raw and wheepy - not cracked but scraped?? How does white zinc go on areas that are open? They are not big areas but they look sore! The nose looks a little swollen too and very dry in the areas that are not open. We live in a rural area and there are lots of things that dogs can be allergic to. It will be interesting to see what the vet says as I am trying a new local vet so I don't have to travel so far to go to my old vet. I do hope his experience stretches beyond giving immunisations and minor surgery - awful to say that but unfortunately too few of them seem to be able to diagnose accurately!

I have no experience with Collie nose. I have had experience with the pigmentation getting paler mainly in winter. Can you give me more info?

I have found Livamol to be absolutely fantastic to improve coat condition. I have a Dobe with skin problems especially in summer and Livamol makes a BIG difference. Boosting the immune system allows the skin to cope with environmental challenges.

It started off as a dry nose that looked like it had been grazed on the end. The nose was slightly swollen and looked sore. I have noticed that the dogs occasionally get a sore nose which I have always put down to injury caused by them occasionally burying something they wanted to save till later and I usually just apply some antibiotic cream a few times and it gets better. However almost as quick as I apply the cream it naturally gets licked off and this time it is not improving. How do you treat this kind of thing? It has two small red raw spots on the end that look like the black skin has been scraped off I am taking the dog to the vet tomorrow afternoon but I was wondering if anyone else has come across this type of thing as I am inclined to think that it may not be an injury but rather an allergy or something else???? Can anyone help??

You can get grooming arms or frames. I prefer the grooming frames so I can have a head noose at one end and a body noose at the other. You have greater control over the dog and can therefore get the job done quicker and easier. Frames have a vertical bar attached to both sides of the table with a horizontal bar joining them and are adjustable in 2 directions. Arms can have the noose and body lead attached to the end of the arm but frames are easier on the dog and give me more access to groom. If dogs are attached by the neck and the body it is much more difficult if not impossible for them to jump off and hurt themselves but then dogs should not be left unattended attached to a grooming arm. That is just asking for trouble.

Sorry to disagree but I have found that mucousy poos usually mean an upset gut. Try giving a bland diet for a few days and see if it settles down.

If you just feed raw mince then the calcium to phosphorous ratio will be unbalanced. Better to feed raw minced chicken frames or if you can't find a butcher or chicken place that will do that then feed the whole chicken carcass and let the dog do the mincing!! Sounds like you are getting stressed over this so it would be a good idea to stop ad hoc experimenting. Give the dog a break until dinner time, get some raw chicken necks today, wait until tonight before you feed it anything else and try giving the dog a few necks tonight. If he doesn't eat them remove them after 10 minutes but I think you will find they will be devoured quickly if there is nothing medically wrong with him. If you try to entice the dog by giving it one thing you will only confuse the situation. Eggs are good for the dog but at the moment you have a very confused dog that isn't eating properly and you have to get him used to eating what you give him and get him into a routine. Start off with the raw chicken necks and progress from there.

As a matter of interest, can I ask what you feed your 'oily' dog?

I have a Dobe that was diagnosed with the same condition. Because the immune system is compromised it is the skin that suffers because it is unable to cope with the various irritants that bombard it daily. I have found that skin conditions are always worse in the warmer weather however I found that it can be controlled to a degree with diet. I feed raw all natural but with this dog I have to also cut out any yeast in the diet plus a few other things. Wheat products of any sort need to be viewed with suspicion and definitely no artificial colourings or preservatives. I also found that Livamol added to the diet improved the coat condition noticeably and reduced and changed the appearance of the skin condition. I am still in the process of working through this problem but I am encouraged by the progress I have made so far as this dog lost 60% of its body coat 6mths ago. Immunisation, flea control treatments, heartworm medication also are suspect when it comes to compromising the immune system but I cannot say to what degree. Of course it is necessary to prevent heartworm and to control fleas but the immunisation side of things is something that can be reduced.

As t-time said there are many threads on picky eaters. Dogs get very stressed with a change of environment even though they might not show it and it shows in their eating routines. You should investigate feeding raw all natural foods as opposed to the yucky canned and dried variety of foods that only serve to put money in the pockets of the manufacturers and doesn't do you dog any good at all. You could give your dog say raw chicken necks in the morning and then of an evening give it raw minced chicken frames mixed with lots of raw veges, yoghurt, sardines, eggs, etc. - the combinations are endless. Just takes a bit of thinking outside the square - not just feeding what the dog food manufacturers have brainwashed dog owners into believing they must feed their dogs or the dogs will suffer. Your dog will shine with good health on a raw all natural diet. Try to stick to a routine - dogs love routines - and only put down the food for say 10minutes, if it is not eaten in that time take it away. Don't fuss over the dog not eating initially - just stick to the routine however I must say I haven't seen a dog that can refuse raw chicken necks or the raw all natural meals that I serve up.

I don't blame him for not eating canned and dry food! yuck!! How old is the dog/pup? How long have you had him?

As a matter of interest what do you feed her?? Perhaps she has a low grade urinary tract infection??

I have been feeding VAN to my dogs for quite a while now and they are doing really well on it. I mix it with minced raw chicken frames, sardines, yoghurt, eggs, etc. and it takes the place of having to prepare the fresh veges. I also feed them raw chicken necks, lamb flaps and they have liver, heart & kidney mixed in every so often. They have never been so healthy and happy - the poos are not smelly and are small! The BIG noticeable thing I found from feeding them VAN +RAN was that my senior citizen boy, who used to be Mr.Smelly regardless of how many times I washed him and suffered with itchy skin, totally changed into an itchfree happy dog that is now safe to touch ie. no more doggy smell!!! Prior to feeding VAN I used to feed them all a good quality premium dry dog food plus raw chicken necks, etc. - I now realise that it was the highly processed dry food that was not agreeing with my guys!! I really do recommend VAN especially when you work and don't have the time to spend preparing raw veges!

Instead of feeding chicken or beef muscle meat mince substitute minced chicken carcasses which are usually available at your friendly butcher. They either sell the carcasses whole or mince them and sell them as pet mince. (You will have to ask exactly what is in the pet mince though as you don't want things like left over frankfurts in there!!!) This will improve the calcium to phosphorus ratio and will probably be enough to solve the problem. You can also add in either raw veges or Vets All Natural rehydratable grain mixture. Eggs, sardines, etc. are all good, which is what you are already doing. Livamol supplement can be added if you wish or Value Plus Organic Vitamin & Mineral Powder. It is not necessary to feed the highly processed dog foods in order to get a 'balanced diet', you can get the balance right yourself feeding all natural raw foods.

Perhaps you might know it as Kelp Liquid??

Can anyone tell me what/why you would give your dog kelp water??? And also what the dose would be??

Try Cherrybrook!

Yes, as you say in big heavy dogs lying on hard surfaces. I have seen the equivalent of elbow pads put on dogs in an attempt to reduce inflammation. Perhaps you could make your own. It is very difficult to get dogs to sleep where you want them to rather than where they want to!!!!!!! Other than that and grasping at straws, maybe an allergic reaction to an environmental thing???

Apart from the digestive problems that may or may not occur by feeding raw and processed foods combined, it really defeats the purpose of trying to feed your dog a healthy alternative when you still feed it heavily processed food. Processed dogfood, regardless of brand is a real lucky dip. Manufacturers source the ingredients from all over the world including China. Hills has just gone through the big recall because of contamination in one of their ingredients. Really, how can you tell by looking at these pellets exactly what they have in them????????????? When you feed raw/all natural food you at least have some control over exactly what your best friend is eating. This subject has been discussed ad infinitum here and still the vast majority of dog owners don't feel confident to feed a natural/raw diet to their dogs. Perhaps it is also because of our busy lifestyles or because many still believe in the advertising that says the only way to guarantee that your dog is healthy is to feed 'our brand of dogfood'????????? Either way, the only way you are going to convince yourself that your dog will do better (and it WILL) on a raw/all natural diet is to try it!! But, hey, don't take my word for it - the proof is in the poos!!! (amongst other things!)

Last question - need a rule of thumb here. Blended veges - how much vege per 10kg of dog?? VAN is easy, doing it myself is new to me so I need some guidance. I would think 1/2 cup of vege to 300g mince meat mix - what do you think of that ratio?

Yes, I have got a bit slack with the offal recently - yuk! Will have to get back into giving that - again yuk! Every time I tried with the apple vinegar the dogs wouldn't eat it! Will enquire about the Silicea - sounds good!

Thank you all for that information. I will start immediately on the reforms to the diet. With regard to the veges. VAN does have dried veges in it along with the grains. Will include the raw eggs and will have to reorganise to do the veges myself, which when you work like I do can be a bit time consuming. Anyone got a good routine for vege preparation that I can copy????