trinabean

Run free darling Nelsson

You and Evie are in my thoughts ari.g, I know you will both be missing him terribly.

He reached a grand age for a Boxer, but still, it is never long enough..

Trina - I think I know your friend....and may have met you...

Are you a boxer breeder? Did you come to WA earlier this year for the Rugaas seminar?

If not ignore me haha!

Chewy loves racing with Poppy :) Much more fun with a friend!

Tibbie_tabbie I'm not a breeder and sadly didn't attend the seminar but the friend who lure-courses did.

She is a rather awesome Boxer breeder. It sounds like you've met. :D

Yes I saw this today too, very exciting indeed :) Unfortunately non Sighthounds apart from Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Basenjis can't compete for Lure Coursing Titles, but they can obtain Coursing Ability titles.

eta link to the rules http://www.qldsighth...s-proposed.html

I'd encourage anyone to have a go, it's a great fun sport and certainly in our club in WA all breeds are welcome and have a great time :)

This is Poppy and Chewy running as a pair at our most recent meet.

It looks like so much fun CC. Friends of mine are regulars at the West Coast lure coursing, mainly running Boxers (plus the odd Frenchie or Rotti added to the mix). I keep meaning to take Bruno for a try, haven't made it there yet.

Oh, I'm so sorry Pheebs.

Run free and without pain Lucy...

Sas, I will reply properly later, once I've looked through Bruno's vet records. For the life of me, I can't remember exactly when he was first implanted with Suprelorin.

Not a giant breed I know, so not sure how useful my info will be.

A very belated Happy Gotcha Day to Ziggy!

Such a happy handsome boy. Love the feet on coffee table/ blurry tail photo. :laugh:

Love the photos and captions Kirislin.

In particular, I love princess bulldog and the seriously big dogs.

Friends used to live on a large boat - they had the most amazing GSD .. perfect .... he loved everyone , enjoyed visitors /kids , anyone . EXCEPT when he was 'on duty' One night two young fellas decided to rob the boat. Fine ..they got on ... gained entry to a room ... and that's where they were when the owners found them Scared absolutely witless - one bitten ..and quite happy for the nice policemen to take them away . That was His way ..yep - His boat was a bit like the Hotel California . "check in any time you like, but you can never leave"

:laugh: That's fantastic Perse, good dog!

I will be investigating this. Two stockists (according to the website) near me.

I am really battling to get Danny to eat anything more than once or twice. I've never had such a variety of dogs food in the cupboards and refrigerator.

Strangely enough, his weightloss seems to be arrested, but how, I don't know. He doesn't seem to be eating enough to keep a dog 1/2 his size going. He is 5.5kgs at the moment. Has spent most of his life around 6kgs+ and a couple of weeks ago dropped to 5.2kgs.

The results of his stomach biopsies were inconclusive .... non-specific gastritis

Anyway thanks so much for this link Trinabean; I hope Bruno continues to do well.

Oh, poor Danny.

Thanks DDD, I really hope Bruno continues to do well too. Nice to have a win for once!

I just found where I can purchase Natural Balance, at the vets just up the rd from me, 5 doors up, unbelievable he's not my dogs vet, the only thing Im worried about with the Delicate care Skin the Fiber is 6% max fiber I think my boy doesnt do too well on high fiber diets, how many poos a day is ur boy doing on the Delicate skin....Patch only does 2 poos a day on the Intestinal low residue kibble as its a low fiber diet 1.70% so the bowel doesnt over work...I suppose we'll have to try another kibble, it has no potatoes or peas, so thats a start, just wonder if it digest easy having sorghum in it, I've read that sorghum is hard to digest for dogs with IBD.

If he does well on a food I wouldn't rotate it, I would let his gut settle as he is less likely to have flair ups and only change if necessary.

I agree OSoSwift, I have learnt to introduce new food very gradually to Bruno. And if I find something that works I stick to it. Unfortunately because I tried to give him a wide and varied diet when I was raw-feeding him, I was left with very few options for novel meats and carbs when he has had to go on elimination diets. For Bruno's gut, change is the enemy. :laugh:

Trinabean is very lucky that she lives on the other side of the country from me :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: otherwise, I'd be on her doorstep ready to plant a big fat kiss on her nose.

I phoned Asquith Vets on Pacific Highway (near Hornsby) to check they stocked Natural Balance and I collected a sample this afternoon. The sample is a fair sized package so I will be able to see over the next few days how Danny tolerates it and whether he keeps eating it.

Although Danny has now eaten the first decent sized meal in days. :thumbsup:, I am fully expecting him to do the usual trick of refusing it the next time I give it to him .

I had to hold a kibble piece in his mouth to get him started - of course the other dogs were wolfing it down as I gave them just a piece each in turn. I held his mouth closed and when I released it, he just spat the kibble out. Then, halleluljah, he ate it. I then gave him a small bowl and he ate happily.

And then, he raced around the house almost back to his old self. I guess he was no longer starving and his tummy and gut are settling down with all the medications.

Everything crossed!!

Crossing fingers and paws for you and Danny that he eats it again and it agrees with him DDD.

I'm really glad he's eaten something for you, it must have been very stressful having him so sick lately.

Bruno reckons his nose is far superior and more kissable! :laugh:

Thanks Trinabean.

My dog is doing well on TOTW so far, (she's only 6kg so even a 2kg bag lasts a while lol). I will certainly try again to track some Natural Balance down locally.

Oh that's good news. I'm going to keep TOTW in mind for the future.

I just found where I can purchase Natural Balance, at the vets just up the rd from me, 5 doors up, unbelievable he's not my dogs vet, the only thing Im worried about with the Delicate care Skin the Fiber is 6% max fiber I think my boy doesnt do too well on high fiber diets, how many poos a day is ur boy doing on the Delicate skin....Patch only does 2 poos a day on the Intestinal low residue kibble as its a low fiber diet 1.70% so the bowel doesnt over work...I suppose we'll have to try another kibble, it has no potatoes or peas, so thats a start, just wonder if it digest easy having sorghum in it, I've read that sorghum is hard to digest for dogs with IBD.

Hi Sueang, sorry I haven't been back to the thread for a day or so. To answer your poo question, Bruno does 2 relatively small poos a day on this food, morning and evening. I don't know much about IBD but Bruno has been treated for ulcerative histiocytic colitis (aka 'Boxer colitis') in the past. He was prescribed a 6-8 week course of Baytril, low residue food and additional fibre (Metamucil/ psyllium husks) to treat that. So fibre is good for Bruno. IBD may differ from Colitis though, so maybe chat to your vet? So far, the sorghum seems ok for Bruno. :)

So, an update is that Bruno is continuing to do well on the new food. I've gone the whole hog and bought a 15kg bag now, so fingers crossed he continues to be ok on it.

He's possibly less itchy than normal and, for all those that appreciate a fine poo, the output is small and firm. Small, firm poos are almost unheard of here, so I'm cautiously optomistic!

And Animallover99 I sent an email to the Natural Balance office in Fremantle asking about Canberra stockists of the Delicate Care-skin and stomach food. They replied that they had phoned to Northside Veterinary Centre and 'while they don't have room to keep stock they will order it in on request and should also be able to provide a small sample so that your friend can test if the dog likes it.' So maybe give that clinic a call to see if they can get you a sample? The sample I got from my vet was a decent size. I hope this helps. :)

Wow, that year went fast! Happy birthday Ronin. Such a handsome Husky!

Can you suggest any fish based dog foods (without chicken, beef or lamb) Dave-o?

Taste of the Wild - Pacific Stream... this was the best kibble my dog was on before I switched to raw feeding. :)

Thanks Yonjuro, I'll keep that one in mind for the future. We haven't tried TOTW. :)

[

They're simple ingredients which is likely the reason your dog's doing well on it. Normally I don't recommend Natural Balance as all their foods are very grain heavy, and the bulk of the protein in this food will come from the sorghum. Kangaroo digest isn't pleasant either.

Did you try any fish-based kibbles, grain free?

Yes, one was Canidae pure sea (grain free). Oh, the foods that we've tried over the years. Off the top of my head we've also tried:

Royal Canin Hypoallergenic

Holistic Select- anchovy

Ziwipeak -venison (good food but we tried it at a terrible time, there was a risk of cross-reaction with his beef allergy. Dermatologist switched us onto another elimination diet)

Royal Canin- Boxer

Hills-ZD

VAN (Dr Bruce was always very helpful, but we found Bruno was not ok with oats).

Raw diet, various meats tried for about 18 months. I wanted to feed raw dammit!

Various elimination diets: kangaroo and sweet potato, goat and barley, goat and quinoa...

There are more but I won't go on. Please note, I'm not knocking any of these foods, many just didn't work for Bruno (apart from the cooked elimination diets, and one of those caused him to lose an unacceptable amount of weight).

He's a tough case as he has food and environmental triggers, so sometimes it's hard to work out exactly what is causing symptoms. I'd happily give Ziwipeak a go again, just need to wait until winter, when his seasonal allergies settle down.

I just thought I'd share our experience with this food as it's rare that we find anything that works. And that Bruno will willingly eat. :)

i can so relate to the poop issue! With one of my dogs our early morning walk and inevitable 'output quality' determines my mood for the day!! Good solid poops is a good day for me .

This food looked great until i saw the ingredients..... my dog is sensitive to chicken, kangaroo and eggs . Bugger!! would have loved to spend my money on a locally made food but so far RC Sensitivity is our only option. Have also tried some of the American fished-based ones (think one was Earthborn) but he did not do well on that either.

So many foods that appear to not contain chicken still use "chicken fat". Supposedly they say it is only the protein component that dogs react to but not sure if that is the case with my boy.

Hi Seregil, which food type did you look at? I noticed some of their other foods contained 'poultry digest' and lamb (which are both itch-inducing for Bruno) but the skin and stomach range contains none as far as I can see.

The ingredients list for the skin and stomach kibble is:

Whole Sorghum, Australian Kangaroo, Australian Duck, Kangaroo Digest, Omega Magic^TM Essential Oil Blend, FOS (Fructo-Oligo-Saccharides), Yeast Extracts, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamins A D3 E K3 B1 B2 B3 B5 B6 B12, Folic Acid, Biotin, Copper (from Sulphate), Copper Chelate, Zinc (from Sulphate), Zinc Chelate, Manganese (from Oxide), Manganese Chelate, Iron (from Sulphate), Iron Chelate, Selenium, Iodine and Calcium. Product protected by natural mixed tocopherols (Vitamin E) and rosemary extract.

I hope this helps. :)

Eta: Oops, I just re-read your post and kangaroo is a problem for your dog, bummer!

Oh wow, I wasn't expecting so many replies to this thread. I will come back and reply properly later, but in answer to your questions English.ivy and Juice, I think the 15kg bag was about $130. We tried a free sample bag first, and then a 3kg bag (about $40). So it's much more economical to buy the big bag.

And English.ivy I bought it from Applecross vet hospital, but there seem to be a lot of stockists listed in WA if that's not close to you:

Delicate care - skin and stomach (WA stockists)

Their website has stockists listed for each state too.

Had a quick look at their website trinabean. Like the look of tje sensitive skin variety for my guys as they both have different issues but aren't able to have wheat,soy,corn or grain.

Please keep us posted as to how your boy goes on this product. Will follow with interest :)

So far, so good BC Crazy. Finger crossed Bruno continues to do well on it. I'm almost ready to commit to a big bag of it. We're on our 2nd 3kg bag as I'm a pessimist who has learnt from past mistakes (go the bulk pack and you jinx things!) Of course, as Murphy's Law dictates, I discover this food just after spending $100 importing vitamin supplements to balance the home made diet.

Just seeing how you are going with the new diet?

Going well, thanks for asking English.ivy, and I'm surprised as we've never had success with commercial food in the past. I've switched very gradually (10 days) over to the new food as Bruno has a sensitive gut. I'm so happy as he seems to be less itchy than he was on the home-prepared elimination diet, and is doing small, firm poos (this dog has hardly done a solid poo in his life).I know that doesn't sound super exciting, but it has been such a long road for Bruno with frequent bouts of colitis, terrible itchy skin and ears, and a poor appetite. It's so good to see him eating and thriving. He has gained some much needed weight too.

Wow! When i get my little girls allergies/immune system back under control we will give this a try

Thanks for sharing ????????

It might be worth a try animallover99. My dog has been on an elimination diet for months before trying this food. My vet noted that many dogs who had been on a novel protein/ novel carb elimination diet beforehand, were able to transition well onto this food. He is skeptical about some of the well known prescription diets that are sold through his clinic (and my dog first became really itchy while on one of the prescription foods, for a gut issue). I wish you well with your girl, it can be a tough journey with allergies and immune system problems.

So many sad faces.

I'm loving the Griffon sad face Alibi, and the flower pot dog does look awkward and sad JulesP. :laugh:

This is one of Bruno's many sad faces. This is his 'Oh, you're eating ice cream, and not dropping any" face:

New vet! What are ABs going to do for parasite??

I second this, get another opinion. It seems odd to prescribe AB's for a parasite? Poor Bon, I hope you get an answer soon.

Horrible!

My dog has numerous food and environmental allergies and we have never been able to find a suitable commercial food for him. Through elimination diets and testing we know that he can't tolerate many ingredients in commercial dog food (chicken, beef, lamb, amongst other things). Much to my dismay, raw is not the answer, and he is even terrible on the so-called 'hypo-allergenic' prescription diets.

I had resigned myself to a lifetime of preparing a prescribed homecooked diet for him, and importing a US supplement to balance it. It's a labour intensive process, made more difficult at the moment as I am juggling family responsibilites in 2 states. Over the years I've wished for a commercially available, suitable food, even just as an emergency back up. My vet gave me a trial pack of a locally made kibble that he felt was worth a try. The main ingredients are Australian sorghum, kangaroo and duck, so not the usual problem ingredients for us.

I'm surprised, and cautiously optomistic, but so far so good. Bonus points too, because my normally disinterested eater (who has always avoided eating kibble) loves it. :)

Just thought I'd share in case anyone else has issues with some of the more common dog food ingredients like chicken, beef, lamb, corn or wheat.

Delicate Care-skin or stomach

Stan is 6 and still squats, I go through quite a lot of baby wipes.

Your boy is gorgeous.

My boy once cocked his leg, peed and pooped all at the same time. Pee got everywhere but it was a sight to behold

My 10yo Cavalier boy squats to pee at home and pees on his front white leg but when we're out walking he puts his big boy pants on and hikes his leg so high against trees that he almost falls over. He stands so close to the tree that I'm surprised he doesn't get splinters in his doodle.

These 3 posts just cracked me up.

Merle Miss your boy is just gorgeous. My Boxer didn't cock his leg until he was about 12 months old. Even now, at 3 1/2 he often squats in the backyard, only cocking his leg in public places. He makes a point of cocking his leg in front of the 2 houses where he has been rushed by the resident dog on the loose, in the past. Looks them in the eye (they are safely behind a fence thankfully) and pees on their turf. Silly bugger.

Hoping the old girl can be kept comfortable too Maddy. Just thought of another thing, even as Bruno's ear lump grew bigger, it didn't seem to be painful at all. Not sure if that's helpful at all. Just an observation about his MCT.

How's the old girl going Maddy? Any results back yet on the biopsies and X-ray? I wonder if some of the mass is swelling? I seem to recall our vet saying that MCT's release histamines.

My Boxer had a MCT removed from his ear a year ago. It wasn't as large as your girl's lump. It was maybe 1.5 cm diameter, a hard circular lump. It was grade 2 with dirty margins. If it returns Bruno will lose his ear.

We've just had a new lump on his thigh aspirated today, hopefully it's nothing. Waiting for the pathology results is the worst part I think.

Hopefully you will get some answers soon. Best of luck for the old girl.