Itching and Sratching
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Welcome to the forum 
I had a similar problem with one of mine, and even though I thought she was getting plenty of exericse we now think it simply wasn't enough for *her* Each dog's needs are different, and while my other two oes were content with the amount of exercise they were getting, my youngest girl was not. We've made a lot of changes in her lifestyle to hopefully abolish the chewing, and so far so good. It has been about 6 weeks since she has chewed. The problem with knowing if we have actually remedied the problem is that she only did it once in a while, chewed off a lot of leg coat, and then didn't do it again for 3,4 or more weeks. Seemed to be out of the blue, unpredictable. Anyway, more exercise for her, most importantly play time with my other dogs, off leash, seems to have helped. |
| Good luck with the food change, we have changed a few
foods before finding success. But the wrinkle is also the enviroment. Our hot humid weather has put more pollens and irritants in the air. We are treating an eye infection because of that currently. Try washing his paws with plain water and drying throughly. If its an irritation from the grass it may help. Stay cool, your weather is rolling in to the East Coast so we are bracing ourselves for a hot days ahead. Best wishes and welcome to the forum! |
Good luck with Haratio I hope the chewing settles down and welcome to the forum too 
Keep them busy to take there minds off chewing sometimes it is a boredom thing that they do it. A change in the diet might also help too, a more low allergenic type of Kibble. If you are changing brands do it slowly so not to upset his system. There is some wonderful Low allergenic Kibble on the market, lamb, duck, turkey &, fish based that seems to help, also look for a Kibble that does not have wheat or corn ingredients in it as they have been associated with allergy triggers as well. I am sure there is members on this forum that can recommend some brands of Kibble to try. I have a sheepie girl that had reactions to anything containing beef or wheat so I avoid that now and it took a long time to work out what her triggers were. She is on a Kibble that is fish based and occassionally has one that is Turkey based so no problems for years. |
Willowsprite wrote: We've made a lot of changes in her lifestyle to hopefully abolish the chewing, and so far so good.
That's great news, Stacey!! 
Frank's been really itchy with his summer cut to a point that he has scabs here & there. We went from being completely fine with him in coat & then the next day immediately he started scratching. I immediately bathed him after shaving, so I'm kind of ruling out ingrown hairs. There are not any signs of dander so I'm apprehensive about putting him on a supplement. He's on flea preventative & there are no signs. Don't know if it's just his coat growing in or maybe mosquito bites. Just wanted to also add that some dogs are allergic to flea bites even if it's just from one. |
| Hello there and welcome! It could be a lot of things, and obviously you're doing the right thing by checking out all your options. For a good food allergy recom. try Flint River variety. Although I personally haven't had a dog with allergies, this has helped several dogs I know immensely. It is shippped directly to your door and is generally cheaper than the allergy dog food you can get at your vets. Maybe a temporary fix to the chewing would be to keep plenty of kong-like toys around to chew on or my personal favorite: ice cubes. We had a foster once who liked to lick and chew her paws - if we kept plenty of ice available she was distracted enough by it not to chew! Good luck and let us know what happens!!!! |
| Purina ProPlan makes a salmon base "Sensitive Skin and Stomachs" formula. 5 of my 6 dogs have been on it for several months now and it agrees with all of them.
While waiting to see if the food switch will help your sheepie, you might also consider running a true hepa air purifier, a dehumidifier if it's damp/humid, vacuuming often and washing bedding often too. I have two sheepies with allergies to dust mites and molds that are receiving allergy shots so I've been through the foot licking/chewing (white fur will turn a pinkish color if it's intense), head scratching, ear infections thing before. Both of mine are allergic to molds and dust mites... it wasn't a food allergy. If you don't see results, you might also ask your vet about an antihistamine (Tavist... just plain, no letters after it... works for us), fatty acid supplements, shampoos and rinses, etc. that can also help alleviate symptoms. Jaci |
| thanks for all of your input... we took Horatio to the vet for his itching (again!)... turns out the vet has made his best educated guess and diagnosed him with sarcoptic mange (aka scabies). from our research it seems as though it is transferred from dog to dog... i guess in our quest to socialize him, he may have gotten this from meeting other dogs. The vet gave him a shot of Ivermectin. We have been researching mange and the treatment further and it turns out that OES's (and other herding dogs) can have adverse effects from the treatment. Have any of you have experience with mange and the treatment? |
HoratiotheOES wrote: The vet gave him a shot of Ivermectin. We have been researching mange and the treatment further and it turns out that OES's (and other herding dogs) can have adverse effects from the treatment. Have any of you have experience with mange and the treatment?
Some dogs in the herding breed category have been found to carry a gene that predisposes them to an adverse reaction to Ivermectin. There is a test that can be done to find out if your dog carries the gene, but it may be too late, now. |
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