Tommy Coyote

One of my customers has 2 ancient hunting dogs with many health issues.  He gives both of them a few drops of Hemp Oil every day.  He swears it helps. 

I bought a bottle of American Shaman CBD oil for my older dog that has arthritis and noise problems.  I couldn't tell that it made any difference at all. 

The working dogs that I have seen on Ranch Dog are going for $500.  These are nicely bred working dogs.  An ad just came over for cow dogs that are merled.  

My dog has epilepsy.  Don't panic.  

My vet won't put on daily meds ( phenol barbitol) until they have 3 seizures in a month.  But then Joey had 2 seizures  in one morning so we put him on meds.  Cluster seizures are a lot harder to deal with.  Most seizures seem to start about 1 or 2 in the morning when the dog is in deep sleep.  About 6% of dogs have seizures so you are not alone.

The first 2 years he didn't have any more episodes but here lately he has had some very minor break through seizures where his head kind of bobbles up and down for a few seconds and then he snaps out of it.  He has also had 2 grand mal seizures about 6 weeks apart.  We still haven't changed his meds.  Vet said they kind of expect there to be some episodes.  They can't control it 100%.  I used to get really scared by his episodes but now I know to just grab him and hold on until it stops.  He screams which is awful but harmless.  Stiffens up and shakes and froths.  Then he just kind of collapses and is quiet.  And then he snaps out.  At first he is very confused but he comes back around really quickly and then is just fine again.  It is scary but the dog is unconscious and not in any pain.

He has good quality of life.  He is very active.  He is also kind of needy and wants to be with me most of the time.  I don't know if that is from the phenol barbitol or if that is just him.

There are several meds that people use now.  So if one doesn't do the trick then they try another one.  Or they can use more than one.

I made the mistake of going out on some epilepsy support boards on Facebook.  Don't do that.  Some dogs are in really bad shape and that was too depressing for me.  We just take one day at a time.

There are some ongoing trials with CBD oil that look promising.  Giving CBD oil can affect the other daily medicine so you need to be careful.  And it is very expensive.  I am afraid to try it for Joey until I get the ok from my vet.  I think you need to have more bloodwork done to be sure the level of the phenol barbitol stays below the toxic level.I haven't heard about the thyroid thing before so when we do his yearly bloodwork I will have them check that.  Some people have had luck with melatonin (just be sure it doesn't have xylotol in it).  That had no effect on Joey.  Also, some people say that if you put a cold pack on the dogs shoulders it shortens the seizure.  I haven't tried that but I have a bag of frozen peas I can use.  And they get really hungry when they come out and vanilla ice cream seems to help get them cooled off.  Their body temp goes high with a seizure.

Sue, call and talk to your vet.  Grand mal siezures in old dogs are not epilepsy.   Something is causing those siezures.   The seizures are a symptom of some other problem. 

The vet might be able to give you something that can help.  Melatonin sometimes helps.  sometimes diet can help.

I think it is a good sign that she isn't having them very often.  

I have always crate trained my puppies just for their own protection.  Little puppies have to be watched every second if they are out.  My dogs like their crates.   They get fed there.  And sometimes I need to put them up if repair people are in the house.

They are never in for very long.  If I am home they are out.  They don't bother anything now but they would have when they were younger.

You could try melatonin.  Just be sure and read the ingredients to make sure there is no xylitol. 

I get ads for puppies from Ranch World.  They look like really good working cattle and sheep dogs.  And the prices are really reasonable.  The ones I have seen were $300 or $400.

I don't know if the breeders sell to nonworking homes. 

It looked like they had really good working dogs.

I just read another article and they were still saying to watch out for exotic ingredients and foods made with pea meal, legumes and potatoes.   

She is.  Just Google her name and lots if stuff comes up.  One of the things is a nutritional study funded by Purina. 

That doesn't mean she is wrong but I would expect bias.   

What rang a bell was her statement that reading ingredients is not an accurate picture of how good the food is.  I have always heard the opposite.

I am trying to find more info on this vet.  I think she may be the one that is a shill for the big pet food companies.  They are in direct competition with the smaller boutique companies that sell these exotic foods as well as companies selling raw food diets. She is the one that says cking ingredients is a waste of time.  She  is associated with Purina and they are funding a study at Tufts.  

The last I heard was to ck the first 5 ingredients and make sure they don't include pea meal, peas, legumes or potatoes.  

I have never fed grain free.  I just feed Fromm regular food for weight control.  

I don't have a computer and what I can get on my phone is limited sonetimes.

Thank you

I keep getting notices on my Google and I can tell they they trial in the big ones but I can't find a name.

Aw shoot.   I was worried because he wasn't posting nearly as much as he used too.  He was just such a great guy.  I read Nop's Trials many years ago.  Great writer, too.

Miss you Geezer.  God speed.  

It amazes me how many people have little tiny dogs that use a doggie door.  I know it's handy but I sure wouldn't risk it.

There was a case where a hawk tried to pick up a 25 pound French bulldog.   The dog got loose but he was really hurt.  It had these horrible deep lacerations. 

When I'm taking care of those little guys I always stay with them.

Just be sure the melatonin you use does not have xylitol in it.  Some brands include it and it is very toxic to dogs.

I read ip on this not long ago.  Avacado is very toxic to birds and some animals.  The flesh and skins are not toxic to dogs. 

The pit is what is dangerous for dogs.   It can cause obstruction.

Young, growing dogs can have little patches like that.  The stress of growing lets the demodectic mange mites that all dogs carry cause some problems .  Spots are often around the eyes, or on feet and legs.  It usually resolves by itself in about 6 weeks.  The meds take for parasites often clear it up.

I would ck with your vet so she can do a scaping to be sure that is what it is.   And as long as it does not spread too far I would just watch it.  Several of my young dogs have had that stuff.

Your vet can tell you what to watch for.

I cut this out to put on the fridge. 

No.  It was in yesterday's paper.  Dogs going to heaven.  

I don't know how to put the link out here from my phone.

go out and see this cartoon this morning 

I do what GL does.   A crate in my bedroom where they can hear me and the other dogs.  

Having an epileptic dog myself I agree with you.  I am too selfish about the welfare of Joey to risk something like that.

Thank you 

Good Grief. 

I honestly don't see what your beef is.   No one here is telling you how to breed.  We don't have any control over the hundreds of dogs being bred for venues other than working.  If it isn't illegal do what you want.  

Or is your beef with the registry? It is a registry for working sheepdogs.  There are still a lot of people like me and others on this board who want to make sure there is always a core of good working sheepdogs so that the working ability is retained.  The only people that really know how to do that are people with years of experience breeding, training, and working these dogs.   The bar is set high because it needs to be .  If someone needs a good reliable sheepdog a dog with only bits and pieces of working instinct just won't be able to do the job.

There are tons of dogs being bred for pets, or obedience or sports.  They aren't concerned with preserving the working sheepdog.  And the working ability is being lost pretty rapidly in those populations.  Only takes a couple of generations.

You need to do what is best for you.  And we will continue to do what is best to preserve a high level of available working dogs.