Last Day of Rain Until The Weekend

Yes, it's rain drops I hear hitting the tree leaves outside my window as my eyes open. It's the same thing I heard when I shut the lights off last night.

I'm not sure what changed, because my routine didn't, but I had one of the best nights of sleep I've had in many months. Even the hounds did not move from their sleeping spots that they started in.

An hour later the rain was still coming down steady. One of those rains where it's straight down, no wind, and a gentle consistent pour. It was hard enough that neither hound went to the field. They barely got into the yard to pee with Heidi being the smartest by staying dry under the roof overhang.

So not much was done today ... I read books, the hounds slept and the rain never stopped coming down until after 1:30pm today.

Luckily for me and the hounds, by this afternoon the rain moved out of the area and we are looking at Wednesday and Thursday as sunny days before it starts raining again for the weekend. That puts my lawn care in an interesting position, one that I have had all summer.

The question is do you go ahead and cut the lawn while it's short ... kind of a trim ... or wait and get caught with the next round of rain that will make the lawn too tall to mow by the time it is dry enough to mow. I've found it's easier to cut it while it's short even if it's not ready to be cut.

We made a trip to town to buy a new 40# bag of dog food at the local feed store. That 40# normally lasts all 3 hounds 17 days but we will be a little short this time. I didn't find out until I opened the back door of the FJ to let Sadie and Stella out at the house.

While driving those short 2 miles, Stella had tore the bag of kibble open and had eaten a good portion of dog food without me realizing what had happened.  LOL ... never a dull moment with Stella ... still a puppy at 7 years old.

By early evening the sky let us know that sunshine is on the way for the next few days. I'll mow on Thursday after the yard spends two days drying out.

Nothing but rainbows here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Dog Food Analysis Again For Heidi

It turned out to be another beautiful day here in 'the tropics of Southern Indiana. I am not sure why but after getting up and staying up this morning the hounds never begged to go walking. They had breakfast and slept almost to the time of lunch.

During that time I started going back over my notes and spreadsheet where I have been tracking Heidi's skin issues, and what kind of food I was feeding her. I've been tracking that in a spreadsheet since last summer. She was doing pretty well and then a few days ago broke out bad enough that she was chewing her paws down inside her pads, scratching her armpits, skin became irritated.

Paws and armpits led me to believe she had a yeast infection ... although she did not have that yeasty smell nor did her ears have any yeast smell or infection. Reviewing some notes I took last year and some websites I saved I was reminded to keep her from eating grains, potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Well a lot of the grain free food I have been giving her had sweet potatoes. Then when I moved to Fromm and Diamond Naturals, those had grain but I knew that and was trying to put weight on her.

Then last night in the Bloodhound Group on Facebook that I follow, someone had posted photos of skin issues on their bloodhound that looked just like Heidi's neck. Multiple answers below were calling it a yeast infection. So from that I thought I was on the right track.

Here is the confusing part ... my spreadsheet shows her skin was the best these past 9 months when feeding her the Fromm for Large Breeds which has brown rice, oatmeal, but no potatoes. The times I fed her grain free food, the average rating for the month was not as good as when I was feeding her the Fromm food with grains but still below 3.

I rate her skin on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being the best.

Some notes I also logged on the sheet had "the best skin ever" ... but glancing a column over I saw that I was feeding her food with grains. So is it a yeast infection or is it because spring has arrived and the grass seeds and other plants are in the air?

This is nothing new ... I've asked all of the same questions before, over and over. Tested and used different foods, different treatments. After going back and forth most of the day I have decided to feed Heidi either Earthborn or Fromm Gold Adult.

I also need to stick with one kind of food instead of chasing her tail with different kinds while trying to find the one that works best for her skin. The 4 different vets I've seen over the past 18 months have different opinions on treatment and what food to feed.

I had someone ask me last night by email if Heidi's skin was normal above her rear legs. Actually that is normal Basset Hound skin but what makes it look so bad it is not covered by hair.

Here is the only photo I could find of her a few days after I brought her home in July 2011. You can see the folded skin on her rear hocks but they are covered with hair, as they should be. With her reputation of being "a runner" she was still being tethered whenever we went outside. It was not long afterward I found out that she didn't feel like keeping that reputation once she got here.

So mid-afternoon while Heidi slept in the sun on one of her favorite spots in the living room, Sadie, Stella and I jumped into the FJ for a trip to get Heidi's dog food. During the 30 minute drive I was still thinking which food to buy.

Between the email Fromm dog food sent me last spring about skin allergies, my previous notes and information I read this morning I decided to go with Earthborn Great Plains Feast (not affiliate link). With her thin build I want to build more muscle, hopefully some weight ... I also wanted:

• No grains
• No potatoes, no sweet potatoes
• No chicken or chicken meal
• I wanted a high percentage of fat and protein.

It is also the same blend of Earthborn dog food I bought last July for the first time. With 38% protein and 18% fat I am hoping that will put some weight on her. The 28# bag should last her almost 8 weeks. I plan to follow a suggestion and stay with this food for 16 weeks to completely cleanse her system of the dog food eaten in the past and will post updates.

Before that trip in the FJ though, we had our afternoon walk in fantastic weather. Stella was wandering at the back brush line when I came outside but when I started walking she came running toward Sadie and I. When I asked if they were ready for a walk, Sadie came trotting .. she was ready.

It was a pretty laidback walk, hardly any running yet they were panting a little bit with the temps finally over 70°.

I took some photos of the wooded area, plus what I call the gully, where I don't want Sadie or Stella running down to the bottom. That is a steep incline down through those trees.

This is the brush area where there seems to be a lot of deer traffic.

The base of those trees is still not the bottom of the gully as it curves to the left from where this photo is taken.

By the time we returned from the trip for dog food, Stella decided the best place to be was feeling the cool breeze and getting some more sunshine. She loves to ride and also lay in the sun.

I am happy the dog food decision is settled. With the $5 increase in price for the 28# bag it is still affordable for Heidi. I notice the recommended serving sizes are smaller than what I have been feeding her.

Another relaxed day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Rain - Dog Food - Rambling

Yesterday after lunch turned into more lazy time ... for me and the hounds. Heidi made it outside after lunch and after her Epsom Salts soak. I did something different after the soak. Instead of shampooing those areas of bare skin or spots with little hair, I only rinsed those areas with water. What a difference that made.

Whereas before when using the shampoo at the end of the soak and then her skin being right red, possibly irritated for a day ... her skin yesterday was normal skin color soon after she dried. There is new hair trying to grow on the sides of her stomach, that was much more evident yesterday than last week. Plus her energy level is way up ... I take that as a sign she is feeling much better. Nails were trimmed as I am trying to get them shorter with weekly trims.

The bloodhounds didn't do much either. They slept a lot even with great weather outside. I am not sure why but the urge for a siesta hit me mid afternoon and that led to a 4 hour deep sleep. I slept the sunshine away. That has been the trend for the past 7-9 days ... a daily siesta. I'm retired, I'll go with it.

Consequently there were not a lot of photography taking place yesterday afternoon.

Today we were up about an hour earlier than normal. It gave me time to take a few photos before it started to rain. It's early but from the way it looks early this morning, the weather radar, the forecast and the rumble of thunder I just heard .. it looks like both walks will be rained out today.

Soon after taking those photos big drops of rain started coming down ... the hounds still wanted to stay outside ... "milk bone" gave them the initiative to head home.

I am going to be checking out eBay today. For about 5 years I was a full-time eBay seller, with 3 of those years working at home. I can't really remember the last time I listed anything for sale, it's been years. So with the rain starting to lightly fall, it will give me a chance to read about any changes on how eBay operates. I do see that a lot of the sellers I followed are no longer on eBay.

Basically I have some stuff to get rid of that should sell. I won't list everything here, most of it is garage sale type stuff. With my location on this high speed highway it would not be safe to have a yard sale. I like selling online better, although I will not use Craig's List. I've rarely had any luck selling there, plus I am not a fan of having strangers at the house. Selling on eBay is better and I always use USPS Priority Mail for shipping, unless I have something heavy.

After 9 months being on a personally designed Paleo Diet ... basically all fresh veggies, fruits, chicken, fish and beef .. with coffee and sugar being the only packaged food ... I started thinking at the urging of a couple of friends, to go vegan. I was a strict vegetarian in my 20's and had many friends on the vegan diet. They never looked really healthy to me. During that time I continued to eat fish, chicken .. I guess they were calling it "lacto-vegetarian" then.

I have stabilized my weight on the Paleo Diet, after losing 20 pounds. I've felt much better right from the start, than when I did using the diet suggested by Dr. Fuhrman. There was no meat in that diet but I was finding that grains, beans, even certain fruit was giving me bad cases of indigestion. The Paleo Diet effect was immediate ... I was no longer living on Tums anti-acid tablets. It was hard to adjust to lower carbs and more fat. Even eating beef again on a regular basis was an adjustment ... but I felt much better with no acid-reflux issues. I also wasn't hungry all the time on the new diet.

So, being inside most of the day today I will review some different diets ... if I change I'll probably move to the "Mediterranean" diet.

As far as the diet for the hounds ... huge difference in changing Sadie and Stella from Diamond Naturals for Large Breeds to Fromm for Large Breeds. Both of their coats went from very soft to softer. Both of their energy levels increased. Sadie stopped licking her leg obsessively and no longer sprints to the field at night to eat grass. Stella did not have any digestive issues.

I know that I said I was going to keep Heidi on the Earthborn but when she finished her bag of food last week I put her on the same food as the bloodhounds were using. I am hoping the grains and other carbs will help her gain some of her weight back. The strange thing is, Heidi 's skin has had NO reaction to eating grains. That was the main reason for moving her to a grain-free food in past years. So I think for a while that is the direction we are going to go, giving her the same food as the bloodhounds are eating.

As far as the Mini Cooper -- headed to the local mechanic for oil change, possible repairs after they get the drain plug off and a 3 week waiting list, as always with him. Biz is good in small town USA. As far as the FJ ... funny way of thinking, easy to get under the FJ, easy to change the oil but it's cheap ($30) to have it done, so I'll take it in.

Oh, while it is raining today I may start my research or go back through my previous research about cameras. I can find some of that documented right here on this blog. Blogging makes it easy to find information, although I did actually find a pdf file on Sunday in a file on my computer, inside a folder called 'Mini Cooper'. I know that doesn't sound like to much happened there but I seem to remember not only at home but at work ... it was always the file you or someone was looking for on a computer that couldn't be found ... it was always hard to find.

Work? ... I don't miss that one iota.

As you can see if you made it this far ... there will not be a lot of outdoor activity here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today. The thunder is rumbling loud and the skies are really dark ... it has the feel of April today.

Dog Food Changes & Stella's New Collar

Woke up to a bright and sunny 21° here in 'the tropics' this morning. Some of the rooms were in the mid 50's, it didn't seem that cold when we went to bed. It was time to buy gas and dog food, so I knew I was going to get out of the house today ... with a possible road trip, depending on what kind of dog food I was going to buy.

Over a cup of coffee I decided that Stella needed a new leash, one to give all of us a better chance of telling Stella and Sadie apart in the photos taken. Another factor in the possible road trip was if I was going to change brands of dog food for a final time.

Diamond Naturals is located right downtown at the local 'feed store' where the Fromm for Lrg Breeds was 25 miles away. I needed to buy only 2 more bags to get my free bag of Fromm. No doubts that all of that dog food would eventually be consumed in this house. I had just written last week sometime that I was happy with the Diamond Naturals for all the hounds ... over the time it took for them to eat the 40# bag, things changed.

Heidi was itching so much on clear skin ... it was past the point of obsessive. Stella was fine. All their coats are soft and they shine. Sadie started doing two things, one of them she had done before when on Diamond Naturals ... at night she was frantic to get outside, then sprinting to the field and eating grass, a LOT of grass. The new thing she was doing ... licking her lower leg about 1"-2" wide ... fully saturated but no hot spot, nor any chewing. She licked as much as Heidi itched ... Stella had no issues. To me that looked like they had issues with something in the food.

So like changing my blog back to Blogger for a final time ... I put Heidi back on Earthborn Grain Free and the bloodhounds on Fromm for Large Breeds. The Earthborn for Heidi has a min of 20% fat which is really high and protein of 38% but I think with that much fat and feeding her twice the recommended amounts, it would help her add some weight. Yet, maybe not, as some here have said she might have a metabolism issue, therefor cannot keep weight on ... whatever the case she will be getting better ingredients with the Earthborn no grain food.

Right after this post is published it will "Toe Nail Friday" ... where I will be cutting a total of 64 toe nails counting their dew claws. I look at it only as 3 hounds. Stella's toe nails have always been the perfect length and she doesn't mind getting them trimmed. Since I started just cutting a little bit every Friday/Saturday - Sadie's and Heidi's are slowly being decreased back to a shorter length. The sound of a dremil tool turns all the hounds into sprinting champions so that is not a possibility. Nail clippers are my only option.

Heidi made it out not only for the 1st trip of the day but she came outside voluntarily after lunch. She sprinted back to the concrete after I had carried her into the field. Maybe when it is warmer she will be more interested in getting back into the field.

I took Stella with me to T&T Feeds in Bloomington to buy her a new leash and pick up Fromm dog food. She stayed in the FJ this time instead of following me into the store.  I wanted to see what she would do if I left her alone in the FJ while I was inside shopping. She passed that test with flying colors. She loves going for rides and she did not bark or howl when I walked toward the store. Last night I was gone an hour and a half ... she had not damaged anything but she did move the chest of drawers enough to reach the drywall next to the door. There was nothing on the floor to show she had been digging at the drywall though. So she is on a winning streak of a few days/nights where there have been no damages when I am gone.

Those are lizards

I would have preferred a different color, further away from Sadie's red one but the choices were slim. The ones I liked were sold out in her size. Anyway we should be able to tell from now on, which bloodhound is Sadie and Stella. I didn't care for the faded pink one she came with.

Faded Pink One

The new one besides Sadie's red one. After the manicures we'll take off for a Friday afternoon walk.

In the meantime, with 99lbs of new dog food - a new collar ... all Sadie wants to do is go for a walk.

It's a beautiful Friday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi's Basset Hound Skin Issues Stabilize

About this time last year I was taking Heidi to her 2nd new vet in 4 months. The vet changes were an attempt to find the cause and solution to Heidi’s Basset Hound skin issues that exploded at the end of the summer in 2014.

When I adopted her in July 2011, vet records showed she did come with skin allergies that would require treatment. In certain parts of the year, those treatments might be a monthly shot. At the time she was prescribed Ketoconazole but had a steroid shot of Depo Medrol the day before I picked her up.

Over the next 20 months Ketoconazole lost it’s effectiveness, meaning the treatment was not working longer than 2 weeks compared to months in prior years. Her treatment changed to Vetalog steroid injections.

Like the medication before, it eventually became less effective. Her last steroid shot did not last 17 days before her skin was back to where it was before the Vetalog injection. I decided I needed a 2nd opinion.

In October 2014 after an examination I was given a choice between two treatments for her skin condition. I chose Atopica, along with a shampoo prescribed 3x per week. The prescribed plan was daily capsules for 1 month and then decrease the dosage. Her skin never looked better after 30 tablets. I was happy with the skin improvement but she was very lethargic and that concerned me. Due to the severity of long-term use, plus side effects (Heidi was showing), I was reconsidering the choice of having her on a daily dose.

Before Atopica Treatment

After 6 Weeks of Atopic Use

After 6 Weeks of Atopica Use

The goal was 1 tablet per month. We would start cutting back dosage to every other day, then twice per week. Within days of changing the dose to twice per week, her skin condition flared up worse than what it was months before. The vet wanted to move her back to a daily dosage.

With Heidi showing signs of some of the listed side effects, namely very lethargic. She barely made the walk to her food/water bowl, along with zero activity. I decided to discontinue Atopica. Her tail was always lowered and she never did her routine of daily morning sprints around the living room. What I was reading about long-term use was turning me off on the medication.

My decision was not to continue giving her Atopica.

A neighbor is a vet but his office was 16 miles away, a direction I rarely traveled. I decided in January 2015 I’d have John look at her. Basically Heidi’s 3rd vet in a 6 month period. ALL of this is discussed in detail on my blog hosted by Blogger — the older version of this blog.

At that time Heidi’s skin was so bad he did not think she would ever grow hair back on her paws and rear shoulders. Even though he found in his studies that only 3% of canine skin allergies were food related, he suggested a ‘grain free’ dog food, one that I had been feeding her for the past year. I changed brands of ‘grain free food’, with very little improvement.

February 2015

He thought her allergies were more environmental allergies instead of dog food allergies (only 3%). From February until May 2015 I gave her a daily shot of RESPIT. Yet, I was told I may not see any signs of improvement for 6-12 months.

With little to no visible improvement from February – May, I stopped the RESPIT injections. With more research, more emails to friends … I decided to change her food to minimal ingredients and only one protein source. I also decided to take her off all medications.

May 2015

May 2015

May 2015

We traveled west for a week in June 2015. There were no signs that her skin was getting worse in a different environment and a change of dog food to Fromm’s very basic blend with chicken, chicken meal and grains.

With a change back to basic food, with rice and barley, chicken, chicken meal and no medications of any kind … her basset hound skin condition did not get worse. Looking through her file of photos in date sequence I could see slight improvement with hair starting to grow back on her paws, rear shoulder plus her stomach started to clear up.

August 2015

Upon a recommendation from someone who had positive results on their basset hound’s skin condition, I changed to Earthborn Holistic Dog Food, grain free. Multiple sites ranked their food 5-stars. All ingredients are USA based. It is manufactured 70 miles from me, so the cost is below the standard price for dog food of that quality.

I liked the changes of Heidi’s coat and skin at first. After a couple of months she started itching more, almost obsessively, along with a ‘greasy’ feeling to her coat, I could smell yeast from her ears (first time) and skin. I decided it didn’t matter if it was rated 5-stars, I was going to change food brands.

I tried their different protein sources … with the same results.

It was also in June 2015 that she became “skin and bones”. Was it the stress of the camping trip out west? Was it the RESPIT shots I gave her for 90 days? Was there not enough carbs in the ‘no grain’ food to help her maintain her weight? All blood work showed normal readings. The vet could not come up with a reason for her 13 pounds of weight loss in 10 months. In the 2 months prior she had lost 7 of those 13 pounds.

In the past couple of months I have mentioned without going into detail, that I had changed her dog food back to ‘grain’ dog food with only one protein source. I started a probiotic supplement with her food for her immune system in October 2015. Her skin has shown improvement with that supplement and has stabilized. My spreadsheet log for Heidi’s skin condition that I update daily, shows there is not a difference in improvement between ‘grain free’ and dog food with brown rice and barley included.

In fact I find that her skin looks better — longer — feeding her Diamond Naturals with Chicken and Chicken meal as the only protein source. I tried their Lamb blend but within a week her skin flared up enough that I stopped feeding her lamb and lamb meal immediately.

The times I tried Fromm for Large Breed, with duck, chicken and chicken meal being the protein sources, her skin would become red and inflamed within a 7-10 day period. Changing her back to Diamond Naturals, her skin improved.

It is interesting that as the day progresses, not every day, her rear hocks will become red and inflamed. I have changed blankets from wool to cotton — no difference. I have periodically have soaked her with Epsom Salts with mixed results. Sometimes it looks like it makes a difference, other time it looks like the skin is irritated by the Epsom Salts soak.

Bottom line … feeding her Diamond Naturals, with chicken and chicken meal along with the probiotic supplement, there is NO yeast smell coming from her ears or body. Her coat is shiny and soft but not oily and does not smell. Hair has grown back on her paws but not with the normal thickness. Her belly is clear and normal skin color. Her rear shoulders have improved with skin texture that is now the normal softness even though parts of it are bare.

January 2016

Remember the vet in February 2015 didn’t think hair would ever grow back on her paws and rear shoulders based on the severe damage she showed. In that January 2016 photo you can see the white hair on her rear shoulder has tried to fill back in, where in the February 2015 photos above, you can see the hard crusty elephant type skin.

I forgot to add, currently her energy level has never been better … like a puppy. She IS gaining her weight back slowly but surely, 2 pounds at a time it seems. Her tail is wagging and she does her morning sprints around the living room until Stella decides that she wants to play … then Heidi stops.

So, we will stay with the same dog food currently fed. She will still be supplemented with Probiotic Miracle. I have noticed she doesn’t really like having her picture taken with the Nikon D3200 but with an iPhone I no longer have, I am not able to get a picture of her before she moves. Consequently, less really good photos of Heidi are available.

I will continue to post photos and updates on Heidi’s skin condition.