The Hounds Enjoy Friday Morning

Again it was the normal routine this morning. Another beautiful day in March and questions on where winter went or if it even arrived this year in 'the tropics'.

It looks like the weather experts have shoved their predicted snow tomorrow completely off of the schedule and in exchange only a week of colder temps. I'll take it, the hounds will take it. I could tell though this morning was different for them.

Stella had found a new bathroom spot, Sadie slowly sniffed her way to the back next to the bushes for hers. Surprising to see both of them turn and run back to the house when they were finished. Coffee was waiting for me inside.

I wanted to get an early start on our morning walk today. It looks like my basketball tv marathon starts at noon local time and my last game I am interested in, UCLA, will not start until 11:35pm local time. I won't watch every game but there looks to be 4-5 games I will sit and watch from the couch.

Right after we started the walk both hounds had their noses to the ground and both were walking very very slow. It is their process of identifying new scent. Neither was interested ingesting what they found, just ID it and moved on. With their slow pace I was able to get more pictures of their faces instead of their butts.

They moved together, slowly one step at a time and at times would meet to compare information. They seemed to be working as a team today. Funny to watch them because I could tell they were really thinking about what they were finding and frowns on their foreheads were showing a lot of analysis taking place.

Sadie was about to sprint around the corner but stopped immediately to turn and look at me to see if it was okay. Once I told her to "go on", she and Stella took off. I moved in their direction tip toeing over the water that was still standing right by the corner.

As you can see the hay/grass is getting green pretty fast with all of the rain we got last Monday and Tuesday. There are spots in my yard that I could mow but they are just clumps of grass in different spots.

As they continued their investigation I moved up to the farthest point of the field looking NW. I wanted to take a picture of as much of the field as possible to show a better picture of the field itself.

What I call the 'back edge' of the field is off to the right of the picture and heads toward the woods. Straight ahead you can barely see our path (greener) that is across the picture and veering to the left.

Stella was finding a lot of good stuff. She almost decided to stay behind. I had to send Sadie back to get her with the command "go get Stella". She ran, poked her nose at Stella and sure enough, they both turned and trotted toward me.

They didn't wait for me as they sprinted past me and went along the back edge of the field. I could see signs of a lot of deer traffic and Sadie was pretty sure that they had made a right turn, ran through the brush and jumped the small wire fence into the corn field behind this field.

It's so nice out this morning neither one was ready to head back to the house. We took our time, no rush and the weather was great at not quite 50°.

Stella decided to walk even slower toward the end of her walk. She didn't stop anywhere this morning but it took her forever to get back to the house. One slow step at a time.

Sadie saw three birds up ahead and took off sprinting while I was photographing Stella. The birds didn't stay around long and Sadie's sprint ended up being pretty short. You can see how fast the brush is turning green. Spring is trying to get here.

This next picture is for Tom. We were discussing the house being at the bottom of this field and the effect of underground water, a post from the other day. Tom ... this is the point where all of the underground water from the field heads. It's just in front of the burn pile on the left.

To add to the formula of erosion, 70 some years ago there was a road that went down into the woods going in front of that post. it went from the driveway out to the country road just a little south of me.

That road connected to my driveway and was a way for my dad's family to get their farm equipment up into the field I walk every day. For years the previous owners of the house would have to refill this area with dump trucks full of dirt or stone because it would wash out over the winter.

I stopped most of it when I found someone that could deliver something called 'mine dust'. It blocked a lot of the water, stayed firm and you could still grow grass over the top of it.

On my Wordpress blog I have found someone that has a Basset Hound and a Pyrenees. Her Pyrenees had skin issues similar to Heidi's. They found the food that worked was Rachael Ray's Only 6. They also found eliminating grain free food that had pea starch in it helped. They also added a probiotic supplement and coconut oil to her food two times per week.

I have tried the probiotic supplement for over a year. A lot of the grain free food Heidi was eating had pea starch in it. I tried the coconut oil on her food but was adding it every day a couple of years ago. I have not tried the "Only 6" dog food. I am going to try that with Heidi and see if that is the magic solution. They said their Pyrenees skin problems saw results with the food change in a weeks time after they had spent time just like I did, trying to find what was the cause.

I thought of moving my blog posting back to 6-7 pm instead of the middle of the day. I know as the weather gets warmer I will not be around a computer in the middle of the day to put a post together.

The problem is I like adding a lot of pictures to each post and if I waited to make just on long blog post, I'd have over 40 pictures on that post. I usually take over a 100 per day and choose which ones after I edit them. I like to keep the pictures in a fairly close sequence and I find it hard to pass on enough of them to get it down to 10 pictures or so.

Like college football season, the hounds will get their afternoon walks and short breaks to relieve themselves during halftimes of all these basketball games I am going to watch. We also go outside or take a walk between games. They will always be the priority over any ballgame.

It doesn't look like I'll be able to squeeze in a Z4 ride today. I noticed some nice dried bloodhound drool from Stella on the rear corner of the car this morning as I walked by. Stella evidently had been checking out for any possible way for her to get inside the car and go for a ride.

Another week has passed 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.

A Low Energy Day - Winston's Belly Ache

He's Not Feeling Well Today

I woke up in the dark to the sound of a dog vomiting, never a good thing but that's part of hound dogs ownership. I was hoping I could step out of bed, hit the light switch on the wall without stepping in it. It was a success. Sorry to gross you out so fast on this post. It was Winston. Nothing major, no mucus, no blood, just his lunch from the previous day ... and thankfully strange ... no smell.

An no, the hounds don't chew every piece of kibble. :)

So at 5:35am, we all cruised outside to a cool breeze, no stars in the sky and dark. Stella passed a major test at this time. Not really thinking and still somewhat asleep, I went back inside to clean up the mess (Bounty Towels are the best) and failed to put Stella on the tether. She was free to do roam outside wherever she wanted ... in the dark. All three hounds normally go out just long enough to dump their tanks on their first trip of the day.

Stella was great though and by the time I finished the clean up inside, Stella and Sadie were standing at the door outside looking inside. Winston was right behind them. .... Heidi??? You should know by now that Heidi isn't getting up at 5:35am for nobody, nor for any reason. She loves to sleep late.

As it has happened a lot since getting Stella not quite 3 weeks ago, I've been staying up after they go outside, even when it's 5:45am at times. Coffee works soon after so all is good.

With the morning being overcast with a feel of rain in the air, the hounds didn't do much when they went outside for their daylight trip. Winston of course was moving slow but seemed okay. Once it was nearing lunch time, Sadie made sure I was aware it was after 1pm and Heidi was right there behind her barking for food. It's amazing how energetic she can be when any kind of food is involved.

Stella and Winston Planning Their Day

Back At The Scene Of Yesterday's Crime

Check To See If I Can See Her - Wanting To Roll On The Ground Again - Didn't Happen

No playing today among the hounds. After sleeping most of the morning, once the sun came out and they were fed, they still did not have a lot of energy. As you can see from the photos there wasn't a lot going on with them. Heidi in fact only came out long enough to pee and then sprinted for the house, I guess she wasn't in the mood for getting her picture taken today. After all, she was actually laying the grass in the backyard yesterday, what more should I expect.

Still Under The Weather at 1:30PM

I Think We Declare That's Stella's Spot

A Little Bit Of Sun Will Get Him Feeling Better

I am trying something else for Heidi's skin condition. I know looking back through this blog we have tried different things over the past year, along with vet treatments and none of them have really worked. Based on some recommendations I am trying some new Probiotics for Heidi. The information says it will take almost 5 weeks before any noticeable changes will take place. 100% Money Back Guarantee, NO FISH this time, and so far after two half doses to start ... no signs of any diarrhea, like the Seacure gave her.

I guess we will see how she is looking around the end of October for some major progress. A friend of mine with a past working experience in the medical field and has rescued a lot of dogs/cats etc thinks this will be very good for her. She is feeling better though the past few days. Yesterday she went outside every time the other hounds did, which she hasn't done in a very long time.

Heidi's Epsom Salt soaks will continue, in fact one is planned for either later today or early Saturday morning.

Winston had his lunch and guzzled a lot of filtered water ... no issues and has been "sleeping it off" most of the day. In fact all four hounds have been "sleeping it off" every since they had lunch. What a life eh?

Here Winston, Sadie and Stella are enjoying some after lunch sunshine.

I am sitting on my couch last night enjoying the NFL game when my iPhone beeps with a message that someone has left a comment on my blog. If you remember I changed the comment setting for ALL readers to comment just yesterday.

THEY DIDN'T WAIT LONG ... to get back to spamming me. I read the poorly written english email that is the comment and toward the end of the email was a link to an Arabic website that I did NOT open. At the next commercial during the game I went to the computer, opened up my blog settings and changed it back to NO Anonymous commenters.

The comment was in the Spam Folder of Comments on the Blogger Dashboard, so Blogger worked correctly.

CAMERA NEWS: I know it's only been a few days ago since I did the Firmware update and an update for the Lenses ... but so far every time I wanted to take a photo, the camera has worked without any problems. It didn't matter if it was daytime, nighttime, low light, sunshine or shadows ... it is working perfectly. (Knock on wood). Thanks to Flowergirl for the suggestion of updating the firmware.

Winston is back to normal as I finish this post. He just had some filtered water, wagged his tail when I asked him if he wanted to go outside, came back inside rolled onto his back and growled to himself ... so all seems good in Winston's World.

It's another lazy day here in "the tropics" ... not a lot going on.