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Topics - maxsmom

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16
Help!  I am at my wit's end and poor Max is pathetic.  The base of his tail and his lower back are bloody again today from his chewing.  Since January of last year, we have been fighting his allergies trying to find a solution.  On the advice of our vet and our vet allergist we have done the following;
Given him 5 generic benadryl 3 times daily.  Small improvement.  The brand name benadryl don't help since we can only find caplets and they apparently don't dissolve quickly enough to be effective.  We have tried a slew of other antihistamines to no avail.  We have had numerous deep skin scrapings done to see if there is anything else going on and each one has been negative.  We have used numerous shampoos, conditioners, etc. Some helped for a few hours, and some did nothing.  We have used Benadryl and other anti itch sprays as well as gold bond powder.  They help for a few hours at most.  We had him tested in June for allergies.  He is allergic to dust mites, fleas, fungii and mold.  We started him on the allergy serum in July.  As per the instructions we gradually worked him up to 1 ml, but never saw enough improvement to get past the 7 day interval.  In October, we were told to back him down to .4 and gradually bring him back up to see if that made a difference.  No, it hasn't.  We have had the A/C ductwork cleaned, removed the dining room carpet and replaced it with tile, scraped down all the popcorn ceilings and had orange peel texture sprayed in.  We vacumn the bedroom carpet every other day and clean the carpet weekly.  I sweep daily and steam clean the tile weekly.  I wash all the dogs bedding, including the stuffing twice a week.  I have not seen fleas in 6 months and have the house and yard sprayed monthly.  We use the dust mite spray on the carpet.  I wash our bedding weekly and we have a waterbed, so it is not the mattress.  Cody is allergic to most all grasses, trees, dust mites, fungii and mold, so I do not let the dogs play in the yard or stay out on the deck.  Cody is on allergy serum and once a month is working great for him.  No itching, etc.  Currently we are giving Max .7 ml weekly of the allergy serum, giving him Atarax twice daily, using the powder and sprays and baths and he is still chewing and itching.  The vet and allergist and I agree that he is still too young to be put on Prednisone.  Has anyone dealt with allergies?  What did you do?  Any ideas or comments will be appreciated.
Kathy

17
Saint Bernard General Discussions / Looking for a puppy
« on: December 08, 2007, 08:23:40 pm »
One of the ladies here locally has a friend who recently lost her St Bernard.  She got it through the local St rescue group.  She is looking for a St Bernard puppy that she can raise and love now that she is more familiar with the breed and has absolutely fallen in love with them.  The local rescue does not have any puppies, so she is looking for a breeder in Florida.  Can anyone help?  I have dealt with the rescue group, but not any breeders.
Kathy

18
Wolfhound Discussions & Pictures / Size Question
« on: December 03, 2007, 05:20:57 am »
Max is my first IW and I am curious about the size of other people's hounds.  Max will be 18 months old this week.  We were at the vet today for his annual checkup.  He weighs 162lbs.  He is 33.5" or 34" tall at the top of his shoulders.  I looked at the growth charts posted on the IW website.  According to both of them, he is average to short and heavy.  I talked to our vet about him today and he agreed that he is certainly not overweight.  You can see his spine, when he is standing or laying and feel his ribs and hipbones just under the skin.  The vet feels that he is very healthy and is probably about as tall as he is going to get.  He is still filling out.  His chest appears to be getting wider and his hips are definitely muscling up more.  How big are other peoples IWs?  Did your dog continue to grow after 18 months in height or just fill out?
Kathy

19
Great Pyrenees Pictures / Pictures from Christmas Parade
« on: December 02, 2007, 12:41:02 am »
We took these pictures yesterday when we were getting ready for the Winter Park Christmas Parade.







Jake is in the last photo, on the far left, hat and bandana on.

Kathy

20
Wolfhound Discussions & Pictures / Personality change
« on: November 26, 2007, 01:04:25 am »
Have any of you noticed a personality change in your IW as they mature?  Max will be 1.5 next month and has gradually gotten to the point that he is still friendly and outgoing but will walk away in the middle of someone petting him.  Not a family member, but casual acquaintances and strangers.  It is like he is just not interested in them touching or fawning over him.  I know noone has hurt or hit him and he is not handshy, just doesn't seem to care about anyone outside the famiy loving on him.  He has also recently began cowering when in large crowds of people wanting to pet or love on him and in strange surroundings.  He used to be happy go lucky, no matter who was around or where he was.  As long as he was with one of us, all was right with his world.  I don't understand.  This is my first IW and I am just wondering if this is a breed trait, the aloofness or what?  I don't think the cowering is, but we are trying to take him more places in crowds and expose him to more.  He is cowering in places that 6 months ago, he would have been prancing around without a care in the world.  His personality at home has not changed one bit.  He is stil our loving, goofball that he has always been.
Kathy

21
Wolfhound Discussions & Pictures / 4 dogs?
« on: November 24, 2007, 04:36:03 pm »
I need some advice and opinions please.  My hubby is seriously thinking that he wants a black Irish Wolfhound.  I would love to have one as I think they are absoutely beautiful, but, I don't know if we have the time or energy for a 4th dog.  We still have a lot of work to do with Max and Cody.  They still pull on lead when they are in crowds, etc.  They are great just walking around our neighborhood, at Petsmart, etc. but at a craft fair, pet fair, etc. with lots of people and other dogs, they are very hard for me to control.  I am working on it diligently, but have not gotten them to the point that I am comfortable taking more than one of them at a time to an event like that.  I can take one and keep them calm and under control, but no more.  At home they are great and basically movable rugs when they are not running through the house, knocking over furniture, etc. playing.  They are only 1.5 and still just puppies (although they are very big puppies).  I just don't know if we are ready to add a 4th big dog to the house.  All of my dogs live in the house, sleep in the house, etc.  They are all very healthy (other than allergies).  I know if I agree that it will take a while to find one, be put on waiting list, etc.  Maybe in that period of time, we would get to where we want to be with training the others?
Opinions please.
Kathy

22
Great Pyrenees Discussions / Winter Park Florida Christmas Parade
« on: November 14, 2007, 02:46:44 am »
The Great Pyrenees Club is going to be in the Christmas Parade on December 1 if any Pyr owners would like to join us.  It is a relatively short route to walk with the dogs, so it should be fun for us and the dogs.  We would like to have as many Pyrs and Pyr owners as possible to make an impact with all the big white dogs.  Let me know if you are interested.  You do NOT need to belong to the club.  We are doing this to get the rescue group in the public eye and hopefully generate some interest in fostering and adoptions.  Thanks.
Kathy

23
Introduce Yourself to the Forum / New to BPO
« on: November 12, 2007, 12:12:56 pm »
Hello all,
I would like to introduce myself and our crew.  Max 1.5 y/o IW, Jake 1.5 y/o Pyr, Cody 3 y/o Tibetan Mastiff, John 6 y/o Maine Coon, Nicki 4 y/o Maine Coon.  Yeah, I know John and Nicki are cats, but they are "big" cats with big paws for cats.  Anyway, I hope to learn a lot here and have some fun.  Thanks
Kathy

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