Food and Health Q&As

I have an English Mastiff that is 1 yr. old. Ever since he was 7 months old we have been in & out the vet's office. He has been on medicine this whole time & he chews on his feet. The vet now thinks Hank has a food allergy. She wants me to put him a new Science Diet food--Z allergy formula. Hank eats about a 20lb. bag a week. This food costs $40.00 a bag. Please help!! Keri

Mr. Frawley, I have a question that I've been confused about. I have a 3 month old GSD, I took him to the Vet, and while we were there I asked her about these white flakes on his coat. She said it was dry skin and gave me a prescription shampoo for him. Should I use it? All I've heard from most people is NOT to bathe GSD and I want to believe them because they are people who have had GSD. Who is right? Thanks, Connie

Mr. Frawley, First let me thank you for all the wonderful articles on your web site. We had a German German with a skin disorder and a fear biting problem. There were ghosts in her head. We had her put down after biting a friend of mine that walked into our home. Convinced that the skin disorder and fear biting problem we contacted the breeder and they made good with a replacement dog. This dog has a wonderful disposition with pure German lines. The problem is that we just had her ...

Hi Ed, I have a question on feeding chicken & turkey necks, wings etc. I have always been told you never give your dog chicken bones or pork bones because they will splinter, get caught in the throat, or puncture the stomach! Now I hear people feeding raw meat to dogs, chicken necks, turkey necks wings etc. How good is this for your pet and is this a safe idea? Thank you!!! Tim

Hi Ed, Since you have had many dogs, I am in a way hoping you have seen this before. My GSD started to lose some of his fur around the edges of the ears, following with the skin thickening and cracking and becoming quite painful. I took him to the vets and he had his ears flushed, had a skin scrape done all coming back negative for bacteria, yeast or mange. She suggested he might have a food allergy so we started the elimination diet and he is on fish and potatoes. He's been on thi...

My dog has worn the hair off the tip of his tail. The skin is bleeding because tail has been caught in the two way doors of my kennel. I cannot get it to heal. Can you help?

I have a 2 yr old black lab who has chronic yeast ear infections. We have tried Otoclear washings, and Otomax following the washings. In the past month we have been trying vinegar washes, then using Otomax. While the vinegar washes are helping, I still can't seem to get rid of the yeast infection. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks, Kimberly

My dog is eating a natural raw diet, she does not have fleas, and she scratches her ears and has itchy patches. Sometimes even scratching her muzzle. What can I do?

I am now beginning to watch The First Steps of Bite Training. As I am going through the video I am still wondering whether my dog is capable. I have a Bull mastiff male who is not afraid of too many things. The one thing that I am having a problem in is getting him into the car. I take him to work with me everyday, and he is in some way afraid of getting in the car. I have a sports utility vehicle and it is quite high up. At this point he is 9 months old and weighs 105 lb. I still have to put...

I keep some of my dogs in an outdoor run. It has a roof and each dog has his own run with his own doghouse. I have three sides of the kennel area protected from the wind. At what point is it unsafe to leave them out in the cold & does this differ from a 4 month old pup to an adult? Thank you, Karen

I had to take my Service dog to the vet the other day and was told that he has an enlarged prostate. I know this not unusual for a GSD his age, however it is to the point where it causes some problem with him when he moves his bowels. One of the first and common treatments my vet recommends is neutering the dog. I was just curious what your experience has been to how this effects their working drive. He is a very high drive dog and my concern is simply I would like to know what kind of ef...

My husband found a small puppy sitting in the middle of the road a few weeks back. The puppy seems to be a pit bull, I don't think he's more than 12 weeks old. This puppy is both blind and deaf. We kept him because I felt if we took him to the shelter no one would want him. We are having a hard time house breaking him and I'm trying to see if there is some way I can do this. We keep him outside during the day, and bring him in at night due to the cold. Do you have any suggestions? He's a ...

Tonight I will drive to the vet to put my 6 month old Akita pup to sleep. She started to limp, and this past weekend she was in so much pain she would not get up. The veterinarian said that in both legs Summer has severe hip dysplasia and as a result, the knees are now severely damaged. We have contacted the breeder, who stated that all of their dogs have been x-rayed except Summer's mother. All their dogs came from a champion breeder down in Tennessee. They feel awful, but are willing to...

I visit your web site frequently. It has great info, I can often find answers to my questions just by reading your articles or answers that you have given others. Now, however, I have a question that I've never seen addressed anywhere. This may sound a little strange, but here goes... Can dogs get depressed? We have a 19 month old German Shepherd Dog, called Tango, who comes from German and Czech lines. He's a great dog, obedient and a pleasure to work with. Lately though he seems sad. We...

I think I have allergies to dogs. What can I do?

I seem to be having a couple problems with my 7 month old GSD, (full German). First, eating. He doesn't like doing it. I've tried 3 different brands since I got him and he just doesn't like to eat. Our vet has given him a clean bill of health. It's at the point I have to stand over him and continually point at his food bowl and tell him "eat." I loop the leash under the table leg and his bowl is in the corner (if I don't leash him, he won't stay and eat). You can't see ribs on him. Howeve...

We have a male GSD from German working lines (not Leerburg, unfortunately). He is almost 6 months old, already quite large, about 70 lbs, but thin! I don't plan to breed him, as his hips are "iffy." At what age should we consider having him neutered? We were considering working on protection training with him, but I'm not sure if this will be feasible. Will neutering him before age 1 year have a detrimental effect? Any advice you have would be appreciated greatly. Also, do you have...

I have a question and yours is the only site I found that has similar dogs to mine. He is a four year old male and has some kind of a skin problem the local vet can't seem to cure. It's similar to mange, but not near as drastic. He isn't losing large amounts of hair, but there is hair loss mostly on his legs and feet. He does scratch a lot, but doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain. We do not bathe him regularly as we were told not to. We feed him 40% dry and 60% table scraps. Also, ...

A couple of days ago my German shepherd of 7 1/2 years died of bloat. Needless to say my other dog who was purchased from you is devastated. My question is how can I prevent this from happening again?

After taking my dog to the groomer she seems to always be shaking her head like she has water in her ears. What should I do?