Your comments re: temperament put the fear of god into me - we took so long to find one with a gentle way. What can I do while he's recouping to stave off temp. changes?

In what form should the supplements be? Frequency, timing of feeding them, etc.

Orijen is crap? A girl friend/dog owner/research officer for one of our national labs did an anaylsis and found orijen ranked well. What would you suggest as an alternative brand - I really don't have the time/budget to make from scratch. What criteria should I be using to choose.

When I googled how to de-flea my house it recommended vacuuming and washing the pup's bedding. What else should I be doing?

Please help me help my poor pup!

 Quote: Bev Thibault

... Orijen is crap?

Oh my goodness, no! I meant Purina and SD!!

I was going by this:

 Quote: Bev Thibault

...He was fed Purina puppy chow at his foster home, then was abruptly switched to Science Diet. He is given 1/4 c 3x daily, less any food rewards.

 Quote: Bev Thibault

Your comments re: temperament put the fear of god into me - we took so long to find one with a gentle way.

I meant temporary behavior changes triggered by the misery of itching and the nausea that antibiotics frequently cause in both humans and dogs.

Oh - thanks for clarifying.

My vet, who seems truly authentic in her reticence in prescribing unnecessary drugs, and I will speak in the am, which will mark 24 hours since the last dose of clavamox. We're hoping the itching and redness is due to an allergy to the antibiotics. I will ask about a derm vet at that time.

Any other counsel?

I have dealt with severe allergies in my dog for about 12 years, fleas are her worst allergy and it can be really tough.

Being proactive is the key to keeping it under control, it can be a lot of work but it's not so bad if you keep on top of it.

While treating the home for fleas make sure you put the vacuum bag (or dirt if its bagless) into a ziploc bag, seal it and throw it out right away.

I also cut up a flea collar and put a piece of it inside the bag for extra control.

With a suspected flea allergy I would recommend spraying all couches, carpet and pet bedding with a household flea spray that has an Insect growth regulator to keep any eggs from hatching.

Just keep all animals and humans out of the area while the spray dries.

Adding Fish oil and Vitamin E to her food would be a good thing to do as well as yogurt, kefir or some kind of probiotic supplement.

Also cool water rinse downs can be really helpful with inflammed itchy skin. They don't like it at first, but he will get used to it.

If there are visible irritated spots I put witch hazel on a cotton ball and apply it to the area, it really soothes and cools the skin without stinging.

Diatomaceous Earth for fleas. Nothing like it!It's physical, not chemical in nature. Can't overdose, can feed it, sprinkle it on the dog, in the bedding, in the carpeting, etc.

BE CAREFUL ABOUT MAKING SURE YOU GET FOOD GRADE AND NOT CHEMICAL GRADE.

I probably wouldn't be worrying about food allergies this early in the game - she is so young (anything's possible, but this isn't probable!). Fleas would definitely be my first priority. As far as what to feed her, this link has Leerburg's recommendations for high quality kibble and Honest Kitchen dehydrated: http://leerburg.com/all-natural%20kibble.htm.

I would also go to a derma vet over letting a regular vet give her a bunch of drugs. If the scrapping is negative (which is good), and you are SURE there are no fleas at all, you get her on a good diet w/salmon oil, vit E, and yogurt, and she's still having problems after a few weeks, the derma vet is the best way to go. Sometimes it can take a couple 2 or 3 weeks to get an appt, so you could always make one for a few weeks out and see how she does with these changes! Just don't let the regular vet start giving her shots or pills with steroids (just in case they want to do that!)

I just thought - could he be allergic to the straw I placed outside my back door?

I took the idea to lay straw from a contributor to another thread (how to housebreak during winter).

Was he perfectly fine the day you brought him home? no redness, no hair loss? Significant hair loss in only 10 days? If so, then I suppose the straw could be suspect.

How was the itching before you put the straw out? Before he came to your home?