I meant to give credit for the idea because I specifically stole it from you and Mike Armstrong.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

I meant to give credit for the idea because I specifically stole it from you and Mike Armstrong.

Oh no, don't do that! Then I would have to start remembering and crediting!

I already don't remember who mentioned adding bits of the humans' dinner leftovers to a marker-reward baggy in the 'fridge, and I have adopted that to the max! Ditto the small containers of rewards in more than one place in the house when you're in a teaching phase. Then (this one I do remember; I have a one-week memory bank) the idea of rewards by the back door so the recall could frequently be rewarded (even after the teaching phase, and I agree)......

Anyway, if we have to give credit to forum members for all of our ideas, my brain will grind to a complete paralyzed halt.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: Michael_Wise

.... Another thing that might help, and please excuse me if it has already been mentioned, would be a journal of his feedings, weight, and stools.

I did this with a dog who came to me with pancreatitis (as well as a zillion severe allergies), and I was grateful for that journal more than once, I tell ya.

You think you'll remember what the dog was eating when such-and-such happened (recurring pancreatitis, diarrhea, etc.), but I sure didn't.
A tiny notebook at the food prep area or a piece of paper taped to the 'fridge -- that's all you need.

Excellent suggestion and reason. I will begin doing that.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

Jo, you mentioned this book: http://leerburg.com/935.htm
and I think it's a very good one -- hands-on, get-right-to-it.

This one, too: http://leerburg.com/970.htm

Both are inexpensive (and lightweight, so not spendy to ship) and good reads.

I looked up the author of the second book you recommended and was pleased with the comments and recommendations I found...Google is great!

I apologize for waiting to reply. I was cutting open a game hen package Thursday (thawed in the fridge) and the juice sprayed into my right eye. Washed and rinsed as thoroughly as I could. FYI---wear glasses. (It was a RIPE bird...gotta talk to the store.). Nausea and ickiness feeling by Friday evening and by Sunday, thumping headached, redness, and my oh my! A nasty infection in my right eye. So, am on antibiotic eyedrop and light foods.

This could have happened even without raw feeding so I am continuing the raw...I, however, am NOT eating chicken for awhile.

I aplogize if the above should have gone to a different thread or forum.

I'm quite nauseous right now, so I am going to end my post.

Thanks for helping us! Can't wait to read the books.

Update on Hambone...

He is doing very well on raw diet. I increased his raw meat to somewhere around 15 oz a day average.

I do think I have a dog with gout. I fed him a small amount of chicken gizzard, and his toes and pads were swollen. (No light bulb above my head). Next time, same condition...(dim light bulb)...third time the lights came on.

Did a search and hypothyroid and gout can occur together.

Connie, you suggested

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

Lastly, choose non-gas-producing low-cellulose produce like celery tops, parsley, summer squash, romaine, etc., mooshed to break down cell walls. (The produce a wild canid would eat would be the partly-digested food in the gut of rodents, very ripe fallen berries, etc.)

Extensive searching provided me with information that dogs with gout should eat watercress, parsley, celery, very ripe or over ripe blueberries, raw egg yolks, and raw apple cider vinegar.

So, I have included the above in his diet(except I use a pinch of crushed celery seed instead of celery), and, for now, no organ meat. I need to do more research on what types of organ meats have the lowest purine levels and try them and also find out if there is a digestive enzyme that would help specifically digest the purine.

I also read an interesting paper on how to self diagnosis a low thyroid. Buy 2% iodine tincture at the pharmacy, place a small dot of iodine on your stomach and if it isn't there 24 hours later, you may have an impaired thyroid. HMMMM.....

Thanks for all your help. And, if anyone on this board has a dog with gout, could you PM me with your diet plan?

Postscript...

His feet go back to normal when he is off organ meat after 2 days.

Good research!

Canine gout is pretty rare. Did you see anything on the paws besides swelling?

I do have some gout-friendly diet info. Back later.

All I noticed was some bumps (very small), between his toes. It wasn't so much I could see them, but feel them and they caused him pain when I touched them. His pads were very tender and swollen.

Going from my research, I checked and didn't see any of the chalky colored leakage, but I didn't squeeze his pads or webbing either.

Checking him yesterday evening, the grainyness was gone between his toes(webbing), the swelling in his pads and toes was down, and he is walking without limping.

It isn't much information, I know, but I hope it helps.

 Quote: Jo Harker

All I noticed was some bumps (very small), between his toes. It wasn't so much I could see them, but feel them .... It isn't much information, I know, but I hope it helps.

Yes. What I was reading mentioned exactly that kind of lesion on the paws.

I took Hambone to the woods to romp and hunt mice. (No mice caught). I watched him run, jump, and dig without pain. His eyes are clear of pain and his paws are no longer swollen.

He is on mostly raw now, but still gets some Wellness canned food until I can figure out how to get the nutrients from the organ meat into his diet, without giving him gout.

He has improved all over! His muzzle has definition and isn't sunken and boney looking anymore. He is maintaining his weight now but slimming down, and his teeth are improving. He has always smelled like dried sweet grass, so I can't tell about his odor, but his skin isn't as flaky and dry either.

Feeding raw IS the best choice for him so, other than feeding him the concoction with "watercress, parsley, celery, very ripe or over ripe blueberries, raw egg yolks, and raw apple cider vinegar" and yogurt to help remove uric acid in his body, what else can I do to the organ meat so that he can have the organ meat without crippling himself?

( I seriously thought about burying the organ meat in the lovely black sweet-smelling dirt back at the woods so it could digest, but the critters would dig it up.)

Oh no. I forgot this despite the Postit on my computer.

Back in a few.