Second Hand Shelties

If you ended up here because you are a Secondhand Shelties newsletter reader, you can see the blog entries, updates and Jack's photos in the links below...

Goodbye, Old Friend

Happy Update

One More Jack Update

Happy Update!!

I know this is long and isn't stamping related, but I feel like it is a miracle that saved our dog's life, and wanted to share.

I posted a few months ago about how we were going to have to give up our beloved Sheltie. Jack was diagnosed last summer with a bad allergy to GRASS. I know....a dog allergic to grass. Plus trees, weeds, mold and wool. You can read the original story here. I was crying the whole time while typing.

So......the wonderful lady Linda from Secondhand Shelties basically saved his life. She wanted me to try these powders from a place called Nature's Farmacy West. (Yes, that's the way they spell it...).

She said that all of her rescue dogs go to their rescue homes on these two powders, plus the powders are given to the adoptive families. My husband really didn't want to give one more thing a try...we had been spending $120 every 6 weeks for allergy shots, plus $20 for steroids. I gave him an allergy shot every week and steroids every day. In addition, he was on antibiotics all the time for infection. He'd lick so much that he'd be raw. The worst part was that he was snipping at our 5 year old and was very nervous. This was not my Jack. ANYWAY, I said that I was going to give this one last thing a shot. I couldn't *not* try this and then have regrets and questions on "what if..." for the rest of my life.

Before I tell you exactly what these powders are...look at the before and after photos...

BEFORE.....look at his nose, around his eyes, his legs and paws. He also was raw under his armpits and had no fur there. Actually, this is not his *worst* photo. At the worst point, he had no fur on any of his legs or paws....

AFTER....much better, right?
We've still not run out of our first tubs and just ordered the second one of each. They are all natural, with no medicine.

The first is called Dogzymes Ultimate. We sprinkle one tsp. daily into his breakfast. The first ingredient is parmesan cheese, but otherwise, there's a bunch of stuff like vitamin A, vitamin E, niacin, riboflavin, and aminos. $12 for 1 lb. tub

The second is called Dogzymes Digestive Enhancer. This one has digestive bacteria, enzymes, natural amino acids and herbs. He has 2 small scoops of this a day, which is probably about a teaspoon as well. $18.95 for 1 lb. tub.

We noticed that he started growing his hair back after about 3 weeks and it has been COMPLETELY all grown back for a couple months. We were told there were probably spots he would never get hair again because of scarring, but he did get all hair back. According to Linda, this heals from the inside out.

We are also giving these powders to our new dog, Emmett. He's healthy, but the ingredients are all natural and Nature's Farmacy says we can give it to him as well. Additionally, my brother is giving it to his Great Dane to get rid of a urinary tract infection that will not go away and my sister-in-law is giving it to her German Shepherd in hopes that he will be able to be weaned off of his steroid.

And, here's the picture of our new dog, Emmett. I'm sure having a new friend to play with has had an impact as well. :)

Goodbye, Old Friend

UPDATED 11-15-07 We still have Jack. After speaking with Linda at SecondHand Shelties, we are trying some different natural remedies. She knows how much we do not want to give Jack up. Additionally, we have brought a new Weimaraner puppy named Emmett into our home. Jack and Emmett play together and we really think that Emmett has helped by keeping Jack busy and not licking! We also have taken Jack off of his weekly allergy injections. After a year and a half of shots, we decided that they were just not working. So as of now, he's on steroids, Vitamin E, Fish Oil, Dogzymes and another dog powder added to his food. He's growing back some hair and isn't itching. We'll see how this all plays out in a couple weeks.
p.s. There's a picture of Emmett below. :)


Today is a sad day. We are putting our dog, Jack, into a rescue home. We've had Jack for almost 5 years. About 2 years ago, he started losing the hair on all four legs and itching. After unsuccessfully trying natural remedies and a food trial, we found out that he is allergic to grass, trees and other stuff. He's a dog...how can he be allergic to grass? I've been giving him allergy injections every week at home for over a year, in addition to steroids and Benadryl several times a day. He's still itching ferociously and is just miserable. We cannot keep up with the $120 shots, plus recurrent infections. He licks and gets open sores, so he gets infected. Once we get him cleared up, he's still licking so the vicious circle continues. We just can't keep up with it any more.

He is the sweetest dog ever. He is the best dog we've ever had. He listens. He sits when you tell him to. (OK, he barks every time someone opens the garage or rings the doorbell....he's gotta have one flaw.) I love when I'm on the couch and he just jumps up and lays his head on my lap. He looks at you with the sweetest eyes. Now when he looks at me though, I imagine he's saying, "Don't give up on me." It is so hard to push the emotion aside to see the reality of what we can realistically do for him.

The hardest thing now is waiting for a home to come available. The lady at the rescue organization has been great. Each day I wake up, I think, "Is this going to be his last day with us?" In some ways, I pray NO. Other days, I think...."Please, let this be over with so I can go on." See, now I'm crying again. I know, I know....he's a dog.

Today I had to sign release forms at the vets office so that they could send Jack's records to the rescue organization. I had called them ahead of time, so I wouldn't have to explain the situation in front of everyone there. When I arrived, the lady knew exactly who I was (maybe the teary, red, puffy eyes were a clue). She gave me the paper, I signed it and she said she'd take care of it right away. It was *so* hard to see all the people there with their dogs knowing that I was there completing yet another step to giving permission to give my dog away. I walked out bawling.

I've been hard to live with for the past week. (OK, maybe I'm always hard to live with, but this week has been especially bad.) I know this is the right decision, and someone else will have the time to take care of all of the special needs he has. But still, I love this silly dog and I feel guilty that I can't make this work. Hopefully by banging out these words, it will help me come to more peace. As of right now though, I'm crying again. I do have a scrapbook page dedicated to him that I made the first week we got him. I'll share it on another day.

Thanks for listening to my story.