Oh my. Aaron is Lexi’s favorite person… As long as his office door is open she is in and out. Sometimes she stays for a while. As for me…right now she doesn’t love me so much. Probably because I’m the one who does all the things she hates – putting medicine on her wounds, putting her collar on her, making her go back into her crate when it’s time…
Up until now, I have been giving Lexi free run of the front end of the house when I have her out of her crate. I am still rotating dogs so that everybody else is in a different room when she is out. I’m hoping to try introducing her to my other dogs in a week or two. Her e-collar did come in today, but due to other priorities (training Lucky, personal household cleaning and cooking – Fridays are my big household days), I was unable to work with her as far as training goes. Monday will be her first official day of training.
After talking with her previous owner, I decided it was time to go ahead and bathe Lexi. She stinks to high heaven, and with her skin condition (that I’ll explain better in a bit), I thought it was better to let her suffer the colder weather now so that she could heal more quickly, than to wait for warmer weather in her itchy, painful condition. I took her to the back yard and bathed her with a new soap* I had just ordered. (This stuff is amazing. It lathers quickly and well, rinses quickly, smells wonderful, and has health benefits.) After her bath, I sprayed her several times with diluted apple cider vinegar. She was fantastic. She tried to walk away a couple of times when I was rinsing her off, but for the most part, she just patiently stood there and took it. I think it actually made her feel better.
Lexi is still becoming more and more comfortable with us. Today, I have noticed her sleeping well enough that she has actually been dreaming (she is, what I assume to be, running in her sleep). When she had to potty, she actually paced the house and went to Aaron whining asking to go out. I no longer need to walk off of the porch with her into the yard to get her to go potty. And she is happy to see everybody as they come home.
Lexi’s Health Issues:
Lexi has a candida (yeast) buildup. It is showing itself through itchy, dry skin, through patches of built up yeast that have cracked open and becoming weeping wounds, in her swollen, itchy ears, and in her smelly skin. The thing that causes candida is an imbalance of bacteria in her gut. There are two types of bacteria – the bad stuff that causes yeast, and the good stuff that fights off not only the bad bacteria, but also disease.
What causes the imbalance? Ususally diet. Raw diet is always best for dogs, but if that isn’t possible, grain-free, high protein kibble is the best. Do your research. Find out what ingredients should and shouldn’t be in your dogfood.*
I am using a combination of antioxidants, enzymes, and probiotics (1 billion colony) in Lexi’s food.* As soon as she finishes the bag of dog food that was provided from her previous owner, I will be changing her diet to a kibble that is healthier. Topically, I am spraying the itchy places and her ears with 50% diluted unfiltered apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is anti-fungal and works to kill the fungus that causes yeast infections. After three to four days of using the vinegar, I will work on the wounds themselves and getting them to heal. For that, I will use Ox-e-drops.
I started using the antioxidants, enzymes, and probiotics on day one, and I have to say that there is absolutely healing going on. On day one, there was so much swelling in Lexi’s really bad ear that I couldn’t see into it. Today, not only can I see into it, but I was able to take a picture of the inside of her ear. It’s gross, but with applications of apple cider vinegar, it should clear up pretty quickly. Almost all of the swelling has gone down in Lexi’s other ear. (I wish I had thought to take before pictures of her ears.)
*You can find the new dog soap I bought at www.wondercide.com
You can evaluate any dog food at www.dogfoodadvisor.com
You can find antioxidants, enzymes, and probiotics at www.nzymes.com