Lordbroll wrote:

Wow, I would have bet the house that was ZRD from looking at the photo.

I would have too!

How is Hobie doing?
Has the food change helped any?

Well Its been 1week3 days on raw diet for Hobie. So far he loves it. No issues at all the itch is gone but not the sores around eyes. Vet had me putting Georges Aloe gel on them but no improvement. So monday he got an ointment that seems to be shrinking them,fingers crossed. Yes When this first started I told my vet it was zrd but zinc did not help. Im going to stick w/ the raw diet he is getting zinc supps and vetri-science derma strenght,vit e, salmon oil,ect but its only been 10 days . I want it to get better over night NOT going to happen. I have to chase him around to clean his eyes and put the ointment on. I really like the raw diet!

Thanks for the update!
At least he's not itching as much!
Hopefully, now, the sores can heal!

Keep up posted!
Hope he's on the mend!

That's fantastic news! Here's hoping for continued improvement!

avalentine wrote:

Well Its been 1week3 days on raw diet for Hobie. So far he loves it. No issues at all the itch is gone but not the sores around eyes. Vet had me putting Georges Aloe gel on them but no improvement. So monday he got an ointment that seems to be shrinking them,fingers crossed. Yes When this first started I told my vet it was zrd but zinc did not help. Im going to stick w/ the raw diet he is getting zinc supps and vetri-science derma strenght,vit e, salmon oil,ect but its only been 10 days . I want it to get better over night NOT going to happen. I have to chase him around to clean his eyes and put the ointment on. I really like the raw diet!

I hope Hobie is showing signs of improvement!
Let me know how he's doing....

How long was he on zinc supplements? It took my Mikko a full shed cycle to show improvement.

Hi! Hobie update! He was on zinc since Nov 2010 w/ no sign of improvement in fact it got worse.When he went on science diet z/d it got really bad. He has been on raw for over a month w/ a few supplements for skin support and for the first time in 7 months no scabs on his face! He even has hair growing back around his eyes he almost looks normal again! He has sparkle!really I think he just cant eat a kibble type diet. He even had bloat at age 1.5 which the vet was shocked. it was after a big kibble dinner too.he never had one issue w/ switching over to raw either it was like he was eating that way all his life.he smells good, looks good teeth are clean ect we are very happy!

Wow!
I'm am SO happy that Hobie has done really well on raw! And SO happy he's 99% back to normal!

Yay for Hobie!

Awesome! So glad to hear he is doing good.

Fantastic! Another raw feeding success story.

well raw just makes sense,but boy people really make wrinkle nose face at me when i tell them how he is fed. a long time ago when I read Siberian Huskys for Dummies it warned against feeding the same kibble diet day in and day out because it encourages allergys. i work for a dentist and read raw meaty bones and most of it talks about periodontal disease which people ignore but if your mouth is a cesspool of infection how wouldnt that affect your whole body? its in your body! same w/dogs. i can see the connection.I also see how I could be almost religous about raw so i try not to bug people about the garbage they feed their dogs. fingers crossed Hobie continues healing he hasnt had this kind of improvement since Nov 2010. The only other thing that is gone that could have been a problem was my fabric softner addiction. i no longer use it or any scented stuff anywhere still raw has made him a picture of shiney health!

I love Hobie's success story!

I have a friend who's 5 yr old male Sibe has developed allergies and was recently diagnosed with atopic dermatitis and they changed his food to a grain free kibble with meds which would cost them about $150-200/mo for the initial doses until they can taper the meds down. He sounds like he's getting better, but I don't how he is progressing.

I told them about Hobie's story, and that I also feed Ginger a partial raw diet and they were very suprised at feeding raw just in general.

Since raw feeding includes approximately 10% organs, do you also include this as part of Hobie's diet? (Just wondering...)

Yes, I got some beef heart, chicken livers and sectioned them up in baggies to add to his diet I give him some 1-2xs a week w/ his Omas chix mix. I am still afraid of just giving him bones because if anything happens right now because of his diet my naysayer husband will go over the edge. I am on my 3rd book I feel as if i am still learning! I gave him a turkey liver last sat since we were roasting a whole turkey and he left it in the bowl.Turkey was frozen for a long time but you could tell he didnt like something about it.I also gave him a frozen dog treat a couple of days ago and husband fertilized lawn w/ so called pet safe stuff but i noticed a little bit of the boo boos starting around lips we use to give those treats daily and now i have only given 2 in the last month no grains but there is preseravatives. really i need to stay away from FAKE food. can i freeze some yogurt w/ honey and give him that? or its the little plastic container its in but those 2 things are the only difference lately.and i know allergies are not cured but controlled.any advice on what kind of "cookie" he could eat?

I'm not sure about honey, but if that's included in some of the stuff he's eating and is still doing ok, you could probably mix in some honey with yogurt.

Here's a link to some grain free recipes by The Honest Kitchen:
The Honest Kitchen recipes for dog treats

Just make sure the THK formulas used are also the grain free ones.

If Hobie does fine with fish, here's one that isn't on their website:

Zeal and Tuna Bites (stores in fridge up to 1 week)
-2 cups Zeal
-1 cup warm water
-1 clove garlic
-1 tbsp parsley
-2 eggs
-1 can tuna

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Hydrate Zeal
Mix in garlic and parsley
Mix in tuna and eggs (batter should be thick)
Roll into balls; bake on greased baking sheet for 20 minutes

For extra crispy, turn off oven and leave 40-45 minutes longer.

If you're concerned about what you use to grease baking sheet, use a silicon baking mat instead.

Ok just when I start bragging about how good Hobie is doing a small set back. Started seeing some signs of sores around lips again Two things fertilized the lawn or new limited ingredient Dog Biscuits? The cookie has no grains is Bision and sweet potato but is "store bought" (pet co). Im sure it is perseved some how right. Vet said no more suggest i make little meat balls out of raw or try freeze dried raw as a treat.So thats what Im doing.Hobie cant have "cookies" anymore.Boy I am glad he is my only child!any raw feeders have treat ideas for me?

I posted a recipe to make fish cookies on the previous page. It uses Honest Kitchen, but that should be OK for Hobie. Honest Kitchen Zeal does not have any grain.

If he cannot handle ANY type of grain, including oats, then see if you can find Vital Essentials. I came across it at my local pet store, and they are freeze dried or frozen raw.

I started a thread on this: Vital Essentials

They also come in 'nugget size', which are small little bites of it, making it a nice treat! Both forms come in either freeze dried or frozen. They also come in patties as well.

Another option you have is Stella & Chewy's freeze dried patties. Just break them up and use them as treats, or give them whole as a 'cookie'.

I would second the Stella & Chewy's freeze dried patties suggestion, they are freeze dried raw patties and you can break off small bits to use as treats. Another suggestion would be to use freeze dried organs/meats such as dehydrated lamb lung or beef liver as an example. Ziwipeak can be used as a treat as well and it's another dehydrated raw food and they also have treats available too. The Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucy's also have dehydrated/freeze dried treats available.

Lawn fertilizer is nasty to pets (and most likely people) When those damn Chem Lawn people are in my neighborhood thats all I can smell in the air, can't imagine what that crap does to the skin.


They tell you its harmless but did you ever notice they wear knee high rubber boots & elbow length rubber gloves.

So true! We put fertilizer down and Faith was itching all over but especially on her feet for over a month as a result! Just an awful reaction.

He has no body itchies just he looks like he has ZRD or herpes but dogs dont get cold sores.Went out to dinner and came back to a bloody hole on his nose by his whiskers.So thanks for treat advice i did get some freeze dried food to try as treats. I didnt let him on grass for 2 weeks so i think its those store bought cookies. So tomorrow will be day 1 no cookies,anybody have any idea how long it takes to for reactions to subside? Really compared to how bad he was 2 months ago its very mild I just dont want it to get like it was before.