How all natural are you?

[RawFedDogs]

Now I'm jealous for my dogs. Sounds like yours get a good diet.

[Oz'sMommy]

oz is still a 'baby' (at a little over 8 months) so he's only had his full puppy shots and his rabies shot. because he was so small our vet split up the series as much as he could. the vet feels there are too many risks with giving a small breed dog a lepto vaccine so he won't be getting that one. and he said vaccinating oz for corona or lyme wasn't wise. he had a skin reaction to rabies so we're going to have to watch that one next time it rolls around. he will be having a titer test when he's one year, as well as a stool, urine sample to make sure he's 100% healthy and free of parasites or any kidney issues. if the vet says his test looks good for immunities then he won't get shots. if the test shows he needs a booster then we'll do it.

oz's vet was also okay with me waiting to get him fixed until he was finished developing (which i'm sure he is now). that's another story, i have issues getting him fixed but likely will if in the longrun it keeps him healthy. he has no agression, territory or behavior issues that would warrant me to get him fixed other than making sure he doesn't get a female pregnant if the 1 in a million chance i'm not by his side. i'm also worried about his personality changing, i'm sure i'm over-reacting but still, lol.

oz eats alternating meals of kibble (right now it's natural balance potato & duck) or canned (we switch between wellness turkey @ sweet potato, wellness 95% turkey or evanger's 100% duck or buffalo). he doesn't eat anything with corn, wheat, soy or rice. his treats are usually 100% dehydrated tilapia, sam yam's sweet potato fries, wellness pure treats, anabelle's duck & sweet potato biscuits, stuff like that. saturday mornings he gets a scrambled egg and a bit of boiled old fashioned oats with his breakfast. sunday dinners he'll get a boiled serving of chicken, steak, salmon or ground beef depending on what we're having. AND i just noticed that a market in our area now sells buffalo so he'll be trying that in a non-canned dog food form soon (as will we, lol)

i use advantage on him for fleas. as you know it doesn't get very cold in california. i'd like to stop giving it to him when flea season "stops" but i have to look more into when that is for my area. he gets interceptor once a month. we had quite a few mosquitos this summer especially around the park we go to since they have a tendency to overwater the lawn which leaves little pockets of standing water behind. he's taken antibiotics once when he had an ear infection, never again. after two days on those he got the worst yeast infection in BOTH ears. he now gets a little ACV and organic nonfat yogurt every now and again but he used to be on it all the time. it cleared it right up and i got some natural ear wash w/o alcohol in it as well.

i'm trying to learn more about massage. there's a homeopathic vet down the street from my office as well as a pet "spa" that does reflexology/massage for dogs i've seen around town as well. but i've been massaging oz since he was a baby. he just sits there with his eyes half closed and that "man this feels good" look on his face.

[CorgiPaws]

is just a cold and untreated goes away in two weeks. There are the odd cases that do get sick and sometimes the colds turn into serious infections. Mostly the very young and very old. Just like people.

Working in doggy daycares and boarding facilities the last few years, I've seen many cases of simple kennel cough turn into terrible cases of pneumonia, and even two deaths (granted that's two deaths in three years....)
I take my dogs to work with me and they're around other dogs every single day. The facility requires DHLPP, bordetella, and rabies, and I do keep up on the bordetella for the most part just because of their exposure. I just started working in a new facility that isn't very busy yet, and I'm not too concerned so Champ is a few months overdue. My 13 year old beagle hasn't seen a needle in years, but he also never really leaves home, and defnately isn't fit for daycare. Grissom is only 6 months old, so he's finished up puppy shots.