# Concerns about my dog



## pandaparade (Dec 29, 2010)

A little information about my dog: he is an 11 month old Australian shepherd. His daily schedule is wake up about 7-8, eat, then go to dog park at 9 , then walking trail, then back home at 12:30 ish. So, he gets about 3 and a half hours of out time and exercise. His exercise is not rigorous at all. We walk only. Nothing in the diet (raw food) has changed and he is well into it. He still loves it of course. 

For the past week or so, Jasper has been very lethargic in my opinion. This is my first ever dog though so I have no experience. He has been very sluggish, and when we go to the dog park he usually walks and plays a little bit but when we go now, he just lays down by me. I do not think he should be that "calm" for 11 months old. I feel he should be still walking around and upbeat. Don't get me wrong, he usually lays down after a while at the dog park but it isn't right in the beginning. His attention is lost, he is just looking around, and it worries me in fact it got me to tear up today! After our second trip to the dog park today when I told him "up" to get in the car, he slowly tried to walk to the front of the car like three times. He is not himself at all. 80% it is like this now and I do not like it one bit.

Here is the problem... I think. He has environmental allergies and we just put him on Prednisolone and Amoxicillin as the vet suggested. However.. I do not want my dog acting like this. The sad thing is that the itching is almost gone...but again he is just acting so odd. I highly doubt he just snapped into a full grown adult and now just calmly does everything now. Do not get me wrong, he is pretty calm, but not calm like this 24/7. He must be exercised before he starts slowing down and he isn't even getting exercise now that he just lays around and acts like he has.

I feel after reading this I have solved my own problem to take him off of the medicine. Do you guys think that is the problem? I sure do hope so because it is really making me sad. I talked with person today and heard that he had a dog on the same stuff. That dog knew each of his twenty toys by name and loved to tug but after that, the dog acted totally different. I also wanted to post this to warn others that this medicine may possibly have this side effect.

Also, when I take him off of the medicine (started this afternoon) should I see results in a couple days or so? I know you guys aren't vets but do you think he will be back to himself soon? This won't forever change him just because he was on it for a week I hope right? :frown:

Edit: Just read this too BH Articles (my vet had me on two tablets a day until finished.. I still had plenty to go)


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

It's probably the prednisone. What's his dose right now?

Why is he on amoxicillin? 

How bad was he itching from allergies?


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## pandaparade (Dec 29, 2010)

I would have to check why he is on amoxi. Honestly, I am not sure, it was just prescribed that way. His allergies are pretty bad in my opinion. (edit: Oh I bet is is for the bacteria in his paws) He would itch once every thirty minutes or so each day so pretty constantly. Again, first dog so I could be wrong that is itsn't severe. His paws are always discolored and in the pads they turn very darkish red from all the irritation. The inside of his legs would turn a darker brown as well.


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## cupybear (Apr 11, 2009)

I would have to agree also on the meds being the cause,but we also have had the same issues with our husky over the years and took a different approach as she got older,we placed an order at petmeds after doing some research and ended up getting the tea tree oil skin relief and its a spray and works great,and also ordered some super pure omega 3 for a shiny coat and healthy skin,every year we prepare and have these items because she only goes through this at certain times of the year.Hope you find something to get him comfortable soon,he is so young.


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## cupybear (Apr 11, 2009)

Oh,the insides of our girls legs were also irritated and a darkish red color also,the tea tree oil skin relief spray worked great,almost right away and the color cleared up in a few days,it really is a great product and goes a long way,it doesnt take much at all,we love it and so does our girl,plus it smells great.


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## pandaparade (Dec 29, 2010)

Could you point me out to a brand you reccomend on tea tree oil spray? Thank you so much guys!


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## BoxerMommie (Jun 26, 2008)

Be careful with tea tree oil, it can be toxic. And it is extremely toxic to cats (if you have any). Do you know what the allergies are to? Food environment? What food do you feed? Be careful as well Prenisone you have to "step down" from you cannot just stop it all at once. I'd definitely encourage you to try and figure out the main allergy culprit and possibly go to a veterinary dermatologist as well.


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## pandaparade (Dec 29, 2010)

Allergy testing around here is around 1,000 dollars. I have a good feeling it will be some sort of grass allergy as well (my luck) . He was very young (9-10 weeks old) when he started the allergies. We have tried limited ingredient diet at first and that did nothing. The vet thought it had nothing to do with food at all. Thanks for the info on the prendis tabs. I am just at a loss.


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## cupybear (Apr 11, 2009)

The tea tree oil can be looked at if you go to petmeds.com,they also have reviews on it from other people,oh and we also bought the oatmeal shampoo and it really had our baby snoring most of the night,we need to place an order ourselves because she has these allergies from spring off and on through summer.But the combination of the spray,shampoo,and fish oil supplements for her skin really helped a great deal,the site has alot of info also.


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## BoxerMommie (Jun 26, 2008)

I never said allergy tests. But many times a good derm vet can figure out the likely culprit without allergy testing. My dog is severely allergic, I know his allergies and he's never has allergy tests. I don't usually recommend them most times they are not accurate anyway. A derm vet does much more than just test for allergies.


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## Boxers&Pom's Mom (Jan 17, 2011)

I been using the Bragg ACV in Cassie and it is working wonders. As soon, she start itching I clean her paws with a diluted ACV in water and the itchin stop right away. I am also giving her 2 capsules of Probiotics Extra Strength from Walmart. Since I am doing it, I am not giving her no more Benadryl.


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## pandaparade (Dec 29, 2010)

Thank you guys. I will work on doing the ACV and probiotics as well as search for a derm. vet around here. Sorry, I thought you were wanting me to do an allergy test. I didn't know there was such a thing.


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