Suggestions please! ! ! !

[Hoosier]

We lost both of our dogs last year. One in July and our girl Shelby in November. Shelby was not EPI but had to be treated the same as if she had it. I really did not want anymore pets ever. Losing both of my babies in less than 4 months of each other hit very hard especially when I lost my Shelby girl since it was such short notice. Well we now have a new male almost 5 month old GSD. He is quite a handful since it has been over 9 years since we have had a puppy. That makes me 9 years older too. Any way our boy is very skinny. His sides are all sunken in when you are looking down on him. From the sides he looks ok. No diarrhea and no vomiting ( he did vomit when we first got him) He eats 3 meals a day. He gets a total of about 2 cups per day. If I give him more he wont it all. I also use canned food as a topper. He was itching himself crazy and even had scabs and sores on him till the vet gave him a Cytopoint injection on Jan 29- 2020. It has helped with the itchy a lot. almost all the sores and scabs have healed. I have also noticed his skin on his belly is turning brown or a rusty color. Not black but brown. Not sure what is causing that. The Vet though it was from him licking but that cant be all true since hes not been licking on it lately and there are more brown spots now.

Do any of you think this could be from allergies? I mean can pups this young have allergies already? Food or contact? This is really hard to figure out. We never did find out all of Shelby's allergies. I had him tested for fungal which came back negative which I was surprised sine he did have a yeast infection in one of his ears. He had a positive reading for giardia and was treated for 3 days at my request. The Vet did not want to treat him said his own immune system would fight it off. I didn't like that answer.
He is currently on Sport Dog Food whitefish formula which has a lot of calories in it. He was on a chicken grain kibble when all the itching started which is why I switched his food. I also have some Sport Dog food Cub which is buffalo and oatmeal that I was giving him too and he liked too but because of the oatmeal I didn't think it would be good for him if he had allergies to grain. Yes he is gaining weight but mostly due to height. Another question is would giving him enzymes for a bit to see if that would help him gain weight since he is a little under weight would the enzymes hurt him at all and if so in what ways? I don't know what puppy kibble to give him? I feel so over whelmed right now with a new puppy who already has a skin issue and really still grieving over my other 2 babies.
Thanks ,
Sheila ( overly worried mom)

[Kohlesmomma]

Hello. Congrats on the new pup ! I have a 4yr old with EPI. Gsd's are wonderful donkey dogs that alot of times will have allergies. My dog has seasonal allergies and will get crunches on his back side during this time of year specifically. The injection the vet gave should take care of that for your dog for now, unfortunately your pup may have to have more as rime goes on. It is overwhelming with a new pup, after not having one for sometime. I'm so sorry to hear about your previous ones lost. I can tell you try to do the very best for your dogs. The food you are giving is highly rated, that doesn't mean your dog tolerates it if there is some ingredient that causes a skin allergy but I would stick with it for now, as ling as vet approves. Is that food ok for all life stages tho? Including puppies? Also, if I were you, I would NOT start enzymes until you know for sure the symptoms are showing that your dog needs them or vet approves. Gsd's are "lanky" as they are puppies all ears and feet, that's why I call them "donkey's. I think it's too early to worry if your pup has well formed normal stools. Believe me you don't wanna go the ELI road yet if you don't have too. Just watch his weight, if he is gaining- good, watch his stools especially! But I wouldn't worry yet.
I hope this helps some.
Kellie and kohle

[Kohlesmomma]

Oh, and also, I don't know everything about anything. I am sure that one of the more seasoned and experienced folks on here might can help you as well and make suggestions
Try not to worry tho. And enjoy your new baby.
Kellie and kohle

[Tuckaboo Pam]

Hi, Sheila, and welcome! I used to live in Indiana...loved it there! I agree with what Kellie said, but did I read correctly that you are feeding 2 cups/day? That seems a little light for a puppy. My sport dog bag said to feed my grown dog 2 cups/day, but I asked around & it seems to depend on the activity level. I think Tucker has a fast metabolism, so I increased it to 3 cups/day, and he's not getting fat. As far as enzymes go, you wouldn't use them for weight gain if his pancreas is in order. I wonder, do skin issues ever indicate a need to look into diabetes? I'm not sure, but this rings a bell. You will hear from staff soon, so keep checking back---Pam

[Hoosier]

When I put more than a cup at a time in his bowl he wont eat all of it. he eats more in the pm meals than in the morning. I don't think 2 cups is enough either but I cant make him eat or do anything for that matter. This boy has a stubborn mind for sure. I am not used to such a stubborn dog. he is nothing like my last GSD was. She was so good other than not liking her enzyme to where she would not eat it all unless I forced it in her mouth. I will hold off on the enzyme. I can tell the cytopoint is already wearing off a little even though it is supposed to last for 4 weeks they actually say 8 weeks but can be given every 4 weeks and it is not a cheap shot either. I hope he doesn't have to one again but if he starts his scratching really bad and knowing on himself again to where he gets sores and scabs again then he will get the shot again.

This is so hard trying to figure out what he could be allergic to. Yes the food is supposed to be for all life stages but the Cub one says for puppies but it has oatmeal and I was trying to keep him off of grains and chicken to see if that was going to help his itching and rash. Plus after I would give him an oatmeal bath he scratched really bad then too. So I thought the oatmeal in the puppy shampoo was not agreeing with his skin even though it says for itchy read skin. I used to think I became a pro of all of this with Shelby but obviously I'm not. I also have been giving him a fish oil soft gel pill daily for his skin and a Cosequin tablet each day. I am going to try and start giving him a cup of food at each meal (3) each day and see if that helps. What ever he doesn't eat I will save for the next one since it has wet food with it. he wont eat the kibble without canned food with is Wellness fish. No chicken at all. It is so hard to find dog food that doesn't have any chicken in it all. After looking at poop for years from my other GSD I am still on poop patrol with this little one. So far his poop is pretty darn good. Good form and good color. There's a positive.

[Kohlesmomma]

Believe me I understand the frustrations with the itchy skin. Kohle was scratching as much as he did last year at this time if not more.
One of the members on here suggested that I take a small amount of coconut oil and rub it into his coat a few times a week and gently brush through. The coat absorbes it so it doesn't leave an oily residue after it has soaked in.(usually overnight) which tells me he must have needed. The body doesn't keep what it doesn't need. I also put a small pinch (like pea size)directly into his food, i use the refined cold pressed, not fractionated and I am actually starting to see results by doing that. We live in SC, and lately we have been having all 4 seasons in one day with our crazy weather here. So the skin and coat get dry. Doing that, and brushing him daily has helped my dog tremendously. Also you have a growing puppy, he is probably shedding and getting more of his grown dog coat coming in. Has the vet recommended anything OTC that might work and be less expensive?
Finally. When my dog didn't want to eat I added some Tripe as a topper. Solid Gold makes a canned one and tripe is loaded with good stuff for dogs, I think paid somewhere like $20 for 6 cans and would blend a tablespoon into my dogs food. It's stinky like cat food, but they usually like stinky, and it worked very well for encouraging my dog to eat when he wouldn't. It is also grain-free. I believe chewy.com and amazon both sell it. But you could also find it in pet food stores like outsmart or superpets.
I hope this helps some.
Kellie and kohle

[Madelon]

Hi Sheila!! Congratulations on the puppy. Unfortunately dogs can develop food sensitivities and allergies at any age. The only way to figure out if it's a food sensitivity is to do a TRUE elimination trial or you can do the NutriScan Food Sensitivity test. As for seasonal allergies, the only way to test for that is a blood test with your vet.

Have you had your pup retested for Giardia? I've never heard of it being treated for only 3 days - it is the one of the hardest parasites to get rid of and more often than not takes two rounds of the antibiotics. So I would start there first.

GSD are notorious for the allergies - I have been through the ringer with my boy. I finally bit the bullet and took him to a dermatologist - I couldn't afford to do the food elimination diet and because of the EPI the food she wanted us to use wasn't right so I opted for the NutriScan Food Sensitivity test - it confirmed my suspicion that he was sensitive to fish but a lot of other things as well. When I switched foods based on the test, the yeast and pyoderma and itchies went away (this was during winter) - along came Spring and we were back at it with sores and itching etc so I had allergy testing done through my regular vet - both food and environmental - the food test confirmed what the NutriScan test said and the environmental confirmed by boy is allergic to EVERYTHING LOL. The dermatologist has us bathe him with Duoxo Chlorhexadine shampoo (Amazon) and I use Chlorhexadine 4% spray (Amazon) on the areas twice a day. I give him Zyrtec 10mg 2x a day Spring through Fall - but please do not give your dog Zyrtec without consulting with your vet.

If your pup isn't eating unfortunately it could be a whole host of reasons from as simple as he doesn't like the current food to a food sensitivity to IBD to some other medical condition. Have you had a blood panel done to make sure all of his levels are okay? If he's not having diarrhea and not interested in eating I'm not sure enzymes are the way to go at this point. Olesia always says when dogs don't eat to check for issues with the liver. Have you tried some sort of stinky topper to entice the pup to eat?

[Tuckaboo Pam]

Sheila, this may be stupid, but did your vet rule our demodex? Tucker had that when he was a puppy, with red, itchy scabs all over. Itched like crazy. Just a thought. And I wonder, would he he something you made yourself, like roast beef? Then you'd be giving just one ingredient, and you could see if anything cleared up. I'm guessing he might eat it, too, unless his mouth is sore. Oh, and what is new pup's name? I'm all over the place, and I just realized Shelby is one of the doggies you are still grieving over. I'm so sorry about your losses.---Pam

[Jean]

the first thing I would suggest is scrapings from wherever the itching is and the vet to send off for tests

also the dark skin, it might be worth testing for Cushings

what about worms ?

its all a trial and error but ..............

[Madelon]

Thank you Jean for suggesting the Cushings test!!!