My Ears Itch!!!! = Food Allergies??

My ears itched ALL THE TIME! UGH! I would lay next to the bed and scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, whine!!, scratch, scratch, scratch all night long. Dad would clean my ears with solution & q-tips (q-tips are nommy, by the way) and mom would spray anti-itch stuff in my ears.

After several vet appointments, timed right when I was itchiest, and monitoring ALL my snacks, the vet suggested that I might be allergic to beef. It turns that that many dogs are allergic to beef and their parents just don't know it.

Here is an article that talks a little about beef allergies in dogs: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2082&aid=143

Beef allergies are often misdiagnosed as mange or ticks or just itchy skin. Some of the symptoms might include itchy ears, hot ears, pink ears, red eyes, lots of drooling for no reason, itchy feet, etc. My ears were itchy, red, and HOT to the touch after I had a beef bone.

So, no more beef cookies, rawhide chews, mom's shoes (well, those were ALWAYS forbidden), beef bones, steak bones, beef juice, pieces of steak, etc. This was really a difficult change for me because I LOVE the flavor of beef but now I know I don't get any. Instead, I get some green beans or chicken or carrots or something else fun to snack on.

My ears don't keep everyone up all night anymore and we're all very happy that it was such a simple remedy.

Dangers of Home Repair - Stairs!!

- Here is a picture of me supervising the stair project.

Ok, I don't want my friends to start thinking I'm a klutz or uncoordinated, or worse, but I have to share another story about household dangers to pets.

One day, a bunch of noisy houseguests arrived. They stayed all day but they left at night. They showed up again the next day too. I didn't know why they were here but they sure made a mess of the house. I was quite nervious that mom would blame the mess on me but she seemed to be totally ok with it.

When I went up the stairs Monday afternoon, the carpet was gone. When I tried to come down the stairs, I didn't realize the carpet had been important to me and to my ability to have good traction on the stairs. I took one step, slipped on the exposed wooden stair, and fell all the way down. Ouch!

Mom called the vet who gave me doggy meds for pain and swelling (NEVER EVER people meds, only doggy meds). Now I am very careful of the stairs until the workman finish them.

I learned two things. 1) when the stair runner was removed, the stairs become smaller, with less place to put my paw. 2) Shiny wood stairs are VERY slippery.

So, if your house is getting worked on, stay off the stairs. It's a long way to the bottom!!

Well Hello There!

Hi!
Welcome to my very first blog.
Why am I blogging? Dunno.....I'm an obedient rottweiler and some folks asked me to create a blog. Mom throws a ball and says, "go get it", I go get it. She opens the door and says "go potty", I go potty. Somebody said, "make a blog", so here it is.
I suppose the other reason is that I'm super friendly and if I can spend more time visiting, sniffing wheel wells, discussing squirrels and car rides, eating cookies and otherwise socializing, that's a pretty good reason too. So, I'm not promising much. But, here's my blog. Thanks for stopping by!
Smoooooch!!!!
wagwagwagwagwag