Not blowing her coat

by Karen
(VA in the USA)

Greetings! We adopted our Great Pyrenees fifteen months ago. We live in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, where it can be quite hot and sticky. Last year, in May, Olive blew her coat over a period of two weeks and looked like a different dog (practically bald!). This year, she hasn't yet blown her coat, and it's almost the end of June. This has us a bit worried. We have her on Apoquel--a fairly new allergy medicine that works at the skin level and that has been wonderful for her. We stopped the medicine a few days ago to see if it could be preventing her from blowing her coat. Does the time period for coat blowing vary? Does it depend on the weather patterns? It doesn't seem to me that the weather here has been cooler than last year, so I don't really understand. My husband faithfully brushes her, using various tools including a rake. Is this unusual? Is it a cause for concern?

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Jun 23, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		Allergies
by: Donna

The Apoquel is only masking whatever the allergy is. You need to find out to what she is allergic. Apoquel only masks the issue and suppresses the immune system.

My girl rescue came in with demodex mange with secondary infections. Many drugs. When I adopted her she was extremely itchy to the point of scraping herself on pavement. My vet gave her prednizone. Staying on that for any length of time will damage her organs. I did my research and fount out I needed to get her on a better diet to help build her system up. I started her on raw and stopped vaccinating. It took a year to get her body to accept raw since it was so messed up. She has never been healthier.

Once Olive's system has built up it's immune system and gets the required nutrients from raw, I suspect she will probably blow her coat again.

Here is information on Apoquel:

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/wouldnt-give-dog-new-allergy-drug/
Jul 30, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		What is raw?
by: Michele Harrington

Our 1 year old Pyrenees is developing itchy skin also. In trying to be as natural as possible, what exactly is a raw diet? He has resentful not been that interested in eating his food, even though we have researched the best food for him.
Jul 31, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		Raw Diet
by: Donna

You will find a lot of information by googling for it. Find a local butcher who can supply you with grassfed heart, organ meat, edible bones from any animal (cow, rabbit, turkey, chicken, deer, moose, etc.).

Know that kibble is a very processed food sprayed with fats to make it smell good but as times goes on, that fat becomes rancid and the dog isn't as happy to eat it. But, if it's all there is, they'll eat it slowly.

You can start here:

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/a-handy-guide-for-starting-your-dog-on-raw-food/

Join this fb group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RawRoundupWithDNM/

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