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Backstory:

My little fur baby, Oliver, is a Brussels Griffon.

He was bought by "he who shall not be named" from a reputable breeder who shows dogs but this one was too small to be a show dog.

He has been neutered as per her contract so we can't breed from her champion line.

The dog is now almost 4. About 2 years ago he started to develop symptoms of allergies.

Biting his paws

Scratching incessantly

Ear infections

Red/irritated skin

Sneezing

Etc.

After my usual vet died in March of 2012, a new younger vet took over temporarily. He suggested blood tests for allergies. I did it and found out Oliver is allergic to dust mites, cat dander, mould and some trees.

He suggested starting a course of steroids and immunotherapy.

The steroids cleared up the rashes and ear infections beautifully.

I started the immunotherapy injection in August of 2013.

I continued to do the needles but then the vet practice was sold and the vet I was seeing left. He was taking some time off and then looking for a new job.

The vet that took over does not believe in giving the steroids and did not know much about allergies.

I weaned Oliver off the steroids and was told to give him 5mg antihistamines.

He was also put on a hypoallergenic food and gets no "people food" whatsoever.

His skin went nuts!!!

Just awful. It turns black from all the scratching and his back fur began to thin from the rash and scabs on his back.

Now:

I have stopped the immunotherapy shots.

I have started to feed him a raw food diet that a friend of my sister recommended and has fed her boxers for the past 9 years. They had similar problems with rash, scratching and ear infections.

I have been feeding Oliver the new food for the past week. He seems to have reduced the scratching, his skin looks better. I will have to continue for 4 - 6 weeks to know for sure if this will work.

My problem:

He has started peeing and pooping in the house.

The poop is hard and crumbly but he can't seem to control it or he doesn't let me know when he has to go out.

He used to be able to go for 8 hours in the house with no accidents and all night with no problem.

Now he is up in the night and restless.

He used to sleep a lot and maybe that was becuase he was feeling so bad with the allergies.

I don't know.

I am a first time dog owner and don't have that much experience.

I have had him for more than 3 years.

What can I do to house train him again?

Any advice or tips?

[This message edited by Lola2kids at 7:07 AM, February 5th (Wednesday)]

Cat person here, so I have no advice. Just hugs. (((Lola & Oliver)))

I was normally a cat person.

We had cats as kids but they were strays that we used to let out of the house and they would come back all beat up and hungry.

My sister has a cat and when I try to vent to her she commented that "dogs are stupid".

Yeah, that helps sis, really.

You may need to use a crate a night to help with housebreaking him again.

Dogs on a raw diet with bones have crumbly poop. If I were you I'd give this a chance to see if it will help.

Did you change the food suddenly? This can cause lots of tummy trouble in dogs.

You may want to try a wholistic vet experienced with raw diets for help getting the skin issues under control, since traditional therapies did not work.

[This message edited by Chrysalis123 at 1:52 PM, February 4th (Tuesday)]

Yes, I changed the food on Jan 26th.

I stopped giving him the hypoallergenic kibble.

He isn't drinking as much water so I was surprised that he peed in the house.

His poop is crumbly and my groomer (who also feeds her dogs the same food) said that when it is really hard and crumbly it's a sign that you are feeding too much.

He gets 1/3 of a pattie in the am and 1/3 in the evening.

I am in the process of finding a new vet.

I'm not going back to the old practice with the new vet. I didn't like her very much.

Thanks all.

I'm going to hang in there and hope that he adapts to the new diet in hopes of improving his skin condition.

Clearly if the dog has allergies to environmental constituents - like dust mites - the hypoallergenic food wasn't going to help. Chances are the raw diet isn't either. While it is possible that certain foods or dyes in low quality commercial food might add to his problems, his problems are not primarily with his diet. Personally, I am not a fan of the raw diet. I don't understand a vet not "believing" in steroid meds - that's like telling a person with asthma not to use an inhaler. Get a new vet. And please remember the dog isn't making messes to get back at you - his system is in distress and he needs help.

The steroids cleared up the rashes and ear infections beautifully.

I started the immunotherapy injection in August of 2013.

If this worked before, why didn't you just switch vets to one that was better qualified and would provide the steriods?

I agree with justdoit and lieshurt.

I think a new vet is in order. It sounds like the steriods were working.

Poor pup!

Definitely crate him at night to help with the messes overnight. Try to take him outside more often as well. By the time we had our third pup, I learned the "lashing" technique where I basically kept the dog leashed to me while indoors. It is harder for them to go off and pee/poop somewhere if they're right next to you. You can also see if he's starting to "sniff out" a spot in which to pee and try to avert disaster.

[This message edited by GabyBaby at 3:47 PM, February 5th (Wednesday)]

Was he tested for a grain allergy as well?

Many dogs develop this over time, and just like humans and allergies, it can go away over time as well. If it is a grain allergy then switching to a grain free diet is the easiest thing to do.

We had a lahsapoo that developed a grass allergy in her more mature years, it would obviously get worse in the spring and go away in the winter, we gave her steroids, at a low dose for years, and when she would flare in the spring, she'd get a shot from the vet, and have to Benadryl with it for a week, and then be able to go back to a low dose. She lived to be 19 so I would say it didn't hurt her at all.

My MIL has Westies, and one developed some allergies, and she had him on the expensive food, and it helped some, what helped more, was a homemade diet of ground lean beef, and/or turkey, with carrots, green beans, and potatos, it was awesome, he scratched no more, and heck his food was so good looking I would have ate it.

He was on that a year, and she gradually put him back on a grain free kibble. No more itchies.

I would say the potty issues are from the change in the diet, the raw diet has a lot more liquid, and a lot less fiber, thus it gets hard and crumbly as his colon absorbs the liquids out. I have known people with boxers that have gut issue that they have to have a fiber supplement added to their foods, as they too are grain free.

I would say find a new vet... too.

Time to find a new vet and continue with the change in diet.

The new vet it will be then.

I have a place in mind and will make an appointment.

I just want to help him. I know how annoying allergies are

... I have them too.

It's good to know a low dose of steroids that I know will help is not harmful.

The only side effect was weight gain which could lead to joint problems in the breed. He has had a luxating patella before that healed.

Poor little sweetie. I have only told him "bad boy" with the messes. I know it's not his fault since he has been so good up until the diet change.

Also

He was put on the hypoallergenic food to rule out food allergies. His blood test would only detect environmental allergies.

I was supposed to try the food for 3 months. Then the vet left.

He used to get noticeably red skin on his brow and on his belly after eating.i thought a food change could be in order.

The patties have turkey, turkey bones, and veggies. Carrots,collard greens, sweet potato and a bunch more I can't remember.

I will try it for at least a month.

[This message edited by Lola2kids at 8:42 PM, February 4th (Tuesday)]

My dogs are on raw diet. Your dog is constipated, add pumpkin to his food. I add two tablespoons. Also add shredded carrot, Apple, no grapes. There is a protocol where one day is raw meat, the other raw fish veggies. Pork is really constipation.

[This message edited by PricklePatch at 1:10 AM, February 5th (Wednesday)]

Poor baby - I had a dog with the exact same problems. Nightmare city.

She was a mutt, I had told H that I wanted a mutt because so many purebred dogs have health problems. Poor little girl got the associated health problems with every breed in her line. We took ours to a veterinary dermatologist. Had the allergy tests and our dog was allergic to pretty much the same things as yours - dust mites, molds, pollen. The allergy shots unfortunately didn't help her much at all.

She would get occasional rounds of steroids when things got really bad but basically took Benadryl every day of her life (approved by her vet).Her poop was fine but she eventually developed kidney disease, which I suspect was from all the meds. Allergies are as horrible for the poor pups as they are for us, I think.

We switched to a raw diet after our first dog developed allergies. We tried various foods--grain free, hypoallergenic, sensitivity, you name it. Each food seemed to work briefly, but quickly lost efficacy. The raw diet has been an absolute godsend for us. We make their food (yeah, I know, we're completely nuts ), so tend to change it around a bit from time to time. We do a mix of meat, ground vegetables and whole bones, and add a multivitamin, a fish oil capsule and a dollop of EVOO or coconut oil.

If your dog's poop is dry and crumbly, I would try adding more fiber in the form of a bunch of vegetables blended up in the food processor-- we use a mixture of whatever we have on hand - carrots, celery, peppers, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, spinach. Avoid cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, onions. We also add some uncooked oats or some cooked quinoa, but our dogs don't seem to have grain issues.

If your dog's allergy issues are environmental rather than dietary, I don't know that the diet will cure them, but if there is a grain/food allergy, calming his immune system certainly won't hurt. I'd stay with it, but I'd probably also get someone to put him back on steroids, get his diet stabilized and then try weaning him off of them gradually.

One other thought - he could be allergic to turkey (ours seems to be allergic to chicken). Do they do a different meat? I'm also a bit iffy on the inclusion of both sweet potatoes and collard greens. Sweet potatoes are a very sugar-rich carb, and I would think they're best as an occasional thing for dogs. And the jury seems to be out on whether collard greens are considered cruciferous vegetables, which you aren't supposed to give dogs as they can cause thyroid problems.

And it's not unusual for them to drink a lot less water when on raw food, so I wouldn't worry about that.

Sorry - I feel like a walking encyclopedia on raw feeding.

I hope your fur baby feels better soon.

It's entirely possible he could be allergic to chicken.

Unfortunately the hypoallergenic food was chicken based.

I was just on a holistic site that described how to treat yeast. He has that smell. His ears are definitely yeasty. I'm wondering if the allergies are suppressing his immune system and the yeast is taking over his skin.

Have to make that appointment for the vet.

The raw food I am giving him comes in a meat/organ/bone variety without vegetables. I can then give him the vegetables of my choice to up his fibre intake.

I am committed to making this poor little guy better. He has suffered enough and I love him to bits.

My faithful companion when no one else could be faithful to me.

He's so sweet.

[This message edited by Lola2kids at 1:36 PM, February 5th (Wednesday)]

I just re-read your first post and saw the thing about him sleeping less. It's possible that the change in his diet has upped the amount of protein he is eating, and that can make some dogs more energetic/restless. I'd try playing with the ratios of vegetables to meat. I have a hunch that might help. If you suspect yeast, I'd also cut out carrots and sweet potatoes - the less sugar he gets the better.

When you're looking for a new vet (and I really do think he sounds like he needs to be back on steroids, at least for the time being), it might be useful to find one who understands and can be helpful with raw feeding. I found ours an invaluable resource for that.

Poor baby.

ETA: I meant, Oliver, not you. Hope he feels better soon.

[This message edited by brooke4 at 1:53 PM, February 5th (Wednesday)]

We have a 8 month old German Shepherd puppy that was having a similar problem. Our vet said it was probably a food allergy and advised we take her off all beef, chicken, soy, corn, and wheat. This includes anything with beef or chicken by-products. We live in the south were there are Tractor Supply stores. We found a product called 4-health. She gets the dry kibble with a little canned on top. We were also told not to give her rawhide chews or treats with above ingredients. I found a recipe for treats that are made with coconut flour, peanut butter, eggs, and unsweeted apple sauce. The dogs love them. It did take awhile (about a month) for us to see a result but she seems fine now. Hope your baby is better soon.

I also have to avoid nut and peanut products in the house since my daughter has a peanut/tree nut allergy and carries an EpiPen.

[This message edited by Lola2kids at 2:30 PM, February 5th (Wednesday)]