Hi everyone! Let me introduce myself my name is Patti and I share my life with a great husband,two beautiful girls, my security system named Bruce, he is a three year old GSD, and my cuddle buddy Sweatheart, she is a five year old decker rat terrier. I came to this forum because I was tired of searching the internet for answers and coming up empty handed. Why not ask people who have and love their dogs as much as I do. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I might put on Bruce for extreme scratching. He has now scratched of almost all the fur from his rear end. I have taken him to the vet several times and nothing they have given me seems to work. I know he is allergic to fleas, but he is also allergic to most flea medications too. But every time the vet comes up with something new we are buying it and trying but it always ends with no luck. I can't for the life of me come up with anything else to do for him I would really appreciate any ideas.

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by brucesmommy

Hi everyone! Let me introduce myself my name is Patti and I share my life with a great husband,two beautiful girls, my security system named Bruce, he is a three year old GSD, and my cuddle buddy Sweatheart, she is a five year old decker rat terrier. I came to this forum because I was tired of searching the internet for answers and coming up empty handed. Why not ask people who have and love their dogs as much as I do. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I might put on Bruce for extreme scratching. He has now scratched of almost all the fur from his rear end. I have taken him to the vet several times and nothing they have given me seems to work. I know he is allergic to fleas, but he is also allergic to most flea medications too. But every time the vet comes up with something new we are buying it and trying but it always ends with no luck. I can't for the life of me come up with anything else to do for him I would really appreciate any ideas.

German Shepherds are prone to not being able to digest their food as well as they should--therefore have many issues including allergies because they are not getting the nutrition they need to keep a healthy immune system. I have posted about this problem in this forum before. Please go to my profile page (Corky/Max)--click on statistics and then click on THREADS I have started (NOT POSTS) and find the thread called German Shepherds--Nutrition.. German Shepherds don't have a very long life and I would bet it is because they are not getting the nutrition out of their food!!! By the way, lol, I am a Bruces mommy too---my grown son's name is Bruce. I'm sorry, I wish I could post a lot more on how to help your dog---It would take me forever--Will say, find out about supplements like Vitamin C--a good multivitamin---Fish or salmon oil----Feed a good diet--commercial dog food is crap--It isn't fit for the dog to eat esp. German Shepherds with the problem they have with getting any nutrition to start with!! The greedy dog food companies don't care about your dog. All that dog food does is give empty calories and nothing to keep the dog thriving at all---Dogs are suppose to live about 10 years longer than they do but when they are not getting what they need from the crap they are eating--get all the crappy vaccinations--get poisonous antibiotics, medicines, etc--their immune system finally has to shut down!! I feel so sorry for dogs. And can you see why I can't print out here all I'd like to---It is too involved and I get too involved--drives me crazy!
Even though you don't want to get things off the internet--I've given some issues here that you would be smart to study on---go to the library--have them get you books on these subjects. And you will find a lot of info on this forum by going into the Dog Health and Nutrition section and reading the posts there. If you have a specific question or 2--ask a way and I will do my best to direct you to an answer or answer myself if I can and it is a short answer. Will mention 3 'poisonous' medicines/antibiotics to keep away from your dog if you can---Rimadyl----Proin-----Prednisone---Look up the side effects on these---Think there are quite a few posts in here on these in the Dog Health and Nutrition forum too. Look up Vaccinations/adverse reactions on your computer too.

[chevy & karen]

Hi brucesmommy and welcome to the forum. I have to agree with corky/max on the food and the drug's.. pred seems to be allopathy's cure all for everything and there are just too many side effect's with it.

[wishbone]

Welcome to you and your family to the board. Did you tried other vet's advice? Try to ask what's the best food that promote good skin & coats for dogs, something like containing special oil. Also ask to for a special shampoo that could prevent dryness of his skin.

[DoggieVogue]

Hi and welcome! I'm sorry Bruce isn't feeling well. This is a really great place to ask for advice though, there are many knowledgeable people here.

Hello there! I'm glad to see another GSD lover on the boards!


I had a similar issue with my first GSD, Edmund. He was really bad for scratching but I was kind of paranoid about the medications I gave him because of his allergies. So I started substituting some of his normal dog food for raw foods, which really improved his immune system and he even got over some of his allergies. Maybe the raw food-boost is just what your baby needs. =)

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help. Unfortunetly, Bruce is still the same. We've already feeding him a raw diet but is it was nice to know I wasn't the only one doing it. We normaly get lectured about it from our vet, but my husband always ask him "when was the last ime he saw a wolf in the store buying dog food?" I am taking him to see a different vet on Wend. She is a little on the unconventinal side, she doesn't belive in the whole pill thing, but she helped my mother-in-law with her dog. She said I would have to leave him with her for 6 days!!! I have been stressing about that. I haven't left him for more then 3 days at a time. I will post again when I find out how it worked. Again thank you for all the advice.

Hi and Welcome

[jnc_mcguire]

Hi and welcome to the forum. What kind of food to you have your GSD on? Have you ever try a dog food with no grains in it? That is all i feed my wolfkids it is called The Taste Of The Wild. I have one wolf that has GSD in her and she can not have anything with grains in it. The grains will also make them have different allerges. A lot of GSD have tummie probles. The guy at the pet store has a GSD and he feeds his The Taste Of The Wild with fish. I think that you really need to change food to see if that might help.