Category: Life

Obedience/Agility class with Daisy.

We attended Carolyn Woo’s lecture; “Grace in a Competitive World” at the University of St. Thomas downtown Minneapolis campus.

LuceLineWest w/Daisy: 1:06:45, 4.09 miles, 3.7 mph, HR=111. Daisy’s rash was looking much better, until yesterday afternoon, when it took a turn for the worse.  Could it be the stress from our outing to Corn Days?  After our morning walk, I gave her a bath in her medicated shampoo.  Then, I put the cone on her.  She’s going to be so happy to see Steve this afternoon, because he’s been instructed to take it off.

Knights pancake breakfast before Mass. I walked Daisy up to church and around the Corn Days festival in an effort to give her some experience with lots of people and noise: 1:46:05, 9.17 miles, 5.2 mph, HR=120. On the way home, I dropped my car key while I was picking up after her, so I hopped on my bike and retraced our route. I found the key!

I took Daisy to the Vet this morning. The Vet doesn’t think the rash is an allergic reaction because it doesn’t seem to itch enough. She seems to think it’s a staph infection, but also did some scrapings to rule out mange. Daisy is now on antibiotics as well as a twice weekly bath with medicated shampoo. Once the homemade food is gone, I’m going to switch her to Solid Gold canned food mixed with the dry food I’ve always used.

ModifiedTourDeTonka: 3:20:42, 41.7 miles, 12.5 mph, HR=123. We caught the red squirrel! A mostly empty peanut butter jar placed in the trap did the trick. As of yesterday, I’ve stopped giving Daisy generic Benadryl and am now dosing her with PetAlive’s “Skin and Coat Tonic” and “Allergy Itch Ease”. There’s been no dramatic change in three days, she’s not better and she’s not worse. I have much personal experience with chronic skin rash and don’t expect a sudden change. There is also still the consideration that she’s allergic to something she comes in contact with in the yard.

Daisy still has that annoying rash. On a scale of 1-5, I think it bothers her about a 3. While Benadryl (actually, it’s generic equivalent) seems to help the itching, it’s time to try and figure out what’s causing the rash. Last night I gave her a bath. From the research I’ve done, the most common cause of canine skin rash is a food allergy. Leave it to my dog to be allergic to organic dog food. Starting this afternoon, she will be fed homemade food. I also may consider switching to a recommended canned food. Apparently, there is not enough moisture in dry food for a dog with skin issues.

Obedience class for Daisy. She does so well in class. I really need to make the commitment to work on heeling every day until she’s got it. I think it would take about two weeks. What am I waiting for?

I pulled a woodtick off the inside of Daisy’s left ear. Ick!

BaysideOut&Back w/Daisy at Garmin Connect – Details.