Managing Honey's Nail Bed Infection - Without Antibiotics

In the end yesterday turned out to be quite a monumental day on my journey of trying to care for the pups in as natural a way as possible...

I went to the Vet, who confirmed that it looked as though Honey had a nail bed infection. As I'd anticipated she suggested a course of antibiotics to clear the infection, but when I said that I didn't really want to give her antibiotics she understood and said to try just soaking the paw in warm salt water for five minutes, twice a day... If it got any worse, or didn't clear up in a week, I could ring up for an antibiotic prescription...

Great - that was just what I needed - confirmation of what the problem was, and a simple, effective and natural way to deal with it.

As the day progressed however it entered my head that if the infection DID get worse, or if it didn't clear up with warm salt water - then I would need to give her antibiotics in a weeks time anyway, and I wondered if there was anything else I could do to help the infection clear. The Vet didn't know of anything and said that she couldn't believe that garlic would help at all. I don't know about you, but personally I find it quite strange that educated people can sometimes find it hard to comprehend that nature could provide healing alternatives.

Anyway - as I was pondering on what other steps I could take, my phone rang, and it was the homeopathic vet that I'd left a message for earlier in the day...

She was a pleasure to talk to, but couldn't advise me without seeing Honey first, although she did indicate that there were many homeopathic and herbal options available. In the end she suggested I take the following action if I were serious about trying to raise the pups using natural approaches:

1. Book and appointment to have a consultation with her. She said that she would provide me a homeopathic first aid kit, plus loads of reading and information about natural flea control, natural worming, homeopathic vaccinations and so on. She also said she would do both of the dogs for the price of one...

2. From then on she said that she would be happy to be at the other end of the phone to point me in the right direction for any future problems, and provided it only involved a telephone conversation on her part - she wouldn't charge for that - but she needed the dogs to be registered with her, and she needed to see them etc - before we could get to that stage.

The total cost for this consultation and first aid kit to me will be:

1. A 45 minute drive
2. £100

Now, I figured that with an effective first aid kit and the option to call on someone qualified for advice or support when I needed it, I would be well armed - and could potentially save more money than that in the long run (one off visits to the Vets like yesterdays cost me £25 - it would have been more if I'd taken the antibiotics) - and even though I can't actually afford the consultation fee at the moment - you can't really put a price on your dogs health... My new outfit or that meal out can wait - surely!

So - NOW I'm really excited. I have an appointment tomorrow with a veterinary qualified holistic vet who uses homeopathy, herbs and acupuncture to treat animals.

I have met Nick Thompson, a highly regarded holistic vet, when we filmed him in Somerset earlier in the year for www.innerdog.tv He was amazing - and I loved everything he had to say. However Somerset is quite a distance from here, and I was really pleased to discover that this Vet (Mrs Pedler from Mercer and Hughes in Saffron Walden) who is 45 minutes drive from me, knows Nick Thompson really well, and is obviously from the same school of thought... yay - natural puppies here we come....

What To Do About A Puppy's Swollen Paw

The day before yesterday Honey and Ziggy were having their usual fun in the garden when all of a sudden, Honey stopped, plonked her bottom on the ground and lifted her paw. She seemed very unbothered by it, and allowed Paul and I to examine her paw and apply slight pressure to different areas, without any squeals or obvious distress. We couldn't see any signs of cuts, scrapes, thorns or anything - so decided to leave her be and see what happened. For the rest of the day she walked with a slight limp, but other than that - seemed pretty much her usual self.

Yesterday, there seemed to be no improvement in the limp, so we examined her paw again, and this time noticed how she casually pulled it away when we touched a certain area. Now that we had identified the area, we homed in a little, and after pushing some puppy hair aside saw a slight abrasion beside one of her nails. It didn't look too bad, so we bathed it in salt water and went off to bed.

This morning we woke up to find her paw had swollen quite considerably in the night. It is generally advised to take your dog to a Vet if there is any swelling, so we have an appointment this afternoon with our local veterinary surgeon. Honey's starting to get used to the Vets - only a few weeks ago she was there to have stitches in one of her other paws!!

I'm slightly concerned though - when she went for the stitches she had general anaesthetic plus the Vets gave her some antibiotics. I'm not a fan of antibiotics in humans, and don't feel any differently about them when it comes to dogs, especially when they're just wee puppies... I hope they don't want to give her more today. We've given her some garlic with her food this morning, as that it supposed to be good for infections - but I'd love to know more about natural approaches to problems such as these.

I've check out homeopathic vets in the area, and the nearest one is quite a distance away - plus we can't afford insurance that would cover us for complementary therapies at the moment. There are some good insurance companies out there that do provide cover for complementary therapies on your pets, they're just not within our budget at the moment.

I've just phoned that vet to get some advice, so that I'm at least aware of some kind of natural alternative when I visit our local vet later today... I've had to leave a message - and am currently awaiting a reply...

Meanwhile - I'm trying to keep Ziggy and Honey separated when they're playing. I don't think rough and tumble on a poorly paw is wise - plus Ziggy seems to think it's fun to nip Honey's poorly paw!! The joys of having TWO!!!

Training Puppies to Walk on the Lead

Yesterday Paul and I started to get a little frustrated. One aspect of dog ownership that we were really looking forward to was lots and lots of dog walking.

We were excited when it was time to take them for their first walk, which we did about 2 weeks ago now, and were really pleased when Ziggy and Honey seemed to get really excited in the car as we drove into the grounds of our favorite National Trust Park. That very first walk - they were amazing!! It was so amusing... They were so excited to be out in what must have seemed like a HUGE garden.. though they couldn't quite understand why EVERY single passer by didn't stop and make a real fuss of them. There was snow on the ground, they were bouncy and lively and trotted (or should I say paraded) along on the lead beautifully... Our dog walking days had begun... or so we thought!!!

A few of the walks after that were just the same, even in different, less idyllic places were there were less people and children. And then all of a sudden, they seem to develop a disliking for walking on the lead. They would just sit there, bums on the ground, and refuse to go anywhere. Then they would whine, and quite obviously want to go home. We thought maybe it was too early and they were too tired - but as soon as we'd get home - they'd have their massive burn! We didn't get it. We couldn't think of anything that had changed. Sure the snow had melted and there were far more things for them to sniff at... but it's not that they were just slow and exploring - they wanted to go home.

The only conclusion we can come to is that they love playing in the garden so much off the lead, that they would just rather do that. Now for some dog owners that may seem a blessing. We have a quite a big garden, it's secure and enclosed, and there are lots of bushes, paths and interesting places for them to play hide and seek. But as I said, we were really looking forward to the walking aspect of dog ownership, and we need to get them used to having their burn when we take them for a walk in the morning, so that they feel content and sleepy when we need to start work.

What to do...? If we don't let them out in the garden when they have their burn, they are on top of each other in the house - and the play fighting is continuous.. they need the space of the garden so they can play tag, hide and seek, and chase... instead of rough and tumble...

There's nothing else for it... our challenge HAS to be to make walking with us more fun than playing in the garden... check out this video to see how tough a challenge that could be, and please do comment if you have any creative ideas :-)

A little bit of background

Six months ago I returned to the UK after studying underwater videography in Thailand. I was looking for a new project which would bring together video, internet, and complementary therapies. By chance I met Caroline, an animal complementary therapist and Tellington Ttouch practitioner. Caroline was looking for someone to help her with a project involving complementary therapies, video, internet - and dogs! I've grown up with dogs, and was intending to get my own once I'd found a place to settle - and so I joined Caroline on her mission and together we created www.innerdog.tv

Over the last decade I've been on a long journey discovering the benefits of complementary therapies, good nutrition, and the use of natural products in my own life as a human - it had never crossed my mind that the same principles may apply to our pets.

Over the last 7 months Caroline and I have filmed and interviewed numerous experts in dog training, dog behaviour, dog health and dog nutrition, and I've discovered HEAPS... However, it wasn't until my other half (Paul) and I brought our new whippet puppies home, Ziggy and Honey, that the reality of dog ownership and all the questions it raises, REALLY dawned on me... and I realised - I still have so much to learn... Neither had I quite realised, just how many different opinions there are in the area of dog care and dog training.. It is a minefield!!!

I'm so grateful that I met Caroline and started Inner Dog TV, and feel privileged to be in a position to spend my working hours researching something so close to my heart - what is the best way to train and care for our beloved pups Ziggy & Honey.

This blog is journal of our experiences, questions, concerns - and of course celebrations of life as the proud owners of whippet puppies. I hope you enjoy it, and that our experiences go some way to helping dogs and their owners - wherever they are!!!

Introducing Ziggy & Honey

Hello World....
This is Ziggythis is honey...
and this is a blog about our journey together...