Jack
Before I came to Asherpark I spent a lot of time hungry. You can see my ribs in my mug shot from the slammer. It didn’t take me long at Asherpark to put on a few pounds.
Next thing I knew mom said I had to watch my weight. I was willing to do that. I wanted to watch it go up and up. But mom said no fat dogs. Period.
I can’t blame her. She has to lift me in and out of the car and a few extra pounds makes it that much harder.
I was living the good life, eating all the stuff that Ash and Tess enjoy. Then the scratching started. Slowly at first and then like I was possessed.
Lick, scratch, whimper, scratch, moan. That was my life for three months. Mom took me to see Dr. Brad right away. First he looked for signs of fleas. He didn’t see any fleas but he did find a tapeworm segment. Home I went with worm pills. That took care of the hitchhiker that followed me from my former home.
Next I got flea treatments, allergy pills, special baths. Nothing seemed to help. The scratching continued. After eliminating everything else, Dr. Brad was convinced I had developed a food allergy. Just my luck.
Mom spent hours reading about dog food allergies. Then she spent a couple of hours reading all the ingredients in processed dog food. She got a book with recipes for allergic dogs. Finally mom decided what to do. She bought me a sack of grain free kibbles made with duck and potato. She also got me grain free treats.
Usually mom would change my food slowly over a couple of days, but this time she just swapped it out the same day. It was a miracle. Within in twenty four hours my scratching just stopped. Stopped completely! Who knew? Me, Jack, a worn out old mutt who used to eat whatever he could find, now had a special grain free food.
I’m so much more comfortable now and I don’t keep everybody awake at night with my scratching. The taste of the new food is fine. The treats are soft and easy on my old teeth. Life is good!