Health update

How's Aspen do you ask... he's doing better.  We have not had one incident of tummy trouble since he was started on the Tylan and fiber in the beginning of March.  This is the longest he has ever gone without a problem.  Aspen was labeled by the University of Minnesota as having irritable bowel syndrome(IBS)/Allergies.  I do not agree with that diagnosis because no particular food change has ever caused Aspen trouble.  It was like clock work... few weeks diarrhea and two weeks better.  Although I think they are wrong, it really doesn't matter what it is exactly.  All that matters is that he is feeling better and treatment is working.

In the past month I've been able to reduce his Tylan to about twice a week 1/8 of a teaspoon.  Now I guess we just manage.  We have put him on a grain free food (taste of the wild) and he is receiving probiotics once every morning.  He gets one tablespoon of fish oil with each meal as well.

In addition to digestive problems Aspen is on Dasaquin for his joints.  I have noticed him limping a bit more lately(he did have pano as a puppy).  Mostly after he has been resting?  Which I though was quite strange. We planed on doing OFA x-rays but we wanted to wait until he is two because he would be completely grown.  However, if it keeps bothering him I think I will just go ahead and do them early.  As of late the more I think I knew about berners ... The less I actually know... sigh.  I guess that's life we live and we learn.

Thanks to all who have supported us through all of this.  We really appreciate all your support and advice :-)

 If there would be a competition for who could shake the most Aspen would win paws down.

NEWS: Random post about what's going on here with the Big Paw Berner

I haven't posted anything specifically about Aspen as of late so I thought I would update.  Last weekend we had more tummy trouble and on Sunday night Aspen was NOT himself at all.  Ray and I decided "this is it!!" we are going to take him to the University of Minnesota!  We wanted to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

So lucky for us we got in Tuesday.  Being a paramedic and the fact that I live about 7 miles from the world renowned Mayo clinic I had this expectation for greatness!  I expected a team that would collaborate and figure this out.  That my dog was going to be the focus of some intense medical care. I was sadly disappointed :-(

No super team came in to see Aspen just a 4 year vet student and a resident. I was told management was the best option.  Something I'd been told before by other vets.  Seriously?? This was a very expensive visit to yet again leave without answers. 

On a side bar it reminds me of the time we thought Aspen was bloating.  Last summer Aspen started wretching. I can't think of anything else to describe it other then wretching. He really didn't have any clinical signs of being uncomfortable other then the wretching (violent coughing is maybe more descriptive). He did it maybe 3-4 times intermittently and we were off to the ER.  We called them in rout.  By the time we got there he had stopped. We brought him in and they gave him a can of dog food.  The vet had no idea why he did it.  I had a horrible time writing a $112 dollar check for a can of dog food.. If you can't tell I fall under the category of over protective dog parents apparently!!

Ok sorry back to the U..They did say that they may in fact be able to figure out what is causing Aspen's problems but are unenthusiastic that it would change treatment. For them to biopsy it would require putting him out and I do not feel that would be in his best interest at this point. 

In positive news they did a complete blood cell count and chemistry profile and everything came back great.  He is not losing weight at all. We put him on an antibiotic(Tylosin 625mg x2), Psyllium Fiber (2 table spoons per day), Fish oil, Probios (probiotic x1). That has helped and his tummy trouble has stopped. So we will see.  Our new vet had also suggested synacore digestive support.  She recently went to a conference and it had been suggested.  It has promising research to back it up but it's very new.  I'm going to do some of my own research and see if that is something we want to consider.  That is all the news on Aspen's tummy trouble.

In fun news we just got back from play pals Allignment park.  Aspen had a blast of course running and chasing all the other dogs :-) He also made some attempts at making friends with some non dog club members which is always precious to us!! Sorry about the lack of pictures ... I for got my camera in the car :-(

Stay tunned for more posts regarding Berner Garde-Silvers Oliver twists story, Clicker Training updates, and the big sleep over with Aspen's BFF Titan this weekend. 

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend... !!

Aspen's Blood Test

Everything came back good on Aspens blood test!!  Very exciting news for us... it essentially means there is nothing seriously wrong with him. We talked about doing a food trial.  This is where they put your dog on a very bland and very expensive prescription diet.  The goal being we try the bland diet and try to switch him over to a food that he could tolerate... if he would be unable to tolerate it he would remain on the diet.  My question for her was... "Can you find me a prescription diet without by-products and icky stuff?"  Her reply was " Probably Not."  Thanks but No thanks!!  We thought about maybe getting a sensitive dog formula but our Vet explained that those foods are not free of allergens.  They are not required to do the necessary cleaning like the prescription diets. So we are going to stick with a grain free food.


While I like the idea of doing a raw diet at this point in our lives it just wouldn't work out, so we are stuck with the kibble.  We made the decision to go for Taste of the Wild. It's issues were stated in a pervious post we do feel it's pros out weigh it's cons.   Aspen will also remain on his 3 TBS of fiber a day to maintain digestive consistency.

I hope Everyone is Having a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Dog Food

UGH... The more you start investigating the dog food companies the more frustrated you become!!  Aspen is currently on Innova but looking for a new diet. Natura Pet Foods who is the owner of Innova was bought out by P&G this summer. I won't get into all the details on here, but they are a big super company that owns both Iams, Eukanuba, and tons of other random stuff like frebreze ... Bad news!!  Here's the website that kind of explains things better: http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/innova-dog-food.html


So we are on a mission to make a change but what is the best nutrition for your dog or your large breed berner for that matter?  It seems almost everyone has an opinion on the subject. It seems quite practical to ask a vet right?  Often the answer you get is not one that I feel is helpful.  They often recommend brands like science diet or iams. A large dog food companies that  in my opinion provides awful nutrition for your dog!  They do make special medical formulas that are some times needed for a real disease like kidney failure etc but not for allergies alone. My suggestion is to question vets on nutrition!!  Hills and Iams give lots of $$ to vet schools, thus this love affair with this horrible diet!!  Make sure you read lables. Their products are full of corn and by products YUCK!!   Dogs need meat (three meats at the beginning with exceptions). I think at least one of those meats should be in a meal form.  Meal is dehydrated meat with out meal behind the meat it is listed with it's water content so it's better placed further down the ingredient list.  There should also be no corn or soy, by-product meal,  bone meal, blood meal... all bad icky stuff!!   :-)  


 An area I'd like to explore more is the effects of protein on large breed dogs. I  am a little unsure of how much protein a Large breed dog should have. I've read mixed things some saying nothing over 30% others saying it doesn't matter.   I'm kind of being on the side of caution here and not going crazy with the protein.  If anyone has any advice about this I would gladly take it :-)


Now your question might be " well what are you going to put him on then?"   I'm an avid label reader.  I took home education in high school and I can't cook or sew, but I did manage to learn to read food labels.  Because I read labels for myself, it was only natural for me to do the same with Aspen and Picasso (Aspen's brother the cat).  We are starting to widdle it down to a few:  


Side bar: none of these products I have chosen contain ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is a possible cancer causing preservative.  It is not listed on the bag because dog food companies don't put it into the food it's added by the handlers of the meat product.  If you don't know call your dog food company or check there website to make sure that your dog food doesn't have this.  It's banned for human consumption so you know it's not good for your dog!!


Ok here are the choices:


1. Taste of the Wild
2. Wellness
3. Blue Buffalo
4. Nature's Variety 


I really like the taste of the wild!  I know that it is made by Diamond.  They have had some recalls.  I was actually almost sold on it because it's at a steal of a price.  $41.99 for a 30lb bag.  Recently though they have made a change to the formula that I noticed (we had some samples of it).  In all the formula's salt is in between the 10th and 14th on the list of  ingredients .  That seems like a lot of salt to me.  Excessive amounts of salt is horribly bad for people and I can't believe that it would be much better for dogs?  I emailed them and got the response that because it's an all life formula puppies and pregnant mothers need more salt.  Eh.. we are going to see what our vet says about this but I'm thinking this counts it out.  It also proves that all dog formulas aren't the best because every dog has certain needs.


We like wellness but wellness also contracts out it's manufacturing.  Many many companies make the wellness formula and package it as wellness.  While this is fine... it's somewhat troubling.  Ray despite his efforts to get a job in the ecology field has landed in the area of food science and well knows the horror stories of things not being tested and rounding to whatever works best for you.  This is in human grad stuff, so can you imagine what steps can be skipped with dog food!! With so many different companies making it how can you make sure that each batch is separated etc?  I called a Wellness rep today and we discussed where the  Large Breed Adult dog food that would come from.  The Large breed adult food is actually made by the Diamond company in South Carolina.  In addition to manufacturing concerns, wellness is also pretty expensive. The large breed being being about $59.00 per bag. Give or take some.  We are looking at the super 5 mix chicken for regular dogs also because Aspen is already being given supplements of glucosamine this might make it slightly cheaper.


We are also taking a look at Blue buffalo.  They also seem to have some decent ingredients but my issue with them is their recalls and they participate in the same process as wellness by having several companies make their formula and put their label on it.  They have had a recall every year for the past year on at least one of their products.  The most recent one being that of having too much vitamin D in the food.  A bonus is that they are slightly more reasonable at around $45.00 per bag. But the Recall thing makes me nervous. 


Nature's Variety I actually just learned about today and I like what I see.  I was a bit concerned because there is only one meat meal but the company ensures that it's mostly made of that meat meal.  So the content of meat is sufficient. Another product they make is a raw diet. They manufacture their kibble at only the Pride company and the raw is manufactured at the base company in Nebraska. The Dry kibble is about what we are paying for Innova now at 51.99 per bag.  The raw is actually pretty expensive.  They estimated that it would cost $2.40 to feed a 50lb dog per day so that would make it... 4.80 for us... x 30 days= a whopping $144 per month.. bit much for a starving college student!!  I would like to try their kibble and maybe supplement a little bit. 


Well we have a vet visit tomorrow to see if the inflammation has gone down in his colon.  Then we will be making the decision on a diet.  I'll make sure to ask about the salt and inform anyone who is willing to listen.  We have a play date with the neighbor Berner so I'd better get my snow gear on.  Remember if anyone has comments or disagrees I take constructive criticism well :-)

Happy Birthday Aspen!!

Our baby is the big 1 today!! He also got exactly what he wanted for his birthday.. SNOW!!  We are in a blizzard here in Minnesota, so I've been able to spent some time looking at the baby photos. I honestly can't believe that a year ago today Aspen would have fit into my hand. He is over 90lbs now!!  Today he has spent the morning having breakfast, cuddling, playing with his yellow squeeker ball and romping in the snow.  These are photos of Aspen at 13 weeks.

Now photos of the birthday boy!! 

First post :-) OUR ASPEN

I've never blogged in my life so bear with me!! This was my boyfriend Ray's idea. This blog is mostly about Aspen.  I don't know if anyone will read this but if they do I hope they learn a little from our personal experience with the Bernes Mountain Dog. The blog is named Big Paw Berner because I think just about everyone that has met Aspen as puppy said, "Wow he has some big paws, he's going to be a big dog" and that he is :-)

To start off with I'll admit I made some mistakes.  When in search of a pure bred dog please please be patient and please please do your research!! I failed at this and thus Aspen is with us now! Sometimes mistakes lead to great things, but we defiantly took the hard road. I quite frankly am lucky he is such a fantastic dog, otherwise I might be sleeping out in the snow now as we speak.  Needless to say my boyfriend was not pleased with my impulsiveness getting a dog at all.

Our neighbor had gotten a berner puppy last winter.  His name is Titan and he's about a month older then Aspen.  Of course being the impulsive person that I am I did not take time to go chat with them etc.  I just googled the first dog breeder closest to us.  Only now do we chat on regular basis usually about medical problems or dog food.  I recommend talking to people that have your breed of dog because they can give you a great deal of insight.  After talking to them we found out they use to own a berner prior to Titan named Casey.  He died at the young age of 6. That being said berners have a short life.  Something I did not know :-( Aspen is alive and well but the fact that someday maybe sooner then we expect we will have to say good-bye breaks my heart and it's defiantly something to be prepared for.  

I also believe that getting a dog from an excellent breeder is essential.  You can expect that they will ask you tons of questions to make sure the breed is right for you. In turn you need to do the same.  You should ask things about grandparents and great-grandparents.  How long did they live?  How did they pass? Make sure to check clearances too. In my opinion you also want a puppy that has parents with titles.  You want someone who shows and puts lots of time into their dogs.  These people have a passion for not only preserving the breed but also making them better. So yes they may cost more, and yes you may need to be put on a waiting list and yes it is worth it. Below is a photo from where we got him from... just lots of dogs that all have to live outside it's sort of sad :-(

When I think about Aspen I think about the song by Garth Brooks the dance (I grew up rural).  It' goes:

"And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss the dance"

So what I mean is that if I would have known everything I know now I would have waited.  I would have found a responsible breeder.  But now that I have him I wouldn't change a darn thing!  Lets face it I love the dog!! 

Aspen today is doing pretty well.  His major problem to date is with chronic diarrhea.  We can't be 100% sure why this happened because no one really knows, but he has had it since the day we brought him home.  Only recently have we considered that it could have been caused by giving too much de wormer as a puppy.  When we went to get Aspen at the dog farm the breeder had not given him his wormer yet. She picked him up outside and estimated him at about 40 lbs.  He was not he was only 30 lbs and needless to say he was a very very sick puppy.  Bloody stools and constant watery bowel movements.  I would get up every two hours to bring him out and often he couldn't even make it that long.  It was horrible. The vet we saw said it would pass but it never did. We asked our current vet if she thought perhaps she cleaned him out and messed up the balance in his digestive tract?  She thought it was very possible. We are working with them to get him back on track.

He also had an umbilical hernia.  Which the breeder said was fine and didn't need to be repaired.  Our vet didn't agree and said it needed to be done immediately and she really pushed me into neutering him at only 4 months old saying it was the best.  I to this day wish I hadn't done that.  I would have waited until he was a year old. We are currently no longer vetting with them.

Next he has developed some bone angulation in the front legs.  It doesn't seem to bother him, but we have put him on a glucose supplement.  Only time will tell what if anything will be done with that.  As long as it doesn't bother him we will leave well enough alone.

Lastly he has some socialization issues and is not very friendly with strangers.  Lets face it strangers scare the crap out of him!!  Actually to start out with inanimate objects would cause him to just bolt!! He almost pulled me into traffic when we were leaving the petsmart because the automatic doors scared him.   For that reason he entered good dog camp.  It's a remote collar training.  Now before you shoot it down let me explain... Aspen could not go for walks past the mail box... with this training he can.  I like to think of it as a communication tool.  It's my way of communicating with him .  When he is scared there is absolutely nothing I can do to help him because he can't hear me.  He is WAY too scared to be given direction.  With the remote collar it just gets his attention.  It's a physical sensation because verbal communication will not work.  It's also on a very low level... I've done it to myself. He has never once yelped or anything like that... Once I have his attention I can tell him what to do when he's scared and it helps a lot.  Did it fix his problem NO but it helps.  Again a breeder issue.  Puppies need tons and tons of socialization.  He loves dogs because he was in a big pen with tons of them. He missed out on being socialized to people at a very young age.  In addition, his persistent GI problems didn't allow for us to socialize him with many others either. My hopes of him becoming  a therapy dog are far away goals but you never know. I do not know what Aspen's limits are... it just gives us something to work towards.

I must now tell you all of the things I LOVE about him!! He is an absolute clown once you get to know him.  Full of personality and attitude.  He is the most loyal dog I've ever met. It makes me cry to mention how much he loves to go with us.  Anytime we go somewhere he is usually scared but that does not stop he from trying.  He wants to go with us where ever we go no matter how scary that may be.  I'm telling you it's dedication and love and I admire him so because of that. He is also extremely smart.  The third day we got him home he could sit.  He figured out if I sit I get a treat-done.  This is his list thus far sit, shake, down, give me a five, wait, place and his favorite Hug.  He is a massive cuddler, keeps Ray's spot on the bed warm when he's out of town, great alarm dog (huge bark on him),He's great in the car, Loves to hang his huge head out the window, he love to swim, baths not so much, walks perfect on a leash, He loves the couch, He love to shred socks, He can watch TV and does ( I'm not kidding he totally loves TV), he talks to us in the morning usually, Dances when we get home (he does like twists and jumps of joy!! It's so fantastic) It never fails on a bad day he can make me smile.  His new adventure is the snow :-)  Pictures of our big boy below.. Thanks for reading :-)