(The Man Bites Dog Corollary) The Dog Who Is Allergic to Humans

Vocativ.com ^ | 10/16/2014 | Luke Malone

[Windflier]

Because several million dogs named Fido or Spot would get mighty confusing?

As opposed to several million humans named Jerry?

I've had seven (human) kids, and let me tell you - figuring out names for them was tough. Animals, not so much. You can call 'em whatever strikes your fancy.

Some of my dogs' names over the last 50 years:

Zero
Stogie
Timber
Terra
Sugar
Princess
Baby
Buda
Peanut
Rusty
Zeus

I can make up dog names all day long without ever running out of ideas.

[Windflier]

I also reserve the right to call them by silly made-up “pet” names.

That's the only way to go for me. I think giving animals human names devalues humans.

[Salamander]

Nope.

Don’t like ‘em.

:)

[Salamander]

What happens when humans have animal names?

Am I “devaluing” salamanders?

Are you “devaluing” princesses or peanuts?

Are you excessively concerned with other’s personal business?

It blows my mind that you sit around and vex yourself over this kind of stuff.

:D

[Ditter]

I have taken her to 2 veterinary allergist and 3 regular vets. I gave her allergy shots for a year and a half and drops under her tongue for almost that long. None of the treatments have worked. I have bought every grainfree dog food on the market, she has had part of her ear canal removed because of infection. The only thing that helps her even a little bit is a bath every 5 days, a half Zyrtec in the am and a half Benedryl at night.

She scoots her little girl parts on the rug, door mat, grass until it is raw. Sometimes I actually think about putting her down but we both love her too much.

Thank you both. I will try the Colostrum. I hate to go to Walmart I wonder if they have it at Walgreens?

[Ditter]

My post #25 was intended for you too.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I do not think you understand.

My last dog had an official registered name, a call name, and a pet name, of endearment.

Her call was Tara (what she was to the world), and her “pet” was “Sweets”.

Yes, I used both, just as I do for my son, his worldly name and his pet name. Latter which is “Sweetheart”. My husband is “Sweetie”. I am big on “sweet” lately.

I do not think those call names devalue humans. I think stupid made-up names ON humans devalue them.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I like it. ;-)

Don’t you think Biff kind of fits? Or is that too much a nickname for a human? Is anyone actually named “Biff”?

[the OlLine Rebel]

Actually, i kind of like your names. Not bad.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Thanks. You can give the colostrum a try.

Have you ever tried elimination diets?

My dog was allergic to animal stuff. Yes. Nightmare. She was nothing but vegetarian, ALL her life (Tara was itchy from the get-go and could not even grow in her adult hair, she scratched so much). That means no treats basically, no pet-store visits, no bones. Sad. She had vegetarian food. Best was from the derm, but some at the shops could be used.

Also allergic to about every single thing in the environment there could be. 64 tests and she would fail 40, mostly indoor related. And as the vet said, it could vary and the tests are not perfect, so her next one would be different set of 40.

[Ditter]

Cookies allergies were all plants that I never heard of, no foods, no indoor allergies. Her scratching started at about age 2, she is 8 now.

I have tried the grain free dog foods, all of them. I even tried the all vegetable one when the others made no difference. I am back to grain free now.

I have 4 dogs, one a 80 pound hound dog so I am not really looking forward to making my own dog food. I have been to the Dinovite website and I am reading it carefully. I have been giving her Dinovite for about 4 weeks now and while her fur looks very good she still scratches her bottom and cries. I am hopeful that we are on the edge of improvement.

I am going to check out the colostrum.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Have you tried foods for 3 months? That is standard practice from the specialists. Cannot go too fast. Nothing changes fast.

My vegetarian food was from the specialist, originally IVD (innovative veterinary diets). Since then IVD has changed hands several times, bought by bigger outfits. The latest was through Royal Canin.

Of course, food allergies only account for about 10%or so of dog allergy problems.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Also, have you only done 1 test?

Lots of items are molds, which is mainly a concern indoors. Some bugs, and so on. And there are lots of plants in my backyard I never “heard of”, LOL. I am not big on flora.

[Ditter]

2 different allergist and she was tested for every thing as far as I know. If there was mold in my house I would have a blinding headache so I know we are clear in that direction. :)

[the OlLine Rebel]

That’s good. I mean, I only had 2 tests done years apart on Tara, the last one a few years ago (she died on the cusp of 12yo).

As to mold, there are many. Black mold is a killer. But there are many kinds, and the tests should have many of them included.

[Ditter]

We had a weekend house on Galveston Bay and I started having massive headaches after spending one night there. Turns out we had black mold inside most of the interior walls. The a/c unit in the attic leaked into the walls and they were full of black mold that we didn't know was there until it came through the sheetrock. I have had some bad allergy and migraine headaches but the mold headaches were the worst. My husband would have to carry me out of that house. It was the height of the mold hysteria but I am here to tell you for some of us it was bad. It never bother my husband even a little bit.

[Windflier]

It blows my mind that you sit around and vex yourself over this kind of stuff.

It blows my mind that you've got your knickers in a twist because someone has a different point of view than you.

Try not to be so easily roused to ire over things of such little consequence. It's good for your mental health.

[Windflier]

Actually, i kind of like your names. Not bad.

Thanks. Some of them are very, very old. I miss those mutts.

[Salamander]

Aren’t ~you~ the one who initially flipped out over the naming of other peoples’ dogs?

I think you are confused and have everything backwards.

[Windflier]

Aren’t ~you~ the one who initially flipped out over the naming of other peoples’ dogs?

Flipped out? I posed a simple question to no one in particular. Heck, I didn't even use an exclamation point.

I just see the giving of human names to animals as yet another indicator of our dwindling culture. It's a blurring of the natural and proper distinction between humankind and the animal world. Not good, in my opinion.

In the grander scheme of things, it's an insignificant point, but it's still one of those thousand things that I see wrong with the world in general.

That said, name your pooches anything you want. It's one of the last free choices you have.