Help Needed! New mommy with a lot of questions!

[manecya]

Hello everyone -not sure if this is the most appropriate forum for this thread - I apologize if it is not! My Henry is almost 11 weeks now, growing and filling us with love and laugh. Potty training, mouthing and obedience are still a work in progress but overall he's healthy and adorable (please see pics attached ) ! I have a couple of stupid questions to which I cant seem to find an answer on the internet! I will appreciate your guidance and I promise I will be generous with what I learn in this ride!
1. After doing some research I think Henry has a tight screwtail with a small tail pocket beneath it - it is not humid or smelly nor he drags his bum on the floor, but he certainly doesnt like it when I try to lift his tail to clean underneath it. Should I be worried? This will probably only become worse with time, am I right?
2. When we first got him (almost 8 weeks) we has entirely white with a brown patch over his right eye. But over the weeks several small brown patches have appeared, specially on his belly. Again, asymptomatic. Normal ?
3. Last but not least.... We are still giving him the food the breeder was giving him with no treats (Royal canine medium puppy) and he's been fine, but I am aware it doesnt have a very good ranking. I dont want to wait for allergies or other issues to appear to change the food... recommendations?

Such a long post SO SORRY!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Paranoic Newbie Mommy

 

[megskee]

Welcome Henry and Mommy! I'm newer here too and this forum is fantastic! Everyone is so nice and helpful. I only have experience with the food switching so here ya go... we switched Fran from royal canine immediately. She was having some poopie issues (soft and wet) so with some internet research we went with wellness core puppy.. that didn't help so we did a bland diet for a couple days and then slowly switched to Fromms grain free puppy (with the help of everyone here) and she has been doing great!


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[Corine Pesantes]

Welcome!!! Henry is simply ADORABULL!!!! I'm "fairly" new here. Mine are siblings and just turned 2 in May. So I've been on here for about 1 1/2 or so. This forum is literally a GODSEND!!! Unlike most of the FB groups, everyone is absolutely wonderful! Uplifting, generous with knowledge and overall just welcoming and friendly!!!

I'm going to take a shot st your questions!

1. If he doesn't like you messing with it it's either already irritated- or he just doesn't like you messing with it. Lol- So that means you have to start messing with it to get him used to it as normal maintenance. I'd use a malacetic wipe once a day to once every few days (depending on if it's irritated or not). You want to keep it dry, so you can put some gold bond powder in there too (that helps with my girl). If it's irritated, you can clean and and apply butt cream (desitin, A&D, balmex etc).

2. I do believe it's normal for their fur/skin to change when they are that little. Ex- their nose will start out pinkinsh, then turn black. Unless you see any irritation or "odd" coloring- I wouldn't worry.

3. Yes- I would take him off of royal Canine. Food is a hard thing to narrow down. It depends greatly on the dog and their specific needs. It's true trial and error. BUT- I'd definitely start with something grain free. Most common EB allergies are chicken and potatoes (my girl gets horrible tear stains with those ingredients). Both mine need food with a lower protein % or they have super soft serve poo. So, with that, I'd start with grain free and eliminate ingredients as you need to. Dogfoodadvisor.com is a great source to look at when evaluating foods. I feed mine Acana and Canine Caviar. They both do well on it and I'm able to switch between the 2 to give them variety.
Other brands that are highly recommended are:
Fromm, Orijen, The Honest Kitchen, Zignature, Natures Logic, Victor.
Others here can add their food fav's. But basically grain free/ single protein to start so you can easily tell if he develops and allergy (itchy paws, hot spots, yeasty ears, etc).

I hope that helps!

Congrats on Henry!! He's gorgeous and will bring you tons of love and laughter!!!



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[Davidh]

First welcome to the family and your pups is too precious. Plus there are no stupid questions, that's how we learn. As far as his tail, keep an eye on it to make sure the bone doesn't start growing back into his bum. Have your vet check it when you take him in for regular check-ups. Find a good bully vet if there is one by you. You don't need to clean it everyday unless you know there is a problem back there. If it gets too bad, you can have it operated on, but there again, I would find a good bully vet who has done this several times. We had one of our girls tail done because the bone was growing back into her back side. He did an excellent job. No more problem and she still has a little bun of a tail, so it looks good.

The brown patches are normal and I'm sure more will pop up as he gets older.

Royal Canin isn't the best food in the world, but if he is doing well on it, you can keep him on it if you wish. Ours didn't do well on it after awhile. We feed FROMM, and have been for a long time now and have had good results with it. If no one sells it close to you, there are several places on the internet that does.

Have fun with your pup, and looking forward in seeing pics of him as he grows.

 

[manecya]

Thank you for your warm welcome, kind words and encouragement beautiful people!

 

[helsonwheels]

Thank you for your warm welcome, kind words and encouragement beautiful people!

Welcome!!!!!!!!

1) My brindle has a tail pocket issue I clean it every 2nd day. The mix I use works great n she has no issues. The mix or amputation. I'll stick to the mix. Here's the potion.

15 drops Lavender 15 drops Geranium 15 drops Frankincense 15 drops Basil 10 drops Arborvitae. Fractionated Coconut Oil (the clear one) fill the bottle about 3/4 of the way full. Shake bottle well before using. Use once a week to treat ears (tail and any rash) that have an ear infection or once a month as a preventative measure in ears that are prone to recurrent ear infectionsIf ears are especially inflamed or infected, dilute 2 drops of lavender in 4 drops of fractionated*coconut oil*on a cotton ball and apply lightly to soothe the inflamed ear area.

2) brown spots...I call them freckles

3) RC? Get him off that asap! Get orijen or acana or fromm

Here's a thread to keep your puppy healthy and on a great maintenance!
http://www.englishbulldognews.com/forums/your-bulldog-s-health/51130-essential-oils.html

 

[sisters3]

[MENTION=17356]manecya[/MENTION] Welcome to you and Henry!! OMG he is soooooooo handsome!!!! You've been given great information, nothing that I can add other than read and participate here, you will LOVE IT!!! I started here as a "new Mom" with Joey and I survived because of it Have fun, ask all the questions you want, you will ALWAYS be answered here.

 

[Hankster]

pup is adorable and welcome!! If you are able to get those oils that 'helsonwheels' speaks of, It's AMAZING for so many bully issues as well as the tail pocket! Will love watching your pup grow so hope you have lots of questions