2016 - The Ollie News and World Report

To be honest, I had forgotten about this little blog until someone asked me about mange.  I cannot believe it has been four years since Ollie-dog joined the family!!!

He is doing great, still has patches of skin where no hair will ever grow.  He is a little creaky with age, sleeps upstairs, and has helped show a few more new dogs the ropes.

Love him to bits!!

From front to back:  Pepper, Ollie, Zoe, Ansel and Charlie

Updates

He is the sweetest dog.  As we suspected, he has migrated upstairs and spends many nights sleeping on the floor of our room.  He jumps into the bed only long enough to lick me good morning.  And he still likes to sleep downstairs.  His health issues are mostly gone - he'll always limp, and he seems to have arthritis which bothers him a bit.  There are places where he will never grow hair.  He is the fastest little dog I have ever seen - like a bullet!

                                                Ollie - on the job guarding the front porch

Overwhelmingly affectionate, he would spend all of his time in Dave's lap if he could.  And he's pretty clear that he has no interest in running off anywhere, ever again.  Wonderful, wonderful dog and such a loving friend to us.

I've had quite a few requests for the protocol we used treating the mange.  I took multiple approaches

Topical rinse:
1/3 c borax powder (20 Mule Team Borax detergent)
2 c hydrogen peroxide
4 c water

Shampoo dog with mild shampoo and rinse.  While wet, soak skin and coat with the Borax solution.  Do not rinse, and stay with dog for 5 minutes or so to keep from rubbing solution off.  I did this every day for the initial 4 days, then once a week for about 2 months.

Medication:
Initially on a 30 day round of Ivermectrin orally (Ollie also had a huge parasite problem)

Application of Advantix weekly for 3 weeks, then monthly

September 3, 2012

A day off from work - a day of work for dogs!  Ollie is doing quite well.  He spends part of each day inside with me, usually laying down next to me while I work.  Runs like the wind outside with the the big dogs, even with a gimpy leg.  Cannot have him neutered until he finishes all of his meds, so we're dealing with his need to "mark" the furniture as his with some behavorial approaches.  Today, everyone got a bath, since everyone seems to be scratching.  Bathed one of the horses while I was at it. 

Ollie's ears are 100% better since we started treating them for a yeast infection.  Now he and Zoe get ear drops together, and of course, the cheese snack that accompanies ear drops.

August 24, 2012

A trip to the vet.  She's happy with his changes, he's gained 7 pounds.  Changed to a different kind of medication for the mange and put him on steroids to stop the itching (it's working!!).  We suspect he was hit by a car at some point.  His limp is caused by a badly healed broken leg, which matches the multiple breaks in his tail.  The good news is that the limp does not cause him any pain, he just has a few hitches in his giddy-up.

Off and on snarling at Zoe - we think the problem is Zoe, not Ollie.  She does not have much tolerance for Ollie trying to nose his way in for affection (apparently, that is HER job).  Charlie just gets out of the way (he is my first Wolf and will always hold first place in my heart, I think).  Need to find the camera and take some more pictures.

August 22,2012

After three weeks of steady improvement, Ollie is starting to scratch again, so I'm worried that the mites are having a resurgence.  The poor guy is going to scratch himself raw at this rate and I am scouring the web to try and find alternate treatments.  The Revolution *should* be killing the mites, but I have to assume it is not.

And for the first time, we saw a display of serious aggression towards one of the other dogs that made me pause.  Zoe (our golden retriever) was bounding around Ollie, and he began growling, stiffened his tail, and put on quite a performance.  We distracted them, it passed, and everything returned to normal.  But it did make me worry.

August 19, 2012

Who didn't see this coming? 

No - really, Ollie will be an outdoor dog only....

Three weeks of good meals

August 14, 2012

I have let the dogs run together for short periods - 10 minutes or so.  It's going well - no fighting.  After 10 minutes or so the "big dogs" start to ramp up and want to play rough.  Ollie is just not up for that yet, so they get separated and go to their respective corners.

Today Ollie spent a couple of hours on the front porch.  He likes it there.  A lot.  Maybe in the end he will sleep there instead of our bed....