Should a male dog with a food allergy be used to stud? - Page 2

Interesting that you were at the vet's for Lyme booster for your boy. My thoughts are that over-vaccinating (not implying you over-vac), in conjunction with drugs fed to food animals has brought on the epidemic of allergies seen in dogs and humans. Chicken, when raised on natural food(without drug additives) may not cause allergies in dogs. I have had personal experience with this years ago with some of my sled dogs. I'll relate an experience with a baboon I had fifteen years ago that gave me insight to commercially grown food animals : "Josh" loved raw meat and was particularly fond of raw liver. When ever I processed chicken, venison, beef or goat, Josh would get a nice big chunk of liver, which he would take like a little kid being handed an ice cream cone. He would squeal with delight and scoot into a comfortable spot and eat the piece of liver savoring each delectable bite. I had some store bought beef liver that was meant to be cooked for dog treats, and I gave Josh a big peace of it raw. He took it with great anticipation as usual, but when he lifted the liver to his nose to take the customary sniff, his whole demeanor changed. He looked like he had just been handed a chunk of some thing distaseful and disgusting! He flung the liver away and proceded to wipe his hand back and forth through the grass, trying to get the nasty smell off. He sniffed his hand again, and rubbed some more. I threw the remaining liver in the garbage. Just out of curiosity, I bought some chicken liver and offered it to Josh. He sniffed it, and refused to take it. I don't buy commercially grown meat anymore and use vegetables grown here at home. Commercially grown meat is poisoning us and our dogs.

Lord no!  
Best to remove all unhealthy dogs from the gene pool...not something I would do...ever.  A dog is a commitment for life, and you, as I am, always in it for the long haul when they are ill...unfortunately allergy = possible food/environmental ---> other issues...possibly.  Atopy, etc.  But to avoid both financial hardache on you and those who may get a pup with allergies, no.  In many cases, where there is one autoimmune issue, there will/could be another.

Good luck to you! ... I think we all feel the same here.  It sux, but it happens.  

I agree that ONLY healthy dogs should be bred. But imagine weeding out all dogs from the gene pool, no matter what breed, that react to chemicals/drugs, and only using dogs that can tolerate all the poison we put into their bodies. I think we would end up with some physically nonreactive dogs, but I wonder what changes would be going on in the process of developing poison tolerant dogs.

Joanro, I am not surprised at your story, and submit that these additives given to commercial food animals are also an ingredient in the rise of cancer as well as allergies in our dogs.

Agree with you, Gustav. So does breeding chemical/poison tolerant dogs only, equate to human imposed "survival of the fittest" ?

This whole issue of poison tolerance in dogs reminds me of poison tolerant insects. The poison has to be change periodically because the targeted insects become tolerant. If flea poison becomes tolerated by the flea, what happens to dogs' systems when the chemicals are made more lethal to the flea ? Like Gustav said, cancer.

Sometimes we are also too quick to make one thing the culprit and not want to look elsewhere.  I am sure cancer existed long before a lot of our chemicals...just like allergies.  Way back when....no vets...no immunizations....no science.....did dogs / wolves with bad allergies breed or did the ones with really bad allergies die (culled naturally) because they were to sick to eat...etc.  If they did breed...was it passed on? It is amazing that in todays day and age...so little is known about allergies....why is that?
And I did the Lyme because it is a matter of the lesser of two evils up here in NY.  This is a banner year for deer ticks  and the first year Angus (my GSD) ever had a tick bite...scared me into taking the plunge.  Took five years for me to do it.

There are probably as many reasons for "so little being known about allergies" as there are allergies. But the most likely reason can be found by "following the money" . There is huge money in allergy treatments, so is there in the industries that are likely the causes. I think you answered your own question about cancer or allergies existing in wolves and dogs before science interfered. There needs to be a cause. It is a fact that both are more prevalent now than even just fifty years ago.

 I never vaccinated Missie T after her initial childood and adult boosters. I had her titered.  I didnt even vaccinate her for Rabies, just titered. They let dogs into the USA from overseas based upon titers, but they wont allow citizens to follow those same rules??? Missie T's titers were always perfect, right where they should be, which goes to show that Rabies vaccinations are probably lifelong. Missie T was 11 yrs old when I had to euthanize her because of her DM. She had  skin problems, despite no vacciantions.  She would develop yeasty/fungal infections which would become staph...

Marjorie
http://www.gsdbbr.org The German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry
BE PROACTIVE!
http://mzjf.com --> The Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group http://www.mzjf.info/hgate Heaven's Gate  

Never mind, miss read the comment I responded to.