Hi All:

Willie is a 10 1/2 year old female airedale and the light of my life.
Since a bad infection after spaying at age 2, she has been on a diet of
homemade chicken and rice mixed with Science Diet dog food.  She has
had intermittant bouts of diarrhea for the last few months, lasting 1-2
days with spans of a few weeks between bouts.  The vet checked her out
and sees no problem.  Willie is an inside dog who goes out morning,
noon, and evening.  The heat here in SC discourages her from staying
out long during the day.  The evidence shows she eats lake grass that
grows out of the lake in our yard.  I don't know if this is the cause
of her loose bowels or if it indicates she is self-treating her
problem.  Would any of you have advice for me on diet?  Thank you.

Eight and a half years of your chicken-rice- Science Diet diet seems to have
brought her along in good fashion.  Is eating grass a new "treat" ? If it is
the only new addition to her diet, that may be the cause?   Look for
anything new she may be "adding" to her diet on her own.  Have any chemicals
(fertilizer, weed killer etc.) been used on the area she roams and "grazes"?
Have you changed the ratio of chicken, rice, S.D. ?.
  As dogs age things sometimes change in their body and it's function.  If
the vet thoroughly checked her out and found nothing, that's a good thing.
Keep an eye on her stool for any changes   such as blood or "real slimy".
Also parasites might cause this?
When my Dales had this problem, a change from dry food to  a temporary diet
of rice and cooked hamburger usually got them back on track
For what it is worth I hope this might help.
Good Luck
Mike

WillieMom,

My name is Margie Hunter and I have been a lurker on the list, but when I
read your experience with Willie, it reminded me of what my friend has been
through recently with her Kerry Blue.  So I asked her if she could put it in
a nutshell, and maybe it would benefit you and Willy.  This is what she had
to say:

"Our dog, a Kerry Blue Terrier, was having stomach problems, and the vet
suggested allergy testing.  He had been getting upset stomachs and eating
grass, also.  It turned out that he was allergic to many foods, as well as
the grass he was eating in our back yard.  He is now on HA hypoallergenic
dog food put out by Purina.  He does well on this.  The vet also has him on
a small dose of temaril for allergy season.  He also suggested if he acted
like he needed to eat grass to calm his stomach to try Pepcid AC.  We
haven't had to try that, yet, since he is doing well on his new diet.
Before he did the allergy testing, he dewormed him in case his worm check
had been a false negative.  We now have him on heartworm preventative that
includes worm preventative.  I guess the worm larvae is difficult to get rid
of and lives on blades of grass that other animals could track in.  I don't
think worms were his problem, though.  I think it was his food allergies
that made him sick.   I hope this gives you some hope of relief for Willie.
Pam Kincaid    

Margie Hunter (ladyhun...@swbell.net)
Airedale Rescue Volunteer/Events Planner
9629 Falcon Ridge Drive
Lenexa, Kansas 66220
913 397-0500  Home
913 209-9678  Cell
913 397-7108  Fax
All planning approved of by:
Terry Kratchman (ksairerescueg...@yahoo.com)
Kansas and Western MO State ATRA Coordinator
Olathe, Kansas   Phone Home (913) 393-3431