Confessions of a First Time Foster

If you’ve done research about Bichon Frise as a breed, you probably noticed some mention of allergies. That’s the bad news. The good news is, many of those allergies are food-related, and therefore quite avoidable.

I took an informal poll of the Fosters to get the best brands and ideas. Here are some of their responses:

If you ask Lynn, the BFCACT Director, she will remind you that white dogs tend to be allergy prone. They should not be fed corn or gluten; you have to take the time to read labels. The good news is, most manufacturers and many stores now offer full label info online. Lynn is a real proponent of grain free foods.

Jackson now gets Castor and Pollux, the organic chicken, brown rice and flax kibble; I would have gotten the Ultramix but they were out of it. Neither one contains corn or wheat. When Jackson arrived, he was rubbing his face a lot, and also had an upset tummy. He was given to me with the remainder of the sack of food he had been given…Beneful, with the giant graphic of corn and wheat right there on the front of the bag. Not good for fluffs! Within a few days of switching foods, the rubbing, scratching and upset tummy went away.

Hadley is fed Nature’s Variety Instinct Grain Free Chicken dry dog food. Lucy gets the Instinct Chicken canned dog food which is also grain free. She is on canned food because she had struvite stones, so she gets canned to increase the amount of liquids in her system. [I] pour some of the juices from Lucy’s canned Instinct onto Hadley’s dry food. Both used to be fussy eaters, but no more. Plus Hadley’s thin, flyaway coat has developed into a lusher, thicker one (with the help of Omega 3 fatty acids, too).

Angel now gets Orijen, which is grain-free. Bitter Lily is reassured by the fact that the company makes the food themselves in plants in Canada — no risk of China-made food recalls here. “It is expensive and difficult to find, but for all three bichons together we serve only 1-1/2 cups a day.”

More of our Fosters offer their opinion and experience:

“California Natural, Innova, Evo. The important thing to mention is that I like Natures Variety Prairie…usually use Chicken but the Venison is another good choice”

“Charley…eats canned K/D to prevent a recurrence of calcium oxalate stones.”

“I feed my dogs California Natural - Low Calorie Dry Kibble. I cook my own chicken and add veggies and water and blend and freeze in containers and put a blop on their food.”

“I feed my bichons and all my fosters Regal Lamb and Rice. I sometimes add chicken broth (from whole foods or trader joes), green beans and carrots.”

“I also am a believer in adding organic chicken broth, chicken, green beans and carrots to my dogs ration of kibble. I cook up a batch of ‘doggie stew’ separate it into quart size containers and freeze. One container lasts me a week for my gang of 6. Additionally at the Jean Dodds seminar she told us that high protein is good but if we use grain free kibble she recommends a reduced fat formula particularly for aging dogs.”

“Solid Gold Holistic Blend - I feed it to all 4 of my dogs, ages 4-18, including my diabetic dog. They all get a little of Wellness canned food with the kibble. None of my dogs has any tear staining, and very little face staining.”

Ah yes, tear and face staining. Another bane of the little white dog.

If your Vet has verified that it’s not due to excessive tearing, abnormal tear drainage or another factor, staining could be due to problems with food. Many supermarket-grade foods have beet pulp or other pigments and colors that will add to the problem. It could also be due to water that has too much iron or minerals.

Should you give your dog vitamins? Not for Bichons. For example, supplementing Vitamin C can make urine acidic, and aggravate calcium oxolate stones. A good, balanced, premium food will have everything needed without the added expense of vitamin pills.

And never forget this list of Foods to NEVER Feed to Any Dog:
Alcohol
Apple cores (seeds are poisonous)
Bones that are cooked (they splinter)
Caffeine
Chocolate
Raw dough
Garlic
Grapes
Moldy foods, including aged cheeses
Mushrooms
Onions
Raisins

A quick update: Angel has learned to climb up stairs and jump off the couch; she’s still working on the reverse directions. Cognac has been firmly rebuffed; he cried about it yesterday. I suspect Angel just isn’t ready. But we have to walk the dogs separately now. (Which in turn means I’m getting up with Papa at o’dark thirty, and very tired.) Angel is getting affectionate by leaps and bounds, so I’m feeling more charitable towards her previous owner — she has to have socialized Angel more than I thought. I should apologize for my previous tone toward her! Angel is still scared of Papa, but then we knew she was scared of men. (Since she is especially scared of men with beards — go figure — it’s lucky that Papa is clean-shaven.) Unfortunately, the urine sample that we dropped off yesterday had too much blood in it (from her being in season) to be analyzed.

Message from Joan:

Charlie is at the vet now… Charlie was getting better about being picked up and was even stopping near me and letting the leash drape on my feet. Working well until I had a smart idea.

I thought that maybe a little massage would help his knees. I picked him up and tried to touch his knee – he went ballistic – cried, squealed, and carried on – I put him down and he went and hid again. So I thought it was time to get it x-rayed. If it doesn’t show anything, then it’s soft tissue damage and I don’t know how to fix that. There should be a solution. I pick him up later this morning and we’ll see what the vet says. But, anyway, I think this is the reason for his erratic behavior.

(later)

Charlie does not need any kind of surgery. All that the x-ray showed was some arthritis. [The vet] put him on Arithrimax and we’ll see if that helps. He had an unscheduled test. The vet tech took him out for a run to that the vet could check his walking – and Charlie slipped his collar and ran at least a mile before one of the techs could catch him. He was running with stiff knees – but very fast and very well – he ended up stopping traffic on a main road before they could catch him. For sure he will get a harness on before I try to walk him. He was more than half way home before they got him.

I asked her what to say before he gets put up for adoption. She suggested saying that ‘he has some arthritis in the back knees and may need treatment in the future’. She said to use the x-pen only when he seems to favor it badly. Of course he went around and marked a few corners when he first came in. I may try the pen out on the porch when I go out for appointments. She seems to think it may improve with more activity since he didn’t get any when it was forming. She said that it is probably genetic. Now I’ll worry that no one will want him. I think that he’ll be adoptable as soon as he will answer to his name.