Comments on Man Kills and Maims Hundreds of Service Dogs

I had written to you Dr. Falconer, several times, submitting a request for an exam for my 9 year lab, Maggie. I never received an answer from you. I know now it wouldn't have helped anyway. Maggie was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease in October 2015. She had had it for months as we had noticed her losing energy, panting, not able to jump into our truck, sores on her back and thickened skin, losing hair, all the symptoms. The last 2 months have been torturous to us all, as she started losing her quality of life. Her walks were slower, not interested in hunting, she was the best bird dog around, so strong and tough, would take down any male dog who gave her trouble! I was giving her the Pet Wellbeing Adrenal Harmony and the PetAlive Cushex Drops - M, plus using Colloidal Silver Spray on her sores. Her back, on both sides like a saddle were raw and without hair. She would have good days and bad, but you could see in her eyes she was miserable. This past Sunday, Dec. 6, she first threw up all her food, it looked like what I had just served her in her bowl. Later in the day, she became listless and couldn't get up. We tried to make her comfortable on her bed, but her eyes were not focusing and her tongue was hanging out of her mouth and it was turning black. She passed sometime early Monday morning in her sleep. It's was so hard to watch our girl die right before our eyes. What a terrible, terrible disease it is. My heart is torn out of my chest and I wonder if I did enough to help her. I didn't want to give her the treatment the vet recommended because all the research I did on it showed me that all it did was postpone the inedible, she was dying. She was a lab through and through and so sweet, she really didn't deserve this. So now I'm so worried about my 6 year old golden doodle, Bella, who has only known her life with Maggie. Both dogs have been fed raw for the 6 years I've had Bella. I need the support of this group to reassure me that I'm doing the right thing, I have been waking up at night worried that I'm killing my dogs instead of helping them. I need the guidance at this time.

That is an interesting thought, Margaret. Part of my training to be a Therapy Dog handler involved being evaluated for my ability to read my dog's comfort/anxiety level. I had to write a description of my dog's visible signs of stress. I thought and thought and could not ever recall seeing Paige, our Am Cocker exhibit anything but cheerful confidence in all circumstances. When she began her work I was cautioned that she would also be very tired when done her visits. Even though she began well into her dotage she never rested after 'working' as she was predicted to but often seemed reluctant to leave and ready for an extra opportunity if one arose. I have always found the less vaccines a dog endures the more stable the mind remains. Paige was only vaccinate twice in her life...

I am so glad I found this site. As to the subject of service dogs, I recently adopted a rescued retired racing greyhound who has the most loving and gentle personality possible. Since I had wanted a service dog and it seemed it was going to be a very long wait and I had fallen in love with this breed, I decided to adopt through a rescue organization. This dog has been remarkable in her abilities to learn, to meet people (whether friends or strangers) or other dogs. She has a daily desire to look at everything each day and is very curious about everything. As to food, I feed her a dehydrated raw food diet supplemented with lots of raw food treats and plenty of raw veggies and fruit. She loves everything I eat (I am a vegan) except of course the things dogs can't eat. She has never turned down any food yet. One of her favorite veggies is steamed broccoli and carrots. She loves bananas, raspberries, and coconut yogurt. All this is organic food because I believe she should eat human grade food just like me. When she came to me, she had a flaky skin problem and I immediately added a tablespoon of coconut oil to her dog food alternated with hemp seed oil and flaxseed oil and her skin cleared right up. As to vaccinations, I agree with the majority that they are not good for out pets any more than they are good for us people. It's just as important to maintain a healthy immune system in pets as well as humans. I believe that vaccines today hamper that process. As to the colloidal silver, my dog had a very bad red itchy spot that she was repeatedly itching and I applied colloidal silver to it and it cleared it up so completely that my dog stopped licking it all together. And, since it is antimicrobial and antifungal, it doesn't hurt the dog if she licks it. I definitely believe in holistic practices because I also massage my dog as well and she loves it! She broke her (R) rear leg on the track during her 105th race and had to have a plate, screws, and part of a bone from her front leg put in to repair it. I also will be doing some aromatherapy and maybe some yoga and any other modalities that will make her more comfortable and relaxed. Her name by the way is Tiff.

About 20 years ago I used to belong to Pets on Wheels, and yes all these organizations require repeated vaccinations. Two to three years ago I heard that on top of the vaccinations the requirements were made worse when some organizations decided that dogs visiting hospitals, nursing homes etc. could not be on a raw diet. So there you have it, repeated vaccinations combined with a lousy diet would lead to the diseases that you mentioned above. Although I have a breed perfect for this kind of job I left Pet on Wheels a long time ago because of the vaccinations requirements.
You are right Dr. Falconer, writing, talking to and visiting those who might sway decisions that affect the service dogs of the world is not an easy task.

My 14 yo Terrier is the love of my life and she has lyme, cushings, arthritis, hyperthyroidism and chronic bronchitis ~ all of which are somewhat under control. No more seizures or hair falling out or inability to move. She runs and jumps and has a shiny smooth coat, but she does cough quite a bit, which of course scares me but does not deter her from a quality of life.
I use oil of oregano, astaxanthin, krill, turmeric and cushex, as well as an occasional multi-vitamin. Getting this stuff into her is a slight challenge, so recently I have been using colloidal silver which is a dream because I can just add it to her water.
Dinkum is originally from Australia and has travelled all over the world with me, and there have been large segments of time when I was hungry and homeless. Thus, so has she. So she has been a bit like a working dog as described in your article.
Fact is, since I have stayed away from vaccinations and anything the veterinarian prescribes (she gave me a narcotic for Dinkum's cough for chrissakes) Dinkum is getting steadily better. She is old, but she is strong and the key is natural remedies.
Now since everything on the planet has gone radioactive to a greater or lesser degree, I have also added spirulina and chlorella to her protocol. She does eat the snow which I know is not healthy, given the condition of our atmosphere.

Are there cases that just cannot be helped? We have been working with a holistic vet for the past year and our rescue lab mix is suffering today as much as he was when we started. Severe itching, hair loss, diminished vitality... Vaccinosis is the main issue, but it seems that there are additional immune system problems too. We've done homeopathy and he made good progress, but then the progress stopped, so now we are doing nutritional supplements with initial good results. An attempt to detox with Parotid pmg has put him into another tail spin. We are failing this beautiful young dog and feeling helpless about it.
Any thoughts?

Hi Doc! Were you able to get him well? It would be awesome if he got better so that he could go back to work, maybe part-time to show others that there is a better way to keep these hard working dogs healthy!

I've always thought that the stress of service work makes them vulnerable too. Not that they don't enjoy the work, but precisely because they take it so seriously. I've always felt they needed more in terms of flower and gem essences, energetic body work, and of course the things you mention here.