Pet Owners- I need some dog advice.

[SirRichardBear]

You might check out the http://www.dirtdoctor.com/ Howard Garrett's web site has organic section dealing with pets things like naturial foods, flea control etc.

[Merlin the Elder]

Luciana, which food did you end up with (make/model  )? I buy food for my "kids" at PetSmart as well, and I get what is supposed to be good stuff, but Abbe still has a lot of skin issues.

[Escarlata]

For the foot issue, be aware that bored Sheltie's are notorious for chewing their feet. They were bred as working dogs and, from my experience, are happiest when they're learning or doing a job. What we found that worked was to constantly have TuffE learning a new trick of some kind. Some of the things we did included naming his toys and teaching him to fetch whichever one we asked for; the standard sit, down, back, wait, etc; left and right for walking and any kind of forepaw trick (i.e. shake, high five, etc); speak, say please, talk to me, etc. We also used Kong treat toys to give him something to do if we had to leave him alone. Don't know that any of this will apply to your boy but figured any ideas were better than none.

[Lady Neysa]

Escarlata, I didn't know that about Shelties chewing their feet when bored.  Time to get him some more play toys perhaps, and some more excercise for the both of us! 
So much useful information to sift through, thank you all so much!   

[Sorcha]

I'll vote the allergy/food issue too.
High quality food makes all the difference for us.  We had a cocker spaniel that would have itchy skin, constant ear infections and would chew her feet when they got wet.  Cockers are known to have food allergy's as well.  We feed our cocker Wellness brand and she has NEVER had an ear infection, has great skin and no crying eyes.  
If you want to know more about the food you feed, here and an EXCELLANT site that give honest and through reviews:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

[analise]

Just a note on the food:

While I love Evo (my dog thinks it's tasty, it's grain free, and her poop has almost no smell), I'm given to understand that it's been bought by some company with a less than great reputation in dog food (my local specialty dog food place [Bark] is discontinuing carrying it because of this). In fact, beyond the price, the only complaint I've got about Evo is I can only find it (and not for long now) at this one store as it's not carried by like, Petsmart or Petco, to my knowledge.

That said, there are plenty of grain free alternatives out there and I think it's definitely a good thing to do.

[Lady Mikayla of Phoenicia]

Lady Neysa, I do recommend when switching a dog's diet, as I am sure you are well aware, shift gradually.  Do NOT feed your dog grapes, raisins, onions and garlic.  The first 3 are poisonous to your dog and the 4th is in the onion family so I would avoid as well. 

Although I feed raw, I am not a purist.  I find the PetSmart Grrreat Choice medium biscuits in a medium sized Kong keeps my pups well entertained and are very cost effective!

BTW, here is a picture of me with one of my raw fed pups...

[Auryn]

Beautiful dog Mikayla
Are Italian greyhounds as nervous as people make them out to be??
milord and I have a whippet.

Since we are on the subject of dog food, does anyone have an experience with "taste of the wild" dog foods??
I have read their ingredient labels and it looks like amazing food- shoot id eat it.

[Rowan MacD]

Irish brought up a good point about flea allergies, depending on the breed all it takes is 1 flea to have an allergic reaction.

Good point. My (late) Yorkie had a bad allergic reaction to just 1 flea.  Took the vet 15 minutes of searching to find it (inside his ear) and it cost me $200 for a Cortisone shot and a weeks worth of Prednisone therapy so the poor old guy could sleep again.
  Note: Unless you use Frontline, or a good flea preventative on your animals, don't encourage squirrels to hang around your yard.  I took down my feeder.  My dog had gone for 10 years with no problems, and I never used so much as a flea collar.   There are no other dogs within 3 houses of mine so I thought he was safe, and he was too old to chase squirrels anymore.
 

[Lady Mikayla of Phoenicia]

Beautiful dog Mikayla
Are Italian greyhounds as nervous as people make them out to be??
milord and I have a whippet.

Thank-you Auryn,  I have 2 that are shy and 3 that are outgoing and love people!  The one in my avatar has been to NCRF and GLMF. 

[Serenity]

Former sheltie owner and breeder here.  Might I suggest mixing canned pumpkin in with the regular dry food and oatmeal shampoo baths.  Worked for ours.  Best of luck!

[Luciana]

Luciana, which food did you end up with (make/model  )? I buy food for my "kids" at PetSmart as well, and I get what is supposed to be good stuff, but Abbe still has a lot of skin issues.

I'm sorry for the delay. I didn't check the treads for a while. I use for my dogs "Blue Buffalo Co". It has no corn, no wheat, no soy, no artificial preservatives or coloring, no chicken by product meals.