I wish there were 50 different home remedies in this column, vets are sooo expensive. non-toxic suggestions that have worked for others would be wonderful.
my dog has a skin condition that is worsening despite over $2,000 in vet bill and meds. I feel I could fix him myself if I just had some ideas of where to start.

tried the oatmeal and vitamin e suggestions here, need more.

are you feeding your dog dry or canned dog food?

mgp - he eats what i do - grilled chees sand. bites, turkey thighs, hamburger, weiners, beef jerky. when I tried to change his diet he refused to eat it. after 3 days i got scared and went back to people food.

I do worry about the salt in jerky but it is his afternoon snack - he will go stand by his jerky bin at the same time every afternoon. he is so spoiled will refuse to eat steak somtimes - but will always eat his jerky.
wish there were a way i could stop the jerky - but how? has been the highlight of his day for 6 years.

There are many "jerky-like" dog treats on the market without all of the salt, your dog is bound to like one of them!

thanks 2teach - I have tried everydog snack on the market, he turns his nose up at them. pupperoni, t-bonz. rawhide chews. u name it, I have tried it.

I have to come up with something to replace the jerky that he likes tho - all that salt does bother me, and I suspect it may be his problem.

so far on my list is sardines and hillshire sausage ropes. something he will regard as a treat and never gets for dinner. help! can you think of anything?

this is going to be hard. his jerky is the highlight of his day. I will rapidly taper him off if I can come up with a couple replacements to add in and slowly eliminate the jerky. thanks, chris

Wait... you're going to switch from jerky to sausage? Sausage has a ton of sodium too!! If you're REALLY worried that he will die of depression without his daily jerky, then you should start making your own jerky with NO added sodium. You can use a food dehydrator or you can use your oven on a really low setting. Just Google 'make jerky for dogs' and you will find all sorts of tips on how to do it.
Honestly, I don't want to be mean, but you are killing him with the foods you are giving him. I'm not trying to judge you, so please don't take it that way. We all love spoiling our babies. But these processed foods have to stop for the sake of his health! It's okay to feed him homemade food... many people do. But the homemade food needs to be specially made for him, with only ingredients that are healthy for dogs. Research homemade food for dogs to get some healthy ideas. There are many books and websites with many simple recipes.

thanks pam, i really took your comments to heart. he depends on me for his health and the food that is put in front of him. I have to find an alternative. I am doing the research you suggested and am pricing dehydrators. I hope they come with instructions. is a new concept for me, but sure makes sense.

My dog was starting to have some lameness in his right hind leg so I was searching the web to find a natural supplement to help with this condition. I came across a product called "Nzymes" that not only has helped with my dogs lameness, but I think his skin and ear infections as well.

There were many testimonies of dog owners who's pets had various skin issues, some severe, where "Nzymes" helped cure the problem. I would check out their web site www.nzymes.com. Good luck!

thanks - I did check it out, even emailed them. I havent ruled out their program, which is long and expensive.
I want to get rid of this long-standing jerky habit first, just in case.
prob is, everything i come up with (hillshire and sardines) has salt too.
perhaps i should fix him a lil hamburger patty every day at snack time - he could smell it cooking and perhaps enjoy that. he also loves lamb but never gets it because of the cost. perhaps i can switch off. your replies are helping me think, thanks so much

Try feeding him a raw diet. Still "human food" but completely healthy. It'll help him (and you) with many problems and make his quality of life better. The good nutrition will also help slow down his need for other snacks throughout the day. As for the jerky, invest in a dehydrate. I make my own jerky at home for me and my dogs and its the best idea I can think of. Just buy some (cheaper than store-bought jerky) raw chicken or steak, cut it into slices and dehydrate it over night. If you don't add salt, there won't be salt.

I am intrigued by the raw diet thing i have been hearing about. do people actually just cut up raw chicken or turkey or beef to put on his plate? he wont eat fruit at all, and veggies only when they go into his homemade stew.

do sweet potatoes have any redeeming value? I have been reading about them being in dog food lately, wonder if he would like them in his stew? reg. white taters are a no-go, every dog I have had pukes up chunks of potato, like their tummy doesnt recognize potatoes as food.

dunno what to do - dont want to waste a whole pot of stew because he rejects sweet taters.

sorry am all over the place again - scuze me lol

How much jerky do you feed him every day?

me again - am saving this page in faves, next will try chamomile. lemon water and borax for fleas, epsom salts for soothing. I didnt even know epsom salts could be used on dogs.
please dog owners, contribute natural remedy treatments.
acidopholis is an excellent suggestion, especially after a course of antibiotics.
one thing that works for me - hide pills in cream cheese bites.

How much jerky do you feed him everyday?

How much does your dog weigh?

mgp - he weighs 30 lbs - a bit too much. he gets about 20 bit-size hunks I tear off. 4 diff kinds. jack links, oberto, old trapper, etc.
today at 'jerky time' I gave him half a can of chix noodle soup - lower salt with the juice drained off and only 3 bites of jerky. he was all excited about the chix noodles and ate the jerky last, wanting more chix-noodles out of the can.
is not ideal I know, but encouraging. thanks for your interest - I have no one else to tell stuff like this.

Well, I'm going to try help u as much as I can.

What type a dog? How much is he supposed to weigh?

On your part, you need to find info google or couple books on natural, instinct canine dog food. There is so much info out there but comes down to basic instinct food. Nothing fancy. One book (of many on this subject) by kymythy schulzte. But don't use her book as a bible. It only can point you in that direction.

If you do this research, you'll understand where I'm coming from. That it will be easier on me.

Any processed food to feed a cannine (over time) will develop some type allergic reaction.

In your case a skin condition which has caused you to pay thousands of dollars.

You have to gradually change from PROCESSED human or dog to natural food s.

What you can start with a quarter pound of ground chicken or beef and use a quarter can of that chicken soup.

I hope he likes it.

I want to emphasize there is no cooked food whatsoever. Ground meat must be fresh raw meat.

Have a search on YouTube "raw dog food".

Great tips! I things the shared tips would help in preventing frequent trip to the vet with home remedies for dogs that deal with everything from fleas to foxtails. I just want ask a question that whether there is any holistic approach to dissolve fatty tumors in older dogs without surgery?

If you find one, let me know! My 10 year old rottie has fatty tumors and has one the size of his head under his ribs. Sticks his ribs out horribly on that side. It doesn't cause him issues and it would be incredibly dangerous to try and remove it, even if he was a younger dog.

there have been many dogs in my family thruout the years with fatty tumors - they seem to bother us so much more than they do the dog. my daughter's dog had one on his side that size samantha, and lived a normal long life.

am intrigued by a raw diet. do I just cut up raw steak? turkey thighs? hamburger? chicken?

wish he would eat yogurt or drink eloctrolyte drinks, am so hampered by his fussiness.

back to vet this morn - a dermatologist. I want to rule out parasites, mange, fungal etc. and liver-kidney prob before I will believe this allergy thing. I am going with an attitude I wish I could shake - they will line up $300 worth of meds I could get on amazon for like $60.

update - my mistake. vet dermatologist cost $700. I said yes to all tests and cultures. ruled out mites and mange and ringworm, fungus doubtful.
alot of bacteria on skin but propably a secondary infection caused by - you got it - food allergy eruptions.

should have saved my money, but had to know. wasnt the answer i was hoping for - any of the others are easier to treat and get rid of.

so I still am trying to figure out what to feed him, while worrying that this bacteria I am treating with chlorhexidine will turn into mrsa.

this has turned into quite a column - has helped me immensely!

I have a 7 yr old Jack Russell with fairly bad skin problems.
We stopped seeing the vet about it and switched to raw food diet.
There's been some improvement but these things take time but in any event I do believe it's beneficial for the dog anyway. We found a local butcher who makes up and freezes raw beef, chicken or lamb patties all including veg. I figure it costs no more than the premium dry dog food we used to buy and ho loves it ! - never had him get so excited about food before and it's gone in seconds. Google local butchers and meat shops to see if they cater to pet owners.