Toby - Ugh!

Toby has been miserable lately.  He's been scratching and shaking his head and flapping his ears for a month.  I thought maybe he had a yeast infection in his ears and began treating them with some drops but that didn't seem to help much.  He was scratching his beard and his shoulders.  Then, he started licking his feet incessantly.  Next came biting at his hips to the point that he had bald patches and sores. 

We tried an expensive grain-free, potato-free dog food to no avail.  We put him on an all-meat diet and still no relief.  The groomer came and cut his hair down short and even that didn't help like it has in the past. 

So, on Tuesday I broke down and took him to the veterinarian to get it checked out.  Dr. Paul said we were on the right track thinking that he has allergies but he probably isn't allergic to his food.  He probably just has seasonal allergies. 

He got a close examination and a shot of cortisol.  Within twenty-four hours he was no longer scratching.  He still shakes his head, flapping his ears some but not nearly like he was doing at all.  In fact, it is almost as if he is back to what is somewhat normal for him.

Of course, there are still issues...

When Mike first retired, he said Toby would watch me get in the truck and back up to go out the drive and then would trot right into the den and jump up on the couch.  Of course, I would fuss about it and finally Mike started making him get down.  However, when neither of us are at home, he would camp out on the couch.  So, I started booby-trapping it to keep him off.

He shifted his lounging spot to the chair in our bedroom.  So, I set up a barrier to keep him off it.

Then, one day last week, I came home and noticed that somebody had wadded up the quilt that lays at the foot of the bed.  This was when he was still licking his feet, so I could see some stains on the quilt and knew that Toby had been up on the bed.  I raised a ruckus about it and Mike defended Toby saying he didn't believe Toby had done that.  The very next morning, Mike got out of the shower and there he was.  Mike told me that he looked in the bedroom and there was Toby, "up on there like it was HIS bed!"  So, that afternoon when I got home from work, this is what I found:

That afternoon, the magazines and pillows were off the couch. 

So, I'm on the lookout for a hefty crate and Toby is going to be enjoying some time in there while we are out of the house.  I do intend to win!