Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

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biscuit1079
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Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by biscuit1079 »

Hi All!

I recently adopted a senior chow mix from a reputable rescue. He has a very sad story which sucked me in so we drove 10 hours to pick him up and he's quite happy with us!

He was found behind a dumpster on a reserve covered in porcupine quills. The rescue scooped him up and he had surgery to remove the quills from his face, chest and eye. Luckily they saved his eye! His name is Quilly :)

I don't have any experience with chow fur so does anybody have suggestions on proper brushes and techniques for me? My last dog was a silky haired mix that required almost no maintenance (he passed away at 16 years old earlier this year :( ) and our other dog Murphy is a Wheaten terrier that doesn't shed and the brushing is easy. I don't even know where to start with Quilly! He is shedding terribly and I can see he has dandruff. When I took him for a check up on Saturday she said changing his diet would help. Right now he's on Canadian Natural senior blend, I was thinking about switching him slowly to Innova Senior because our Wheaten does very well on Innova. Any suggestions on what would help his dandruff? Will a natural oatmeal shampoo help him at all? I should also mention I put hip and joint supplements in with his food as he has arthritis and walks with a limp.

Any suggestions for a Chow Newbie is welcomed!

Here is Quilly's story!

http://www.globalanimallovers.com/2012/06/20/quill/
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Cocoa
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by Cocoa »

Good for you rescuing Quilly. =D= =D= =D= He looks like a sweet boy.

Chows tend to do well on a grain free diet and you might want to try a fish based food or add salmon or Omega 3 oil to help with his coat. As far as grooming goes yes oatmeal shampoo should help with itching, just make sure that you get all the shampoo rinsed out. A good pin brush and an undercoat rake are great tools to start with.
reddog
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by reddog »

Welcome to the “neighborhood” !

Bless you for rescuing Quilly! O:) He’s probably already thinking to himself “happy dog, happy dog, I’m a happy, lucky dog!”. :) I rescued my current chow, Whitby, this past December. She is also a senior citizen. I think Quilly is a neat name but it’s not so neat has to how the poor fellow came by it. His story and the pictures really touched the soft spot in my heart. Is he able to see out of the eye that had the quill in it?

The info Cocoa gave is a good start. For more info, hints & tips on grooming just skim down through more of the postings in this section.

Looking forward to hearing more about Quilly!
biscuit1079
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by biscuit1079 »

Thanks for the tips!!!

I will look into the grain free diet for sure! I decided I should get him professionally groomed so that I can start fresh with the brushing. I think they would have better tools than I do right now to brush out all the loose fur. Hoping they will show me what to use so I can keep up with it at home. Won't be shaving him! Just a bath and a good brush out!

Quilly can see out of his eye without issue. I adopted him almost three weeks ago and I knew at the time he still had one piece behind his eye that they missed when he had surgery. They were waiting for it to work out a little bit. I took him to my regular vet this past weekend and she managed to get it out! She also found one in his foot :( Unfortunately xrays don't pick up Quills, so we're hoping we got them all out.

It's so much fun seeing his personality come out now that he's comfortable with us! He loves laying in front of the air conditioner, hates vacuums, loves the deck, and LOVES the litter box. Gonna have to work on that last one ewww

Will post some pictures tomorrow after his grooming when he will hopefully look very handsome :)

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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by Cocoa »

So how did Quilly do at the groomers? And where are the pictures you promised? We love pictures around here. :D
biscuit1079
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by biscuit1079 »

I didn't get very good pictures! He looks great! He's barely shedding now and she rounded out his bum and legs for me because it was pretty unruly. Unfortunately he doesn't stand for very long and it's hard for me to get a good picture, but I got these two yesterday at the lake!

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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by Cocoa »

He's gorgeous, looks like the groomers did a good job.
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by reddog »

He is such a handsome fellow! Thank you for sharing the pics of him chill-laxin at the lake. :)
He's probably thinking “this is the life!” I now have a home, food and a family who takes care of me and loves me. I don’t know about that grooming experience but I do now feel so fresh, clean, and fluffy. Hopefully all of those nasty quills are out of me and gone!
This is going to be a great place to live out my golden years! I’m a lucky dog. \:D/ \:D/
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by biscuit1079 »

I think I'm the lucky one! I took him for an off leash walk with Murphy our Wheaten after work today and Quill kept up and was barely limping! I'm hoping that his bad limp before was caused by the quills we got out and not from his arthritis. He's also jumping in the back seat of the car on his own now.

As for the grooming part of things, he's not shedding nearly as bad now. I'm using a slicker brush that the groomer showed me and it's working well. I'll keep up with it and hopefully with regular professional grooming and regular brushing he will be in much better shape :) His foot is healing nicely since I pulled out another piece of quill I found on Sunday. Hoping there are no more pieces and the sore on his toe is finally shrinking down so I think that's probably it for his foot.

I plopped him up on the couch with me tonight and he actually stayed there for 20 minutes or so. I think he's sweet on me :) Does anybody have any ideas what he's mixed with? I know there is chow in there, but I'm not sure what else.. maybe husky or?

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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by chowpups »

Congrats and Quill looks like chow and love mix!!!! If he loves the water maybe some golden in him???
good luck and hope Quill continues good health!
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by Cocoa »

He looks like he is enjoying snuggling with you on the couch. :D Retriever mixed in there is definitely a possibility, particularly since he seems to like the water, for the mix but he does look very chowy. And by the way that is a beautiful lake, where is it?
biscuit1079
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by biscuit1079 »

The photos were taken at Buntzen Lake here in British Columbia. It's very close to Vancouver. There is a massive secure dog park there and I used to go there every day with my dog Toby that passed away. I haven't really been back since he passed, but I think he would approve of me taking Quilly :)
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by Cocoa »

I thought it looked familiar, we're in Surrey. I heard they had a good dog park there, I haven't tried taking Cocoa there because she hates water. :lol:
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Re: Recently adopted senior chow mix - suggestions?

Post by Katie Mc »

OH MY GOODNESS!! The picture of your Chow Mix in the Lake looks Identical to my Chow Mix!
We do not know for sure what my dogs mix is but I am 100% Sold that she is a Chow/Retriever based on her Coat, the Mommy was my Step Mom's Chow that was staying with a relative in a small town in Ontario and there was 2 Stray dogs in the area that we know of one was a LAB and the other a RETRIEVER, I am certain she is not a Lab mix so Retriever it is! (Me and my sister Kept a Puppy that is how I ended up with my baby (Bear)

Your story is Touching and I am so happy to see that silly Smile on your dogs face!
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