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Hi friends,
We’re back… and I’m genuinely so happy to be writing to you again.
First, I’m sorry for the hiatus.
It’s been a bit of a crazy couple of months… juggling life, work, everything in between.
But more importantly… Blue.
For the first time in his entire doggy life, he went through a real health issue. The kind that completely takes over your brain.
And honestly… even after nearly double-digit vet visits, I’m still not entirely sure what caused it.
⸻
It started small… and then it didn’t
It began as a tiny itch near his tail.
A little red, a little irritated… nothing dramatic.
And then suddenly… it wasn’t small anymore.
It spread to his belly.
Scabs. Lesions. Angry, red skin.
Then his whole body.
Hair loss.
Open sores.
Cuts from scratching and chewing.
He just looked… terrible.
I did everything to stop him from hurting himself. Cones, shirts… constant watching. And still, he’d somehow managed to scratch through his shirt… through the cone… through everything I’d put on him… and one day I came home to find his chest covered in blood.
It was honestly horrific.
I didn’t want to hit you with the full horror show… but here’s a gentler glimpse of what his skin was going through.
⸻
The worst part… no real answers
What made it so much harder was that no one could give a clear answer.
It could be allergies.
Environmental.
Food.
Parasites.
Thyroid.
Immune.
Even cancer got mentioned.
When no one really knows… the list gets long very quickly.
So we tried everything.
Antibiotics… didn’t work.
Topicals… didn’t work.
At one point I was told to shampoo him every two days with an antifungal, antibacterial wash… plus creams on top.
And I’m telling you… the more I did, the worse he got.
His coat became dry and brittle… I actually said to Alan at one point, “Oh my God… he looks like a coyote.”
His skin was red, angry, covered in infected scabs and open wounds… he was literally chewing and scratching himself raw.
He was still eating. Drinking. Himself.
Which somehow made it even more confusing.
⸻
When you’re 100% responsible for their health… and nothing you do is working…
it’s one of the most helpless feelings in the world.
It’s all you think about.
What am I missing?
What am I doing wrong?
Why can’t I fix this?
You research constantly. You call people. You ask other vets. You go down every rabbit hole imaginable.
And quietly… you start to feel like you’re letting them down.
⸻
The turning point… was doing less
At some point I just thought… I’m doing too much.
So I stripped everything back.
One wash a week.
Stop the scratching as much as I possibly could.
And I removed all processed food from his diet.
No kibble.
No packaged treats.
Just real, simple food.
I started paying extreme attention to everything going into and onto his body.
Coconut oil in his meals.
Fish oil up… properly up.
And that was it.
No more layering treatment on top of treatment.
Shirt on. Eyes on him.
If he managed to get a sore… I treated just that spot with the Douxo mousse the vet recommended.
And slowly… so slowly I almost didn’t trust it…
things started to change.
There was a moment where I realized he hadn’t tried to scratch for a while… and I actually caught myself holding my breath, waiting for it to start again.
But it didn’t.
⸻
Today?
We’re through it.
No itching.
No sores.
No scabs.
And he turns 13 this year.
Blue today. Shiny, soft, and completely over the drama.
He has never… and I mean never… smelled better, looked better, or seemed happier.
And here’s what I learned in the middle of all that chaos.
A lot of what we’re given… antibiotics, antifungals, more products…
they’re not wrong.
But they’re often chasing symptoms.
In Blue’s case, I don’t know exactly what lit the match.
But I know what helped put it out.
Real food.
Less chemicals.
Paying attention to everything that went into his body… and onto his skin.
And patience.
So much patience.
His breath is fresh, his coat is shining, and somehow… at nearly 13…
he looks like he’s aged backwards.
⸻
So… we’re back
This whole experience reminded me exactly why I started Dog Blueprints.
To figure out how we help our dogs live longer, healthier, happier lives.
What we feed them.
What reduces inflammation.
What actually supports their body… instead of quietly working against it.
I learned a lot over the last couple of months.
And I’m excited to get back to sharing it with you.
Next email… we’re going down the rabbit hole of what we’re actually feeding our dogs, what the science says, and what I’ve changed completely because of this.
If you’ve stuck around through the silence… thank you.
Let’s go again.
Linda
(and Blue… currently very soft, oblivious to the chaos, and snoring beside me) 🐾
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