This happened a long time ago, when mange cures were almost as bad as wormers. have you ever read the history of flea and worm treatments? Some mighty scarey stuff was used..poor ol dogs! Anyway back to Biscuit, he was a yellow labrador from good breeding. He held high promise until it was discovered that he had mange. My boss had tried every treatment he could find..ones the vet perscribed, and others suggested by hunters and other breeders. EVen desperate treatments like happy jack..nothing worked, Biscuit's legs remained bald, and he was isolated to a lonely kennel in the back. He couldn't go out, and yet he could hear the other dogs working and having fun. I felt so very sorry for Biscuit because he had been back there for a long time. We had a little old lady, Mrs. Crowthers, that came on Sunday to do light washing and prepare a meal for my boss and his son. Her eyes were cloudy and her fingers bent. She came to "help" because she made my boss's wife a promise when she passed away..that she would look out for the "boys"..she kept that promise for 13 years until she died as well.. She was grumpy and cross..she was also to the point about what she thought. Everytime the topic of Biscuit would come up, she would say "Put crankcase oil on that dog".
There was nothing left to do..so I guess one day my boss did just that. When I went back to wash his kennel there he stood a grey slick of oil. The water beaded up in his kennel for months..as the oil began to wear off, the hair began to grow..and he got to come back to "the pack". He even got to a trial or two. That was one grey, greasy, yucky looking dog, you never would have recognized the sleek animal a few months later..I can still hear ol lady crowthers saying "put crankcase oil on him" go figure..it worked!
The other "medical" story was about Pharroh. When it was hot and I had the hose out washing down, I would spray any dogs that wanted to cool down. They looked forward to it, and some had their "favorite" places for the spray to hit them. Pharroh loved to be sprayed on his chest. I would be so hot that water play made their day. One day Pharroh ran out, happy and tail wagging, i turned the spray on his chest and he prompty fell to the ground and didn't move. I dropped the hose, checked out how bad it was and ran for my boss. He was dead. He wasn't breathing, no pulse, don't know why or what happened. Ol Boss said Hank would be over later to bury him, but Hank called and said he couldn't make it until the next day. Morning came and my boss called me and said "pharroh is running all over the field..i don't believe my eyes but he is out there, running like there isn't a thing wrong with him". If Hank had showed up he would have buried a living dog! i was horrified. BAck then we didn't know about heart worms. That was mostly a southern problem..I think that it worked it's way into Missouri when the larger mosquito showed up. Pharroh had a heart full of them. I guess when the cold water hit his chest it caused the worms to Constrict stopping his heart. I wish I could say that he recovered, but he didn't. WE did have all the dogs tested and found that two others had the worms as well. YOu would not have known there was anything wrong with that dog by looking at him..heartworms are silent and deadly. Now we know so much more. Anyway.. that is a couple of my old kennel stories...
There was nothing left to do..so I guess one day my boss did just that. When I went back to wash his kennel there he stood a grey slick of oil. The water beaded up in his kennel for months..as the oil began to wear off, the hair began to grow..and he got to come back to "the pack". He even got to a trial or two. That was one grey, greasy, yucky looking dog, you never would have recognized the sleek animal a few months later..I can still hear ol lady crowthers saying "put crankcase oil on him" go figure..it worked!
The other "medical" story was about Pharroh. When it was hot and I had the hose out washing down, I would spray any dogs that wanted to cool down. They looked forward to it, and some had their "favorite" places for the spray to hit them. Pharroh loved to be sprayed on his chest. I would be so hot that water play made their day. One day Pharroh ran out, happy and tail wagging, i turned the spray on his chest and he prompty fell to the ground and didn't move. I dropped the hose, checked out how bad it was and ran for my boss. He was dead. He wasn't breathing, no pulse, don't know why or what happened. Ol Boss said Hank would be over later to bury him, but Hank called and said he couldn't make it until the next day. Morning came and my boss called me and said "pharroh is running all over the field..i don't believe my eyes but he is out there, running like there isn't a thing wrong with him". If Hank had showed up he would have buried a living dog! i was horrified. BAck then we didn't know about heart worms. That was mostly a southern problem..I think that it worked it's way into Missouri when the larger mosquito showed up. Pharroh had a heart full of them. I guess when the cold water hit his chest it caused the worms to Constrict stopping his heart. I wish I could say that he recovered, but he didn't. WE did have all the dogs tested and found that two others had the worms as well. YOu would not have known there was anything wrong with that dog by looking at him..heartworms are silent and deadly. Now we know so much more. Anyway.. that is a couple of my old kennel stories...
