July 2006 Our dog was born along with 6 other adorable little boxers. We knew that we wanted a boy and there were only two to pick from. I picked up Carter (our dog) first and I just fell in love. Carter had more white on him that the other and that was one of the reasons we choose him.
(Carter is the one in the back with the white on his face and between his eyes.)
We took Carter everywhere with us. He loved to be outside. Some of his favorite places were camping, and the local dog park. I took him to the Dog Park EVERYDAY when I got home from work. We would go and he would run around and play for an hour. That way he would sleep when I went up to bed.
(Sleeping in a camping chair)
(Playing at the Dog Park)
When he was about 6 months old we started to see that he was getting a lot of sores under his chin and thought it might be his collar. We tried many different collars but the sores did not go away. The sores kept getting worse and worse. It got to the point where he would drag himself across the floor to itch his belly. (like an Army crawl)
(Here are some examples of his sores. :( It is so sad to see.)
I called the Vet and made an appointment. When we brought him into the Vet the first this she said was it look like it was allergies. They took a skin scraping and blood sample to rule out any type of bugs that would be causing the itching. the test came back and showed that there were no "bugs". The next step was to get an allergy test done. This cost close to $300 but it was the only option. So of course we paid it. The results came back and it showed that he VERY allergic to Beef, Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Cigarette smoke (this is not a problem because we don't smoke), and he is also allergic to many trees and grasses. We then started him on shots. We started the shots every week and work them up toe once a month. Now he gets a shot every month, a Zyrtec, and prednazone. I just put the pills in his food and he eats them. His sores have totally cleared up and might get one little one from time to time. Some of the things that we have had to change are his food and treats. He now gets Lamb and Rice food and treats. He also LOVES ice cubes so we use those as a treat a lot. We no longer go to the Dog Park. We narrowed it down that when we took him to the Dog Park a few days later he would break out. And we also give him the pills and shots. He is still the same old Carter. He is very lovey and loves to snuggle.
He also still love to be outside but now we play with him in the backyard more and not the Dog Park.
Carter is the sweetest dog that I have ever met. He seems to know when you are down and need a smile or when you are sad and just want to cuddle.
We knew that he would be great with Mallorie when we had her but it has been so cute to see him with her. When she wakes up in the morning and is making noises we go downstairs to get her and he is sitting or laying in front of her door. And every time we come home he has to stick his nose in the car seat to make sure it is still her. He is just a great dog and I would not have him any other way!!!!!!
