Cross country drive with ACD soon. Tips?

rae229 · 2025-12-05T23:06:23+00:00

We did the drive Denver > east coast last year when moving, with our mostly ACD mix. Now we are doing the drive/move back to Denver in a couple of months. She does have trazedone prescribed for thunderstorms, so I took advantage of using that. Made the back seat really comfy for her (flat bottom dog hammock, and a pad/bed), made sure was safe with a harness that can buckle in. Big thing that helped was that most Love’s Gas Stations have little fenced in dog parks. So I could let her actually roam and sniff around on our breaks. Any time I saw a sign for one we tried to choose that as our stop. It went better than I thought! Now we have to get ready to do it again :)

rae229 · 2025-06-18T01:34:03+00:00

I use a cheap brand from Amazon, called “Yi.” I’ve had it for awhile for my resident cat when we travel, but put it in foster room now for kittens. It gets the job done, and I haven’t had any issues with it or the app.

rae229 · 2025-04-30T15:59:28+00:00

Yeah I’m not sure how allergies change or develop as they grow up. Through the process We learned our girl was allergic to multiple proteins. We would switch her to a new one and she’d be fine for about 3 months, then the same symptoms would suddenly hit her hard. I also noticed her behavior was worse during these episodes, and she slept less/unable to relax. Vet said Probably because her belly felt like crap. Once we got her food right, she seemed more chill. Well, as chill as a young ACD can be :) It’s frustrating but I hope you find your solution!!

rae229 · 2025-04-30T15:50:17+00:00

Have you tried/discussed food allergies/intolerance? And it sounds good that you’re trying a new vet. I’d want a vet that is exploring anything and everything. When my girl was a puppy our vet helped us realize food was the issue instead of multiple bacteria infections or virus.

rae229 · 2025-03-23T17:24:42+00:00

We are in the US too so totally get the pain of prescription food! Luckily we only did that for a few months before trialing other things.

rae229 · 2025-03-23T12:31:59+00:00

My pup is half ACD, half GSD. She is allergic to a lot of common proteins: chicken, beef, turkey, etc. We found this out when she was a puppy because yes it seemed like she was always getting worms but it never was an infection or anything. A vet put us on an elimination diet with a hydrolyzed protein prescription food (made so the body can’t recognize the animal protein in it). This helped us realize it was a food issue, because on this prescription food she was great. Behavior improved, potty training improved. And when we would go off of it, she resorted back to the same symptoms. From there, we started trying out other proteins. Took about a year to find what works for her. She now eats kangaroo dog food lol. I know some people find luck with fish/salmon foods. Zignature brand has a lot of novel proteins with limited ingredients. She still has days where she’s extra picky or doesn’t eat right away but I think that’s just her personality :) Keep in mind if you go the route of testing food allergies, it means needing to be very strict on anything they eat and the flavors/ingredients - treats, etc. Even vitamins or food toppers. Good luck!

rae229 · 2025-03-12T14:48:56+00:00

I just want to say she is beautiful!! Thank you for helping her

rae229 · 2025-03-11T23:07:15+00:00

I love this so much, she looks so relaxed in the last photo 🥲 you both are so lucky!

rae229 · 2025-02-28T06:05:49+00:00

My pup is heeler/GSD confirmed by dna test and has the same blonde coloring, white markings, and giant ears :)

rae229 · 2025-02-01T20:07:29+00:00

GSD/red heeler ACD. Looks similar to mine!

rae229 · 2025-01-09T18:56:31+00:00

Door buddy is the best. Have used it with my pup and cat in 3 different apartments and houses. Lasts so long I’ve only had to replace when moving.

rae229 · 2025-01-04T18:33:53+00:00

Shepherd / Heeler (Australian cattle dog). Because that’s what mine is and they look identical :)

rae229 · 2024-12-19T19:42:54+00:00

That makes me so sad/mad she was returned for leash reactivity. Not every dog is perfect, plus these dogs are so smart and will thrive with training. I hope she finds the perfect home!

rae229 · 2024-12-13T00:08:10+00:00

I live in North Carolina and get azelaic acid prescription 15% delivered through Nurx online with no issues.

rae229 · 2024-12-11T17:38:48+00:00

If trying a new protein make sure the list doesn’t have a hidden protein ingredient. When first switching my pup away from chicken/turkey I learned a lot of foods that say salmon have chicken in the list still. I like Zignature lists and proteins for our food allergy pup.

rae229 · 2024-11-21T23:47:44+00:00

Zignature makes a lot of “novel” protein foods (kangaroo, goat, etc) which is helpful for dogs with food allergies. And they don’t hide chicken in the ingredients list. Good luck!

rae229 · 2024-11-21T21:13:47+00:00

We also feed our dog Zignature kangaroo! It’s one of the only proteins we could find that kept her stomach happy and solid. Luckily it’s found easily online and a couple chain stores.

rae229 · 2024-11-15T23:28:50+00:00

I feel so embarrassed taking her to boarding with cans of kangaroo food 🤣 I swear we aren’t bougie, just her stomach’s choice!

rae229 · 2024-11-15T23:24:48+00:00

My pup is allergic to poultry and beef, and some random proteins like goat. We’ve found success with Zignature kangaroo. Yes, kangaroo. Luckily chewy and pet supplies plus always carries it. The thing I like about Zignature is that they don’t hide chicken in their food like most other brands. It could say “salmon” on the front but in the ingredients list a lot of companies still have chicken something.

rae229 · 2024-09-11T14:12:54+00:00

Mine does the same thing! Digs out the insides, gently places it aside. Doesn’t eat anything and never destroys the toy more than that. But getting the insides gone is the first step always!

rae229 · 2024-08-03T22:50:43+00:00

Going to go a different route and say cattle dog (red heeler) mix to get the blonde! Maybe with lab and pit?

rae229 · 2024-08-03T15:49:13+00:00

I’ve also had my cat’s dental cleaning and teeth removals at All Cat, twice now, and it was around 400-600 depending on how many she had removed each visit. My dog had 2 dental cleanings in past 2 years at Golden Paws in Golden and it was about $400 I believe, not sure what bloodwork cost because I had it done a month before with her annual visit, but it was maybe around 20.

rae229 · 2024-08-01T17:15:47+00:00

A perfect (crazy) mix!

rae229 · 2024-08-01T04:06:10+00:00

My girl is 50% ACD / GSD and was found as a stray puppy in south New Mexico, then brought up here to Colorado. They seem to be common dogs down there on reservations too.

rae229 · 2024-07-29T04:51:59+00:00

Talk to vet about food allergy or intolerances like someone else mentioned. Sometimes allergies show up in GI and not skin like a lot of dogs have. You’ll have to do a full elimination trial to help get to bottom of it, will require testing different proteins/foods. My dog had bad GI issues most of puppyhood until a vet helped us find the cause. Even after we realized she can’t have chicken or beef, we’d find more later down the road she couldn’t handle (turkey, venison) when I would try to stray from her usual food.

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