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A good farm dog will not tell you when something is wrong. He just bears it, quiet and faithful at your heel, while his skin torments him — gnawing at a paw of an evening, scratching till the hair wears thin, a raw patch behind the ear, that sour smell come up off his coat. There is a great deal of dear stuff sold for this, the bottles and pills and drops, and some of it has its place. But the old farmers kept their dogs in fine health — good coats and sound skin — for next to nothing, out of the kitchen and the plain knowing. In this video I show you those old ways, the simple care of a dog's skin and coat, and I am honest all through about what these things can do and what wants a real animal doctor instead.
I am Elias, and there has always been a dog or two about this Lancaster County place. Now let me say plainly right at the start: I am no veterinarian, and I will not pretend to be. What I give you is the plain care a farmer gives his dog — the easing of a small trouble and the feeding of a good coat. But a dog that stays itchy, that has raw open sores, that is truly suffering, tha
https://eliasyoder.com
A good farm dog will not tell you when something is wrong. He just bears it, quiet and faithful at your heel, while his skin torments him — gnawing at a paw of an evening, scratching till the hair wears thin, a raw patch behind the ear, that sour smell come up off his coat. There is a great deal of dear stuff sold for this, the bottles and pills and drops, and some of it has its place. But the old farmers kept their dogs in fine health — good coats and sound skin — for next to nothing, out of the kitchen and the plain knowing. In this video I show you those old ways, the simple care of a dog's skin and coat, and I am honest all through about what these things can do and what wants a real animal doctor instead.
I am Elias, and there has always been a dog or two about this Lancaster County place. Now let me say plainly right at the start: I am no veterinarian, and I will not pretend to be. What I give you is the plain care a farmer gives his dog — the easing of a small trouble and the feeding of a good coat. But a dog that stays itchy, that has raw open sores, that is truly suffering, tha
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00:00A good farm dog will not tell you when something is wrong.
00:03He will just bear it, quiet and faithful at your heel, while his skin torments him.
00:10So you learn to watch.
00:12You see him gnawing at his paw of an evening, scratching till the hair wears thin,
00:18a raw red patch behind his ear, that sour smell come up off his coat.
00:24And it wears on you, for he is a member of the family in his way,
00:28and you want to ease him.
00:30Now there is a great deal of dear stuff sold for this,
00:34the bottles and the pills and the drops, and some of it has its place.
00:39But the old farmers kept their dogs in fine health,
00:43good coats and sound skin for next to nothing,
00:47out of the kitchen and the plain knowing.
00:50Today I want to show you those old ways,
00:53the simple care of a dog's skin and coat,
00:56and I will be honest with you all through about what these things can do
01:01and what wants a real animal doctor instead.
01:05I am Elias, and I keep up this Lancaster County place the way my people always have,
01:11and there has always been a dog or two about the farm,
01:14working the stock, keeping me company, sleeping by the door.
01:19Now let me say plainly, right at the start,
01:22I am no veterinarian, no animal doctor, and I will not pretend to be.
01:28What I am giving you is the plain care a farmer gives his dog,
01:32the easing of a small trouble and the feeding of a good coat.
01:37But a dog that stays itchy, that has raw, open sores,
01:42that is truly suffering, that is a matter for the animal doctor,
01:46for it may be the mange, or an infection, or a deep allergy that no kitchen thing will fix,
01:53and the kind thing then is to get him real help.
01:56Keep that in your mind through all of this.
01:59I will say it again before we are done.
02:02Quick word before I go further.
02:04The old methods my family uses, there is more of it than fits in any one video.
02:10I gathered the whole of it into a book at EliasYoder.com.
02:14The book is the long version.
02:17If you want it, it is there.
02:19I will not mention it again.
02:21We had a dog when I was a boy named Shep,
02:24a black and white fellow who worked the cows and slept across the back doorstep.
02:29And I loved that dog as only a boy can.
02:32One summer he took to scratching himself raw,
02:35miserable, his coat gone dull,
02:38and I fretted over him something terrible.
02:40And I remember my father did not run off and buy a thing.
02:44He looked the dog over careful, fed him better, the good fat off the meat,
02:49set him a cool oatmeal bath in the washtub,
02:52and kept him brushed and clean.
02:54And within a few weeks old Shep had a coat that shone,
02:57and the scratching had near stopped.
03:00But I remember too the time another of our dogs had something my father could not mend,
03:05and he did not stubborn it out.
03:07He took the dog to the man who knew animals,
03:10for he said it was no kindness to let a creature suffer for the sake of your pride.
03:15Both of those things stuck with me,
03:17the plain home care that mends most troubles,
03:20and the wisdom to know when a thing is past your hands.
03:24That is the whole of what I am giving you today.
03:27Let me start with easing the dog that is itching right now,
03:30for that is the misery you want to stop first,
03:33and there are a few gentle old comforts for it.
03:36The first is for when a dog has worked one spot raw,
03:40what folks call a hot spot,
03:42a red, angry, weeping patch where he has chewed and scratched the hair clean off.
03:47A little coconut oil, the plain kind,
03:50rubbed gentle onto that spot soothes it and cools it,
03:53and puts a clean barrier over it.
03:55And if he licks it off, which he will,
03:57it does him no harm at all,
03:59for it is only a wholesome oil.
04:02It is no miracle, and it will not cure a deep trouble,
04:05but for a small, raw, itchy patch,
04:07it is a gentle comfort,
04:09and it is sitting in your kitchen already.
04:12Trim the hair back from the spot first if you can,
04:15so the air gets to it,
04:16and it is not held damp under the matted hair,
04:19for a hot spot wants to dry and breathe to heal,
04:22and the damp under the hair is half of what keeps it raw.
04:26And keep an eye on it,
04:27for if it spreads or weeps badly
04:29or will not settle in a few days,
04:32that is past a kitchen comfort
04:34and wants the animal doctor,
04:36for it may have gone to infection.
04:38The coconut oil is for the small early thing,
04:42not the bad one.
04:43Now if the whole dog is itching,
04:45his whole hide red and flaky and miserable,
04:49the old comfort for that is an oatmeal bath,
04:52and this one genuinely soothes,
04:54for oatmeal has long been used to calm itchy skin
04:58on people and animals both.
05:00You take plain oats,
05:02the plain breakfast kind with nothing added,
05:05no sugar nor flavoring,
05:07and you grind a cup or two of them fine as dust
05:10in a grinder or a mill.
05:12Then you draw the dog a bath,
05:14and here is the part that matters most,
05:16the water must be cool or barely lukewarm,
05:20never warm and never hot.
05:22Hot water on an itchy dog makes the itch far worse,
05:27draws the blood up and inflames the skin,
05:29so keep it cool.
05:31Stir your ground oats into the cool water
05:34till it goes milky,
05:35set the dog in and pour that milky water all over him
05:39and let him stand and soak in it a good ten minutes
05:43if he will abide it.
05:44The oatmeal settles a calm film over his skin
05:47and draws the heat and the itch out of it.
05:50Then pat him dry with a towel,
05:52do not rub him hard,
05:54and you will likely have a calmer, easier dog
05:57who can rest at last.
05:58It is a true old comfort,
06:01and it costs you a handful of oats.
06:03The reason it works is no mystery,
06:06for ground oats hold a soothing quality
06:08that has been used to calm angry skin
06:11for a very long time,
06:12on people in their baths just the same,
06:15and it lays a gentle coat over the irritated hide
06:18that quiets the burning and the itch.
06:21You can give him such a bath every few days
06:24while he is in a bad way.
06:25There is no harm in it,
06:27and many a dog comes to stand patient in it
06:29once he learns it eases him.
06:32Just keep that water cool every time,
06:35brush him out gentle once he is dry,
06:37and you are doing him real good.
06:39There is one more,
06:41for the dog whose feet or ears
06:43have that sour, yeasty, corn chip kind of smell and itch,
06:47the damp, warm places where that trouble settles.
06:50A weak wash of apple cider vinegar
06:53cut by half with warm water,
06:55dabbed on with a cloth,
06:57can help freshen those spots,
06:58for the mild sourness is not to that yeasty trouble's liking.
07:03But hear me close on this one,
07:05for there is a real warning with it.
07:07You never put vinegar,
07:09even watered down,
07:10on skin the dog has chewed raw or open or bleeding,
07:14for it is an acid,
07:15and it will sting that raw skin terribly
07:18and be a cruelty to him.
07:20Only ever on skin that is whole,
07:22just smelly and itchy,
07:24never on a wound.
07:26And if those ears are truly bad,
07:28deep red and painful and foul,
07:31that is an ear infection
07:32and a matter for the animal doctor,
07:35not a vinegar dab.
07:36So a gentle freshening for a mild case,
07:39and the doctor for a real one.
07:42And dry those feet and ears well after,
07:44for that sour, yeasty trouble loves the damp above all,
07:49between the toes and down in the ear
07:51where the wet sits and will not dry.
07:54A dog that has been out in the wet,
07:56or swimming in the pond of a summer,
07:58wants his feet and his ears dried,
08:00for keeping those folds dry
08:02does more to keep that trouble away
08:04than any wash does to cure it once it is set in.
08:07And for the dog that chews and licks
08:10more from restlessness and boredom
08:12than any true itch,
08:14the old answer is the simplest of all.
08:17Give him something good to gnaw.
08:19A big raw carrot,
08:21and a frozen one is even better on a hot day,
08:23gives him a fine, cool thing to chew
08:26that keeps him busy and content
08:27and does him good besides,
08:29with no harm in it.
08:30A bored dog finds his own mischief,
08:33often his own paws,
08:35so an honest thing to chew is half the cure
08:37for that kind of worrying.
08:39Now let me turn from easing the skin
08:42to the real foundation of a good coat,
08:44which is what the dog eats,
08:46for this is where you truly build a healthy hide
08:49that itches less to begin with.
08:51A dog fed poor and dry
08:53grows a poor dry coat,
08:56dull and flaky and prone to trouble.
08:58A dog fed with some good fat
09:00and good nourishment in him
09:02grows a thick, glossy coat
09:04and a supple skin,
09:05and that is your best
09:07and longest answer to the itching,
09:09far more than any bath.
09:11The old farm dog ate well
09:13of the scraps and the trimmings,
09:15the meat and the fat off the table,
09:18the good leavings,
09:19and he was the better for it.
09:21The thing that builds a coat best
09:23is good fat,
09:24the right kind of oils,
09:26and there are a few plain ways
09:28to get them into him.
09:29A bit of fish is one of the finest,
09:31so a little tin of plain sardines
09:34mixed into his food a couple times a week
09:36is a fine, rich dose of the good oils
09:39that build a glossy coat
09:41and a healthy skin.
09:43But mind, the plain ones,
09:45packed in water,
09:46with no salt added and no sauce,
09:48just the plain fish,
09:50for the salted and sauced kind
09:52are not good for him.
09:54If he turns up his nose at fish,
09:56a plain cooked egg does good service too,
09:59a fine, wholesome thing
10:01for a dog's coat.
10:02And a splash of good,
10:04homemade bone broth over his food
10:06is one of the best things going,
10:08the plain broth of simmered chicken
10:10or beef bones,
10:12rich with the good stuff
10:13that builds healthy skin
10:14and joints both.
10:16Now you do not pile all of these
10:18into him at once, mind,
10:20nor every day,
10:21for a dog's stomach wants
10:23easing into rich new things,
10:24or it will trouble him
10:26at the other end,
10:27and you will be sorry
10:28you overdid it.
10:29You go gentle and slow,
10:31a little fish a couple times
10:33in the week,
10:34an egg another day,
10:35a splash of broth another,
10:37working it in bit by bit
10:39and watching how he does.
10:41And you take a little of his dry food
10:43out to make room,
10:44so you are not just piling more on top
10:47and fattening him.
10:48A dog ought not be fat,
10:50for a fat dog is an unwell dog in time,
10:54so you feed him well,
10:55but not over much,
10:57good food in fair measure.
10:59Done that way,
11:01steady over weeks,
11:02you will see his coat come in glossy
11:04and his skin settle,
11:06and that good condition
11:07is the truest shield
11:08against the itch there is.
11:10But here I must give you a hard warning,
11:13one of two real warnings in all of this,
11:16and they matter more than anything else
11:17I will say,
11:18so heed them well.
11:19When you make that bone broth,
11:22you make it yourself,
11:23plain,
11:24just bones and water simmered down,
11:27nothing else.
11:27You never use the broth
11:29sold in the store for people,
11:31and you never season it,
11:32because it is near always cooked
11:34with onion and garlic,
11:36and onion and garlic
11:37are poison to a dog,
11:39truly toxic,
11:40they can do him real harm.
11:42So no onion,
11:44no garlic,
11:44ever,
11:45not in his broth,
11:46nor his food,
11:48nor his scraps.
11:49Plain bones and water,
11:51that is the dog's broth.
11:53Keep the seasoned humankind
11:54well away from him.
11:56And the second hard warning,
11:58and this one can kill a dog outright,
12:00so burn it into your memory.
12:02There is a sweetener called xylitol,
12:05sometimes written on a label
12:06as birch sugar,
12:08that is put in many sugar-free things,
12:10some peanut butters,
12:11some sugar-free yogurts
12:13and sweets and gums.
12:15It is deadly poison to a dog,
12:17even a tiny amount.
12:18It can destroy his liver
12:20and kill him fast.
12:21So if ever you give a dog
12:23a bit of peanut butter
12:24or yogurt or any such thing,
12:26you read that label first,
12:28every time,
12:29and you make dead sure
12:30there is no xylitol
12:31nor birch sugar in it.
12:33This one is not about itching at all,
12:36but it is the most important thing
12:37a dog owner can know,
12:39and too few do,
12:40so I will not let it pass
12:42without telling you.
12:43Before I come to the fleas and ticks,
12:46let me say a plain word
12:47for the brush and the clean keeping,
12:49for it is half of a healthy coat
12:51and folks forget it.
12:53A dog wants brushing,
12:55regular,
12:56and more so the long-haired kinds.
12:59The brushing pulls the dead hair
13:01and the dirt out,
13:02spreads the natural oils of his skin
13:04all down the coat
13:05to keep it glossy,
13:06and lets the skin breathe,
13:08and a well-brushed dog
13:10has far less trouble
13:11with mats and damp
13:12and the itch
13:13than a neglected one.
13:15It is good for him
13:16in another way, too,
13:17for a dog loves
13:18the attention of it,
13:19and the few minutes
13:20you spend brushing him
13:22is a kindness he feels.
13:23And keep his bed clean,
13:25for a dog's bedding
13:26gathers dirt and old hair
13:28and is where the fleas
13:30would lay their eggs
13:31if they got a start.
13:32So you shake it out
13:33and wash it now and again,
13:35and you deny the fleas
13:37the foothold.
13:38A clean-kept,
13:39well-brushed dog
13:40on good food
13:42is most of the way
13:43to a healthy coat
13:44before you do
13:45anything else at all.
13:47Now I want to speak honest
13:48about the fleas
13:50and the ticks,
13:51because there is a great deal
13:52of foolishness
13:53told about them,
13:54and some of it
13:55is dangerous.
13:56You will hear it said
13:58that you can feed a dog
13:59this or that
14:00out of the kitchen,
14:01the vinegar,
14:02the brewer's yeast,
14:03the garlic even,
14:05and make his blood
14:06taste so foul
14:07that the fleas
14:08and ticks
14:09will not bite him,
14:10make him near invisible
14:12to them.
14:12I will tell you plainly
14:14that is not true,
14:15and I will not tell you
14:17it is,
14:18however much
14:19I would like it to be.
14:20There is no spoonful
14:21of anything
14:22you put in a bowl
14:23that shields a dog
14:25from ticks.
14:26And the garlic
14:27some folks push for it
14:28is,
14:29as I just told you,
14:31itself a poison to him.
14:33So that advice
14:34does double harm.
14:35And the ticks especially
14:37are no small matter,
14:39for a tick
14:40can carry real disease,
14:42the Lyme and others,
14:44sickness that can lay
14:45a dog low for life
14:46or worse,
14:47and that can pass
14:49to people too.
14:50So this is the one place
14:51I will be most firm
14:53with you.
14:53Do not trust
14:55your dog's protection
14:56from ticks
14:57to any kitchen folk remedy.
14:59For the fleas
15:00and the ticks both,
15:02you use the real
15:03proven protection
15:04your animal doctor
15:06gives you,
15:06and in the tick country,
15:08you use it faithfully.
15:09And you run your hands
15:11over your dog
15:12and check him for ticks
15:13after he has been
15:14in the brush,
15:15and pull any you find off
15:17prompt and proper.
15:18The good plain food
15:20and the clean bedding
15:22and the brushing
15:23all help keep fleas
15:25from settling,
15:26and a clean,
15:27well-kept dog
15:28is a less likely
15:29home for them.
15:31That much is true
15:32and worth doing.
15:33A fine-toothed comb
15:35run through his coat
15:36will show you the fleas
15:38if he has them,
15:39and catch them too,
15:40combed out into a dish
15:42of soapy water,
15:43which is an old,
15:44honest way
15:45to knock their numbers
15:46down on the dog himself.
15:47And if the fleas
15:49have truly got going,
15:51mind they are as much
15:52in the house
15:53and the bedding
15:54as on the dog.
15:55So it is the washing
15:56of the bedding
15:57in hot water
15:58and the cleaning
15:59of the floors
16:00and his sleeping place
16:01that breaks them,
16:03not the dog alone.
16:04But none of that,
16:06I say again,
16:07is your shield
16:08against the ticks
16:09and their disease.
16:10That wants
16:11the real medicine.
16:13But for the true shield
16:14against the ticks
16:15and the disease
16:16they carry,
16:17that is the doctor's
16:18proven medicine,
16:20not a spoon of vinegar,
16:21and I would be doing
16:23you and your dog
16:24a wrong
16:24to tell you otherwise.
16:26So let me say
16:27the plain word
16:28about why so much foolishness
16:30gets told about all this.
16:32And it is not
16:33some wicked scheme,
16:35only the plain way
16:36of things.
16:37There is a powerful
16:38lot of money
16:39in a worried dog owner,
16:40in the deer bottles
16:42and the special shampoos
16:44and the bag after bag
16:46of feed.
16:46And there is money too,
16:48it turns out,
16:49in the other direction,
16:51in the videos
16:52and the sellers
16:53promising you
16:54a miracle cure
16:55out of your pantry
16:56for the price
16:57of their little powders.
16:58Both ends
16:59are selling you something.
17:01And in between
17:02sits the plain truth,
17:04which nobody much
17:05profits by,
17:06that a dog wants
17:07good plain food,
17:09clean keeping,
17:10a little gentle comfort
17:12when he itches,
17:13real medicine
17:14from a real doctor
17:15when he is truly sick,
17:17and proven protection
17:18where the ticks are bad.
17:20The plain truth
17:21pays nobody,
17:22so it gets shouted down
17:24by the sellers
17:24on both sides,
17:25and the old simple knowing
17:27gets lost
17:28between the deer pills
17:29and the false miracles.
17:31So let me gather
17:32it plain for you.
17:34To ease an itchy dog,
17:36a little coconut oil
17:37on a raw spot,
17:38a cool oatmeal bath
17:40for the whole miserable hide,
17:42a weak vinegar dab
17:44on skin that smells yeasty
17:46but is never raw or open,
17:48and a good carrot
17:49for the one
17:50that chews from boredom.
17:51To build the healthy coat
17:53that itches less
17:54to begin with,
17:55feed him well,
17:56with good fat in him,
17:58a little plain
17:59water-packed sardine,
18:00a plain egg,
18:02a splash of your own
18:03plain unseasoned bone broth,
18:05never onion or garlic,
18:07ever,
18:08never anything with xylitol
18:10or birch sugar,
18:12ever,
18:13for that one kills,
18:14and never trust
18:16a kitchen remedy
18:17to guard him
18:18from fleas
18:19and ticks,
18:20but use the real,
18:21proven protection,
18:22especially against the ticks
18:24and the disease they carry.
18:26And above all,
18:28the dog that stays
18:29truly itchy
18:30and miserable,
18:31with raw sores
18:33or a deep trouble,
18:34take him
18:35to the animal doctor,
18:36for that is
18:37the kindest thing of all,
18:39and no folk remedy
18:40stands in its place.
18:42I would like to hear
18:44about your own dog.
18:45Tell me down below
18:46what your dog
18:47struggles with,
18:48the itchy skin,
18:50the fleas,
18:51the dry,
18:51dull coat,
18:52and what old ways
18:54you have used
18:55to keep your animals well,
18:56for the farm folk among you
18:58know things worth sharing.
19:00Tell me, too,
19:02what part of the country
19:03you are in
19:03and whether the ticks
19:05are bad where you live,
19:06for that is good
19:07for us all to know.
19:09I read what you write.
19:11I have it in mind
19:12to show you next
19:13the old ways
19:14with the barn cats,
19:15those half-wild working cats
19:18that earn their keep,
19:19how the old farmers
19:21kept a good mouser or two
19:22about the place
19:23and kept the mice
19:25and rats
19:25down out of the grain
19:27and the feed
19:28the natural way,
19:29with never a poison about,
19:31the way it was always done before.
19:34A good dog asks little of us,
19:37only plain food,
19:38a dry place to sleep,
19:40a kind hand,
19:42and care when he ails,
19:43and he gives back
19:45more loyalty
19:46than most folks ever earn.
19:48The old farmers
19:49knew how to keep
19:50an animal well
19:51by plain scents
19:52and plain food
19:53and knowing
19:54when a thing
19:55was past their hands,
19:57and they kept
19:58good dogs at their side
19:59for all their long lives
20:01that way.
20:02The people who built
20:03this country
20:04with their hands
20:05knew that,
20:05and we are only
20:06just starting
20:07to remember it.
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