I originally wrote Shadow's story as a series of Instagram posts so I could share it chronologically. It was one of the hardest things I've ever written as it brought back everything we went through, but his story needs to be told to help raise awareness of the potential dangers of vaccines and pharmaceuticals.

⭐️28.10.16 - 10 weeks old ⭐️

We had picked him up from the breeder unvaccinated & being dutiful new pet parents, we had arranged a vet appointment for the day he came home for a health check & to start his vaccinations.

At that appointment he was given a clean bill of health, given DHP & L4 vaccinations, along with being prescribed a spot on flea/tick treatment AND a worming tablet.

So, being responsible owners we administered both the spot on treatment & worming tablet that night - as instructed by our vet.

Alarm bells did ring a little when after applying the spot on treatment, he laid on our leather sofa & rolled over for a nap - when he moved, I noticed a hole, very much a like a burn mark - which definitely wasn't there before! If that's what it did to my sofa, what the hell was it doing to my puppy's skin?!

This was just the tip of the iceberg of our journey with this beautiful boy & the pharmaceutical s**t show which he endured 😢

⭐️29.10.16 - 10 weeks old ⭐️

Today was the start of what became a truly awful few weeks for this beautiful boy 😢

I feel it's important to mention food at this point too, we had fallen hook, line & sinker for the marketing of one of the major brands & put him a tinned puppy food & some dry kibble.

Around 6pm I noticed he was very lethargic & was straining to go to the toilet and when he did, he had bloody stools 😢 Knowing something wasn't right, we dashed off to the vets.

He was diagnosed with colitis & given an antibiotic injection along with a course of antibiotics to take home. The vet said the colitis was caused by stress of leaving his Mum & siblings and coming to his new home - a pretty valid point BUT at no point did they consider the 'pharmaceutical assault' his tiny little body had endured in just 2 days of being home... let's just review what he'd had.....

💉 DHP vaccine

💉 Lepto 4 vaccine

💊 Worming tablet

💊 Spot on flea/tick treatment

Then at the out of hours vets, he was given...

💉 Antibiotic injection

💊 A course of antibiotic tablets

The ONLY thing he'd been prescribed that wasn't a pharmaceutical was a pre/pro biotic paste to add to his meals.

Sadly, things only got worse from here as you'll see over the coming days & weeks.

As they say, hindsight is a wonderful thing & if I knew then, what I know now, never in a million years would I have allowed what happened, to happen!

⭐️1.11.16 - 10 weeks old ⭐️

After picking up a little bit on the Sunday & Monday, by the Tuesday (1st Nov) he'd taken a turn for the worse & he was back at the vets 😢

He was lethargic, not eating & very very flat for a young puppy.

The decision was made to keep him in for the day & start investigations as he had a high temperature too.

They did bloods & radiographs and diagnosed colitis with some sort of infection as lots of markers were raised in his results

He was put on an IV drip and had more antibiotics (in addition to the ones he'd been on at home since Sunday).

We went to collect him at 6.30pm and decided to take him home & monitor rather than going to the out of hours overnight vet, as he'd already been through so much. So an appointment was made for the following morning to review & his canula was left in, in case needed for further treatment overnight.

We were also 'prescribed' a Gastro wet food 🙄

This poor boy literally wasn't getting a break 😢

⭐️2.11.16 - 10 weeks old ⭐️

Returned for a check up first thing, his temp was still slightly raised, but the vet was happy to remove his catheter.

We were discharged with more antibiotics, more 'prescription' gastro food & a check up booked in 7 days time.....along with his next round of vaccinations.

He was much happier in himself BUT we're still only at the beginning of his story 😢

⭐️November to December 2016 ⭐️

10th Nov 2016 - Returned to vets for 2 DHP & Kennel cough vaccination

24th Nov 2016 - 2nd dose of L4 vaccination in the morning.... back at out of hours vet in the evening due to lethargy, sickness & large swelling at site of jab.

The penny was now starting to drop, especially as the out of hours vet said "He's not the first puppy I've seen have a reaction to the L4" 😤

So, this was when I started researching & reading about not only the L4 jab, but how we could take a more holistic approach to looking after Shadow as his system had been through so much.

And so began our journey.... ⭐️

🥩 Started raw feeding

🐾 Stopped all pharmaceutical flea/tick treatments

🐶 Started using worm count screening

🐾 Decided to have no more vaccinations

🦠 Started learning about gut health & microbiome

2016 ended with Shadow starting to thrive on raw food & him starting to heal from a very rocky first month or so with us. He was enjoying exploring the world & being a cheeky puppy 😉

We thought we were over the worst, but sadly we hadn't even started 😢

⭐️ 2017 ⭐️

After a very bumpy start, this little fluff ball was now loving life to full! Enjoying being a pup, exploring the world & certainly keeping us on our toes 🤣🙈

In May when Shadow was 9m old, our gorgeous ginger ninja, Ted, joined the family too - we're no good at fostering 🤣 They were best buddies from the moment Ted bounded through the door 💖

Looking back now, this was by far our best year with him.... 2018 was the beginning of a slippery slope 😢

⭐️Jan - Jun 2018 ⭐️

2018 saw the beginning of changes with Shadow. He'd always been a bit cheeky (poo bag stealing was his trade mark move 🙈🤣), but there were some 'grumbles' starting between him & Ted.

Since Ted joined the family, they'd always played beautifully together, shared toys & I was able to give them both frozen Kongs in the same room with no issues.

Shadow had never been 'humpy' either & was very very loving and cuddly with all of us, including my two young sons but after speaking with behaviourists, the decision was made to castrate him in February 2018 at 18m old. The idea being it was his hormones causing the occasional grumpy snaps at Ted.

Things did seem to settle down again after his op, but sadly it wasn't to last 😢

⭐️July 2018 ⭐️

Thursday 12th July, the day everything changed 😢

I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a gorgeous sunny summer day & we headed out for an early walk at our favourite woods to avoid the heat.

About 10mins into the walk, I realised Shadow wasn't quite right. Initially I thought it was just because it was warm but it soon became clear he wasn't well 😢 He was unable to run or jump & was struggling to walk, so we decided to head home.

When we got back I realised he had blood coming from his penis & he was finding it hard to move around, so we immediately rang the vets to get him seen.

What then ensued was an absolute hellish 10 days or so 😢

His temperature was soaring at 41 degrees, he was very very lethargic & obviously in pain around his back/legs.

He was kept over the weekend on IV antibiotics to try & get on top of whatever infection he was fighting.

Nothing was working though.

On the Monday, I took him to another vet to get a 2nd opinion but they were stumped too.

So, on the Tuesday, the decision was made that because he wasn't improving he needed specialist care at the RVC in Milton Keynes where he spent the next week.

After days of tests, spinal taps & scans, we finally had a diagnosis...

Necrotizing lymphadenitis (immune mediated lymph node inflammation).

The vet who called me said he'd never seen it before & that only 10 other dogs were known to have had it, so there was no point Googling it as even they'd struggled to get information!

He was discharged on the 23rd with a collection of steroids & immunosuppressive drugs to aid in his recovery.

He was very happy to be home, just a bit bald in places 😢 A groom helped tidy him up, but sadly, this still wasn't the end of his story 💔

⭐️ Aug - Dec 2018 ⭐️

Shadow remained on the steroids & immunosuppressive drugs until the December & needed regular check ups at the vet.

He'd never been much of a fan of the car, but now he absolutely hated it & howled on every single journey 😢 The stress of the past few months I think was starting to catch up.

It was around this time I started studying with Canine Principles to learn about canine behaviour and wellbeing & I was loving it! I was learning so much & understanding more about how I could support his recovery. He'd always been a huge fan of enrichment & long sniffy walks, so carried on utilising both to help him decompress after stressful vet visits etc.

His coat was gradually growing back but his skin was red & sore around his carpal joints on his front legs. The vets said it was just a reaction to the medication he was on. His famous 'quill' tail was also losing fur & looking very 'ratty', but again the vets just said it was because of the medication.

He seemed settled & happy at home though, he & Ted were playing more again and I thought we were over the worst. He was still a real snuggle bunny & could often be found snoring next to my youngest son on the sofa when he dozed off 💖

Then on 15th December the first bite happened 😢

I'd learnt all about the ladder of aggression but there was literally NO warning - no lip curl, no snarl, no whale eye, no snapping... nothing. He was just sleeping next to my youngest son on the sofa who was watching something on his iPad, when he suddenly lunged at him & made contact with his cheek 💔

My son of course was distraught, as was I. As a family, we talked at length about what we should do next. We knew Shadow had been through SO much in the past 6 months, so we thought maybe we missed something that night & hoped it was a one off due to him being weaned off his medication.

So, we made a plan - to keep a daily log of Shadow's behaviour (to see any potential patterns) & to ensure the boys were never left alone with him until we figured out what was going on.

We started 2019 feeling hopeful 🤞🏻

💔 13th Aug 2020 💔

Now it's time to tell the final part of Shadow's story with us 🐾

After working with various behaviourists & talking with many trainers over 18m or so, the decision to re-home our beautiful boy was made in August 2020 and he left us, just 5 days before his 4th birthday.

Lockdown had meant he was more stressed than ever as we were home all the time, our lovely early peaceful walks were now busier as people took their 'daily exercise' in our favourite spots. He was stressed & very unhappy.

I felt at the time that I'd completely failed him, not trained him properly, not put the work in with him, should have researched the vaccines/pharmaceuticals before I got him.

The guilt has lived with me for a long time but it's slowly starting to lift. Despite loving him so much, in the end, we just weren't the right home for him after everything he'd been through.

Loving him, meant letting him go 💔 I don't think I'll ever get over it, but knowing he's now happy & settled gives me peace.

Hozho Hounds is the result of this incredible boy, who taught me SO much 🙏

Thank you Shadow 💖 Everything I do from here on out, is for you 🥰