The Story of Razzle (Golden Retriever)

April 14th, 2004 was a very sad and a very happy day for me. I had to have my six and a half year old Golden Retriever, Brutus, put down due to lung cancer. Brutus was very well know in our small town of Berea, Ohio as he rode in our 1972 Cutlass Convertible in all of the parades here. Everyone knew Brutus and they would call out him during the parade route. I was devastated when I found out that he had lung cancer and there was nothing that could be done for him. He was my best friend and he went everywhere with me. I also know that I could not spend one day without a Golden Retriever, so that very afternoon, I went and got a nine week old Golden puppy and named him Razzle. We were now back into the puppy stage!

We began taking Razzle in the convertible in the parades and people thought that it was still Brutus! At eighteen months, Razzle started getting a terrible rash on his belly. My friend Terri (also Razzle's groomer) worked with me to change his food to see if that would help and it just was not getting better. I took him to our vet, Dr. Wilson of the Animal and Avian Medical Center in Brunswick, Ohio, and she thought that it looked like an infection and put him on an antibiotic. We thought that would be the end of it.

Razzle got better, but it never completely went away. Dr. Wilson gave him a stronger antibiotic and it still didn't go completely away. We just couldn't figure out what was wrong? Sometimes it would be better than others and then there would be a flare-up and there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why. Dr. Wilson sent me to an allergy specialist, Dr. Alice Jeromin of Veterinary Allergy and Dermatology Clinic in Richfield, Ohio to have him tested. The tests came back and showed Razzle was not allergic to anything. That only left a low immune system to be the reason that he just wasn't able to heal all the way. Both Dr. Wilson and Dr. Jeromin diagnosed Razzle with low immune system.

By this time Razzle was only two years old and Dr. Wilson and I decided that we did not want to put him on a low does antibiotic or a steroid so young, and then have to take it the rest of his life and suffer the side effects of either of these medications. Dr. Wilson put Razzle on a mildly medicated shampoo and instructed me to use this every week or two to see if that would make him comfortable. For almost four years Razzle was on this shampoo and it usually helped him. However, every now and then, about three or four times a year, he would have a flare-up no matter what we did.

He also never had much hair on his tail like Golden Retrievers have. His tail has always been real thin. The last couple of years, this rash was starting to spread virtually all over his body. He had it on his back and legs and there was a spot on his neck by his collar that just wouldn't heal at all. I didn't really see the rash too much on his body because his hair covered it, but my groomer and very dear friend (Terri Futo - Showoff Your Pet Resort, Berea, Ohio), would tell me how the rash was getting worse.

Since Razzle was now approaching six years old on January 29, 2010, I was really worried that I was going to lose him at the same age that I lost Brutus! Just how much would Razzle be able to stand? These lesions looked very painful, even though Razzle was just as lovable as always! Then in October, Terri wanted me to go to Chicago with her and her partner in the grooming shop to the Backer Show.

It was the best decision I ever made when I said yes. It was there on October 4th, 2009 that I met Dr. Geoffrey Broderick as he talked about Cornucopia Super-Food Antioxidant Supplement and Cornucopia Phyto-Food Chelated Mineral Supplement. He claimed that his invention helped the immune system. I decided it couldn't hurt to try some on Razzle. I really thought it was probably a bunch of hooey, but I bought the bottles, so I might as well use them. Razzle's appetite was not as a Golden Retriever's should be and I really feared we were loosing him.

From the first day that I sprinkled Cornucopia Super-Food and Phyto-Food supplements (used in combination, always together, never alone!) on Razzle's food, you would have thought I was putting a steak on top of his food. He was really anxious to eat. I also have a five pound Yorkie Poo and he was trying to get into Razzle's food to get the Cornucopia Super Food and Phyto Food on top, so I sprinkled a little on his food too. It was so heartwarming just to see Razz excited about eating again! I put both the Cornucopia Super Food and Phyto Food supplements on their food every time I fed them and really didn't give it too much more thought. I was still giving Razzle a bath every couple of weeks and then after about nine weeks of sprinkling Cornucopia Super Food and Phyto Food on the food, I knew it was about time for Razzle to go to the groomer again. As he was laying down, I lifted his leg to see how bad his rash was this time, and to my amazement, his belly was all pink like it should be.

I couldn't believe it! I don't remember ever seeing Razzle's belly look like that. I immediately looked at his neck by his collar and I couldn't find that lesion either. I called Terri over and said "Am I crazy or is Razzle's rash gone?" She looked all over his body and could not believe that it was all gone! She wanted to know what I had done that was different. The only thing I was doing different was sprinkling the Cornucopia on his food that I got from Dr. Broderick. I was so excited that Razzle was actually free of the rash and as I thought about it and looked back, I was able to put together the reason that Razzle is moving around more and is playing with and chasing Moose, the Yorkie Poo, around the house. He is feeling better!

When Razzle went in for his yearly physical last year, he was also showing signs of hip dysplasia like dragging his right rear leg when he walks. Dr. Wilson said as long as he is still jumping in my car and getting on my bed at night, that we would just keep an eye on it. As I sit here telling the story of Razzle, tears of joy come to my eyes as I am watching Razzle walk across the room and he is now picking up his rear right leg instead of dragging it when he walks. I am anxious to see what Dr. Wilson will say about the rash and hip dysplasia when he goes in for his next check up in June this year. I have a feeling that it will be fantastic.

Thank you so much Dr. Broderick for making the quality of life so much better for Razzle! You have given Razzle his life back and I can't thank you enough for giving Razzle back to me!