[nagdu] A few questions

[Tracy Carcione]

Hi Minh.
Does Viva actually need to be bathed every 3 months?  My dogs usually stay 
clean with daily grooming.  Ben hasn't had a bath in years, and he's still 
shiny and unsmelly.
If you feel Viva needs more than a daily brushing, would wiping her down 
with a cleansing-moisturizing solution work just as well as a bath?
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shanna Stichler" <slstich at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2014 6:44 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] A few questions


> Hi
>
> Does your groomer put cotton or something in viva's ears during the bath? 
> That may help solve the ear infection ppoblem if too much moisture is 
> geting in her ears.
>
> As for bad breath, I'd have a vet look at her teeth, to be sure she 
> doesn't have a dental problem. It shouldn't be anything serious, but as 
> you noted, bad breath isn't normal with dogs.
>
> With the shedding, she is likley blowing her coat, which Labs do every 
> Sping and Fall. It should only  last a few weeks or so. If it goes beyond 
> that, you might have your vet do a blood panel and check for thyroid 
> issues.
>
> It sounds  like you're dooing a great job with her care. Let us know how 
> things  go!
>
> Shanna
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Mar 21, 2014, at 3:26 AM, minh ha <minh.ha927 at gmail.com> wroteHi all,
>>
>> I have a few questions regarding issues with Viva's health. Any
>> insight would be appreciated.
>>
>> 1. Viva has been getting ear infections after every single bath,
>> whether at the groomer's or at home. She gets bathed every three
>> months or so and every single time, without fail, she develops an ear
>> infection 1 to 2 weeks after. At first, I thought it was just a
>> coincidence, but this is the third time now and I know it shouldn't
>> happen that frequently. The groomer does clean her ears and so do I
>> with epiotic ear solution, so I can't really figure out why these ear
>> infections are happening.
>>
>> 2. Over the past six months or so, her breath has been getting
>> increasingly worse and worse. It is tolerable but it's not the fresh
>> doggie breath that she had when I first went home with her. I brush
>> her teeth daily and she doesn't have any teeth problems. I know that
>> sometimes bad digestion can cause bad breath in dogs, but besides
>> this, the food that I give her (natural balance lamb and rice) agrees
>> very well with her. I also give her flax seed oil with every meal and
>> it really helps her coat, but not her breath. I stopped giving her the
>> oil for a few days and the odorous breath lessened a little bit, but
>> it's still definitely there. What could be other causes of bad breath?
>> And are there alternatives to flax seed oil that I could give her?
>>
>> 3. She has also been shedding an inordinate amount of hair. Viva is an
>> extremely short-coated dog and she never used to shed as much as she
>> is now. Is it just a normal doggie thing where as the weather gets
>> warmer, they shed their winter fluff?
>>
>> Sorry for the long post; I'm just trying to cover all my bases and
>> make sure there's not an imbalance going on. Thanks for any help.
>>
>> Minh
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
>> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
>> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
>> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>>
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