aquaholic

Rant// Am I the only one that has problems searching this forum?
It always tells me I'm not giving enough key words to search, but even when I enter in more, it never EVER has brought up a search.
What a crap-ass search engine.


Okay, now to my question!

Logan has very dry ears.

I'm sure it's due to the posting .. I've started him on Fish oil caps, twice a day, and we've been doing that for a good month now. While it's helped with his skin, I've seen no improvement with his ears. He's also had dandruff in the past, which has been improved a bit from the fish oil.

Suggestions?

( btw - He's on Orijen Large Dog formula food, and I don't plan on switching him anytime soon)

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katekev04

My red Dobie has the same problems. This is the second year we've been dealing with this, although it seems to clear up better in the summer, I'm taking him to the dermatologist tommorow. I'll post back if I learn anything new or get any ideas. P.S. My wife and I love Toronto! We just were up there to see Gordon Ramsay at the Eaton Center.

clipclop

I posted up with the exact same problem and didnt get too much info other than the fish oil- its def. related to the posting as its right on the top of his little poor head.

jdd

My red puppy kept having flakes come up on her, sometimes it looked like a light snow had fallen on her. I didn't care for the way she looked (coat) when we got her so very quickly changed her food and put her on Grizzly Salmon Oil. Now she is darker, shiner and no flakes. She just looks healthier all around.

dobebug

I can't solve your problem with the search engine--it works for me most of the time if I'm looking for something.

But I'm still trying to figure out what exactly you mean by having dry ears. How old is Logan--and why do you think the dry ears are related to posting?

Here're some other questions to see if I can understand what you mean--what kind of tape are you using? When you remove the tape do you use an adhesive solvent? If you do--what are you using? How often do you take the ears down? Do you clean all adhesive residue off of them when you take them down? What do you use to remove the residue?

And as to the dry skin--how often are you bathing Logan--what sort of shampoo are you using for bathing him? What is the water temperature that you are using? Is the dandruff there all the time? Or is it more evident immediately after a bath?

Generally, any sort of adhesive solvent will also remove all oils from the skin as well so if you are carefully removing all tape residue every time you take the posts down you might try leaving it for a final cleaning when you are entirely finished posting the ears. A little tape residue won't hurt at all. Or if you insist that the ears be clean each and every time try using any sort of cooking oil to remove the tape and the tape residue--it's messy but easier on the skin. Then you'll have to use luke warm water and soap or detergent to remove the oil and let the ears dry thoroughly. But with posting ears for years on my puppies and other peoples puppies I've never run into a problem with "dry ears".

Dandruff is greatly aggravated by using water too hot for bathing dogs. Water should be nearly cold--dogs skin doesn't do well with hot water. Harsh shampoos will also contribute to dandruff. And frequent bathing--especially with puppies can aggravate the follicles and cause dandruff. Shampoo should be well diluted and applied to either a terry cloth or sponge and sponged on in the direction the hair lays--rinsing about twice as long as you think is necessary also helps. Any residual shampoo will aggravate dandruff.

If you've only had the dog on fish oil for a month it's hardly time enough to make a difference. Variation in suppliments and foods take about six to eight weeks to really let you see a difference.

So the dry skin/dandruff problem may be from bathing too frequently, using shampoos that are too harsh, using water too hot, scrubbing the skin of the dog and irritating it and/or insufficient rinsing.

Good luck.