Dog advice please [kinda long]...

[disneynutt1225]

Toby (my beagle) gets ear infections. He HATES it when we put the ointment in his ears (nystatin). I don't know if it tastes bad, or what, but it's gotten to the point where he scratches and bites at us if we try to put it in his ears. The other night I noticed that his ears were getting junky again so I went to put the cleaning solution in them and he snapped at me. We have a muzzle for him for this purpose, but getting that on is a chore as well. Toby is going to be 2 at the end of this month, and I really don't want him having this aggressive behavior the rest of his life. We've asked the vet if they can just give him a shot when he has an ear infection and they've told us that they don't have the necessary medication in shot form. Huh? Has anyone heard of this?

I just went over to him to just look at his ears, and he snapped at me. Ordinarily he's a really great dog, and I love him to bits. Is there anything I can do to make this less painful for all parties involved? Maybe ask the vet for a short acting tranquilizer so we can give him his necessary meds? We've even asked for an oral pill to give him when he has an ear infection and they've said no to that as well.

He's going to get a bath and his ears cleaned on Friday - we figure they are better equipped to deal with animals at the groomer and he's been to them many times.

I'm really at a loss...any help would be appreciated.

 

[MoniqueU]

I hope you read that thread about I think it was Dawn in Ct? I think that is her name about her dog at the groomers. I would be very hesitant after reading that to send a dog that snapped at anyone to the groomers.

I have no other advice other then to maybe call around to a couple other vets tomorrow and see what they say they have for meds? Maybe with Vets like Dr's you will get a different advice or solution if you seek a second opinion.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Butters our 9 month old pup also HATES ear stuff. I would never send a dog to a groomer that had issues.

The thing to do is to "retrain" your pup. He knows that his behavior scares you so he keeps doing it. The muzzle is not going to help, probably will make the situation worse.

Bring out the bottles put them close to him, make him submit, treat him, do it in different rooms, this is without even cleaning the ears.
You are training him how to behave, basically desensitizing him to ear cleanings.
Do it daily for 5 minutes for a long while.
Also do other training and walking at a heel to establish dominance over him.

When you have to clean those ears, you will be better at control. We are still working at it. It isn't easy and I feel your pain.
Butters has not snapped, growled, just freaks out and we are trying to help him through.

 

[disneynutt1225]

The groomer/boarding facility that we go to has been used by my fiance's family for at least 16 years. If he seems uncomfortable with them cleaning his ears, they will stop and just move on to something else - clipping his nails or whatever. And Toby is usually better behaved for them than he is for us - maybe they have a talent for it and we don't. He can also probably sense that we're scared he'll hurt us so that makes him more on edge with us at the time.

The Mystery Machine: We have tried this, and we'll continue to do so, but now he snaps at the bottles and freaks out even when we aren't going to put them in his ears. We have put him into a "settle" position (laying down on his belly) and given him the bottles to sniff, and he still flips out.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

No...your dog is "alpha" over you. Not a good thing. You need to put him in his place.

 

[Aidensmom]

Does he always snap at you when you put the meds in his ears? If it is unusual, he may have a bad infection and it may hurt for you to touch his ear.

I definately would use the muzzle for now, but if your dog has aggressive tendencies you might want to look into some training for you and the dog, you two need to have a relationship where he does not think he is the "alpha" but that you are. Some dogs just have a natural alpha personality. I used to have a dog with that type of personality, and believe me, if ANYONE but me or the vet were to try to put any meds in his ears or eyes, he would bite them. He was submissive to me, but it took some work to get to that point.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Some dogs just have a natural alpha personality.

When we got Butters he tried to "Alpha" and now he is no longer...and very, very, happy dog.
It was/is work for sure.
Ears are a tricky business but snapping when are just looking is not acceptable.
What did you do when he snap at you? Did you discipline him?

 

[disneynutt1225]

His last ear infection was a bad one, so I'm sure it hurt for us to be messing with his ear. Now it seems like the opposite ear is infected - I can't win.

What kind of training should we do with him? Have someone come into the home? Do it ourselves with a book? We did the basic training class at Petsmart and loved it, but we do need to do more training with him.

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

Did your vet say why your dog keeps getting ear infections? My Schnauzer kept getting them and we kept doing the ear drops and then I went to another vet. We found out the ear infections were due to allergies. We now have to take him for an allergy injection every month. No more ear drops. If I miss a month or two with the allergy injection, I notice his ear infections return. I didn't even realize how miserable he was until 2 days after his first allergy shot...he started acting like a puppy again

 

[disneynutt1225]

What did you do when he snap at you? Did you discipline him?

We look him in the eyes, point a finger at him and say "no" in a stern voice. We then walk away from him and refuse him any attention - that's usually when he'll put his head down and wag his way up to us as if to apologize.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Do positive training. It is what we are doing with Butters.

You have to do it everyday. Sit, Down, Stay, take him for walks & heel him.
Do what I described above for the ears.

Start with just touching him. Touch an ear, if he growls, snaps, discipline him.
Then touch and treat, touch and treat. Move on to a full look, then treat. Disipline when you need to.
Move on to showing him the bottle and sit with him and treat.
It is a slow process but it can be done.
Work your way up...

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We look him in the eyes, point a finger at him and say "no" in a stern voice. We then walk away from him and refuse him any attention - that's usually when he'll put his head down and wag his way up to us as if to apologize.

Walking away is not the thing to do...In fact it is the wrong thing to do. You are showing him he is boss by doing that.
You need to say NO, and stare him down till he submits. We used to grab Butters by the scruff of the neck and say no, and down him to the ground.
But not so much now....
Now we can say NO, point the finger and he goes down and submits and then we stare him down for a few seconds. Then we let him up when WE want.

 

[BWVDenise]

My dog got the ear infections from the ear cleaner they had us using when he was a pup. It was a blue solution. Once I stopped messing with his ears, he never had a problem with them again. I know this doesn't help with your immediate situation, but it's something to consider... aw:

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I just wanted to add we did this under the advice of trainers to fix him. So do not "down" your dog, if you think he may bite.
When you first "down" a dominant dog you could get into trouble.

 

[Aidensmom]

Do positive training. It is what we are doing with Butters.

You have to do it everyday. Sit, Down, Stay, take him for walks & heel him.
Do what I described above for the ears.

Start with just touching him. Touch an ear, if he growls, snaps, discipline him.
Then touch and treat, touch and treat. Move on to a full look, then treat. Disipline when you need to.
Move on to showing him the bottle and sit with him and treat.
It is a slow process but it can be done.
Work your way up...

This is good advice. Also, when you are "training" the dog, ALWAYS speak in a firm voice and act confident. The dog needs to see you are in charge. For some people this is easier than for others. I have an "alpha" personality too, so this part comes naturally to me.

I also read some books on the subject, and I am sorry but I can't remember what they were. But you can do a search online for books regarding alpha dogs to find some.

 

[disneynutt1225]

Thanks for your help everyone! Now I just have to get DFi on board and start some alpha training.

Out of curiosity, if I dont' do anything at this point with the ear infection, will it go away on its own?

 

[Aimeedyan]

I would never recommend rolling a dog over until you are confident in your training abilities. Or staring them down. Only a professional should ever do that with a dog - esp once that sees themself as alpha. That is asking for it and challenging the dog - NOT A GOOD THING. That should only be done under the supervision of someone who is professionally trained in dog behavior.

I would go with a good trainer - not a petsmart trainer but a trainer in your area. Let me rephrase that. I had a great PetsMart trainer BUT he was a trainer on the side and a college prof by day. He worked there because they had flexible hours. He was trained by someone other than the 2 week course PetsMart gives for their trainers. The other guy at our store was a complete moron. Ask your vet for recommendations - it's important to learn the appropriate way of handling YOUR dog, not what others have done with their dogs. Though some training methods can be used on most or all dogs at a certain time and place, sometimes it takes more than that. A professional can come and observe his behavior and decide the best way to handle it. Everyone will be happier =)

Speaking of the infections. He shouldn't be getting infections so often, poor baby. What are they caused by? Yeast overgrowth? Food allergies? Environmental allergies? That's important to find out. I am very very uncomfortable with drugging myself with antibiotics on a regular basis without finding the root of the issue and am just as concerned with doing the same for my dogs. I have a floppy earred dog that has hair grown in the canal. He's very prone to infections. In his 1.5 years of life, he's had 1 infection - when he was very small and young right from the breeder. Since then, I educated myself on how to prevent them and he has no problems anymore. If you can work on preventing them from happening, you can avoid the added trauma of the ear medication so often.

Good luck!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I was thinking about your dog dilemma, and you could use a choker chain to train. I did use that for Butters when he was "aggressive". It was necessary for him. He was lashing out at other dogs. Do it under trainer supervision. You need to learn the difference between correction and disipline, and how to do it properly.

A dog that lashes out toward it's pack is not a happy dog. That was something I did not understand until we got Butters lower in the pack order and took control. He is just as pleased as punch now. He loves the fact he is no longer "in charge". If course he is still a puppy at 9 months, but I do know those "teen" years are coming so we do daily training.

It is doable! I am living proof.

Also listen to Aimeedyan...she has WAYYY more dog experience than I. I am still a rookie.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

(Wrote this last night, but boards went down).

I would ask the vet for a round of oral antibiotics to clear this up once and for all, and take it from there. It could be a superimposed bacterial infection over a yeast infection (see article). Yeast infections are VERY PAINFUL, so it would make sense that he would try to protect himself the only way he knows how! If that doesn't help, then you can look into other causes.

FWIW, it doesn't sound to me like a problem of dominance, it sounds like one of pain and fear. If he was dominant you would be having a problem in other areas, and it sounds like he's a good dog otherwise. (The dog in my signature is a dominant female).

In the meantime, I would seriously bag the ear drops. If your vet won't agree to oral antibiotics, see another vet, preferably an ear specialist at a veterinary teaching hospital. If this is a long term problem, you may want to look into a holistic vet who can work with you on it. Seriously, your dogs life and future may depend on how you handle this now. Lots of special treats (i.e. meat or something really good) if you have to touch his ears for any reason, however, I really think at this point I'd just leave them alone until I could find a vet to help me ASAP. Hold off on the groomer, too, until you get this resolved. Good luck, PM me if I can be of any help or think of other strategies.

Yeast/Ear Infections

Yeast infections are probably the most common type of ear infections in dogs. What are yeast infections? Why are they so common? What can I do to treat or prevent such infections? To answer these questions please read on.

What are yeast infections?

Yeast are single celled fungus. We can find many types of yeast in our lives such as the ones that are used in brewing beer or baking bread. Some types of yeast are less useful and often irritating to us. Such is the type of yeast that grows in your pet's ears.

Why are yeast infections so common?

Dogs have long ear canals that can hold water after a bath, swim, or run through tall, wet grass. Add to this a floppy ear that prevents good ventilation of the ear canal and you have a warm, moist, dark environment in which yeast thrive. The more moisture yeast get, the worse the infection will be.

Yeast infections are most common in dogs that love water (labs, retrievers), have long floppy ears (bassets, beagles, spaniels), have either narrow and/or furry ear canals (poodles, cocker spaniels), or have a history of ear infections or allergies.

The follow symptoms are usual when a dog has an ear infection:

The inside of his ears will appear red and irritated.
He will shake his head and scratch at his ears almost constantly, sometimes to the point of bleeding.
A foul odor will emanate from the inside of his ears.
He may whine, pace, or even stop eating because of the pain and irritation.
Serious injury or permanent damage may occur to the ears if an ear infection is left untreated.

What can be done to prevent ear infections? Prevention and early treatment are the keys. In principle, yeast are easy to kill if you keep in mind that they hate dry, acidic environments. If you keep your dog's inner ears dry and clean by using an acidic type cleaning solution made for dog's ears, you will make the ear environment very uninviting to yeast. Acidic cleaning solutions such as Oti-clens, Epi-Otic, and Oti-dry are available from your veterinarian.

What if the infection does not clear up? It is common to see a bacterial infection associated with a severe yeast infection. Routine ear cleaning will NOT cure a serious bacterial infection. Such double infections occur when yeast infections are not treated in their early stages. It is more difficult and expensive to cure this double infection.

Your dog may also have underlying problems such as allergies and hypothyroidism that can add to the seriousness of an ear infection.

If you see no improvement in your pet's ears within 72 hours after you start cleaning them, make an appointment to see your veterinarian as soon as possible. You dog may need other medications to clear up the infections. If severe irritation or a creamy discharge is noticed, see your veterinarian right away.

Ear infections can be very painful for your dog but they can be avoided with a little help from you.

 

[disneynutt1225]

Thanks again for all the advice, everyone. We decided to still take Toby for a bath and a pedicure tomorrow (man is he stinky, LOL) but we're going to skip them touching the ears. I'm also going to look into getting an ear specialist for him because I really fail to believe that there's no oral meds he can take for his infections. I'd really like to get to the bottom of his infections as well.

In talking to my fiance this morning, we really don't think he has a dominance issue - we think it's more of a defense mechanism when he's in pain, as Pea-n-me said. We're still going to further his training, but we're putting the ear drops on the back burner for now.

Anyway, thanks again!