Ok, so I assume your vet is giving combined shots. Which is fine too. I opted for some singles, just in case there were reactions, so I could be sure which caused it, if there were any.. (because my cat is very allergic to the rabies vaccines..)

My puppy will get this vaccine when she is 4 months and 1 week old - just because I wanted several weeks between her last Lyme vacc and the rabies one. Otherwise shed be getting it anytime after 4 mos.

I believe 3 months is ok - but 4 is more popular and possibly considered a safer age.

Keep in mind these vaccines are manufactured with a 3 year efficacy. God only knows why we have to vaccinate every year and add uneccesary risk. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

If you like the sound of this as little as I do, you can ask your vet if you can do yearly serological testing to prove she is immune still, it might be allowed in your state.. I live in the EU and there are actually pages in my dogs passport for this - so I will be doing this until she is no longer proving immune.

As for detergent, in the hospital we use Dreft for people with severe skin allergies and also for babies. I've never bought it myself, but Im sure you can find it at any major grocery store.

I give my dog a weekly wormer also, fortunately we dont have to worry about heartworm here.

Dogs over a year old dont often get roundworms because their bodies change and the larvae cant complete their lifecycle in the same way, so after your puppy is a year old, once or twice a year worming is generally sufficient.

But its good to keep in mind that it takes about 2 weeks for the eggs shed in the feces of an infected animal to become infectious. Which is why its a very good thing to keep your dog from eating the pooh you see in parks, etc. These eggs can stay infective for YEARS in the soil.. ick..

Fresh pooh is not infectious..

The most common tapeworm your dog or cat will get if from ingesting an infected flea. you'll see these wiggling out of the tailend.. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> controlling the flea population is the best way to prevent these..

Heartworm.. well. heartworms a problem Im very happy I dont have to worry about here. Especially since there's no real cure for cats... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Ok let me shut up about worms. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> You can probably guess my major was parasites and infectious disease.. I know.. not interesting to most of the world.. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Has your puppy be re-tested for staph? It seems odd she would still have lesions after being on meds for awhile. What was she actually diagnosed with? Just some scratch that became infected with staph?

I'm asking because there are other things that cause lesions and itchiness.. such as scabies.. dogs can get this too..

oops, meant to specify Im talking about the rabies vaccine in the first part there, with the 3 year efficacy.. at least the I use on mine is..

When she was diagnosed with staph, she had little red bumps all over her chest and stomach. He did do a test to tell it was staph. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

The bumps she has now were like the size of a dime and they were just down in her vaginal area. so i didnt know if they were casued by her lack of cleaning skills.

As for the dreft, i was thinking about that. Last night i took out her blanket that i wash reg. and put in an area rug that i dont think i have washed and she hasnt been as itchy today. I went ahead and ordered her a sheep skin blanket for her crate. Hopefully thats all it is <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for all your advice.

Hey thats cool! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Sounds like you might have contained the problem on your own..

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

But since you mentioned that, let me just mention a couple of other things that come to mind from that..

Staph can be a secondary infection... meaning if she had something like scabies, and scratched it open, staph could find its way inside..

Also, if she was allergic to something and scratching constantly, same thing could happen.

Something else.. is it possible some kind of mites are living around her bedding? While its totally possible she might have just been allergic to tide, its also possible you might have washed away some sort of micro buggers that were bothering her too..

Just a thought..

But Im very happy for you. I hope it was just the tide. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Man, I am always forgetting something..

I meant to also say staph doesnt just infect healthy closed skin.. it lives all over us and we dont get infections until theres a problem.. so the real issue is whatever was causing these bumps or scratches in the first place..

and again, sounds like you might have uncovered it.

good luck!

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

QUOTE: I meant to also say staph doesnt just infect healthy closed skin.. it lives all over us and we dont get infections until theres a problem.. so the real issue is whatever was causing these bumps or scratches in the first place END

Yes....this is the important part, IMO. The broken/scratched/open skin (many times resulting from allergies and other reactions) are often the underlying issue when it comes to staph infections. The defenses are broken when the skin is scratched open, and there are then two issues to deal with: the infection and the reason the barrier (healthy skin) was broken.

(And of course, there's the issue under all that about why some individuals have allergies and others do not, but I think veterinary medicine is only beginning to address that.)

Well after 2 months of driving our selves crazy, we finally figured out she is allergic to something in our carpet. The carpet is 18years old and were not sure if there was any previous pets or not. We spend majority of our time in our family room so we covered the part of the room she lays in with blankets and her rash has disapeared and her hair has grown back.
Looks like were tearinf up the carpet and replacing it sooner than we imagined! The things we do for our pets <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

If you take her to the vet, ask them about using Prednisone, I have a White gsd female that has summer allergies and the vet put her on the treatment and it works. Prednisone is relatively inexpensive.

Steroids should only be used as a last resort, alergy testing for airborne & food allergies should be done first.

Desensitizing shots for airborne & special diet for food allergies

In human females, antibiotic treatment can sometimes cause yeast infections. Have you had her checked for this? I'm asking because you say the remaining lesions are in the vaginal area and she is intensely itchy all over. Sounds like a yeast infection to me.