i have changed my pups food bout 3 weeks ago and i have notced lots of ear scratching in the last week i check her ears out and noticed some puss in there so i did the ear cleaning muchto her dislike but i got all kind of dirt out. i noticed that my older male has been sniffing crouch a lot latly also but not seen any blood spoting from her yet . she has lost no energy and other then the itching dont bother her at all. sh is about 9-10 months old and was wondering if
1: its the food?
2: her hormons are changing and effecting her "but dont she why the ear infection?"?
3:just scratched her ear and it got infected ?


also what age about does the fist heat cycle start in a general way

You may need to go to the vet to make sure she doesn't have ear mites. And if you think it's associated with the food, you just need to switch back to what you were using. Allergies can definitely cause ear problems.

You still have time to hurry up and spay your female. That way you can spend the next few years learning about how to properly go about breeding. With a specific plan, a goal to better the breed, titles on your dogs, and the knowledge and ability to get a really good breeding program going.

I suggest to definitely take your pup to the vet. If your suspicion is correct, your going to need cleaning solution & an antibiotic. My pup had ear mites that went undetected by her first vet & because of it wound up with very bad ear infections. She pawed her ears a lot & the infection transmits a bad odor. My pup is now having a very hard time keeping both ears up (she's 6 months now). If your vet confirms an infection &/or mites, be sure to stay on top of cleaning your pup's ears EVERY day & make sure the ear's get medicated every day as directed. Pups are not very fond of ear cleaning & I think it would have gone a lot easier at the vets for her ears to be cleaned if I brought something really yummy like Nutri-Cal with me to distract my pup. At home, it was easier to clean my pup's ears after warming the cleaning solution (I let the bottle stand in hot water for a few minutes). I also suggest watching the vet clean your pup's ears very closely so you see how to properly clean them. It helps to use a bright light to shine down the ear canal so you don't miss the gunk hiding deep down. My pup's second & competant vet told me dog's ear canals curve around so not to be afraid of puncturing an ear drum by wiping too far down. I believe the first vet's failure to detect my pup's ear infection along with a case of worms caused her to become run down & come down with a raging urinary tract infection & demodex (sp ??) which we are still battling. Good luck and health to you both.

One of my male GSDs from show lines who is allergic to everything! He used to have alot of ear infections, but now that I swithced his food to one that does not contain any of the "taboo" ingredients he has been fine.
Talk to your vet to discuss possible causes of the infection and how to clear it up.

Ear Infections,

I have a four year old bitch, and when I got her she went to the vet right away. And had an ear infection. Got that cleared up, and low and behold another ear problem. Her's was a fungal problem, and the vet has me clean her ears every week using EPI-OTIC, then I put one or two drops of Otomax in each ear. She has not had a problem in over three years. It worked very well for her.

The Epi-Otic runs about $6.00 for a 4 oz. bottle and the Otomax is around $10.00 for a 15 gram tube.

Hope this has been of some help

Joyce.

i have been cleaning her ear with the soulition on ed's Q&A and im getting a brown crud coming out of her and i get about the same amount every day allmost looks like a scab broken in to small pieces . but i see nothing in there. also vet apt saturday <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> but i know she dont like the sulition i think it is burning her ear but we will get this fixed sat

it was a yeast infection and i got some drops"monastat will not work <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> " but she is lots better

Trey,

So glad your dog is doing better. I know that Inge has done very well with the weekly treatments for her. Yeast infection just sounds beter than a fungal infection. Same thing.

Joyce

I have friends who's Lab is constantly having ear infections and problems. I gave them a receipe that people were raving about and using in their dogs ears from another site, and when my friends used it they also were converts. They said nothing from the vet has worked as well.

http://itsfortheanimals.com/BLUE.HTM is the site, just be careful where you are when you use it, if the dog shakes it's head it may stain where it lands in the house!

It absolutely works, and is well worth the little bit of effort to prepare it. Go to the link Jenn posted for the blue ear recipe. Basset owners have used this for a long time. Drop eared dogs, tend to have yeast problems worse than others. Not a lot of light or air reaches the inside of the ear to help keeo them dry which can contribute ear problems. Nothing, (and believe me, I have tried it all) from the vet works as well.