Has my dog got dandruff???

[loners]

When I pat my dog she seems to get engulfed by a cloud of white floating in the air? Is there an anti-dandruff shampoo for dogs?
TY.

[TLC]

Yes there is.... There are many diferent types of shampoos and other products to prevent this. This layer is a part of the dogs dead skin. Similar to humans skin.
Your dog has a typical sensitive skin, (I bet the skin is a bit itchy) so be very careful to use other type of shampoos. Talk with your local pet store or vet.
Good luck

[loners]

Hey TLC you are so right. When I think about it the last time she went to the groomers for her shampoo and haircut, she came back itching like crazy, so it must be an alergic reaction to some shampoos. When I took her to the vet she suggested that her breed are quite notorious for small ear canals, and gave her an antibiotic and gave me ear-drops for her itching. The pet shop suggested I use some very good flee drops just in case, actually they really were very good, and her itching did actually stop for about 3 days, but I think you're right, and it was probably the shampoo the groomer used. I usually use tea-tree shampoo on her, and it doesn't seem to make her itch excessively at least, though the vet told me that some of the scratching may be due to habit.
I guess that dyeing her hair will be out of the question, she is getting kind of old, bless her.

[TLC]

Oh my God... !!!
The drops can be very dangerous for dogs with a sensitive skin. Front line/ Expot and similar drops are good for flees and ticks, but can develop an extreme allergic reaction on some dogs.
Espesially dogs with sensitive skin like yours.  So be careful with those...
You ONLY use drops on a dog like yours if it has flees/ticks... Not to just prevent. Because the sensitive skin of the dog will not handle it.
One more important thing... Many dogs and cats are also allergic to tea-tree, and can get itchi reactions from shampoos and other tea-tree products. Be very careful to use those type of products on your dog. It will make everything much worse for sure. Please tell me what beed you have, because some breeds are more sensitive than others....
Do not dye her hair before you know exactly what the itching is all about.
To use a clean hair colour is not dangerous for dogs, but to use haircolour with oxydant can be very dangerous for some dogs. So NEVER use that.
I would recommend John Paul Pet shampoo (tearless puppy and kitten) or another extra mild shampoo for your dog... And remember: NO TEA-TREE ;o)))

[Admin]

Tlc, whats the correct way to trim your dogs nails? I have a rottweiler girl and attempted to give her nails a trim which led to one of them bleeding. I only took quite a small amount from the end but panicked slighly after that so left it well alone since then.

 I did read that the nails contain nerves, vessels etc before i attempted it, but her nails are black so impossible? to see where to trim too.

any tips on this?

many thanks

[sammy jane]

i learnt the other day that you aint got to bath a dog to much as you can dry out there skin i saw dry shammpoo and am wonering if it works oh and doggie deondent

[TLC]

Tlc, whats the correct way to trim your dogs nails? I have a rottweiler girl and attempted to give her nails a trim which led to one of them bleeding. I only took quite a small amount from the end but panicked slighly after that so left it well alone since then.

 I did read that the nails contain nerves, vessels etc before i attempted it, but her nails are black so impossible? to see where to trim too.


any tips on this?

many thanks

The problem with black claws, is that you cannot see where the nerves are starting. I had a black and white Am-staff with claws like this...  :roll:  And she did not like to be trimed...
Many dogs have the nerves a long way out. Especially if they are use to have their claws trimed... The nerve will then "grow" further and longer out.
There is no other way to do it then to start at the very end of the tip, and just cut a mm to start with... If you do not see anything other then a claw, you can try a tiny (just a tiny bit) more. If your dog has a problem with (don`t know the English word for it) long grown nerves, there is a possibillity to get some help with the problem at the vet.
But under anesthesia.
There is also one other way to "trim" a dogs claw. It`s with a grinder. Very good if you are afraid to cut wrong on your dogs claw. It`s fast and easy... if the dog is not afraid of the sound... Take a look here:

http://www.petedge.com/product/Master-Grooming-Tools-Pet-Nail-Grinder-Kit/45442.uts

There is also a new (but expensive) tool on the marked...
I have not tried it yet, but heard by people it nice to use....
This should be perfect for you:

 http://www.petedge.com/product/Miracle-Coat-QuickFinder-Deluxe-Pet-Nail-Clipper/54083.uts  

:mrgreen:  :mrgreen:   Good luck...

[loners]

Ah, thank you for such great advice TLC, I will try stopping the tea-tree shampoo and conditioner to see if that helps a little. I will probably not try to dye her hair, since it's really rather a cosmetic thing, and the grey around her face is quite sweet really.
Breed, she is a minature poodle, so she has the added fun of having strange hair rather then dog fur, I wonder if her groomer would be very offended if I sent a shampoo and conditioner with my dog, I'm not sure what make shampoo and conditioner she used, but it defo made my little dog a lot itchier then usual, though it did make her smell a lot better, I suspect it was perfumed.
I understand what you're saying about not using flee killer unless the dog has already got them, so I took my little dog to the vets just in case she did have flees, but the vet told me there was no way of telling if she did have them, so I'm not really certain how to tell if she has them or not. She offered to put some drops on her just in case she did have them, but I didn't think that would be wise since she had some drops 2 weeks ago and the instructions on the tube suggested using them once a month, which is actually kind of strange, since they are supposed to give 12 weeks protection. I think I may write to the company and ask about that one.

[TLC]

Oh dear... You know... I get really really angry when I hear the things you are telling me... Not at you... But at the vet!!! He/she should know that if a dog has got the drops just 2 weeks ago, it can be very dangerous to put it on once more :-((((( You see... It`s actually poison you are putting on the dog. That`s why many of them are allergic to the drops.. The Poison goes directly into the blood stream and are then mixed with the dogs blood. That`s why tick and flees dies just within 24 hours after you have put the drops on the dog. (They are sucking Poison... ) Your dog does not have any more flees or ticks if it has got the drops. The vet knows that... But again...
MONEY TALKS :-((((((
When you told me you were using Tea Tree... I knew where the problem had started.
You must stop using that immediately. Use as I say a puppy shampoo or a shampoo for extra sensitive skin (maybe the best)
At least for some months.
If your groomer gets upset... well, then you should maybe change to anotherone.    
By the way...she should know about itchy and sensitive skin and the use of Tea-Tree... Awwww.... I am so tired of peoples lack of service and the "following-up" procedure.  :x  :x  :x
 
I am really strickt when it comes to chooseing a vet...or a groomer.
If I feel for one secound that they are more after my money than the welbeing of my animals..., I RUN!!! In your case, I would have told the vet... "I am not your customer anymore"...
And when it comes to your groomer, I would have asked her/him how many years she/he has been working, and what she really know of the different skintypes of the dogs...

I am not an expart, but I have allot of experience, and dear to say what I think you should do and should not do. Tell her/him you are worried.
Oh... One more question... Is the groomer pulling out all the hair from the ears??? That is VERY important. Poodles` hair in the ears are growing very fast....If you do not pull it out, your dog can develope an infection which may lead to constant itching.  
At that point it will look like your dog has flees... So always make sure to pull everything out.. Check her ears twice a month. It`s very easy... I can send you some info on it.. (on products to use)
 
Hihi... I have had a brown Toy Poodle <3 <3 <3 Little Patsy... <3 <3 <3 My little dancer. But I had her together with the breeder. So when we moved down to Spain, she took the hole responsebility for Patsy. If you send me a PM I can give you my FB account. Have allot of photos of her... She was the clown in the family :-D I miss her funny little "smile" everyday... Always happy, always full of joy and life, and always totally crazy hahaha...  :lol:  :lol:  :lol: LoL

[loners]

Hi TLC, it's a little hard to swap vets, there are no others here, and I don't drive. I'm a little worried about taking her too far on the bus, since it's entirely up to the bus driver if they accept dogs on the bus or not, so I think what if I get there and the bus driver on the other side won't let her on to come back again.
I really don't know what shampoo the groomer used, it's me that was using the tea tree dog shampoo in between taking her, little dog does get pretty minging in-between grooming sessions, but whatever the groomer did use, definitely made her skin worse. The dandruff has since stopped by the way, so I'm not quite sure what happened there, but she still does get pretty itchy, so I will try her on the puppy shampoo as suggested, (which brand do you recommend?). The groomer is very careful to take the hair from inside little dog's ears, but my little dog still gets ear infections sometimes anyway, so I just use ear-drops when it gets a little infected, and take her to the vets for an injection of anti-biotics if it gets badly infected. Some info on how to check through her ears would be really useful thank you.
I know what you mean about poodle's funny little smile, and I have never known a dog that can totally show how it's feeling so thoroughly. I hear of owners who say how the dog can understand every single word they say to it, but I fear with little Molly, it's somewhat the other way round, she doesn't actually much care what I say to her unless it suits her, but she sure can convey what she wants and feels ever so clearly, that dog has totally got real expressions. Having said that if I had actually ever chosen a dog to have, I rather think a poodle would have been close to last on my list. I only thought I was looking after her temporarily for someone when I got her, it didn't occur to me that the owner wouldn't want her back again afterwards. She has grown on me though, so full of personality, I will miss her when she goes, I'm not totaly sure how long minature poodles live for, but she's 11 and I've heard that 15 is about average.
I think FB stands for Face Book, this is something I read about and have heard a lot about, but other then that I wouldn't know how to start. Do you have a web page instead? A lot of isps give out some space for a web page.

[loners]

Hi Sammy Jane, I can't quite see what pet picture you have up, is it possible to do it a little bigger?
I know what you mean about the smell, my little dog is obsessed with eating sheep Pooh at the moment, and I don't know if it's my imagination, but I'm sure it makes her smell worse then ever, and to top it all, makes her want to cuddle closer more then ever, think she wants me to be sure I smell her new smell, yuck.
My sister had a black lab, and never ever bathed it, she just gave him a good brushing when he got dirty, and said the natural oils will clean him. Anyway, he was really old when he died, so it didn't do him any harm at all, though he did like to have a swim in the river sometimes, so maybe that helped keep him clean enough.

[sammy jane]

ty lonners my big bug bear this week for poor max is chewing gum getting stuck in his coat  why cant pepole despose of it in bin instead of bus pavment ect its really annoying

[loners]

Wow, Sammy Jane, I can certainly see how that would be big problem. Does it get really tangled in Max's fur? How on earth do you get it out? I actually don't see why people can't put their chewing gum in the bin either. I bet they would be the first people who would complain if we were irresponsible dog owners, and didn't put our Dog's unwanted stuff in bags and bins. So bear that in mind all you chuddy leavers who read this.

[sammy jane]

it does loner i fell sorry for him as some of it was close to his skin so i had to pull it and cut it or wetting it  and take my time not to hurt him its happened three times this week

[loners]

Well I agree it is totally bad, poor little Max. I remember when my daughter was little and got the stuff in her hair, it was really bad getting it out, and there was a lot of kicking and screaming going on with it, they should be made to listen to that sort of thing acoustically in stereo if they get caught.
3 times , does it always happen in the same place? Maybe you could tell the council that it needs cleaning up there, and that perhaps if they provided a bin with a sign, maybe there's a small chance one of the plebs that are doing it will get a message. Anything's worth a try.

[Admin]

it does loner i fell sorry for him as some of it was close to his skin so i had to pull it and cut it or wetting it  and take my time not to hurt him its happened three times this week

Suppose freezing it s out of the question lol!

[sammy jane]

lol i ll try that next time admin anything not to hurt him