Doggie Issue

[Hound dog]

Maggie has her ear drops.

Giving them to her seems to be a monumental task that is more than a 2 person job...........when we only have 2 people. She is bigger than Molly and just as strong. And much much more spry, wiggly, and determined we're not getting anywhere near that sore ear. I've managed to get the drops in so far by sheer luck with Travis desperately trying to hold her but not squeeze her to death while she's flipping and flopping and squirming out of his arms.

Each dose it gets worse because she knows what is coming.

If I can't get the drops IN the ear, they're going to do her NO good at all. ugh

I'd hold her and have Travis do the drops (not so sure that would make any difference though) but I want to make sure they get into the ear canal without jabbing her to do so.......and making it all worse. He doesn't see well enough, period. And while he tries his best, he's not normally the one who helps me do this sort of thing, so he has no clue what he's doing. I wish to heck Nichole lived closer as I know she'd come over once a day to help me do this. ugh

I've tried bribery........it works sort of, although not once she spots the medication bottle.

I'm tempted to pour buttermilk over her food just in case I can't get these darn drops in. lol (not so sure I'm joking except it'd probably give her diarrhea) Buttermilk treats yeast infections. Old remedy. Takes longer but gets the job done.

Ideas?

 

[Andy]

Try working up to it with positive actions. Have her lay down and spend several minutes petting her and maybe massaging behind the ears. Have the medication nearby as well as favorite treats. If she has a bone or chew toy to distract her maybe it will be easier to do once she is in a relaxed state of mind. Talk to her before and during, "Maggie, good girl. You are doing good!" Give her a favorite treat after or maybe even during?

 

[Hopeless]

been there done that Lisa. Our 50 pound dog needed drops recently and it was a horrible experience every time. My husband had to hold him as best he could while I attempted to put them in the ears. I say attempt because not sure I got them in every time LOL. No suggestions just keep trying

 

[Hound dog]

Andy, that hit me just as I saw your post. I'm so used to all my other dogs just letting me do what needs to be done, regardless of what it is, that I just never thought about it. Nichole swears Molly was the same at that age.......but I just remember her the way she is now. I guess enough cheese did the trick. lol

I'll give it a shot, but so far Maggie is not a very cuddly type dog. Lacking that early socialization is having some lasting effects........the main one being that so far she is not cuddly. I was just thinking that the other day, and that I needed to see if we could turn that around. She will play until she drops, she'll let you pet and scratch her........although it took a while before she understood that scratching the tummy feels good and would lay still for it. She just won't sit and cuddle per se.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Can I ask why she needs ear drops? Is it by any chance for a recurring ear infection? If so, we had to put ear drops in my cocker/golden/aussie shepherd mix for continuous, recurring ear infections. My vet said some of his patients had good results by giving their dogs one, 6 oz. container of either plain or vanilla greek yogurt a day (no fruit). That worked for a while, but the infections came back.
Coincidentally, I happened to change his food to the Rachael Ray, "Just 6" brand - lamb and rice formula dry food...just 6 ingredients. For some reason, since he's been eating that food, he's had zero ear issues. Just unbelievable, because he was very close to needing surgery.

 

[donna723]

I used to have the same issues with my Katy when I'd try to clip her toenails. I would try to hold her on my lap to clip her nails and she would squirm and grunt and wiggle and keep snatching her paws back. She wasn't really afraid, she just hated to be restrained and she was determined that I was NOT going to cut her nails. This may not work with your dog but with Katy, all I had to do was to talk BAAAAD to her! She's so used to being loved on and cuddled and being spoken to in a soft, loving voice. One loud, firm, "KNOCK IT OFF!" and she was so shocked that she gave up, relaxed, and let me clip her nails! Once she realized that I meant business, she just gave up!

Of course, putting drops in a painful ear is really tricky. My dogs' ears stick up so it's not quite as big of a problem with theirs. If you can catch her when she's laying down on her side, you might be able to come up to her and pet her and talk to her in soothing tones, then just squeeze the drops down in to her ear without actually touching it, then massage the back of her ear gently so the medicine gets down inside - if she'll let you. If it's a yeast infection, you need to get the medicine on the underside of the ear flap too, not just down in the ear canal. If all else fails, you might be able to get some type of mild sedation from the vet to give her before you try to put the drops in her ears.

 

[DammitJanet]

What about benedryl to make her tired? Abby acts like that with her toenais but that isnt something I have to do every day. Actually she acted like that with ever pain pills after she was fixed but I found a way to get them down her by crushing the pills and mixing them with spray cheese. Im betting if you gave her a specialized treat she only got while doing this but it would have to be something that would seriously have to be something that would keep her attention like fresh liver or fresh chicken and you could sneak those drops in fast.

 

[buddy]

She may need pain medications till it settles down. Once pain is less she may not fight as much then after a few days she might not need the pain medications. Feed a high value treat while giving them too. That might help. My dog squirms when nails are getting done unless he is being continuously fed.....then no biggie.

 

[susiestar]

If nothing else, wrap her in a blanket or big towel. I have seen them do this at the vet school. They get the animal as calm as possible, then one person uses the blanket to 'hug' the animal and they wrap the dog up in it so it can't really move a lot. then they do the drops or whatnot and give a big treat and lots of praise and pets. The dog may pee, but no one gets bitten or hurt.

Before that, I would work hard to make her see that bottle is where ALL good in her world comes from. Throughout the day, when she gets a treat or praise, she sees that bottle. Most of the time is just comes close to her and she gets yummies and praise and pets. Once in a while it goes in ehr ears. In a day or two, esp if you make a really big deal out of the praise and treats, she will link it to good things. the trick is to let her see it lots of times when she doesn't get the drops, and always gets the treats. Use a high value treat - something she does not normally get that she loves. Be calm. Don't get tense and approach this as a battle. Approach it as matter of factly as you can.

 

[donna723]

Benadryl will knock me right out but it doesn't seem to have the same effect on the dogs. Ragan takes a 25 mg Benadryl every morning for her allergies and it's never seemed to make her sleepy at all so I'm not sure if it would work to calm a dog down. Believe me, I've tried everything. I used to have a dog with terrible separation anxiety who would go absolutely wild whenever we left the house. We got some little yellow pills from the vet that we gave her about a half hour before we were leaving and they worked wonders. It wouldn't exactly put her to sleep but it made her so laid back that she didn't care if we left or not!

 

[DammitJanet]

Doggy prozac? I like the idea of high value treats though Abby learned to hate even the sight of liver when I was trying to give her pain pills...lol. She wouldnt even take it without the pain pills inside it. The only thing she would eat was peanut butter or squirt cheese. oddly enough my squirt cheese has disappeared even though it wasnt empty. I got some dog treat recipes online that I am going to try. A few a muffins that look good enough for people food. I am going to make them this weekend and have them laying around in an airtight container and see how long it takes Buck to eat a few...lol. Im gonna get a mini muffin pan so I dont have to give them big muffins.

 

[Hound dog]

Yesterday Travis took the more laid back let's do this soon as you give me an opportunity approach. The two of us together wasn't working. So he came down and petted her a bit (had the medication stashed in his hand) and soon as she gave him the opportunity and was calm he put the drops in her not so painful ear. Praise and a reward. It took several hours to repeat for the really painful ear. But it worked without it being a huge traumatizing event.

We must be getting them into the ear ok as her ears are getting better. No yelps of pain last night and no digging at the ear scratching.

This is the same method I'm doing with her brushing and handling her paws (gently). When she was littler there was no reason to brush her or clip her nails because neither were long enough to worry about it. I still don't need to clip her nails yet.........but I want her used to me handling her paws and realizing I'm not going to hurt her. (also helps with the wiping the feet issue which she hates atm) Brushing is it's own reward. When she holds still she realizes rather quickly that it feels good. lol

I plan to make the furbabies treats for xmas too. A muffin type recipe? Really? Oh now if Buck takes those and eats them.........

 

[DammitJanet]

Apple Crunch Mini Pupcakes

Ingredients:
1 tbl. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 tbl honey
4 cups flour
2 ¾ cups water
¼ c. unsweetened applesauce
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c. dried or fresh apple

Optional: Add 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds for a healthy boost of Omega 3's

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all wet ingredients thoroughly. Mix dry ingredients separately. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixing as you go. Make sure dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated into the wet.
Pour mixture into muffin tins. Bake for 1 ¼ hours or until toothpick comes out dry. Makes 12-14 pupcakes in regular pans or around 30 'mini' pupcakes.
These will last 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. You can freeze them too.


Banana Carrot Muffin Dog Treats

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups regular flour
2 carrots
2 3/4 cups water
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons honey
1 banana (overripe and mashed up)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

Using the shredding blade of a food processor, shred the carrot. Mix all wet ingredients together in a bowl, then add the mashed banana. Mix together thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix thoroughly.
Coat a 12 muffin pan with nonstick spray. Fill each muffin section 3/4 full. Bake 35 min 350 degrees. Check if their done by placing a toothpick or knife blade in the center of a muffin. If it comes out wet, they need to continue baking.

Option:You could also make these mini-muffins by using mini muffin tins.
Makes approx. 50 mini-muffins or 2 dozen regular size.


Oh and I read you can use any type of flour like rice flour if you dont want to use whole wheat.

 

[witzend]

Here is how you put something in a dog's ear (or eye). Keep the dog on the floor. Have your helper hold their thumb and forefinger about two inches apart from each other as if they were going to pinch a two + inch thick wad of napkins. Have them put the crook of this U shape right over the center of the dog's snout, so just about where their molars start - don't squeeze. This is how a dog mommy holds them still. You put a few drops in each ear as your helper is holding the snout. GENTLY massage their ear with the flap closed right over the opening of the ear, which she will love, then wipe out the gunk with a cotton ball or paper towel. Give her a treat.

Don't make a big deal of it, have everything ready to go before you start. Give her lots of praise. They don't like it, but you can't hold them on your lap when you do this, there's too much opportunity to squirm out of your arms or lap. Sitting on the floor leaves them no where to go.