Bathes do more harm then good...

[LilyoftheValley]

I do not take Lily to the groomers, I bathe all my dogs myself and have never had a problem, until now. Ever since Lily was was a puppy, she has had dry skin. Now its only worse. Bathes to more harm then good, and I can tell she suffers after the bath. She gets 2 times a month, the first week and last week, and bathed after trips to the beach or if she gets super dirty. It seems that every time I bathe her, her skin gets all flaky, dry and almost chaffed. She gets red and itchy spots. I took her to the vet and they gave me this oatmeal shampoo and lotion to put on her during and after the bath but it does not work for her. Her coat has gotten alot healthier since switching to Canidae, but not her skin. The Dachshunds do not have this problem, only Lil'. Now i'm wondering if this has anything to do with her breed? Shes Rot mixed with Lab, could that have something to do with it?
Any tricks you could show me would be SO helpful

~Nicole and the pack

Sadie, Bailey, Buster, Gus and Lily

 

[Saintgirl]

There are several things that could be the problem here. An allergy is the number one thing that comes to mind. She may very well be allergic to something in the canidae. I would try switching her food to a hypoallergenic food and see if that makes any difference. Canidae is a good food, but she wouldn't be the first dog who did not tolerate it. Another idea could be that when you are rinsing her fur after a bath that you are not getting all of the soap out. Unlike your dachshunds Lily has a double coat which can trap the soap down by her skin. When I first started grooming I was surprised at just how difficult it was to get the soap out of some dogs fur. Do you have a hand held shower head that you can run the water up through Lily's fur instead of just over the top of it? Often the water will run clear (no bubbles) when in fact there is still soap caught under the under coat. When soap is not rised fully out of the coat dry skin can result and LOTS of flaking which in turn can be very itchy and irritating.

Hope you get this all figured out soon!

 

[SizzleDog]

Take your dog to the vet, and ask them to do a skn scrape/culture. This is nearly identical to what happened to my boy Ronin. I thought he had dry skin and allergies... nope. His coat was fine (but a bit thin int he places where the fungus was the worst) but his skin was red and bumpy. He had a fungal infection that luckily wasn't contagious, but was very serious nonetheless. He's on the mend, but it's a long road of baths every other day with a special shampoo.

Which shampoo are you using (if you can give us the brand, great!). Also - if it's not a veterinary shampoo, are you diluting it down a lot? Are you diluting the conditioner if it's a thick gel? Are you using any sort of finishing spray?

I've found that if you don't dilute shampoo down to the consistency of "slippery water", it rarely rinses all the way out. Diluting is better for the coat, as well as your pocketbook since it conserves your shampoo supply! Conditioner should be diluted a bit less, you want it to be like a thick soup (I know, it's a bad explanation... I do it more out of feel than anything else, so it's hard to describe what it's supposed to feel like through words!)

Also - the lotion-leave ins that the vet gave you... I've seen these before. Honestly, I don't think they work work a darn. Out of all the non-prescription veterinary shampoos, the only one I really like is EpiSoothe, made by Virbac. You have to follow the directions on the bottle to a T (apply, rinse, apply again and let it sit for at least 10 minutes) for it to work... but it's nice stuff and vaguely smells like cookie dough. I looove cookie dough...

 

[LilyoftheValley]

Lol sizzledog, your too funny, I love cookie dough too
Back to Lil'

I'll try to answer all questions:

When I took her in, they said she didn't have fungus. The shampoo I have, the vet gave me, and I paid for it at the office. Its just a white bottle that has a dog on it and on the back it has ingredients and why its the 'best shampoo ever'.
I think I'm getting all the soap out. I do dilute the soap she uses and it sits on her for a few minutes before I wash her down, it seems like I get the soap off, alot comes off her coat.
I don't bathe her in my bathroom, I have a built in outside dog bath my father and I made. (its in an inside inclosure like a bathroom.) She stands on a tile floor with a small chain hooked up to a bar (like the way you tie horses to bathe them) the water is luke warm and she stands up while I bathe. We mad it so I don't have to bend over to wash her.
I don't think this is a food allergy because when she was on Beneful and pedigree she had the same problem. It stopped for few months, then started again just recently.

OK... I'm going to see if I wash all the soap out of her coat, and if thats not the problem, I'll take her to the vet again.
Thanks

-Nicole and the pack
Sadie,Bailey,Buster,Gus and Lily

 

[Dekka]

One of my best friends is a groomer (and I have dogs who don't need grooming lol bad planning on my part) one suggestion she had was to use a small amount of vinigar in the rinse. She said this cuts through the soap and makes it easier to rinse, and she said it helps keep the pH of the skin slightly acidic, makes the coats really shine.

Perhaps this issue is still the food, or how long has she been on the canidae?

 

[SizzleDog]

Dekka, that's an old trick Ilsa and Ronin's breeder uses too! She makes her own shampoo and one of the ingredients is apple cider vinegar. It's kinda stinky at first, but I've washed so many of her dogs in that mixture that I associate vinegar-smelling dogs with good times!

I think there's more to this skin condition, but I'm not a vet or a vet tech so I can't say one way or another. Did they actually do a culture to determine it wasn't a fungus? Ronin's fungus is apparently very rare, and the vet wouldn't have even tested for it if he hadn't seen a few other cases of it in the past few months.

It could also be the shampoo - unfortunately, just because it's from the vet doesn't mean it's a decent shampoo... I mean heck, many vets recommend Science Diet! If there's no brand name on the bottle, I'd hesitate to use it. Can you post a photo of the bottle? Is it scented? Some dogs are allergic to the perfumes in shampoos and conditioners...

 

[HarleyD]

Maybe an allergy? If you are bathing the first week and last week of the month then that means you are bathing 2 weeks in a row. The last week of one month and first week of another. That isn't good for the coat either. I'd suggest bathing once every month unless she gets really dirty of stinky. Use the oatmeal shampoo and some anti-itch/dry skin lotion. Does she have fleas? Even one can cause a reaction. Have the vet do a skin scrape and see if he/she can find anything.

 

[ACooper]

If you notice her problem is worse after her baths, I would cut down the baths to as minimal as possible and see how she does from there.

If she has an oder problem (as to the reason you bath her) then get some baby wipes for sensitive skin and wipe her down with those instead of a full blown bath

Just a suggestion.

 

[LilyoftheValley]

Lily has no odor.

I'll cut down on bathes and use the vinigar. and see how that works. Sizzledog, they didn't do a culture they just ruled out what it could and could not be and he said it was not a fungus. We have a checkup appointment for friday, I'll talk to him then and ask for a culture