Well my hunting buddy looks to be done for the rest of the season.

We've been battling infections in her ears for the better part of a month now with no relief. She got to shaking her head real bad over Christmas so I had to take her back for a check up and the vet ended up having to scope her ears do a flush (so they put her under) and they found a tear in her ear drum. She's on ear drops, antibiotics (2 different kinds) pain medicine etc! Looks like I'm back to playing retriever as she starts the healing process, my wallet needs a healing process too she's getting to be an expensive dog

The vet sent me home with a photo, I need to scan this and upload... Blew my mind when I saw the images (before & after cleaning)

Here's the images I was referring to in my original post...

Sadie-ears.jpg

DAAYYUMM!!! sorry to hear bout ur pup tho. Hope she heals quickly

hope your dog gets better soon man

Did the tear happen from the infection or something else? My dog has had a problem with ear infections. Two new things I started doing a month ago seems to have worked. Yogurt/ no flavoring or additives. He gets about the 3tbs a day. ZYMOX(i think) from amazon.com, by far cheaper and appears to be more affective. Vets worst nightmare. Mine's cleared up and he is doing good after the last couple of hunts.

Mike

I feel your pain on that one. My lab was shaking his head for a week so i took him to the vet and $475.00 later i got him back. Hope your dog gets better soon.

mine has been fighting ear infections for the past 8 years. He also had problems with the flakey skin until we changed his food to science diet lamb and rice, what ever is in it must have worked for the skin problems. I also bath him with oatmeal shampoo. Seems to work.

The ear problem seems like it will never go away.

You guys might want to check out amazon.com and read the comments about zymox. Its very cheap bout 30 bucks for a cycle/infection and it is an antifungal ear drop for dogs. My dog didnt mind the drops whatsoever. Didnt irritate his ears. The yogurt supposedly has enzymes that help the dog naturally fight off the yeast infections. I know its some weird stuff but working for my dog maybe just lucky right now. Another thing I quit doing was crating or putting dog inside truck after being in the water whether its cold or not. Dry him with a shammy n he is in the back to air those ears out...... Ear mites are a whole different story. If you think you got allergies an english bulldog forum(whatever UGA was) might be a good thing to look at. Those people have high maint dogs. They seem to know quite a bit about those issues. Skin problems consistently and yearly trips to vet for ear infections.

That about sums up Sadie.

She is due for a check up next week. I'll try the oatmeal shampoo that sounds like a good idea.

Yogurt puts good bacteria in the body to fight off infections.

I feed her Science Diet Large Breed Original. I switched from Lamb & Rice but maybe I should go back and see how she responds to it.

Most dogs with an allergic reaction will respond better to a Lamb and Rice meal. The dogs will actually do better recause of the lamb than the rice because more infections will come from pork or beef than any other ingredient.

Check out www.retrievertraining.net and do a search on "Purple Stuff." Good all around preventative and has helped my female a bunch. Much cheaper too.

Make sure you always keep them on a high quality diet and many times this will fix half the battles. If vet puts them on prednisone make sure they see the yard often. Makes them pee like no man's business!

I have been on about 5 different foods, Started on Pro-Plan has skin problems, switched to Blue Buffalo, no skin issues but loose stools, then to Solid Gold same deal, then to Wellness, no problems until summer time then skin issues again. Finally switched shampoo and problems went away. Now he is back on Pro-Plan with new shampoo and all is good. We were using a high dollar oatmeal shampoo and it worked well in the winter but not in summer. I guess he has an allergy to something in the air when it gets warm. Looks like he has the mange. But this stuff worked like a charm.

http://www.qcsupply.com/qcsupply/browse ... ic+Shampoo

I bought it at a mom and pop pet store on thier recomendation and it is wonderful.

For the ears I always treat him after we go hunting and he gets in the water we use this.

http://www.1800petmeds.com/MalAcetic+Ot ... 10794.html

I get it from the vet. At first I didn't know to use it until one check up he had a borderline infection. Vet gave me this and now any time he gets his head wet this goes in. Ears look like a brand new puppy every time we go to the vet. It may help out once you get the infection gone to prevent the yeast. Dries the ear canal out and yeast is hard pressed to grow if there isnt any moisture.