Skin Infection Woes. Dog Grooming

On Friday of last week Zoe rolled in coyote poo, right after I told Mr. N's mom that they hardly ever do that, well Phoenix never has but now that I've said that she probably will... Don't you love it when dogs make you into liars? Yeah fun. Anyways, I don't do stinky dogs so we came home and immediately jumped into the tub. I wash both dogs at the same time because they both fit and it's just easier. I decided to use a sample of shampoo that I got a while ago (I have used this shampoo before without issues), washed them, dried them and called it a day. On Saturday we didn't go anywhere because it was so hot and Thousand Acres on the weekends is just a pain. So we stayed home, did some photo shoots and played in the dog park at my apartment complex. By Sunday morning we woke up and Phoenix was covered in hives. I'm assuming it probably started on Saturday but was so mild that it wasn't noticeable.

It's hard to tell but all the raised spots are hives. Her face and ears did not swell up so after bugging my vet tech friend (who works at the vet I used to work at) I decided to treat her conservatively. If you all remember, Phoenix is the one who is terrified of the vet. Any sort of vet visit would be traumatizing and if I can treat her at home or pick something up from the vet without taking her in then I'd much rather do that and keep her as stress free as possible. So I'm currently treating her with benadryl, a medicated rinse and a vet prescribed steroid spray. The hives started to act weird and by Tuesday night they started coming to the surface and oozing a lot like a zit. It's gross, it's not fun and I feel so bad for her.

On Tuesday afternoon, I found hives on Zoe (not as many as Phoenix) as well as a hot spot. So she is now being treated as well.

I have heard of shampoos causing bacterial infections before. If they are old or happen to get water in the bottle bacteria can start to grow and cause this sort of skin problem. I will be honest and tell you that I never believed it before. I always just assumed the dog had some other prior skin issue going on that the owner didn't discover until after a bath but now I am totally a believer. The shampoo sat on Phoenix the longest because it takes forever to rinse Zoe out and I always do her first. From now on the dogs will be washed separately so there's never shampoo sitting on one dog while I work on the other. Several of my facebook friends suggested that I may not have rinsed them but I groomed dogs for 11+  years and rinsing is the first thing you learn. My previous dog who passed away had very sensitive skin and I always make sure I rinse my dogs out well.

Phoenix is not as miserable as some dogs I saw on youtube with this problem. She's actually handling it very well. She is not itchy or swollen but she has bumps all over her body that are oozing. I've been washing her daily with the medicated rinse and applying the steroid spray. She's improving but it's slow going. I am also removing any gunky buildup on the skin that forms over the hives because I've seen some seriously nasty and huge ones on some groom dogs from that stuff not being removed. It also helps the area breath better as well.

This is Phee's armpit, it looks wet because I applied the vet spray to it.
Her armpit is actually completely healed at the time of this posting.

Phoenix is pretty upset with me and not thrilled by any of this but it's better I do it than the vet. I've been giving her some special treats after and we try to have after bath parties.

This whole skin thing really sucks and I just wanted to let everyone know about this so that you don't have it happen to your dogs. Make sure you always check the date on the shampoo bottle and make sure you don't get any water inside. Always throw away old products!

I hope this helps everyone to not make the same mistake I made!

At the time that this posting is live, both dogs are 95% better. Phoenix still has some of the more stubborn ones on her neck that I am still treating but overall she's made a huge improvement.