Possible Dog Ear Infection?

Once a week I give our Labrador Retrievers and complete once over; like they do in the veterinarian’s office. It is always a good practice in homes with dogs to check the external body over as well as the eyes, mouth, and ears. This not only helps dogs owners become familiar with what is "normal" for their pups but also flags them to anything that is "abnormal" before it becomes a huge problem.

Yesterday was that day in the Lab Brats house. I am sure that you can tell what problem we found by looking at the post picture and reading the post title. You guessed it: one of Dakota's ears is all red and inflamed on inside. Unfortunately, both of Cheyenne's ears are having the exact same problem. Figures that would be why they have been scratching them more the last day or so. It also figures that they would come down with an ear problem just a few days before Dakota is scheduled for her yearly vaccinations.

So what to do now? Well, we already did a deep cleaning on both of their ears last night and really didn't come up with much. That means that it is either an infection in the lower area of the ear canal (that we cannot reach on our own) or the dogs have an allergy.

Yes my friends, this type of reaction in the Lab dog breed is not uncommon when the dogs have allergies. Such allergies can range from food allergies to something they rolled in outside. I have noticed that Dakota's eyes have had a bit more "goo", which is normal for her spring-time environmental allergies but maybe it is something more. Needless to say, I will take my Lab mommy rear out of the house shortly to get some Benadryl to give to both of them. We normally give Benadryl the morning of their vaccinations (or they turn into the Hunchback of Notre Dame) but the vet said that we can give 1mg for every pound of dog whenever we thought they were having an allergic reaction to anything from a bug bite to carpet cleaner. It works wonders and we buy the no frills brand small tab pills to keep it cheap and easy for the girls to swallow. Heck, it beats paying extra at the vet on Saturday for the doctor to check Cheyenne as well and do a bunch of cultures if this will take care of it before we even walk through the door.

Please keep them in your puppy prayers and wish us luck!