Y’all, Mrs. Wigglebottom itches in a bad way. I mean, she itches in ways that almost incapacitate her with scratching when they come. I think I know what the problem is–I don’t think I got all the soap off her when I gave her a bath last week.
But I kind of am not sure how to fix it.
What I want to do is put her in the tub and rinse her off again, really well, but maybe I should shampoo her again just to… I don’t know…do something to the dry shampoo? And, it’s 30 degrees.
What do I do with a dog that insists on air drying in 30 degree weather?
Yes, I have had this dog for seven years. And no, I don’t guess I’ve ever bathed her unless it was near 50 degrees. I don’t know why, but in my head, 50 degrees seems like a fair temperature to inflict on a wet dog (I should mention, she insists on going out while she’s wet to shake off and I guess show off to the neighbors).
So, there you go. It’s a stupid problem, but one I am hung up on. What can I do for Mrs. Wigglebottom? If only I had access to a hot tub and a sauna, I could solve this problem, but I don’t, so I’m turning to you.
Tiny Cat Pants 
Your dog’s getting older, so she has different skin probs now than before. The bath just removed the oils from her skin during a dry time of the year where there’s low humidity and heat on in the house. It’s unlikely that you broke her by leaving too much soap in. That being said, bathing with soap again will dry her skin out even more…and I’m not even so sure about rinsing her off. I think I’d try more frequent brushing in the short-term and putting a couple capfuls of canola oil on top of her food or giving her some omega-3 caps in the long-haul to make her skin less itchy.
Two words: Dog lotion.
.
I agree, but you may have stirred up some kind of allergic reaction that requires some kind of veterinary product to stop. My cat used to start itching and that would escalate into something needing steroids before things got back to normal.
Wonder if the pet store has a hydrocortisone dog lotion?
Poor Mrs. Wigglebottom.
Our dog has been having terrible skin problems since early fall. Like in need of Large Dog Pants level where he scratches clumps of his fur out and needs steroid shots to bring it under control. The vet tells us that it’s been really bad for dog skin conditions this fall. He’s apparently seeing a lot.
If it is just the shampoo…. take her to Dizzy’s Dog Wash in Berry Hill. They have self-service giant tubs you can put the dogs in. And a giant doggie hair dryer if Mrs. Wigglebottom will hold still.
i too would suspect dry skin. i did not know there was such a thing as dog lotion, but it sounds like an excellent idea that’s unlikely to hurt. and yeah, bulldog-type breeds do tend to get all kinds of skin ailments as they age, unfortunately.
Oh, people of the internet, I love you. I think I could just try some vasoline, don’t you? It’s what’s in hairball medicine, so I think it’s pretty harmless to animals. It should just slide right through her, if she licks it off, and, if I spend enough time rubbing it into her, there shouldn’t be that much left for her to lick.
Or clip her nails…
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. No.
We have an agreement. I don’t clip her nails. She doesn’t bleed all over the house.
dark claws that don’t show the quick easily? there’s a way to deal with that, involving very careful and gradual cutting while checking the cross section of what you just cut away. of course, the poor dog may be permanently afraid of claw cutting by now; that happens.
oh, and styptic powder. absolute necessity for the pet owner, styptic powder. white flour can work as a fair substitute in a pinch.
Nomen, she has a couple of dark claws, but basically she seems to just have the world’s longest quicks (I believe the Editor noticed the same thing about her pit bull). No matter how little you trim off, she bleeds. Which means, of course, she hates it. The closest I’ve ever–and I mean by a wide margin–come to being bit by her was while cutting her nails.
I hate it. She hates it. I just try to keep her walking on concrete and keep them worn down.
I wonder if a humidifier in the house would help…
Between B, that butt ugly cat, and the world’s neediest pitbull, oh, not mention the chronically underemployed, that household is a Fox show waiting to happen.
Did you just call the tiny cat butt ugly? This from a man who’s got a dog that looks like Satan and a dirty mop had a baby? Glass houses, Mr. Mack, glass houses.
Yeah, well, at least she has fur that reaches end to end. The random fur, skin, fur, skin, fur fur skin on that cat is hard to love.
Besides, theres no such thing as an ugly dog.
You have clearly never seen a shar pei.
Ok…
Sophie does have the super long claws. I took her to my vet a few months ago, they knocked her out, cut her claws past the quick, and laser cauterized them. I used to have to take her in every month for a clip. I will probably take her in next month, but there no where near as long. The doc said I should get a dremel and sand them. (as if she’ll sit still for this)
There are several reasons the WigWamButterbuttcould be itching. Dry skin following a bath sounds like the most likely at this time of year.
DO NOT USE VASELINE!
Petroleum products she will lick off and could make her sick. Try getting some Aveno lotion (or the store brand equivalent, which is usually a few $$$ cheaper). It won’t be greasy. Skin So Soft from Avon is good too, but can be greasy.
Yeah, Aveno. Nice long doggie massage. The Snorfalupagus will like that.
Okay, so I just did Epic Comment on something else, then came over here to the Mrs. Wigglebottom category and fell in love with your dog.
I want to know if you two will please come over and play with me and Gilgamesh now. She is so awesome.
Gilly has seriously dry skin (in the winter especially), too. I do a few things: always dandruff shampoo or shampoo+conditioner to wash him, and sometimes conditioner after the shampoo when it’s really bothering him (for his skin more than his hair), tablespoons of olive oil or wheat germ oil or some other healthy, nasty smelling oil (fish oil is supposed to be great) in his food for extra moisture, changing his water and making a big deal of how great it is when he drinks it so he’ll drink more, etc to keep him hydrated & happy about it. There’s a dog-moisturizing-spray we used for a while (Buddy Mist, I think it was called?), but it didn’t seem to do much except make him smell lovely to me and gross to himself (lavender, eeew, he says, and promptly rolls in something dead).
Also, we use a Dremel for the nails. It is still horror, but less so.
I am going to try some lotion on her, just to see if it helps. I think that, if I do it while I’m petting her, I can keep her from licking it off.
I’m glad you like her. She’s a great joy to me.