Dog health~ Hot Spots

Hot Spots GRRRR!”

Every spring and summer poor Chance and Steeler have to suffer with hot spots, also known as moist dermatitis. Hot spots happen when moisture stays under the fur and the skin remains wet. With all the rain we’ve had it was inevitable that it would soon come to this. The problem with hot spots is that you have to keep them clean and dry in order for them to heal, which means you have to keep the dog from constantly licking them.

Hot spots seemingly happen over night, one minute you’ve put everyone to bed and you snuggle into your own bed nice and comfy, then when you wake with the sun’s rise you notice that your dog has chewed all night long, the hair is gone, the skin is raw, and there is blood and pus in a wide spread area. Gross, I know, especially when said dog is a therapy dog. Hot spots can bring therapy visits to a dead halt. Sometimes as the wound is healing I’ll cover it with gauze so we can attend a visit, but let’s face it, no one wants to look at an ugly wound on a dog.

When people notice the bandage they always ask, “Ah, with a little pity in their voice, what happened?”

I used to explain that the dog had hot spots but not many people knew what a hot spot was so rather than trying to explain over and over again how hot spots occur I now say, “Someone thought he was a bear and they shot him!”
The general public seems to understand that a lot better and the look on their faces is priceless until they realize I’m kidding.


So, tonight I saw Chance chewing his hip area and sure enough there it was, the start of a hot spot, although it did not look very big from where I sat.
Yes! I thought, I’ve caught it early enough! And I promptly broke out the shears all the while smirking that I caught it before it got too large and ugly.

Buzz, buzz, buzz went the shears and as Chance’s hair fell off I realized I was not that lucky after all. The undercoat was kind of molded together leaving me with only one choice, a full shave down of about a four to five inch diameter.

Blasted anyhow, no therapy visits for a while. In my effort to keep this from happening to the other side of his hip, or to Steeler, I shaved them both in the hind quarters leaving only an inch of hair. If it works I’ll do it each spring. Who cares if they look part poodle!

Hot spot care: Should your pup get hot spots the best thing to do is shave the area right away, wash frequently through the day with antibacterial soap, dry well, and apply a triple antibiotic ointment on it. Use an Elizabethan collar so they can’t continuously lick it. Sometimes the hot spot is so bad that that the dog will not allow you to touch it and in that case you’ll need a vet to do the shaving and probably some oral antibiotics for a bacterial infection. The vet can also give you a bacterial spray to use rather than the rub on ointment which is much more helpful if it hurts to be touched. My other three Newfies do not get this problem each year and I believe it is because they are shaved down for pool use so the skin dries more easily.

Dog product ~ Pedi Paws

So what’s the difference between Pedi Paws and a regular dremel? Power! More Power! Boy those commercials looked great didn’t they? If you were like me you ran right out and bought one and if you couldn’t find one, panic started to set in. I thanked God I was able to find two, one for me and one for my son! Lets face it those dogs looked as comfortable getting their nails done as their human counterparts look in a nail salon! I paid $19.99 for one and only $14.99 for the second, what a bargain! Or was it?

Pros: Two things I really like about the Pedi Paws is that it is quieter than the dremel and it’s got a nice little guard attachment at the top to keep the dog’s hair from getting tangled in the spinning mechanism. Price wise, the product cost was $5.00 cheaper then the dremel I purchased at Wal*Mart, but with shipping costs added it was about the same.

Cons: The 2 C battery power is not comparable to the dremel that is charged via the electric outlet. When I use the dremel I only need to do about three very quick taps on each nail to get it down to where I would like it. The Pedi Paws takes a longer hold on the nail and more taps to get the nail down thus seeming to stress Chance out a bit more.

So, paws up and paws down, if your pup does not mind spending the time to get the nails done then by all means go with Pedi Paws for the safety and noise features alone.

I feel the old suggestions still hold true, get your dog used to having the nails trimmed when they are very young and don’t feel like a failure if they still don’t like it when they’re older! I started cutting all seven pup’s nails from the time they were only four weeks old. Chance hates it, Steeler doesn’t mind it at all, but would prefer clippers to the dremel. Emma doesn’t mind it either, but again would rather the clippers be used. I think it has more to do with the dog’s personality and the persistence of the owner in the first place that makes a difference. Chance, my baby, will fight me tooth and nail as soon as he even sees the dremel, but if I don’t give in, he eventually will. It’s awfully hard though to pick up a Newfoundland’s head once he’s planted it firmly over his two front paws in effort to keep them from being touched! I can’t believe the strength in their neck muscles! Cody, my Cocker, yelps if you just touch his foot in any manner and Casey, my Golden, will do anything for a biscuit!

So what’s your take? Leave your comment. Even opposing views are always welcome :)