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Today I noticed a new ‘doggy smell’ when I petted Amber. I made a mental note that we should give her a nice bath very soon. Then she was stopping and licking the floor all around her. We finally stopped and really looked and found that the harness she has been wearing had caused a bare, sore spot under her arm.
We took the harness off, bathed the spot carefully, and put triple antibiotic ointment on it, not having anything specifically for dogs. That seemed to ease the problem, since she stopped trying to lick it.
Since we need to put her on a leash to take her out several times a day, I got concerned that we didn’t have a collar for her. At this point, trying to ‘trust her’ not to spot one of the cats, Molly, or something else while out and running off after it is ludicrous, so I hunted all over the house.
I rummaged around and finally came up with a collar we got for Molly years ago, but it was too large and couldn’t be made any smaller. It’s 14″, just the right size for Amber – for at least a couple of minutes. I was concerned because it’s storming outside, dark as night right now (at 9:45 in the morning) and we should be walking her.
I feel bad because I didn’t really check her for problems with the harness. She’s so active that it’s difficult to look at her carefully, but we’ll start now, and insist that she allow us to look at her all over from now on. We had been concentrating on touching her mouth, her ears, and her feet, but we should have been making her lie down and let us check her from stem to stern.
We have an appointment on Tuesday to get her last puppy shots and her rabies shot, and we can ask the vet to look at this place and see if we need to do more. For now, the ointment seems to have given her some ease.
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It happens, good you caught it quick. Have you tried a choker chain? Please don’t be put off by the name. I used it all the time during obedience training and walking. It is a chain that fits slightly loose with two rings on the end. After you thread it, the loop on “top” around dog’s neck is the one to hook lead into. A quick snap while giving a command is very helpful in training. I never used a harness but that is a matter of preference I think. Oh, and I don’t know if you know, but I have seen very experienced “dog people” walking their dogs on their ‘right’ side and wonder why the dog is walking THEM! Hope this was helpful.
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Thanks for the suggestion, Sherry. We’ve found a no-pull leash that has a strap that goes around her middle. When she pulls, it squeezes her, discouraging her from the pull. So far, it’s working. The vet said today that nothing further was required to heal Amber’s underarms.
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