Bathing and swimming - when is it safe to start?

My little Paddy is now 5 months.

I'm nervous about washing her as I'm afraid of ear problems. I'm already treating her because she had ear mites(probably got it from the cat) and also the vet found yeast in her ears... she is treated with some drops and we will follow up again after one week.

Any advice on the water/swimming issue? would she already be able to swim?

Thanx,
Yaron.

Jaspar was swimming from when he was about that age. I've never had problems with infections with two dogs swimming weekly -- in over two years, one dog has had one ear infection. But some dogs do seem to get them. There are ear washes that can be used too.

She should b ok if ur make sure her ears are dry after swimming/bathing...I bathe King usually bout once a week..I always careful bout King's ears..when he swims I always use the ear cleaner afterward

Welcome to the board! We are becoming quite the United Nations around here!

Chester gets a bath about once a month and when I bathe him I will gently put a cotton ball in each ear to make sure no water gets into them. He doesn't like it but it makes me feel better and when I pull them out I check them for any wax or other ear junk. I've been doing this since I first brought him home and he is very good and calm in the bath. f I see any evidence of wax or dirt I'll put some Epi-Otic on a clean cotton ball and clean his ears. The Epi-Otic bottle says to squirt it into the ear and massage the ear gently. Ask your vet about it and if there's any other ear cleaner that is readily available in your area.

Paddy is adorable and if you don't mind me saying, from your avatar photo it looks like she has some tear staining under her eyes. Tear stains are worse in puppies when their teething, but usually clears up once they reach maturity. For Chester's tear stains I use Eye Envy (www.eyeenvy.com) and it works very well. If the stains are bad you will want to use the Eye Envy (or some other tear stain cleaner) every day until the stains are reduced. Tear stains are protein stains and on the white fur they can take a while to lighten, but just stick with it and they'll get better over time. I also recommend you wipe her eyes with a soft tissue or a damp cotton ball or cotton pad several times a day to remove the tears before they stain.

I'm so glad you've joined the board and I look forward to seeing many more pictures of Paddy and your family!

Warm Welcome - Thank you so much! I love this board

GudrunTheRed said:

Welcome to the board! We are becoming quite the United Nations around here!


Paddy is adorable and if you don't mind me saying, from your avatar photo it looks like she has some tear staining under her eyes. Tear stains are worse in puppies when their teething, but usually clears up once they reach maturity. For Chester's tear stains I use Eye Envy (www.eyeenvy.com) and it works very well. If the stains are bad you will want to use the Eye Envy (or some other tear stain cleaner) every day until the stains are reduced. Tear stains are protein stains and on the white fur they can take a while to lighten, but just stick with it and they'll get better over time. I also recommend you wipe her eyes with a soft tissue or a damp cotton ball or cotton pad several times a day to remove the tears before they stain.

I'm so glad you've joined the board and I look forward to seeing many more pictures of Paddy and your family!

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Thanks so much for your warm welcome.
I was told about her tears by the Vet from day one and was cleaning them everyday. This has gotten alot better recently as she is growing so nicely, theething etc.

When I just got this beautiful little dog, I had no idea it was such 'high maintenance'... I'm used to my Golden Retriever which is really like 'plug & play' dog. Anyway, I have already learnt much about treating the eyes and luckily there is alot of good information in this truly wonderful board.


I am so happy to become a Cav owner and lover and join everyone in this board. I actually can't wait to get another Cav already! Don't you think that this is by far the most addictive, beautiful dog there is?

Yaron.

It sounds like you have the tear stains under control and they will most likely lessen as she reaches full maturity.

It's funny that you consider her high-maintenance because I think my Chester is easy to deal with. His hair doesn't need cutting like a Poodle or a Shiz Tzu or those other breeds that have the constantly-growing hair, and he just needs a quick brushing or combing every couple of days. I guess a Golden doesn't need as much brushing or eye-wiping as a Cavalier, but I wouldn't trade Chester for anything in the world!

Cavaliers are indeed addictive and you better watch out or you'll end up with one of each color...

That is probably too late already. I've got to have them all!

I wrote high-maintenance because in just a few weeks, I had to treat her eyes for the tears, her lip fold for a light infection and the ears for some mites and yeast!!!
That's after having dogs all my life and I have never had to treat any of the above before...

I think we are now getting a lot better and it seems like everything is under control... maybe it was just a bad cluster of minur problems - please God

but if this is not high maintenance dog, than I don't know what is... :roll: :lol:

Re: Warm Welcome - Thank you so much! I love this board

Paddy said:

Don't you think that this is by far the most addictive, beautiful dog there is?

Yaron.

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And why do you think most of us have more than one???????? :lol: