Hm... Dinglehopper Ramblings.

Okay, so what to say about Dingle/his life.

Today we got really important paperwork/documents back from CBC, that was lent to them. I'm glad to have that back in my hands. Though now that I think about it I need to go in search of a copy of something else I no longer have.

Ramblings aside Dingle has a random cut (or something) above his left eye. I'm hoping he just scratched himself and it's not the random thought-to-be crotch rot from his chin/mouth. Dingle's nails are quite long so it's possible while scratching he scraped himself. Fingers crossed because I don't want a vet visit anytime soon.

Speaking of vet visits I'm itching to get a check back from Vet Insurance. They denied part of a recent claim because of the way it was invoiced - it looked like preventative care, instead of treatment. Canada Post lost my package of info about 2 months ago so I had to gather all the info again last week and fax it. Thank-you to one of Dinglehopper's vets who wrote a lovely letter explaining that it should have been covered in June, with everything else.

I called Vet Insurance to confirm they received the fax (because I usually hear from them the next day) and they did... I guess it's just taking a while back it is such a complex coverage request... in addition to re-submitting part of June's claim I also tacked on an eye drop claim and something else relating to June. Now I sit and try and wait patiently for my $200.

I was looking at photos of Dingle from when he was a pup and gosh was he ugly when I got him. I did get him during his puppy ugly stage, though, where a lot of his puppy fur had already fallen out, without the adult fur having grown in.

Here's some old Dingle pictures:

One of the first fews days I had Dinglehopper... still have a fair bit of puppy fur.

Losing the puppy fur...

Ah...

In other news Dingle's 4th birthday is September 8th. Yay.

In completely unrelated news I hate formatting these damn entries - it takes like 200 tries to make it look right and sometimes I just give up... like now.

Random Dingle Updates

Hm... what to say. Well, I'm making an honest effort to update this thing... for all of my non-readers.

The other day I took Dinglehopper to a nearby school. The yard is fully fenced and I let him run off-leash. Our neighbours came and so with Dingle and my boyfriend's two dogs there were 8 dogs and then the random few 'strangers and their dogs' that happened to show up. Amongst the dogs were a pug/beagle (bf's dog), pug/bulldog (bf's dog), bulldog, Mastiff, Mastiff mix, other mix (like 120lbs), etc.

Dingle was the smallest dog... by a lot (excluding the bf's dogs). Boy can he keep up with 120+ pound dogs. He has no interest in playing fetch, but he will chase the dogs that are interested in running after the ball. Dingle trails not that far behind (surprisingly) barking his head off.

It was nice to see him running because 1) he barely ever gets off-leash... and 2) it's great that he *can* run... talk about $5,000 (*gag*) well invested for his 3 luxating patella surgeries.

Next time we all go I'm going to try and remember my camera to take a quick video to show how fast my little puffball can run.

In other 'news' - Dingle has adjusted well to the new apartment. Yay. He even ventures off on his own in the evening when it's starting to get dark... when he has very poor vision. I guess he learned the layout quickly. Though I don't leave him outside of the bedroom at night. He goes in the bedroom with the door shut - because our bedroom is right at the top of the stairs. One wrong step and it would not be good, even though I did put a nightlight at the top of the stairs for him.

When we go out Dingle gets 'put in his habitat'... we blocked off my work area for him to stay in. Why? Well the bf's pug/bulldog likes to wreck shit. He's eaten 3 Blackberry cell phones (F.M.L) ... I'm talking jumps onto the counter height table to take them. So to avoid my house and posessions from being destroyed I stuck up a deal - the bf shuts his dog in his den and Dingle goes in his own area. Problem solved, hopefully.

I Think We've Got The Answer!

I think I've got the answer...

Someone I know (who is also a Vet Tech.) saw the pictures I posted and said it looked like a bacterial or fungal infection. (Thank-you for this info!)

So I did a search online and one of the possible infections dogs are prone to are caused by yeast.

Yeast is common in dogs' ears.

Hm.

Dingle had been licking my boyfriend's dogs ears constantly - more so than normal.

We look in the dogs ear and voila - it's red and irritated.

Give it a smell and it stinks... similar to bread.

Boom, we assume the dog has a yeast overgrowth in his ears. He has floppy ears and in the summer floppy eared dogs can have ear problems.

Luckily we had Surolan at home - Dingle has had an ear infection in the past and so has my other boyfriend's dog (who also has floppy ears).

I assumed Dingle's 'beak' (as my boyfriend calls it) was irritated from the yeast.

Yes, we believe my dog has/had "crotch rot" on his face.

Did I rush Dingle off to the vet? No. I decided to try a natural remedy, as his muzzle was already looking significantly better than before. That and Dingle has been on so many meds in his 3, almost 4, years and I wanted to spare him any potential side effects... at least for the time being.

After a few days of him eating plain yogurt, a few wipes with apple cider vinegar and water and he looked so much better.

The bf's dog's ear is all better.

I also read that Surolan can be used on skin and yesterday put a teensy bit on the areas he can't lick (don't want Dingle to ingest it).

I'm hoping we spared Dingle a trip to the vet. Though he loves going, I don't...

And time for a Dingle picture...

Dingle in the bath along with his 'brothers'... the pug/bulldog mix and the pug/beagle mix (the dog who had the ear infection)

Is it a sunburn?

Hm... a coworker wondered if the crap on Dingle's face may have been a sunburn.

We were just on vacation a few days before the scabbyness/grossness.

We weren't outside for hours on end, because the weather was terrible, but he was definitely outside more than we are here in Toronto.

This sounds like it could apply to Dingle: http://www.dogtopics.com/89/the-facts-about-dog-sunburn/#more-89

He has light coloured hair... little hair on his mouth area... it was around his mouth and is now on his nose (came home from work yesterday and a patch on his nose was pink instead of black)...

Is the mystery solved? Who knows.

If he doesn't look 100% by the early week, I will make a trip to the vet. That will likely be vet trip #1,243 for Dingle.