Reactive dog with hot spots

[ravi9091]

Hi, y’all, this is my first post ever so hopefully I don’t mess up. I’ve had a reactive dog for a few years now. We are seeing a trainer, working on muzzle training, and I found a mobile vet who comes to the house. Things have been pretty smooth lately. I have no idea what happened but all of a sudden, he has a hot spot on his face and despite the cone he’s wearing, it’s gotten bigger and significantly worse. The difficulty is the area where he’d be wearing a muzzle is raw. I’m giving him Benadryl, about to buy a more structured cone, and besides that, I’m at a loss. He won’t let me put anything on it and I’m not sure if anything is recommended. I’m hesitant to ask the vet to come by because he can’t wear a muzzle but I guess that’s something I can do next week. Is there anything else that I should be doing? I wanted to post here instead of any conventional dog advice threads because those posters will just tell us to go to the vet.

 

[joyathome]

@ravi9091 You're always allowed to call your vet and ask for advice, especially things like making sure giving Benadryl is okay to do.

The problem is that hot spots are a common catch all name for a wet skin infection, that skin infection could come from a lot of different sources so it would probably be best to have a vets advice on how to treat. You can also talk to the receptionist and ask what usually happens in situations like this and it's possible that they can have you do the handling yourself or figure out another way to get a sample so they can prescribe the right treatment.

In the meantime Susan Garrett has a really good series on how to get your dog comfortable with veterinary care. The steps are the same as episode 107 of her podcast which focuses on nails, But I think she links the other relevant episodes on veterinary handling from there. She sells courses but I'm specifically talking about the podcasts and website which are available for free.

 

[ravi9091]

@joyathome Yes, sorry, that was unclear in my post. I called the vet immediately and the cone/Benadryl is per her orders. My best guess is it’s a reaction to an environmental trigger but I really have no idea what caused it. Thank you for your comment. I especially appreciate the advice on Susan Garrett and will check her out.

 

[jeremymeeft]

@ravi9091 If you can spray it without getting it in the eyes, PetMD antiseptic and antifungal might help. It's available from chewy and Amazon. It's been a miracle worker for my pets and my husband and I use it on ourselves for minor scrapes/cuts.

 

[jeremymeeft]

@ravi9091 Make sure you sanitize the cone every day as well.

 

[ravi9091]

@jeremymeeft Thank you!