Inflamed, painful and infected ears are a common problem for many dogs. While the long, thin and bent ear canal contributes to the problem, not every dog is affected.

The difference between a normal ear canal and and inflamed one is often a "trigger" that tips the scales allowing inflammation and infection to take hold. While there can be many triggers, in the Wollongong area the most common triggers are allergens:

There has recently been an image of a typed sign doing the rounds which claims that some peanut butters contain xylitol and can be toxic to dogs.

What is xylitol?

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol which is manufactured and used as an artificial sweetener to replace sugar. It has a lower glycaemic index than sugar and is safe in all species except for dogs.

Is Xylitol toxic to dogs? 

Yes, Xylitol is toxic to dogs. There are 2 clinical causes of xylitol toxicity in dogs:

Fireworks can be terrifying for dogs. It's normal for dogs to be fearful of them, but in dogs with a phobia this deteriorates over time and can eventually cause full blown panic attacks. To keep your dog safe on new years eve follow these tips:

Heat stroke (hyperthermia)

Heat stroke or hyperthermia is a really serious, potentially fatal condition that should be taken really seriously. The body is made to run at a safe temperature and if overheats the internal organs basically cook. Often the effects of excessive heat exposure aren't obvious immediately.

For example:

Scooting

Scooting is what we call it when dogs drag their bottoms along the ground. They usually tuck their tail right underneath them, hunch over and pull themselves along with their front legs. Some dogs will do it with the tail trailing out behind them instead.

The causes 

There are 3 main causes of scooting:

Cold joints get stiff and sore. If your dog has arthritis it tends to worse over winter when it's cold. By keeping your dog warm you can help to alleviate some of the pain of arthritis. 

Over the next 7 weeks I will be discussing how to successfully manage arthritis in your dog. These are the 7 steps (each week I will detail 1 of them)

1. Check for ticks every day regardless of whether you use a prevention or not.
2. Feel for the tick, don't just look. You’ll feel them before you see them.
3. Frontline Plus needs to be applied every 2 weeks to control paralysis ticks.
4. There is a new tick collar for dogs we have available that doesn't smell!
5. In cats you need to use frontline spray every 3 weeks, the spot-ons don’t work for ticks in cats.

What is dog agility?

Barking is a form of communication and is a normal behaviour for dogs. It is unrealistic to expect a dog never to bark, however there are some dogs bark inappropriately or excessively.

Dogs can bark for a number of reasons: