Scooter Keeps Shaking His Head

[bc4ever]

He keeps shaking his head and sometimes pawing at his right ear. No smell. No redness. No knotted hair near his ear. He's been in the kiddie pool and splashes around, but he usually just tries to splash all the water out with his hind legs. He does however, sometimes stick his head in the water to retrieve the Frisbee. Could this be water in his ears, an infection or some sort of insect? He doesn't appear to be in pain, but it's hard to tell with these guys. Of course it's the weekend and I'm going out of town for the next few days. Not sure husband will be aware if things get worse!

[MaggieDog]

Vet on Monday even if your husband needs to take him! It's likely the beginning of an ear infection or there's a similar ear issue. Do you have foxtails in your area (I'm not thinking OH has many if any, but it's good to check)? If so, then I'd upgrade this to a "vet asap" situation as foxtails in the ears can do massive damage in a few days time.

[shiloh714]

My grandmother has a bichon mix, and he got a foxtail in his paw. Two surgeries, and a thousand bucks later, the foxtail was removed. It was really infected. If that is a foxtail, you should get it checked soon, or it might get expensive. unless it is very shallow in, but g's dog had his DEEP in. My grandfather had a dog who would get foxtails in his ears quite regularly.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-Janeen

[mbc1963]

After I give my dog a bath, he frequently does this. As hard as I try to be gentle, water sometimes gets in his ears, as I struggle to rinse out whatever fragrant poop he has chosen to grind into the soft, fluffy fur there.

 

Generally, the "water in the ear" thing resolves itself pretty quickly as the water evaporates.

 

Mary

[Einstein]

Willow was recently doing the same thing. It turned out to be the beginning of a yeast infection in his ear. We have to put drops in his ear. When he is done with the medicine we have stuff to clean his ears once a week or after he has been swimming, had a bath, etc. Since his ears are still floppy, apparently he will have an increased chance for problems if we don't clean them regularly.

[2 Devils]

Either an infection brewing or something in the ear. Either way, a trip to the vet will most likely be needed.

[bc4ever]

Thanks everyone. Just got back in town. He doesn't appear to be doing the head shaking thing so far, but will keep an eye on him this evening. I don't think we have foxtails here.

[bc4ever]

He keeps shaking his head and sometimes pawing at his right ear. No smell. No redness. No knotted hair near his ear. He's been in the kiddie pool and splashes around, but he usually just tries to splash all the water out with his hind legs. He does however, sometimes stick his head in the water to retrieve the Frisbee. Could this be water in his ears, an infection or some sort of insect? He doesn't appear to be in pain, but it's hard to tell with these guys. Of course it's the weekend and I'm going out of town for the next few days. Not sure husband will be aware if things get worse!

 

Vet's this afternoon. He has a slight ear infection in his right ear. Got some drops for that. Also biting at his feet again. Hasn't done that in almost a year. I think the tech cut his nails too short last time and that's what started that. Vet suggested steroids (again) for the allegic feet, but I think that should be a last resort kind of thing. Prescribed antihistamine similar to Benadryl. We'll try that for now. Maybe once the ear infection is cleared up, he'll stop chewing on his feet.