nervous habit

[Guest]

My Cairn is two years old. She has a habit of licking the air. She will sit or lie for hours flicking her tongue or licking the air. I am sort of used to it but new people think she is a little bonkers and it annoys them. I think it annoys my husband too. I adore her and would like everyone else to love her too but this little habit seems to get in the way. Any ideas?

[Guest]

My cairn started that when his skin was itchy. Once we got that under control the tongue thing stopped. Have you noticed if she has any skin conditions?

Dell

[Guest]

What did you use to condition his skin? Our Reb has had what they thought was a food allergy but changing his diet and the expensive food has not helped so we are now on medicine and the food and still we have problems. I checked with the breeder and his parents have not had allergy problems.

The vet thinks it may be seasonal so I am waiting to see. He doesn't scratch that much (that I see), but he has places on his back legs that you can tell he has been licking or scratching.

I do give him an oatmeal soak every week. After the soak you can tell he feels better. He is 10 months old and a wonderful guy. I worry about the allergyand wondered if anyone had any helpful hints.

I guess we will have an allergy test eventually if this keeps up.

[George 'n' Gracie]

We put just a drop of olive oil in with George & Gracies' food. They love it and it has almost completely stopped the itching. Their coats are very shiny too. Too many baths, oatmeal or not, will dry their skin out more.

[Guest]

Thanks, I have changed to food that has omega 3 in it for the skin I will try the drop of olive oil.

Liz

[JVTMT]

my cairn was my mothers day gift this year. he was 7 mos. old when my husband got him from the pet store. his b-day was 10/3. i am learning about him and his "quirks" as i go, therefore, i was wondering, what an oatmeal bath is? is it a "bath" as you would bathe any other dog? from what i understand, cairns should not be bathed so their "weather-proof coat" will not lose its "weather-proofing".? maybe his skin problem is from too much washing. i just thought i would post a reply. otis has only had a real bath maybe 3 times, when he was "anted" ...during his many "digs to china" he hit an ant colony. boy were they mad. he was covered from head to tail with millions of teeny, tiny ants which made him crazier than he usually is.

just a thought. vicky

[Guest]

I only put oatmeal in water and he plays in it. Just like being outside and playing in a puddle. The vet said not to treat it like a bath its just a soak.

[Guest]

We have had our cairn for eight months and I've only bathed her once. Everything I have read on line (here) says if you keep them brushed and combed on a weekly basis, there should be no doggy odor. I guess folks know what they are talking about. She doesn't stink, although she hasn't gotten into anything stinky either. She just has that all American doggy smell. But if I do need to bathe her, can anyone suggest a shampoo? I have heard about only bathing them in oatmeal shampoo but I haven't bought any so I was just wondering. Thanks.

Sandy

[Posey]

Does your puppy sleep with you? Our Nicky is 16 months old. got him at 7 weeks. Bathed him then and also about every 3-4 weeks. Go to a pet store and get an all natural herbal shampoo, I have used oatmeal shampoo. Nick hates to be dirty and loves his bath. When he needs his bath he gets acting kind of like he has the blahs. After his bath he is happy old Nick again. I brush him with a slicker every other day clean his ears with a baby wipe, and his hind quarter and under belly with a baby wipe at the same time. Some I have talked to bath their Cairn every week. I think that is a little much. But we don't sleep with Nicky, he sleeps in his crate on a imitation sheep skin on the bottom. It gets washed each week. He just got used to being kept pretty clean and likes it.

Posey

[Guest]

His baths and soaks are related to his skin allergy. We do it strickly to help his skin. He enjoys it and when he is outside and gets dirty he still drys and shakes and he is clean. His coat is coarse and is in good shape. As soon as we can figure out what is causing the problem we will be able to treat it a little better. We change the food for 2 months no improvement the seasons are changing so hopefully this will help. The next step is testing and I kind of hoped we could find the problem without the tests.

His only odor is puppy breath sometimes and thats no big deal. He sleeps in a crate at night.

[Guest]

I have had an eventful week with Rebel. I have gone to a new vet that specializes in the use of natural medicines. Her mother is a Cairn breeder. She saw were Rebel had been scratching and biting and how discolored the skin was and said it looks like he possibly has a thyroid problem. He had been on predisone and new food for three plus months and he still had the problem. She asked about any other problem he has had before. I told her about the problems we have had with his shots and heartworm medication since he was very young. She suspects his liver has been working overtime because of his reactions to the meds and he has thyroid problem -- they did a blood test and I will find out the results soon.

So, in the meantime we are cleaning out his liver, working on his skin and coat using natural medicines. He is still scratching a little but his energy level has vastly improved. He seems to feel so much better. I am very thankful I have taken Rebel to her.

The reason I changed vets was his old vet suggested the 6 months shot for heartworms because of the problems we have been having. The breeder I got our new addition from (a pugn- my husband