mita

That was a wise move to contact the company to bring your concern to their attention. We've been using Advantage on our 2 Tibetan Spaniels...which are about the size of a Pom & have longish hair, too. At first, we'd part hair between their shoulders as advised & apply the Advantage. But we found all the liquid would pool & run into their hair. The product is supposed to go onto the skin & 'move' around the body by that route. So when most of it went into the hair, it missed the skin & disseminating. Could that have been the case with your Pom....& why the smell was strong? Next time I applied Advantage to the Tibbies, I used a technique that is used for bigger dogs. I applied it in 2 spots....1 between the shoulders and the other on the back between the hips. Also to avoid it running mainly onto the hair, I shaved 2 small circles in those spots & put the Advantage on them. This meant the liquid went only on the skin. The small bald spots do not show because I can comb the Tibbie's hair over them.

Gemma was so lovely in every way. She'd be impossible to forget. But somehow I think her spirit is walking right beside you & Gizmo. With her beautiful 'whiteness', Gemma was born to be an angel.

Cynthia, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. Sasha was loved greatly...& you did the best thing for her by helping her gently to doggie heaven. I know just how hard it was....even while you knew it was the right thing for Sasha. Our 16 yr old sheltie also could no longer control her back legs &, with heaps of love, we gave her the gift of being free from pain & fear. Sasha's spirit will be in your heart forever....& her wonderful memories will be in your mind.

This is so, so sad. Cosmo Jack is safe & happy at the Rainbow Bridge...but what a tragedy.

Thank you for your kind thoughts. Ripley, that's another glorious graphic...it looks so much like my last sight of Shelley as we wrapped her in a big towel. Peaceful & beautiful. Here's a poem just freshly written by Karen McLaren who knew Shelley & how she was helped to heaven with much love. These lovely words may help other people...now, or in the future...who have to do the same thing. "My beautiful girl, I set you free. I love you so my lady. And from the depths of my pain Shall rise again, Like a phoenix, Your face, Free of pain, Your eyes, Free of fear, And your love, Full of life." K.McLaren 2004

What an incredibly beautiful girl. Your time with her would have been so precious. I saw some lovely words once, written by someone who'd just lost their beloved dog. 'Always in my mind, forever in my heart'. That's where Amber will be with you...forever. So you'll take beauty with you...wherever you go.

Just made the 16 y old Shelley pic bigger. You can see the strange angle of one of her back legs. That was caused by the degenerating nerve making her lose control.

Thank you so much. It means a lot that others understand. Salli, the graphic is gorgeous. Here's the last pic of 16 yr old Shelley...couple of days before the crisis struck. Sorry it's small....but the big smile is still big. Always was.. bless her red-haired self.

Now here's Shelley last pic, taken about 2 weeks ago just before her first crisis. At age 16 years, her big smile is still there. We will miss her loving nature & big personality awfully. But she's safe now & will never have that wonderful smile wiped off again with the terror of not being able to move. Whoops....sorry, the file with the pic wouldn't take. I'll see if there's another way.

This morning the vet came to our house & helped our 16 yr old Sheltie, Shelley, go to heaven. She had a degenerating nerve that controlled her back legs. And with arthritis making her front legs stiff, she had started to have falls where she couldn't get up....& was terribly stressed. Shelley was a bigger than usual Lassie look-alike sheltie. Beautiful...& she knew it...with the personality of a drama queen (think of Lucille Ball in 'I Love Lucy'...that was Shelley to a T). She was so confident & affectionate...never met a person she didn't think would fall madly in love with her. And had the biggest smile. When she was 4 yrs old, a lass who was PR for David Jones store, put her in a fashion parade where all the models (includiing Shelley) had red hair. Shelley LOVED it..she thought all the crowd & photographers had come out to see her only. Here's her pic doing her ONE supermodel job for DJs as a young slip of a girl.

Once when discussing doggie flea troubles with a vet...he said to also take into consideration the cats in the family...as a source for the fleas getting to the dogs. His opinion was that fleas are harder to control on cats. Don't know what his reasons were. But I know that a number of the doggie flea products state NOT to use them on cats....& that it's positively dangerous to do so. So, for those of us who own both dogs & cats....managing the flea problem seems to also involve finding the best way to control fleas on cats. Still looking! LATER: Robsy...I just found your earlier post about how the fleas from cats get to the dogs. Thanks for the info

That is SO what it's like :D But the old man would be green with envy because of the lovely shawl of blonde hair I can use as the comb-over. Seriously, tho'...the vet told me that Advantage does seem to work better for fleas...but that Frontline is better for ticks. (I don't know if others have been told the same opinion). Bit of a dilemma! So I use the Advantage spot (s) every 4-5 weeks as I said. But I also between times, spray on some Frontline. This worries me somewhat because I don't like to over-chemicalize pets or people. But there have been awful tragedies here in SE Qld, with people losing loved pets because of ticks & even in spite of getting the pet to the vet as soon as they could.

I had a similar experience with Frontline. And gave it up in favour of Advantage....which I find I have to apply every 4-5 weeks. Works much better on our 2 Tibbies. Advantage gets put on a spot between the dog's shoulders. But I followed a tip given for bigger dogs. That is, to apply it in 2 spots...one between shoulders & one at back end between hips. I shave a piece about the size of a 50 cent coin...so the Advantage goes on the skin, not the hair. With Tibbies I can comb hair over so these spots don't show.

An American breeder once told us a trick they use for the long-lingering smells after a dog's rolled in something or had a 'skunk attack' (& been bathed & all). Dilute some good quality mouth-wash & comb it thro' the coat. For anything that touches a dog's skin (or a human's), I always do a small patch test first...in case there's a reaction.

Totally agree...both were going to be my suggestions. Then I'd use Episoothe Shampoo (available from vets.) I'd also put some Melrose cold-pressed Linseed (flaxseed) oil in his daily dinner to help with skin health (available from fridge in health-food shops & pharmacies). I'd also then groom as people have suggested....keeping an eagle eye for the start of any knot (nip the matts in the bud!) I have two pairs of scissors for doing that. 1. a pair of embroidery scissors..nice long fine points & 2. (best of all) a small pair with rounded points....so can't dig into the dog....& a curve in the blades so they fit across a small knot for cuttig (got these scissors from a pet supplies store.)