Allergies.

Dogs can have allergies too? Of course they can. I knew Trooper was sensitive to wheat but I never knew that he was allergic to certain laundry detergents. Until one horrific day. There was a boarding place that they used to go to that would always wash his sleeping bag before we picked them up from their stay. It was wonderful because it was always clean and never smelled like dog. At the time, I was struggling to find something that would be that magical. I had called the place and asked them what they used and they had simply told me Arm and Hammer. So I went to the store and there were several different kinds of Arm and Hammer detergent. I was already using a free and gentle with no added perfumes and didn’t even realize it. I grabbed the original yellow bottle with whatever scent it was thinking that that should definitely do the trick. Well, it took the smell away alright but it did something a whole lot worse. Trooper became itchy and I did not put 2 and 2 together. He got to the point where he literally could not stop itching, his skin was becoming open wounds from the vigorous scratching he was doing. I had tried some Benadryl but that was not helping. It was odd because it was only his entire right side that had been affected. After a couple days I knew it was not getting better and that he needed to go to the vet. When the vet saw him, he had told me that he had never seen an allergic reaction that bad. He genuinely felt really bad for Trooper. The vet had said that Trooper had very good skin and it didn’t seem like it was easily irritated. I was then so confused how he was even having an allergic reaction. And to what? It was then when the vet asked if I switched any detergents or anything. It was at that moment that I realized I had washed his sleeping bag in the new detergent. I was relieved that we had discovered the cause and it was a simple fix, however, I was absolutely embarrassed and mortified at the fact that I had accidentally put him through such immense pain. We got Trooper a cone, some more Benadryl, and some treats and he healed rather quickly. I immediately donated the laundry detergent to a friend in need and rewashed his sleeping bag in the regular detergent I had previously been using. After that, we have never had the issue again. So, obviously I did not buy the correct detergent they were using because we had never had that problem when they washed it. However, now, we just stick to our usual Arm and Hammer free and gentle, no dyes or perfumes. Oh, and side note: Make sure it is the no dyes and perfumes because their is also a sensitive skin one that has dyes in it…...dumb, I know. It kind of sounds like a common sense story, but I feel like sometimes when it comes to dogs, we don’t use common sense. With them, we need to think of the same kinds of things as if it was happening to us. After that situation, I have really tried to take a step back in situations and try to think of more “human like” solutions.

After all, we’re just being the best dog moms we can possibly be here.

And for now,

Xoxo