EAR CARE for DOGS

Groomed a dog today that had really bad yeasty ears and thought it was a good time to post a great homeopathic ear recipe.

“Purple Power Ear Treatment”
INGREDIENTS:
16 Oz. (= 0,47 litres) Isopropyl Alcohol
4 Tablespoons Boric Acid Powder
16 Drops Gentian Violet Solution 1%
Mix together in alcohol bottle and shake well.
NOTE – You will also need to shake solution every time you use it to disperse the Boric Acid Powder.
To use, purchase a small “Clairol”  squeeze type plastic bottle or a  baby ear syringe bottle to dispense solution to affected ears.
TREATMENT:   Evaluate condition of ears before treating and if very inflamed and sore do not attempt to pull hair or clean out ear at all.  See your vet.
Shake bottle each time before using.
Put cotton balls or similar absorbent material under their ear.
Flood the ear with solution, (gently squirt bottle), massage gently to the count of 60, wipe with a tissue.
Flood again on first treatment, wipe with a tissue,and leave alone without massage.
The dog will shake out the excess which can be wiped with a tissue, cotton ball, etc as the Gentian Violet does stain fabrics.
SCHEDULE of treatment is as follows:
Treat 2x per day for the first week to two weeks depending upon severity of ears
Treat 1x per day for the next 1-2 weeks
Treat 1x per month (or even less frequently, depending on the dog)
All of these ingredients should be available at a pharmacy or local Wal-Mart.  Wintergreen alcohol can be used for extra soothing.  Boric Acid Powder soothes the ear while Gentian Violet is an anti-infection agent.
The solution appears to work well on any and all ear problems from mites to wax to cankers.
After the 2nd or 3rd day you can clean out the ear with a Q- tip or cotton balls.
Happy Ears!!!

STREAKS OR NO STREAKS, A Window Cleaning Epiphany!

I never cease to amaze myself. Not because I'm smart...... I'm not. It's just that every so often something so simple happens that makes me wonder how did I not know that, why did it take 56 long years for the light bulb to go off on this one!!

Happened today.

My sister-in-law is coming to visit my dad and I in Arizona and staying for a week. I have been so busy grooming dogs, boarding a few and looking after dad that I realized the house was kind of messy. EEEE GAD, time to do some cleaning! The dirt on the patio door has been bothering me somewhat, though not enough to do something about it until now. Deciding that cleaning this window would be my first chore, off I went armed with a full roll of paper towels and vinegar windex in hand.

Now...let me just say, I HATE cleaning windows! I can never, and I do mean never, get them clean or streak-free. I don't know why, I just can't do it. It wasnt' helping much either because this particular task looked daunting thanks to all the wind and rain we've had lately. The glass looked like a dirt road, a red dirt road mind you as our soil here in the desert is reddish pink.

As I faced the door, I firmly planted my feet ample width apart, carefully raised my arm, placed my finger on the trigger of the windex and.........wait, don't shoot! Something in my little pea brain went, "Hey dummy, try wiping the dust off with a dry paper towel first". WHOA, where did that come from!

Oh my goodness, it worked! I didn't spend a half hour washing the door or waste a whole roll of paper towels trying to get the streaks and dirt off! "Hmmm", I said to myself. "Self, I bet there are other people out there that would like to know about this wonderful, easy, time saving tip." I was excited, I'd found something I could share with others that could help them and make their lives easier! "A great topic for my Blog", I thought. I could be the next Martha Stewart.

Then reality set in and I realized the solution had been easy, way too easy in fact. I started feeling rather foolish that I hadn't thought about this before. I mean, come on, what happens when you add rain to dry ground....you get mud. Guess it sort of goes without saying that you spray wet solution on a dirt/dust covered window, it's going to get muddy and streak. DUH.

Funny how some things are soooo simple. I don't know why I never thought of this before or why my 'muse' decided to pipe up and finally let me in on the secret........but I'm glad she did.

IS IT JUST ME?

Ok.....I have something to admit. I have issues! There, I said it.

One of my issues, or if you'd rather call them, 'pet peeves' involves other people getting into my personal space.

It seems to happen to me most when I am in line waiting to check out somewhere. Usually it's another female that treads too close. You know the kind, totally oblivious to the world going on around them. It's all about them! Typically they have an arm load of 'stuff' and a huge purse all getting ready to tumble out of their arms and land on me because they are almost standing on my heels! They are the ones that seem to believe they are the only ones in a hurry to get somewhere. News Flash.....we are ALL in a hurry!

Yesterday, however, while standing in line at the drugstore, it was a man threatening my comfort zone. There were three people in front of me and the line wasn't moving but he kept inching closer. As he did so, I found myself automatically stepping a bit nearer to the person in front of me until my frontal personal space began to cringe as much as my backside. My forward motion did nothing to stop his. As I moved up, so did he, eliminating any relief from my personal space infringement. Finally when I could go no further, I slowly turned my body side ways so I could see this interloper. He must have realized something was amiss because this tiny shift in my position caused him to back a way a bit. SUCCESS!

Oddly, I find that most female intruders don't get that subtlety and rarely move back. I wonder why this is. Is it a male/female issue or do they really think if they keep this forward motion pressure on that it will actually get them up to the counter faster? Male or female, I have news for them, IT WONT! No matter how hard you try to physically or mentally 'will it to be so', that personal space violator isn't going to get there any faster than I am.

I sometimes think I should go around wearing a sign on my body saying, "please respect my personal space" but would it work? Without defining just what my 'space' is, how do others know where that line in the sand is? And when pondering this subject, I don't know if even I can give you a definition of exactly where my space boundary's are. My limits are different from the next persons and I honestly think they can change on a daily basis. For instance, with the drugstore incident, I was tired and extremely stressed that day. My 82 year old diabetic father, had come down with a cold. A simple cold for him can turn into something very serious and he can't take certain medications because of the diabetes. Upon reflection, I think had I been in a more relaxed state, my boundary would have been closer to me and I wouldn't have felt bothered at all.

According to Wikipedia personal space is defined as: "the region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Invasion of personal space often leads to discomfort, anger, or anxiety on the part of the victim". Wikipedia goes on to declare that personal space is: "variable" indicating that people living in extremely populated areas experience smaller invisible barriers. Variable huh? So does that mean those people who invade your space have teeny tiny personal parameters? Does that mean we should be more 'forgiving' of those trespassers because they don't feel what we do?

I don't really have the answer to that question but I do know, I don't care who you are, when someone bangs your body with a grocery cart, a purse, their body or something they are carrying, I believe that is close enough to affect ANYONE's personal space.

Or is it???