My turn to ask a dog question..

[Sisyphus]

Sigh...

I was in the kitchen a few minutes ago and our dog, Xena (a 5 year old Lab/shepherd mix) yelped. I ran to the back door and let her in. She was shaking her head and whining. I touched her left ear/side of her head by her ear and she yelped REALLY loudly. I tried to look into her ear, but she won't let me manipulate her ear enough to see into it (her ears stand "up", if that makes a difference). I waited for her to calm down a bit, and tried again, but I can't see anything... no redness or swelling... nothing unusual at all. I tried to palpate around her ear and didn't feel any lumps, swelling, etc.

But she is definitely "favoring" that ear/side of her head... she's holding that ear "down" and hanging her head when she walks. She's shaking her head a bit, too (which makes me think she got something in there).

We don't have any of those "sticker" weeds in the backyard (you know, those long, skinny "wheaty" looking ones LOL) so I don't think it's that...

Any ideas?? Even just about how to make her more comfy??

I can't take her to the vet right now because ds 2 is already in bed, dh isn't coming home until 11pm (he works on the east coast) and I can't get in touch with my sis, mom OR dad to come and stay with the kids while I take her in... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

She's such a sweet dog, and doesn't SEEM to be in excrutiating pain, but then, I dont think dogs show pain a whole lot...

Any advice??

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Well, I would just keep and eye on her. See if you can get her to lay down and rest. It could be that she got stung or bit by something. The sudden yelp would make me think that is what happened. I wouldn't panic. Sometimes things with dogs seem to just clear up on their own. Let me know how things go. I hate to see my pets in pain, because they can't tell you whats wrong.

[Sisyphus]

Originally Posted by race_kelly

Well, I would just keep and eye on her. See if you can get her to lay down and rest. It could be that she got stung or bit by something. The sudden yelp would make me think that is what happened. I wouldn't panic. Sometimes things with dogs seem to just clear up on their own. Let me know how things go. I hate to see my pets in pain, because they can't tell you whats wrong.

Yeah, I was thinking the stung/bit thing, too... but I expected to see some redness or something LOL... I'm not really feeling panicky... just concerned... I just hope something didn't fly into her ear canal and get stuck there LOLOL!!! I wish I had an otoscope at home! And I wish she could TALK!

[AmandaBL]

pets are tricky... I would guess a bite too, but who knows???

[rowansmomma]

I'd say it sounds like something is IN her ear.......she is showing pretty classic signs... I wouldn't worry about it tonight, but call the vet first thing in the morning to get her in.

[C&CsMommy]

If she seems like she's in a lot of pain you can give her an aspirin (ASA). But do not give her tylenol (Acetaminaphen sp?)

[DesireeH]

If you lay on the couch will she lay her head down on you so you can see a bit more? Maybe she got a bee sting on her ear? Or maybe something is in there? My Zeke got an ear infection one time but it was really red and it smelled. Does it smell weird?