Expert: Delores Beck - 5/31/2010

Question
Dear Delores,
1. Sally is my first dog. She is 5 months old. She smells bad. I live in Venezuela, and our weather is very hot, I´m talking about 90 degrees all year round. I live in an apartment, and Sally is about half of the day in an air conditioned space, but the rest of the day is hot. Some people have told me that heat makes them smell...
2. I take her out and she plays very roughly with some other puppys in my neighbourhood, and they bite each other, so after they play she´s all covered with other´s salive (gross), so I don´t know if she gets the smell from that, and I dont know if I should clean her with baby wipes or what.
3. I bathe her once a week, she stinks if I dont, but after 2 days she´s smelly again. I blow dry her, as I think that if she is left damp she smells worst!
4. She is starting to get this little scabs on her skin...
5. The ears smell BAD, I clean them once a week with an alcohol cotton ball and put son Natalene drops, wich smells bad too.
6. She eats only Nutrience. There´s not a lot of variety of foods here. Should I cook for her?
7. Why dont you like rawhide? I see that it sticks to her paws...
8. Please take in consideration that I live in an almost dictatorial country, I cant find any of the great products you have in Canada, so please recommend some home made products!
Thank you so much for your help!
Maria.

Answer
Maria, I can help and I think we need to chat more easily and faster than using this venue.
Send me your question at DeeBeck7765@aol.com

I understand where you are and that products aren't easily available but I can certainly help Sally feel more comfortable...but I have a lot of questions first.
Delores