Public Service Announcement to Manscape your Doodle :-/

[Bonne Bouche]

Hi DK'ers, BB and I had a bit of an "emergency" this week, and I wanted to share a bit of a public service announcement to help others prevent such a situation.  I don't recall ever seeing us talk about this before, so I figured I'd share.

BB was licking his belly area a bit more than normal (he is normally quite cat-like in his personal grooming behaviors, but this was more than that). Upon examination, I was quite startled by what I found.  To be blunt, the hairy sheath around his penis got rolled inward (like a donut!) leaving the interior portion of the penis stuck outside(!!!!!). Without thinking, I put my hand on his low-low belly and pushed my hand backward, releasing the "roll" and putting everything back where it belonged...

I then called my vet in a tizzy: They said they would be happy to take a look at him, or if it happened again they should look at him.  It seems as if I caught it before his licking caused any issues (swelling, etc). Since this is something that has never happened before I tried to figure out what it was, and my guess is that we went a little too long between "man trims." Usually we keep that area fairly short for sanitary purposes and whatnot.  It didn't seem like things were getting too out of hand, but now we absolutely will be keeping a closer eye on that--we are definitely going to be keeping up with more regular trimming than we have before. 

Anyway, that is all for today, just a little PSA to keep your (male) doods neat and tidy down there. And not just for aesthetic purposes... ;-]

Google provided some pretty helpful advise as well. If you want more info about this here's one link to start at (p.s. there is a photo at that link, so heads-up!)

 http://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyvet/pmahaney/2013/june/paraphimo...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This just goes to show us that no matter how long you have owned/lived with dogs, there is always something new to be learned about them, lol.

I'm glad you discovered the problem before poor BB had any serious issues. :)

[Bonne Bouche]

Thank you!  The idea that this could even happen was not even remotely on my radar.  :-] How horribly uncomfortable it must have been!

[Ginny Nightingale]

I groom doodles and always shave that area close--my boy doodle had a terrible rash and crustiness all over that area a few years back and it was so hard to get rid of--I still don't know what caused it, (vet did not know either)but keeping him shaved there helped to clear it up--more air got to the skin. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack had developed an irritation in that area, and his dermatologist told me to keep the area trimmed but not to shave it, for two reasons. One, it's best to keep a little "wick" at the end of the penis to channel the urine stream away from their legs and feet, and two, shaving that area can actually cause a skin rash/ irritation. My Miniature Poodle got a bad razor burn there from shaving; after that, we used scissors only. 

[Amy and Annabelle]

Good thing you discovered it before any serious issues arose. Good thing to know about. When my grand daughter was about 3 months old my daughter notice her baby's big toe was turning blue. She could see something there but couldn't get it off, it is like it was embedded in her toe. A trip to urgent care revealed a hair wrapped tightly around the toe and cutting of circulation.  It was minor surgery to get it removed, it was in there so deep. You really have to watch hair, it can cause serious issues, I guess with dogs to. Annabelle grooms herself like a cat sometimes. I think she is going to start choking up hairballs. Usually it is only when she has been out side and is dirty.

[Bonne Bouche]

That sounds terribly scary! So glad she caught it in time!!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Good information. Glad you figured out what was going on. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Thanks for this important information.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

So glad you posted. This has never been on my radar either.  I do trim between grooming but just thought of it as a cleanliness helper.  Glad you noticed this on BB before it created a problem for him.  Love the photo!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Good info for those of us with male doodles, and thank you for bringing this to our attention. Never heard of such a thing before. I use a trimmer with the shortest comb attachment which seems to keep the hair in that area just short enough. I'll be making sure trims are done more regularly than Oscar's general grooms. Thanks again.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oh wow...glad you were able to avoid any more serious issues.  Thanks for sharing.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for posting this. It isn't something I thought to watch too closely.  We do get our guys groomed monthly, so I probably won't ever have a problem, but I should be aware that there could be one.