Canine Acne

A few weeks ago I noticed Bear had some blister like red bumps on the side of his face by his mouth (please see the picture below) and one of them broke open and bled. I was concerned about it so I took him to the vet and she told me it was normal canine acne and typical for his age, 18 months. She took some medicated chlorhexidine wipes and scrubbed and cleaned off his face and it was messy but they all popped and I was instructed to use the wipes twice a day to prevent the infection from spreading on his face while it was healing. These are itchy bumps and dogs will rub their faces on the carpet or anywhere they can to scratch the itch and if they do that and the acne opens up and it not only makes a mess on your floor but can spread the bacterial infection all over their faces. I was on board to do whatever it took. It didn’t take long to heal now that we had the right tools and treatment. She gave me an antibiotic for him too and I faithfully gave it to him until it was all gone even though it looked all better and healed within two or three days, he had 10 days worth of meds. It’s important to always finish a medication even if the problem looks all better.

I had seen this on other bulldogs but never quite knew what it was and my vet said it can happen from them getting into dirt or clogging their pores on stuff. He gets his face washed often but I started giving him a new food bowl every time I would feed him just to make sure his food dish wasn’t part of the problem. He hasn’t had another issue with it and his face is all cleared up. It’s important to note that whenever your dog has an issue like this to get it looked at right away before it becomes a bigger deal and spreads to the point where they are in real trouble with a serious infection or even septicemia. Chlorhexidine gets rid of the bacteria so it can’t spread. If you don’t know what something is and notice it’s bothering your pup always call the vet and get it checked out right away. I was grateful my vet could get Bear in that same day I found the bumps. There were only three or four of them. She said she’d seen entire sides of dogs faces with these bumps on them and this was a really light case. The wipes she recommended were over the counter. If you want to get Chlorhexidine wipes for dogs please click the shop link at the top of this page and go to our Amazon store under Health and Wellness. Thanks for supporting us through our store.

In the first two pictures below you can see the blisters on the bottom of his right lip. Little red bumps. They pop and need to be wiped good so they don’t spread and cause more infection on the face. Bear hates to have his face messed with and I was still able to do the wipes for him. Even if they don’t like it it’s important to be the boss and do the treatment the vet says to do. The last picture is him all better!