Golden Retriever With Black Thick Vulvar Skin

Wipe the area with a paper towel that's been dampened with ACV diluted with water. Do this 2-3 times a day for at least a month. Don't rinse it off. It'll air dry.

Continue putting ACV in her water. You say you've been doing this for a couple of days. You won't see a cure in a "couple of days"! It takes at least a month to see a significant difference.

Make sure the green beans you're giving her are the UNsalted canned green beans.

Read here on EC about mange and yeast infection cures. Follow the instructions carefully!

Hey Beth!

Black, thick 'elephant' skin is typically associated with a fungal or yeast infection.I recommend that you look in the pet section under allergies and mange to read up on Ted's remedies; there is much there that may apply.

This is Ted's remedy for staph/fungal skin infection:

Anti fungal/staph skin solution - you will need:

Milk of Magnesia [magnesium hydroxide]
Epsom salts [magnesium sulfate]
Borax -unscented in laundry aisle [sodium tetraborate]
1% hydrogen peroxide solution

[Note - to make a 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide, buy the 16 ounce brown bottle from the drug store - this is a 3% solution. Also buy a gallon of distilled water - or use filtered water from home. Pour the 3% bottle of hydrogen peroxide into a large jug and add 2 bottles [32 ounces] of filtered water. Give it a good swoosh - and now you have 48 ounces of a 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide.]

Next:

Mix 1 tbsp of MOM with 1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tbsp borax into 1-1/2 cups of 1% hydrogen peroxide. I usually mix up a doubled or quadrupled batch as I find its best to bathe the entire dog as opposed to spot treating only the afflicted areas.

First bathe your dog and then rinse out all the soap. Squeeze out any water in the coat and let her shake off any excess water. Now plug up the tub and apply the solution; I use a plastic cup and scoop up the solution and pour over the dog again and again - I try and keep this up for 10 minutes, allowing the solution to 'work'. Do NOT rinse this solution off. Make sure it penetrates the coat and saturates the skin. Let the dog shake off the excess but do NOT towel dry - you want as much of the solution to remain on the dog as possible. Put your dog in a crate to drip dry for half and hour, and then after that you can let her out and towel dry. This solution should knock out any staph infection or yeast infection going on in the skin. Its cheap enough to use on a daily basis, or every other day, or once per week. You should determine the frequency by the results you see in your dog; she may need to be dipped every other day for a week, and then every 4th day and then every week until she is healed up.

For the severely affected vulva area you might consider Ted's anti-staph/anti-fungal paste:

Mix even amounts [50/50] of baking soda and borax, and moisten with 1% hydrogen peroxide solution to form a paste; apply to the area 4 x day. The paste should be smoothed on as opposed to rubbed in.

In addition to the topical approach via bathing and dipping, another Ted tip is to add to the drinking water one quarter teaspoon sea salt [aquarium shops sell good stuff] to 1 liter of water for 1 week - if this doesn't work try one half teaspoon baking soda to 1 liter water for 2 weeks.

I have fed TOTW also -good diet. But since your dog is a rescue you have no idea of her diet and care prior to coming to you; its probable given her yeasty vulva that she has a systemic yeast infection -so yeast on the inside as well as the outside.

Ted's wisdom on this with my paraphrasing:

Sometimes we are dealing with internal/systemic yeast or an internal fungal infection - and sometimes despite the best nutrition out there we will experience an individual that for some reason is deficient in a mineral such as boron. If the dog is low in magnesium quite often allergies will arise. If you are dealing with yeast try adding 1/16 teaspoon of epsom salt in 1 liter of drinking water for 2-3 days - max; this is not intended for long term use, just to nip a 'break out' in the bud. When you stop the epsom salt in the water you can then start adding 1 teaspoon baking soda to 1 liter of water; do this for 5-7 days. This is a 'break out' or crisis dose. After a week you can cut it back to a maintenance dose of 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the water. If you suspect a fungal component you can add 1/16 teaspoon borax along with the baking soda in 1 liter of water. In acute and extreme cases 1/4 teaspoon of borax in 1 liter of water is indicated. Many humans take 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon borax in 1 liter of water daily as a detox and antifungal/antiyeast, so long term use is not an issue, however all these remedies are something you should 'play by ear' and should be adjusted as you see fit. The water additives address mineral deficiency issues and should be addressed first.

Now, for the fishy breath - its possible she is in need of a dental. Take a look at the teeth - if they are covered in brown tartar down to the gums she will need to have her teeth addressed. Other reason for fish breath is that your dog is in need of detoxing; check out the detoxing page for ideas that may apply for your situation: https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/detoxification.html

To Theresa from Mpls., Mn: Thank you so much for your detailed and easily-understood postings here on EC!