Frankie has demodex....

Poor little Frankie! At least he's somewhere he's well cared for, and now.... YOU know exactly what to do, LOL. Demodex is such a pain.... I hope he and his Mom feel better soon! 

The sad thing about demodex is that people just plain don't treat it.  It's simply a 'bad-breeding' thing -- and it's likely not even someone breeding intentionally, but just breeding or letting them breed.

Labs are rampant with demodex -- as are all the bully breeds (from pits to bulldogs, to boxers, and yep .. pugs and beyond).  That's nothing like an exhaustive list but it includes breeds your dogs are I think -- but those are breeds that particularly are affected.  Labs b/c they've been over-bred/badly bred and b/c of that oily coat (demodex mites *eat* skin oil) and the bully breeds because they've been over-bred and badly bred and b/c their immune systems take forever to kick in anyway.

Often the summer is bad for demodex simply because the weather is a stressor and it's hot and other irritants may make it worse.

I dunno if I've ever sent you my article, but email me if you want it (or want it again).  There are many of these dogs that just may need intermittent treatment forever -- particularly around times of stress, or when you've had to get them vax'd or kennelled.

There really isn't any 'easy' treatment -- the stuff I do is work-intensive but not expensive.  Ivermectin, for those that can take it (not herders, etc.) is a stop-gap at best.  It's addictive and they put some dogs on it for life, but that leaves them wide-open to a whole host of other stuff.

It's likely not any one person at fault -- it's simply that it's in those gene-pools heavily and if people aren't spay/neutering and keeping the dogs at home then it spreads like wildfire with any new pups.

I've had byb's claim "my dog never showed it" but it can skip a generation and still have the demodex gene.

Some folks are reluctant to give the herbals but dang it, they just plain work so well!   There isn't a pharmaceutical that does what they do or I'd be recommending it.  And often, these guys just plain need to be on Vits A, E, and C (and Omega 3's) for the rest of their lives.  At least they aren't expensive ones.

 If you can keep these guys inside as much as possible it will help in the long run ... they never do well outside because the weather can be such a tremendous stressor. 

Wish I could be there to give you a hand -- the antibiotics will help, and the lymph infection could easily have brought it on actually.  Let me know if I can help, ok?

 well if I recall Frankie is a pup - if the areas are small you might be able to use some ointment (sorry name escapes me) from the vet and then add the supplementals that Callie suggested.  Sounds like you are doing a great job with Hammerhead so I'm sure you will kick this too.

Bugsy had demodex as a pup and we've not seen it since.  We used the ointment and then we started the fish oil, Vit A, E, and C (the latter is only occasional, Bugsy can pick it out from a bowl full of food and leave it behind) and his coat and skin are really good - unless he has too much contact with allergens - but that is another story 

Good luck and thank you for taking care of your 'drop-ins'

How often should I bath them? What kinda of shampoo? Is there a certian brand or kind of vitamins that I can give them to help clear it up?

Frankie is only about 8 months old so I am hoping he will outgrow this. :/

Kyda, if you'll email me (a pm won't work -- gotta email so I can mail you an attachment) I'll send you the whole article I've done.  It has all the instructions on bathing and rinsing, on the vitamins/supplements and herbals AND on the things you have to do as far as avoiding triggers, etc.  It's LONG (like 23 pages) but you can print it out and mark it up.

The ointment is Goodwinol -- it's a pesticide in a cream form.  In my opnion & experince, it doesn't work at all well actually -- altho the pesticide kills the mites the cream actually feeds them and can cause the pores to infect.  In any event the mites will simply spread if they can't exist in one place.  That's the big risk with demodex -- it will spread and generalize over the entire body if you don't get the immune system online.