Mag, must avoid water entering ears when bathing- dog ears are built differently from human ears... once water goes in, difficult to get out. I don't think it's the equipment- must use clean cotton bud in the alcohol solution, UNLESS the groomer used the SAME cotton bud for both ears then it'd spread from one ear to the other. Don't think they are so crazy as to use just one cotton bud for ALL dogs. Hehe.
Rosie, does ur dog take rawhide? First a visit to the vet to check if nutritional problem, and teeth scaling all that... then maintain by encouraging dog to chew on rawhide- VERY effective in keeping tartar away. Avoid giving sweets or soft foods (eg. beef jerky, canned food) which tends to mush around their teeth and cause decay.
Katherine, be careful about the dog's weight. Fat may be cute to some but it's added stress on the dog- won't be good for your dog's health and lifespan. I give treats very rarely, just a tiny bit each time, but I'm selective about what kind- I only give Solid Gold beef jerky ($20 a pack and I make it last VERY long). Relatively healthy compared to most treats in market and extremely tasty. But really, treats are meant to be occasional treats, not part of their daily expected diet
Yuki, puppies are harder to handle- grown dogs with known temperaments are much easier. And maltese are always getting tangles in their fur... when I sent my non-maltese to a groomer, he commented that it's lucky that me being expecting and all, that we don't have a maltese which would entail more grooming time. Ours is relatively maintenance-free (but many other cons I won't go into). Maybe check out more breeds
