Thanks for all the advice!
I've had a handful of dogs, and taken care of many more,
but I've never been this involved in their health..
Maybe it's because of how sensitive/delicate my pooch is,
or maybe I just love her more
I think my biggest fault was not researching my vet choice better..
He got great reviews from what I could tell for the area,
but there has to be a vet more specialized in small breeds.
I also should've been more prepped on diet & flea meds before going,
instead of naively trusting a doctor of medicine :P
I've spent the last week really studying her diet,
but I should've known better when I saw the wall of science diet products in the office..
When I asked him about the patten line I had put her on months ago,
he went into a speech about how 2 factories make all the dry foods,
and they are just rebranded to market to people wanting to spoil their dogs..
and went on about how the organic/holistic trend is entirely marketing and has no benefits if it's even accurate about the production quality.
This led to him doting the greatness of science diet.
Also, I did research into flea meds, and when I asked him about revolution,
he explained that it's a 30 year-old chemical, and that nothing works better than what he prescribed..
and Frontline was dismissed as a mediocre product.
This is after I expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the prevention considering she gets bathed more than a lab.
So I'm going to try out some quality single meat foods like orijen,
and see what works best for her..
I do think the skin irritation is mainly from flea bites/sores,
because she's calmed down drastically since I reapplied the advantage.
...and she stops scratching after a shower,
so at least I've found a shampoo that agrees with her.
One concern I'm still lost on is that she seems to take forever to poop.
I take her out for for a good 15-20 minutes when I get home in the afternoon,
and she is always ready then,
but pretty much any other time it's a huge ordeal.
I take her out for 5 minutes at a time,
And when she does, it seems difficult for her.
I know I need to supplement something for her teeth, and maybe fish oils,
but what could I safely give her to help her out?
Oh, and I got her some baby carrots for snacks, and luckily she enjoys them