Itchy Dog

Sam:

I would talk to the vet again. When a dog itches like that - it's usually a problem. My girlfriend, Pam, had a chocolate lab, who had allergies and would literally chew herself raw and bleeding. They have to give her children's chewable Claritin or Zyrtec to help with it. Yes, they have allergy pills for dogs - but they were really expensive and they found that the Claratin and Zyrtec worked just as well and was not as expensive.

My dog had the same problems. He used to scratch and bite the area on his back just above his tail till he had no hair on it anymore and sometimes to the point it was bleeding. We tried the special shampoo also and it really didn't do anything. Then one day I was walking him and a neighbor saw him. He asked if I fed him dry dog food and when I told him I did, he said I should put a teaspoon of cooking oil in his food everyday to stop the itching. That worked! Within a week I noticed he wasn't scratching or biting himself anymore. And the hair was starting to grow back. After that, he got the oil in every meal. We never had anymore problems.

We have a dog that is half lab and half golden retriever. We have dealt with the itchy skin for years. It started around 1 and she's 11 now. In our case, she has severe allergies and the itchy can turn into staph infections. So for a while we needed to give our dog weekly allergy shots. I have been told labs are prone to allergies, our dog is an extreme case. Assuming you are dealing with allergies, I have some suggestions. We do give our dog benedryll some days. I was told the dosage was one pill for every 25lbs. But I would double check with your vet. It does make our dog very sleepy. We try to give it to her only at times she really needs it. Baths are a no no. It will dry out skin. When we do bathe, we spray our dog down with half vinegar and half water. They only smell like a pickle while wet. Once the dog is dry, you won't notice it. THis helps balance the pH in the skin. Occasionally, we do just spray her down without a bath, but it doesn't seem as effective as when she's wet. Brushing helps. On bad days our dog may get brushed twice a day. Fish oil pills may help too (again, I would double check with your vet). We give our dog one pill a day. These suggestions probably won't cure anything, but may help alleviate some of the symptoms your dog is having.

allergies as others have said. IF you dont know to what and you dont have money to find out. Then trial and error. usually dog food related. Try to get rid of food that has lots of grain, go with lamb. If it reduces, then you know your on the right track. If its still there but less, then you need to get a really high end food. It also can be allergies to detergents, mold, insects, pests, and smoke.
There is also a very common thyroid issue that causes hair loss and skin itching, have that checked. Last but not least, I swear by it. Fish Oil pills. large dog, one human dose a day. Small dogs one every 2 days. 1200mg. In there food or in a treat. My dog loves to just eat em.
Our dog doesnt have allergies but noticed she has dandruff. Shes not itching a lot, but noticed it more this winter. Her coat was not very glossy, and we marked it up to her breed mix. Then someone suggested using these. I have a MILLION tons (exaggeration) of them left from my last pregnancy. So I started her on them. In a week, she stopped the dandruff. In two weeks she stopped itching and chewing her tail. Now after 6 weeks, she is SUPER shiny. She doesnt smell like fish, she is not oily, but she is super glossy. We get so many comments on her pretty color and high glossy sheen!!

This is the WORST when this happens in a dog like labs. They have been bred to carry things around in their mouths (oral) so it's VERY hard to get them to stop. I've fostered a few dogs and have a lab and lab mix currently. This can also called lick granulomas (google to see if it fits your dog) a behavorial issue. I've even had to put an elizabethan collar on a dog so they would let a wound heal and not lick. It took awhile but when it was finally healed completely the dog left it alone.

Some physical things you can do are as you said, brushing might help. Lots of activity. Also make sure food isn't the issue. I have a dog that is sensitive to foods that were for allergy prone dogs. This is can take some trial and error, I saw Elisa had narrowed her dogs issue down to the dye.

If his skin isn't broken you can put something on his fur that tastes bad (talk to the vet about what would work best). When you do shampoo him, make sure to rinse rinse rinse and then rinse again. Did I mention you should rinse? That seems to help my chocolate lab. I would also try the shampoo SfromTX recommended. I'm going to look for that if our lab goes through another bout of itchies.

All the best, this is just not fun and you have to hit so many possible areas that cause the problem, top that off with the behavioral thing and it can drive one batty.

we used to put a bit of olive oil on their food.. it helped.. good luck!!!

My dog gets Oatmeal baths at the PetSmart Groomers - they do a WONDERFUL job with him. I suggest trying that to see if their full treatment for dry skin will help. I also suggest changing the dog's food to a food made for sensitive skin - we use Nutro's Oatmeal, Rice and Chicken it's for "medium" sized dogs but just fine for your large breed as well. Our lab's skin has never been better since changing his food and implimenting groomings every 6 weeks!

He may have an allergy to some element in his diet. Many dogs do, and itching/scratching until they have bald patches is one "symptom". Talk to your vet and see if they can recommend a different food for him that eliminates the most common allergens for dogs.

I'm assuming, of course, that any sort of mites have been eliminated by your vet as a possible cause?

We have a 2 rescue Yorkies who both have problems with chronic itchy skin. We put them on a duck and potato dog food and duck and potatoe treats and water only diet. And when they have a hot spot we use witch hazel. You can get cortisone sprays, but one of our Yorkies has a liver disorder and he gets toxic if we use the cortisone. And we give them Benadryl if it seems to be allergy related.

Hi! We had a dog tormented by being itchy. We got nowhere with the vet. We finally figured out he was allergic to the dyes in the dog food. If you aren't already diving him something like Nutro give it a try. Good luck!

we use an anti-itch oatmeal shampoo on our dogs thru most of the year, because of allergies. With one of them, we have had to see the vet for "special" shampoo....

this dog's a 3yo, & it seems that his coat is changing. After he chewed himself bare, the new hair is coming in very different from the rest of his coat. The rest of his coat is that of his predominant breed - Old English Sheepdog. The new hair is that of 25% of his DNA - rottweiler. & since my family has a wickedly twisted sense of humor....we've been calling him "BlackButt"....because all of this new hair is around his stump of a tail! Big ole fluffy mutt...until you look at his entire rearend. 2 cute!

We've had dogs in the family with this issue. The vet prescribed cortisone shots and cream for them. My mother has also used an OTC liquid described as being for "hot spots."

when my dog had dry skin...the vet recommended getting vitamin E tablets and breaking 1 or 2 tablets open and putting the oil on his dog food. to help his skin. worth giving it a try. oh also i've given my dog benedryl occasionally for itchiness - but i would talk to your vet about dosage because it depends on weight.

Sam,
Try coconut oil. Feeding it to him AND putting it on the itchy spots. It is a healthy food - albeit not something normal for a dog - but it is also anti-fungal as well as anti-microbial, etc.

good luck,
M.

Fish oil pills....try it if you want a miracle!!! Poor ole fella!!!

Our Yorkie was the same way. She would end up with bloody spots on her rump and hips. One time it was so bad the vet had to give her antibiotics. We have used the prescription shampoo and it didn't work either. When I caught her chewing, I sprayed her itchy spots with an anti itch spray.
Finally, about a month ago I was desperate. She was waking us all up at night thumping the floor as she scratched. I knew she was miserable. I went to Petsmart and found a shampoo called Vet's Remedy Itch Relief Shampoo for Dogs. It has Eucalyptus, Lidocaine and Hydrocortisone. It was about $16 but it works!! Usually after a bath and blow dry she scratches like crazy for at least a few days. She hasn't been scratching at all.

Mine too, she's a 10 year old black lab/border collie mix. Always had bad skin and allergies, but her age is definitely advanced it to a whole new level, in which the constant itching is also giving her super stinky bacterial and staff infections, (that require heavy duty and expensive meds).

Our vet said to bathe her approx 2x a week with the prescription shampoo, but then level off to only 1x a week or every other week when she begins to heal so as to not dry out her skin. We also give her a daily dose of Benedryl (also recommended by our vet) and it seems to be helping. Get the right dosage for her weight by calling a vet's office. I used to work at a vet, and it's a common prescription. You can also put an ointment on her hot spots and itchy areas that can help soothe them. Go to your local PetSmart and they have it there.

Make sure he doesn't have hot spots... staph is naturally occurring on dogs skin and ours, and if his skin is sensitive to the weather, causing itching/scratching, the staph bacteria can get into his skin and cause hot spots, in which case, he'll need an antibiotic.

My dog has always had sensitive skin, AND he has allergies, and the poor thing has been battling hot spots for months!

my friend gives her dog Benadryl, as per instructions from her vet. I once had a cat like you described, but we ended up putting her to sleep, because no matter what we did or the vet did nothing helped and she was in misery. I hope you find something that helps.

Treatment depends on what is causing it. Bathing frequently with the right shampoo is not problem. My dog has atopy/contact alegies. During the grass season he gets daily bathes or at least rinsed off. Not a big fan of the prescription shampoos. I use an oatmeal and aloe shampoo as often as I like. We used to battle staph and yeast infection before I started using a more gentler approach, which is simply bathing.
While we never did allergy testing, I have through a couple years of struggling and working with a holistic/traditional vet been able to pin point the allergy and devise a treatment plan. Not all vets are good with allergies, find on that is.
But yours could have a food, atopy, parasite, or several other ailments. Steroids on an as need basis can be a life saver for hot spot flareups. I always have a supply on hand.

Take him to a different vet. He could be allergic to fleas. Fleas are year round and the worst ones are the snow fleas in winter. (That's that black pepper stuff you see on the snow.) I had a dog that was allergic to fleas and it was a nightmare. Now I have a dog with greasy skin, which also can cause itching and dry/bald spots. If the dog is allergic to fleas, then they do need a bath every week. The difference is that you use a mild conditioning dog shampoo and oil after the bath. My mom's vet had her using Keri bath oil on the dog to keep the skin from drying out. If the dog is oily, then you give them a bath every 2-3 weeks with a mild dog shampoo. My current dog does get bald spots if I don't wash him when he gets oily. Walmart has some nice gentle shampoos. I don't use the medicated ones like ScratchX unless his itching gets really bad. When we got our dog from the SPCA he was bald on his belly, now he's all fluffy! Who knew his belly was beautiful cottony white fur?