Stop Itching!
February 24, 2012 in Dog Grooming, Hot Topics, Leia's Corner
When my husband first got me Leia, I can not express to you the joy I felt. She passed the Rocco Test right there in her own front yard, she got along great with our son, she was beautiful, and she was Chihuahua. Everything I was looking for in a dog. I snuggled her into my arms on the way home, and discovered something very quickly about my wonderful dog.
My perfect puppy had a whole lot of fleas. To compound the problem, we’d taken Rocco with us to make sure any new additions we brought home were ones he approved of. What were the odds one didn’t migrate?
We took them by my workplace where Rocco and Leia both got flea baths and 30 day flea protection. I figured the bites would heal in a week, and there’d be no more itchy dog. Boy was I wrong.
Leia continued to itch for weeks. I changed her food, changed her shampoo, and called the vet.
Between these things, I learned a lot about itching dogs and what causes them. If you have an itching dog, check for these problems:
Fleas
They can hide from you. They can hide in short haired dogs, and just because you don’t see them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Use a flea comb to check the base of the tail, chest, belly and the top of the head. If you have a flea collar on the dog, check under it. Fleas frequently hide under them. If you don’t find fleas but you do find little tiny black grains, you found flea dirt.
If your dog has 30 day flea protection on, he may still be suffering from fleas. Flea protection works by killing any fleas that bite the dog. The dog still has a flea bite to show for the dead flea, and that bite still itches!
Food
A common culprit in dog allergies is grain, or rather the toxic insects frequently found in animal-grade cereals. Common signs of allergies include itching, black pigmented skin on the 
belly, red oozing ears, yeast infections and more. That’s a lot of problems! Unfortunately it takes anywhere from six weeks to six months for a food change to help with itching since it has to work from the inside out.
Leia’s major problem was her previous food. Switching her to EVO solved the problem…six weeks later. This can be frustrating when you’re buying an expensive new food and even though you can practically see your dog eating dollar signs, he’s still itching!
Environment
Dogs get hay fever too. If you’ve ruled out food and fleas, ask your vet about environmental allergies such as pollen. You can limit this by wiping down your dogs feet and belly with a cleaning wipe or even a damp rag every time they come in. Don’t forget shampoo and topical flea treatments as possible external allergies.
Genetics
Some dogs are prone to skin problems, and a few breeds have skin disorders specific to their breed alone. Unfortunately there is no easy solution for many of these diseases. Ask your vet for help, and do your research before getting a puppy.
Georgia has chronic atopic and contact dermatitis. Contact with what would require more extensive tests. It’s mostly under control these days though only 3 weeks or so ago, I blogged about a new episode.
Hosing her down after every walk in the park helps immensely. A change of food to a 98% home cooked natural diet with just a little organic kibble reduced her scabbiness as well. Medicated baths are the norm here
I’ve heard BARF or prey-model raw does wonders for bad skin in dogs. I have never had anything more serious than a few hot spots on my dogs, and neither of them have had hotspots since switching to evo.
What does your food consist of? When did you notice a change?
I’ve had issues with fleas myself. And my puppy has also encountered the dreadful mange. What made it harder was that since he was still a month old, we could not use the typical medication used for mange to him.
Fortunately, the vet introduce “Bayer Advocate for Puppies” to us.
Other than the ones I’ve mentioned, I am thankful that other than that, my dogs generally have healthy skin.
Huggies and Cheese,
Haopee
What is Bayer Advocate for Puppies?
Loved this post, lots of great info.
I’ve never had fleas luckily, I always get the dreaded ‘flea stuff’ I get very suspicious when Mum puts it on!!
I’ve also been on grain-free food since my family got me as a puppy…..
Paws crossed I stay flea free,
Your pal Snoopy
You have such a pretty coat Snoopy, anyone can see you’re getting the best possible care!
Just a side note- environmental allergies are MUCH more common then food allergies in dogs. Food ‘allergies’ are one of the most frequently mis-diagnosed ailments in the canine world.
Yuck! Fleas!!
I think it’s just misinformation there. Someone brings their dog to the vet for poor skin and coat. The skin and coat are poor because the dogs diet is poor. The vet switches the food to a quality diet, and the skin and coat transform. From the owner’s perspective, the easiest way to explain it is the dog had an allergy.
We live in a cool arid climate which is nice. Pops also feeds us all grain-free. Play bows,
RA
Grain-free really does seem to help doesn’t it?
I was actually surprised to read a small pamphlet that sais most dogs that we assume have allergies actually don’t. Rather, it may be due to the fact that they’re not getting the nutrition that they need. That’s why switching to a higher quality food can help alot.
When I started looking up resources about dog nutrition, I found some horrifying things that can go into low quality dog kibble=/
And what’s even worse is that if you don’t do your research and find out what each ingredient really means, you can be easily fooled into thinking something is healthy that isn’t. “Animal fat” for instance sounds innocent enough, until you find out that it can be fat from any animal…even euthanized cats and dogs.
Both my dogs started scratching in the fall. I was worried they were getting too much chicken (they eat raw, which is quite costly) I asked the lady who we buy the raw food from and she said acorns can cause a dog to be itchy. We had a very good acorn crop last year and apparently the acorns have mold spores, when the dog walks or lies on them…well you get it.
They get a little olive oil on their morning food and a chunk of coconut oil on their evening food. The coconut oil is a great anti-bacterial and helps with inflamation as well.
I’m glad you found something that works for Leia!!
What a great informational post! Fred and Gloria haven’t had fleas thank goodness! But they get the preventative treatment.
Hello, I saw your comment on my blog and decided to check yours out as well.
While neither of my pets have fleas because we use preventative treatment each month, Zoe (my dog) does have skin troubles. She’s had demodex mange since she was 5 months old. We do treat it but sometimes it just comes back due to stress and it was something that was passed down from her mother.