My parents have a small dog and she has actually dug at her back till it was raw. I first thought it was fleas but i have tried all kinds of shampoos,medications,collars and nothing has worked. She has no hair left on her back by her tail…she has scabs all over that spot and she just keeps chewing at herself. I check her for fleas all the time but can only find maybe one or two one her each time…its not like she is covered with fleas. Also her stomach is all red and blotchy….i have tried everything for her and i dont know what else to do…please help

My bull mastiff has fleas… in fact all three of my dogs do.
I don’t know what else to do to get rid of them. I have put Frontline on them… Bathed them in Dawn (vet told me to)… Put Frontline on them again… used flea spray in my house, used a flea, mosquito, tick treatment in my yard…. But low and behold they still have fleas.
My bull mastiff is losing hair in little patches. They are smaller than a dime but he has about 150 of these little patches. They have popped up almost overnight.
He has an appointment with the vet today, but I was wondering what could cause those patches. They are in places that he can’t reach, so I know they aren’t ALL from him chewing at fleas.
What’s wrong with my guy?

I am bummed.

I’m clueless about most skin conditions on dogs, but I have a dog in my care right now that has a minor flea allergy. Minor as in its treatable. He has little to no hair on his lower back due to chewing it all off. We killed off the fleas and we’re bathing him in medicated shampoo for sensitive and dry skin to ease the itching.
Is there a faster way to get his coat to return?
He’s also “greasy” feeling. No matter HOW many baths he always feels oily. We aren’t drying out his skin via baths or using any topical products on him, and he’s (now) on Canidae ALS rather than Purina Dog Chow.
Can we make the hair grow faster and thicker (SAFELY) and how can we “degrease” him?
We have no idea if this is a natural breed trait (as we have NO clue what he is) or if he’s just icky.

There is no one definitive way to diagnose if your dog suffers from food allergy. There are few factors to observe in order to determine the causes of food allergy. Dogs are intolerant to certain foods may have physical problems such as diarrhea, vomiting, flatulence or bloating of the stomach.

Food allergies are caused by an incorrect immune response to the current food that is eaten. Dogs also suffer other symptoms of allergies rather than the actual intolerance. Itchy skin is the most common symptom of a dog that is allergic to the food he is currently eating.

This itching is usually found on the sides of the dog, tail, butt, legs, face and ears. The food allergy will relieve soon after setting or changing your dog’s diet. The removal of the recently new foods to your dog will solve this problem. Adding only one new food at one time over a period of several weeks will help to determine what foods your dog can tolerate.

It is difficult to find the cause of food allergies if the allergy starts after your dog is on the same food for many years, and no changes or new foods were introduced to his diet. This is because the immune system responds to a sudden sensitivity to the allergen, and is harder to figure out what is causing this problem. In this case, you will have to start from scratch to try and find out which dog food has caused the problem. Then, eliminate this dog food and the current diet should be stopped.

Next, put your dog on a diet of food he has never eaten. If he is fed on a chicken dog food, you can try different protein-based chunks. Try to avoid grain-based dog food as grains are the common ingredient that causing allergy for many dogs.

After starting a new diet, it may take several weeks for your dog to slowly relieve from allergy problem. Introduce a new diet consisting of a basic essential ingredient, but the food should nutritionally complete. There are many excellent high quality, chemical free, grain free dog food available and these foods are the only basic ingredients necessary for your dog optimal health.

There are also many other types of allergies are not food related, such as infection of parasites and fleas, environmental or seasonal allergies. These should be eliminated as the cause of the problems of your dog and be treated differently. It is not always a quick process, but if your dog can relieve discomfort, it is worth the time to investigate. Lastly, always consult a veterinarian if symptoms are sudden and severe.

I have a bichon frise and a cairn terrier, they’re constantly biting at their paws. I was told that the bichon frise just did it ‘cos they’re nervous dogs, but then the other dog started to do the same.
We’ve put flea stuff on both of them and even given them suggested allergy pills.