where my dog has been licking.
turns out he likes hot pepper.
Hates white vinegar tho, I found out. I just rubbed a handful of white vinegar around his fur around the spot, and clipped back the hair that was sticking to the raw wound. It dried over night, he has not gone back for more licking as long I did the vinegar twice a day.
I think there is a lot of varibility among dogs and locations of hot spots and reasons why they lick.
I did find out that using antihistamines really seems to help when he is licking his paws..he seems to have allergies which makes his feet itch.
Ruled out fleas, since he is on Advantage monthly.

but Benedryl makes her short of breath. I don't know if they could give her anything else or not. She really does lick her paws a lot, but I haven't see any hot spots there.

The other thing that really helped my dog was getting him off corn/cornmeal based dry food and onto lamb with rice
dry food
PLUS
2 teas. of olive oil in his dry food ( 1 teas. am and pm feeding)
Because he is 80#, he does better on 2 smaller feedings.

There is a lot of online info about decent dog foods.
Here is a site that I found very helpful:
http://www.dogaware.com/

for the link

I have seen it in pet stores

oh the cone of shame made me laugh, had to use one last year when my lab mix had a lump removed on her leg

I put medication on them that the vet gave me, but it seemed to sting and became a huge throw down to get it on. Neosporin did not seem to help much, nor did the oral antibiotic. After we switched foods, they cleared up so it must have been an allergy. We went to Taste of the Wild which is expensive per bag, but more dense so the dogs eat less of it. Also much less waste to clean up in the yard.

looked on the website that dixiegrrrrl shared above and Diamond has several that have been recalled
and Taste of the Wild is listed on there. It says all foods manufactured at Diamond facilities should be avoided for now
http://www.dogaware.com/

I switched my dog to Taste of the Wild when he was old enough for adult dog food. He loved it, but just as we were about to buy the second bag that recall happened. Had I known it was made by Diamond I wouldn't have ever given it to him... big huge company that has a very long and prolific history of problems with their foods and recalls.

Blue Buffalo is a really good food and they make a variety of grain free ones. It's a small family owned company out of Connecticut that never seems to have any problems with their foods nor be involved in any recalls. He likes it, so I'm sticking with this one. So far it's the only one I've felt like I can trust. I fed my last dog the Blue Buffalo in the can when he had the cancer, and it did an AMAZING job of keeping weight on him. Even the vet was impressed with how long he lasted with the bone cancer, and a lot of it had to do with his not completely shriveling up to a bag of bones. Cancer just eats its host, and victims of the disease drop much needed weight like crazy even when they're eating relatively well. I had good luck with the company with my cancer ridden dog, but Yoshi didn't seem to like their puppy food so I didn't think he'd like their adult food either. But I found one of the grain free dry Blue Buffalo foods that he does like, so now all is good.

Now if Blue Buffalo ends up getting bought out by some huge company I may scream. I really see a huge problem with the giant companies that make dog food since it seems like not a one of them can get it together on quality control and have perpetual problems with tainted food and recalls because of it.

A reaction to flea bites? Food, mold, grass or pollen allergies? Sometimes it difficult to figure out but if it's seasonal you can rule out food. A dog's skin can react to grass or pollen just like our sinuses. If you can eliminate the cause or at least reduce his exposure that is great.

That said....please be careful of medications from your vet. Some of the newer meds are producing very bad side effects. I think hot pepper is kind of mean and must be very painful in an open wound. Prednisone works while they are taking it and it does offer relief and a chance for the wound to heal. The problem is that even low doses of Pred is not good for anyone and hot spots reoccur. Antibiotics lower the risk of infection and antihistamines might help. Your Vet will help you with the initial treatment.

Clip the hair around the area and keep it as clean as possible. Try walking your dog on leash and on pavement for a few days and see if his condition improves. Hills and Eukanuba make a food for dogs with skin allergies. It might be worth trying. I brew up a big pot of camomile tea, put it in a spray bottle and keep it in the fridge. You can spray it right on the spot if you are sitting around with your dog and he starts to fuss with it (it's nice for your face too).

The gold standard is to go to a specialist, have your dog allergy tested to discover what the cause is and get the allergy shots every year. Expensive? Yes. But in the end it can save you a lot of money and work.

Spraying with a first aid anti itch spray (like lanacaine) was soothing to the spot and my dog did not like the taste and left it alone.

Even better, you can buy it in the drugstore for about 9 bucks

The use of steroids is clearly controversial. Our vet, who has GSDs for years herself, uses them, but sparingly.

As soon as we see Big scratch persistently in the same spot, we start her out with over the counter hot spot sprays, any first aid cream with lanocaine in it, and antihistamines. For her, the two most effective have been cheap-o CVS brand "antihistamine" and generic Claratin. I alternate them from one day to the next. The vet says you can give antihistamines forever, to no ill effects. When all that stops working (maybe once every two years that happens) we give her a course of steroids. That *always* stops her itching, allowing the hot spots to clear up.

Our groomer suggested a good brush out and an oatmeal bath. That worked, too, because it was so soothing, but it had no lasting effect.

Finding the cause can be VERY expensive, with lots of testing. Our vet suggests just treating it symptomatically unless it becomes really, really chronic and bad. So far, we're not even close to that.

Good luck.




And dontcha love those big GSD beasties? They're as sweet as sweet can be.

The vet shaved around the spots on her neck and armpit (do dogs have armpits?). He did 3 skin scrapings from various areas (around her eye, neck, and under her arm) and he looked at them right away, ruling out dendritic mites. Said it could be allergy related and suggested we start weaning her off her Science Diet that we've been mixing in with her Blue Buffalo and onto solely Blue Buffalo.

We came home with 14 days of antibiotic, a spray (Gen-Sooth?), a dose of Revolution (he said it worked on other types of mites that Frontline doesn't take care of and that can be hard to see under a standard microscope), and our standard script for Tylan (to be taken as needed for her digestive system). We're to clean the spots at least 2x daily and apply the spray to dry it up. He said if the itching seems bad, that we could try Benedryl and he gave us 2 doses. He seemed to think her bout with shortness of breath was because the dose the previous vet prescribed was a bit much for a 25 lb puppy. Now that she's 75 lbs, he thought she'd be OK with it. But he did say to try it in the morning so they are in the office if there is a problem. And, if she insists on scratching her neck, she'll need to wear the cone.

Love my vets The whole thing was just over $100. My previous vet (a chain, VCA) would have easily been over 3x that much.

Science diet is not a great food.

It takes the fire out and soothes. It stings but only for a second or two. Use it several times/day. Try a raw diet (introduce slowly). Don't use any antibiotic sprays, pills, or steroids. You don't want to stop the process as it is the body's way of purging toxins. Don't feed dog biscuits (like Milk Bone) or any grain-based foods or treats. Good luck!

One more thing... use cold compresses two or three times/day.

We were using it with her since she was diagnosed with pancreatic insufficiency (PI). It was one of the foods that she could tolerate. After talking with the vet, I think we'll move to a 50/50 mix w/ Blue Buffalo (BB) this week and for our vacation, then adjust it to 40/60 when we get back. She's been on 60 SD/40 BB for a year now and regained the weight she lost during her PI diagnosis.

The spots look great right now, but the meds they gave her won't last our whole vacation, so I'll talk to the daycare/kennel owner and pack some witch hazel in Noelle's things, just in case. They said they were very familiar with dealing with hot spots, and will continue the 3-4x daily treatment.

We've cautioned them about giving Milk Bones or any treats with unknown ingredients. We've also cautioned them about drying her spots thoroughly when they have 'splash days'. She's on pancreazyme (3 pills w/ each meal), and that helps her keep her weight up and other digestive issues controlled. It's why we've been dreading changing her food, but the doc thinks that if we change it slowly enough, that it will only help.

Nupro worked. It is a powdered supplement that you mix with water and it makes a gravy that easily can be mixed onto the kibble. Cheapest online rather than vet. http://www.doggiefood.com/nucafo.html

yesterday...she has been losing hair and has some hot spots.I used Calendula gel on
the hot spots that gave her temporary relief,absorbs well and not greasy .
The vet said she had seasonal allergies and gave her Hydroxyzine.I have had
her on Blue Buffalo for 18 months..she has done really well with that.