Can anyone help me figure out why my dog is itching?
I have a 2 yr old shi-tzu and ever since I got him as a puppy, he has had itching problems. I have taken him to the vet numerous times and the vet just tells me to keep switching his diet. I have switched his diet several times and nothing seems to help. He itches and bites himself all of the time! I feel so bad for him and I don’t know what to do. Sometimes he’ll get better for 2 days or so and then he’s right back to itching like crazy again. Sometimes there are little red bumps, sometimes big bumps and sometimes the skin is just red and raw from his itching or scabbed over. The itching is all over his body, but worse on his lower back.
Here are a few changes/ things I’ve tried: the product Nzymes, adding omega 3 fatty acids, raw food diet, switching dog foods, anti-itch sprays (helps temporarily), treated him for fleas (even though I haven’t seen any on him), only given him dog treats made of 100% chicken, stopped giving people food, hypoallergenic moisturizing creams, hypoallergenic shampoo.
I don’t know if this matters, but his skin specifically around his lower back and bum has started turning brown. When we got him he was black, shaved him and underneath it was gray and now he’s turning brown. Kinda funny, but I don’t know how normal this is! I read online that change in fur color can indicate something internal..Idk?? Also on his skin he has a lot of birthmark looking circles. I see them on dogs a lot, but he didn’t have them as a pup, so Idk how normal it is for him to get them at this age or not. I got him from a pet store and shortly after figured he came from a puppy mill because he couldn’t hardly walk 
Maybe his issues stemmed from there???
Anyone had similar problems and perhaps found a solution? I know all dogs are different, but maybe someone has a solution that worked for them that I haven’t tried!
Tagged with: anyone • figure • Help • Itching
Filed under: Anti Aging Diet
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he could have fleas. if so then you need to get some anti flea shampoo or get a flea collar. maybe he has an infection that bothers him.
Sounds like biotin deficiency to me. Biotin is one of the essential B vitamins that works as a nutritional enzyme for the synthesis of fatty acids, important building blocks for skin and coat. If changing diet did not help try supplementing him with Bio-Coat by Nickers International. I found this product to be great not only for bald spots, itching and shedding, but also for allergy related skin conditions. Good Luck!
Your frigging vet needs to do a skin scraping on the poor dog and find out what the heck this is.
My daugther just had this done on her GR and the dog has a bacterial skin infection all over her body.
Did you try an ALL natural dog food with no corn? We switched are dog to natural dog food and his itching is gone. Corn can cause skin allergies.
Also he may have fleas or other mange. I doubt it but you should check just to make sure.
If I may advise you, Get another vet. And stop changing his food. Give him some boiled chicken and rice, and nothing else have new vet test him for allergies. If you are bathing him often stop and only bath about every 6-8 weeks. And give him some children’s benadryl, about a quarter tsp. 2-3 times a day.
I don’t normally tell some one to do these things but I can’t stand to see a dog suffering.
MAYBE HE HAS FLEAS. MY DOG HAS THE SAME ISSUE. WHAT WE DO IS GET SOME EYE BROW PLYERS AND PICK THEM OFF HER IT WORKS BUT THE FLEAS KEPT COMING BACK.
Your problem quite honestly could be chicken. Dogs can develop allergies to chicken as well as grains. When you switched his food did you go to a grain free diet at all? How long did you wait on a particular food? It does take several months to notice a difference in the scratching.
My dog suffers from a sensitive stomach, probiotics in pills make her incontinent (I asked a question earlier) so I’m going to give her Activia in her diet and see if that works better, today while researching yogurt for dogs I read a section that says, daily doses of yogurt have been known to clear up itching issues in dogs, especially if they are “yeast” related because yeast is a fungus and yogurt has helped to cure a dog of itching and yeast problems.
In your position I would completely cut out chicken from your dogs diet that includes treats, I would put him on a 100% grain free/meat by product and chicken free food, (Taste of the Wild Pacific stream fits that bill) then along with the kibble mix in 2 tablespoons of Activia into his food at night (once per day is fine) and in about three weeks or a little more you should be able to see if it’s making any difference at all.
Whenever you buy from a petstore you are always getting a puppy mill dog, bred from a dog who has many issues and has passed them onto the pups. Puppy Mill is synonymous with big expensive medical bills.
Read this article and scroll to the last paragraph on curing itchy skin.
Good luck
what are you feeding him ??? many dogs and people are allergic to chicken and if that is what he is allergic to the treats you are giving him could be causing the itching, especially if his kibble has chicken too … you could try a unique protein source, something he has never had before … also, if you live in an area where there are definite seasons, is he more itchy in pollen seasons ??? might be environmental in that case … ask your vet about antihistamines … i give my dog with allergies benadryl and reactine but your vet would have to tell you the dose for your size dog … i also put a t-shirt on my dog to stop her scratching and traumatizing the skin which works really well … try not to give too much attention to the scratching behaviour either …
It sounds like your dog could benefit from allergy testing. I wouldn’t switch his food so often either. It takes 4-6 weeks to tell whether a certain food is the culprit or not.
your dog has flese