dog who scratches non stop

Duck Truck

Duck Truck

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Hi just asking for some advice please
We have always had Labrador's for 40 years.

Our daughter has a lab and her dog scratches non stop
tried various things to stop it
Vet said some dogs do.

Has anyone on here had a dog that used to scratch and done something that finally STOPPED it.
Apart from shotgun:sneaky:

maybe change of food
shampoo
medication
etc

Thanks
Kev
 
thanks Janine

No she's not on any anti flea treatment
she scratches winter and summer
always chewing feet scratching ears etc


We will collect all ideas and try them one at a time
may be a process of elimination
thanks for taking the time to reply
 
oh forgot to ask
What is the vinegar aimed at doing?
soothing?
killing pests?
reducing skin sensitivity?

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Our Golden Retriever went through a phase of scratching, it seems to become a habit with some dogs. We used one of those collars to stop the habit. It worked really quickly.
 
download.jpg
 
Hi 138go
she has had a collar on for two weeks
scratches constantly on or off
thanks for replying though
 
Very often these things are kicked off by an emotional upset, one of our collie's suddenly started scratching til she was weeping blood after the death of her sister.
Enter, Gus another border collie & we stopped Gabby from scratching every single time she tried it, took a while to break the habit & was tiresome, very well worthwhile.

I personally believe that shampoo is very bad for a dog, it washes out the natural oils & their skin oils into overdrive to replenish the oils.
A simple swim is a far better answer & our dogs never smell, well until they roll in fox poo lol.

A lot of so called dog foods can make the sweetest dogs coat smell, trial & error might be the answer?

Now on the issue of fleas, they need to be treated winter & summer or YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS.
Dogs & cats pick up flea eggs on a walk outside, so its virtually impossible to avoid.

Please remember that cat & dog flea treatments are different, use the wrong one & you might kill your beloved pet.

Have a look, none of our dogs ever have a bath, but they swim as often as possible, me thinks you'll agree that they have very healthy shiny coats?

GK Drivers.jpg

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Duck Truck said:
oh forgot to ask
What is the vinegar aimed at doing?
soothing?
killing pests?
reducing skin sensitivity?
Click to expand...

Have a google. - lots of info about ACV. It certainly helped one of my Cocker Spaniels when he had a bad reaction to his annual booster. One of the reasons why I only get my current Cocker vaccinated every 3 years.

www.akcpetinsurance.com

5 Natural Remedies to Help Your Itchy Dog | AKC Pet Insurance

If your dog is among those experiencing severe and unrelenting itchiness, read on to discover the best and most effective home remedies for itchy dogs and puppies.
www.akcpetinsurance.com
 
Very likely to be food related. Get them to try feeding raw food for at least a month (y) It's easy to do this these days even local pet shops keep a variety of raw frozen food.

If that does not work, then a low dose of steroids will do it. Keep them on it for a month and then taper off slowly over a second month. Surprised the vet did not try this first. They really need another vet.
 
Have you tried an antihistamine like Loritadine ? Son's Pointer gets them through the summer for his itching, but would suggest changing vets too.
Dougal gets Apoquel when his itching is bad (hereditary skin condition, breeder's fault) but that can work out expensive.
Edit, get him onto raw food too !
 
Nothing to lose using a flea treatment while you're working through other options. When children are mysteriously itchy it often turns out to be an infestation.
 
Who knows what crap they put in dog food these days, good advice above. We used to feed (my wife that is) our wolfhounds on tripe which looked bloody awful but they loved it and at least you can see what it is and know its not been mixed with god knows what.

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Before you go further, stop and make a plan. Try ONE thing at a time and then be systematic about it and give any new method, food, medication plenty of time to do it's job.

Personally i'd be looking at the skin and seeing if i could find anything unusual there, it's what the vet should be doing. If there's no evidence of skin irritation then i'd focus on diet as a first step, look for something that you can rely on like Royal Canin or Hills and give it 3 months, not less.

I'm assuming at this stage that fleas have been 100% ruled out ?

What other animals are in the house, how are they behaving and what contact does the dog have outside of the house with other animals (wild or domestic). Again these are all questions i'd expect any vet to have asked, if they didn't then move to a better one;)
 
Sounds like allergies. Try some piriton (chlorphenamine) to see if it helps. I give my 10kg dog a full 4mg tablet. If that helps you then need to find the cause.
 
You may have to do a number of things at the same time in order to try and resolve the scratching issue. Diet is really important as has been suggested and a decent flea treatment like Advocate (that also works against a number of other parasites). An antibacterial/antifungal shampoo like Malaseb might be worth trying (probably only available from the vet) or you could try a diluted Hibiscrub solution. If the current vet hasn't been all that helpful, try a different vet - maybe ask for a skin scrape.
 
Without knowing the age it's difficult to say but Cushings disease is a possibility as we found out with our Midge who kept nibbling, it was only when he was tested that we were able to discover the cause (I sincerely hope it's not though!).

In addition to what's already been suggested ref food etc, environmental things to check that could be causing a reaction:

  • bedding: change it for something which is hypoallergenic and don't let the dog onto anything that could cause irritation such as a wool rug (I come out in an itchy rash if I touch wool).
  • toys: some might have a filling that upset the dog's sytem when they chew it
  • garden/walks: see if there are midges/bugs in the grass - our Tazzy often gets 'nibbled' when she goes out late at night as well as me! :( Similarly is the dog being walked in an area where she could be contaminated or bitten by something?
  • air fresheners: the worse type are those that spray every now and then or use some sort of diffuser but even if they don't removing them may help (especially 'pot pourri' which can be poisonous to pets anyway) and go 'stinky home' for a while! :giggle:
  • perfume/deodorants: get all the household 'humans' to avoid using anything for a while as some dogs can be hyper sensitive to such things ... more of a stinky home!!! :LOL:
  • cleaning products/washing powder etc: reduce the use of these as much as possible ... yup, even more stinky! :ROFLMAO:
One thing you could try is looking after the dog at your home for a while and see if that helps reduce or eliminate the scratching, if so then you know its something that is happening at her home that's the problem and not the dog itself.

Some dogs, though, are just itchy in which case an anti-histamine would help (you can give them human ones but check out which ones as I can't remember off hand). Our Lily has mad moments where she'll have a mad session rubbing up against the sofa, on the floor etc, but then it stops. Our Tazzy gets an itcy bum and can do a brilliant 'bum dance' twirling round like mad, there's nothing wrong with her rear end (gland etc are sorted regularly) so we suspect it's because she likes to go for a poo in the garden borders rather than on the grass and either gets prickled on the plants or the bugs have a nibble whilst she's in the 'poo position'! As she's quite thick coated on her body, neck etc, her bum, tummy and legs are the only areas that are really 'exposed' for them to easily bite!

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Duck Truck said:
thanks Janine

No she's not on any anti flea treatment
she scratches winter and summer
always chewing feet scratching ears etc




Mites in the dogs ears? de-wax might help

Mites in dogs feet? turn dog on back and prise pads apart, you shoul be able to see the little buggers. You can , if careful remove them by hand. just have to keep at it a couple or few times


I had a beagle cross with the same problem. Got the vet to treat the ears, succeeded in curing the feet meself.
Click to expand...
 
Our girl staffie scratches herself raw at the start of summer every year.
Vet could only give her a steroid injection and that was it.
This year I took her to a different vet who put her on Apoquill tablets, half of one per day. Within four days we had a different dog, no scratching or nibbling and now two months later her hair's grown back and she's loving life again.
Try mentioning Apoquill to the vet
 
If you need any medication/treatment for your dog (or any pet) that is prescription only check out the price before committing to buying it from the vet as it will likely be a heck of a lot cheaper online even allowing for the vet's prescription charge. The meds that Romy is on would cost us around 3 times what they do if we could only get them direct form the vet!
 
Duck Truck said:
Hi just asking for some advice please
We have always had Labrador's for 40 years.

Our daughter has a lab and her dog scratches non stop
tried various things to stop it
Vet said some dogs do.

Has anyone on here had a dog that used to scratch and done something that finally STOPPED it.
Apart from shotgun:sneaky:

maybe change of food
shampoo
medication
etc

Thanks
Kev
Click to expand...
I had a girlfriend like that once....I’m afraid the only answer is the shotgun...

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Duck Truck said:
oh forgot to ask
What is the vinegar aimed at doing?
soothing?
killing pests?
reducing skin sensitivity?
Click to expand...

Cider vinegar is used for fungal infections in humans such as ringworm
 
If he is biting and gnawing his feet and scratching his ears and scratching round the shoulder area then that is usually a food allergy, I would most definitely be changing the food if he was my dog.

Silvia

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