What to do for an itchy dog?

Question

My dog is constantly itching everywhere, any home remedies or explanations.

Answer 1

You should check out this website. It helped my dog.  

Answer 2

Pick up some otc Hydrocortisone spray from the pet shop and check with your vet on your dogs dosage of Benadryl. Look for the root causes, most often it is a food (grain/corn/filler) allergy but it can really be anything in the environment.

or it can be fleas or mange...

Edit: I am starting to treat my personal dogs food over to Taste of the Wild due to skin allergies. He's itching all over too on Merrick's Before Grain.

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/pro...

Answer 3

If he's chewing his feet, I would say allergies.  Even if he's not, try putting him on a better quality food (like Canidae or Wellness).  He could be allergic to grains (a lot of dogs are).  Fleas maybe?  Or ticks.  Take him to the vet and they could check him out.  And try luke warm chamomile tea on his skin.  Very soothing.  And if all these things don't turn out to be the problem and they can't figure it out, he could just be bored.  Take him for longer walks and it could help.

Answer 4

well try putting tick medican and get a flea colloar for your dog and if that dosent work give it a bath and use dangreff shandpo because my dog has dangreff and we use that on her and she dosent itch anymore

Answer 5

Have you checked him/her for fleas? When you see your dog chewing a certain spot, move the hair around right there and look for any fleas. If you look through the hair and see any brown dirt stuck on him, that's usually flea dirt and says your dog has fleas. If it's not fleas, you could go by a pet supply store and get an oatmeal shampoo. It really helps calm a lot of dog's skin. Another skin irritant is low quality dog food. If you're feeding your pup something you can get at the grocery store, odds are it isn't very high quality. Taking corn out of a dog's diet can do amazing things for it's skin and coat. If nothing you do helps, go see the vet. It could be something that medication can fix.

Answer 6

If you are feeding anything with corn, soy, wheat, dairy, yeast, sugar, colors, dyes, flavorings, or/and chemical preservatives such as ethoxyquin, then switch to either a grain free food or a homemade diet.

Welness core, Taste of the wild, Orijen, Evo, Blue Wilderness are just a few grain free foods.

With richer foods, you have to feed less. If your dog starts having runny stools, try lowering the amount of food and mixing in PLAIN mashed pumpkin(not the pie filling).

If your dog is a large/giant breed pup(under 18 months) then do not feed the high protein foods. Stick with a food that is under 23% in protein and the adult formula. Do not feed puppy food or large breed to large/giant breeds. This does not apply to a raw diet.

Home remedy if it is the food:

Dogs are supposed to have meat, bones, and organs, preferably fresh, wholesome, and unprocessed. This is why many feed a homemade raw diet.

ww.rawfed.com/myths

www.rawmeatybones.com

www.rawlearning.com

A raw diet is typically cheaper than kibble worth buying.

For a dog fed raw, it is typically 2 to 3 percent of the dogs ideal body weight. If the dog is a pup(under 18 months for most dogs) it can be around 10% of the dogs current body weight(which sounds like a lot but it is around the same amount you will feed when she/he is an adult. Most raw feeders start at one percentage and adjust it as needed.

It can take up to six weeks to see the differences from a new diet.



A raw diet with most dogs causes a detoxification process. Detoxification is when the body fights off everything at once and typically happens a few days after going onto the diet. The current symptoms get worse, such as the allergies, runny stool, and the bad breath. This is where many owners back out. When owners dont back out, they see the dog get better within the coming weeks and then one day(yes you just wake up and find a completely different dog) your dog is fine. Everything starts to fall into place.

http://www.bigdogsporch.com/ can tell you more about dogs and their diets.

Answer 7

What are you feeding him?

A lot of dogs are sensitive if not allergic to corn and wheat.  Most commercial dog foods have a lot of either corn, wheat or both.  The easiest thing to do is to find a good dog food that does not contain these things.  Nutro Ultra (which you can get at PetSmart) doesn't contain any corn or wheat.  Try switching him over and see if the problem resolves itself.  If it doesn't, it's time to call in the vet.

Answer 8

First make sure it isn't fleas.  Itching can be a symptom of a great many different things.  It could be an allergy; inhalant, contact or food (food allergies are somewhat rare), a fungal infection, fleas, mites, or ticks or something else.  Has she had a bath recently?  Maybe the suds weren't rinsed completely off, which can make a dog itchy.  Has someone put cologne on her?   Did she get misted accidentally with air freshener?  Rinse it off.  If it is just dry skin, you can try an oatmeal dog shampoo but I haven't truly found that to be very effective, long term.  If rinsing her off, to remove cologne or leftover suds doesn't help, and you do use a quality anti-flea product, then see your vet.