A lady that has a 3 year old black boy from one of my breedings just recently contacted me about a problem her boy is having with itchy skin and isn't sure what to do. This is a snippet of what she told me:

"I've tried changing his food, had him in to the vets a couple different times and no luck. He constantly licks his rear and has a huge bald spot there and also on his hip (which may be rubbing off from his collar rubbing there all the time he's licking). Now recently he has a balding spot on his tail. Any suggestions?? The vet checked him last summer for worms, parasites and skin rashes. At that time he did have worms...not round worms but coccidia (not sure on the spelling). That was cleared up with medication but they didn't find anything else wrong with him. He's in great health and loves chasing Mandy around the yard and full of energy but just not sure on the whole itching thing."

Now as far as I know, none of this boy's siblings has had any issue with skin problems. My first thought was a food allergy and I feel as though maybe that's what I should suggest to her first. Maybe suggest she go to a grain free diet?
I'm not sure and want to help her. I figured with all of the great people on this list and all the combined years of experience...I wanted to post and see if anybody else has any suggestions I can offer this woman. This is a great dog family and I feel bad that Toby, is having such a problem and must be a bit miserable with it.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd really appreciate them! Thanks so very much.
Kathy

The first thing I'd put him on is Revolution, incase it's a flea allergy or a mite that is hard to detect, and from there would carefully try to rule out food, (sometimes folks switch foods too often trying to figure it out and this alone can cause problems,)any possible use of carpet cleaners or powders, etc......... Also check his anal glands.

Sorry to hear this, it's so frustrating trying to figure this sort of thing out. Good luck.

I agree - start with religious flea prevention, and move on from there.

He could be suffering from spring allergies. All the leaf buds on the trees are popping at this time of year releasing lots of pollen. If the dog is sensative to pollens that will cause him to itch all over. The licking and chewing near his tail could be from his anal glands being full. It is not uncommon for dogs with allergies to have a problem with their anal glands as well. It wouldn't hurt to take the dog to the Vet and have those glands checked and speak to the Vet about trying an antihistamine such as Benadryl to reduce the itchy skin. Allergies are not always food related. My dogs have seasonal environmental allergies....spring and fall.

Her best bet is to find a veterinary dermatologist and have the dog tested. Yes it's expensive, but in the long run, she'll end up saving money.
Kathy

Well you have no Idea I had a call again about a female this time 2 years old that this the same thing only little blisters also around her muzzle area a bald but and also her one hip area only. I had this last year to with a male different litter 2 years old at that time. They had the dogs both of them to the vet several times and mailed me for help when the paws started to crack and bleed and splits from all the licking. Well I knew right away what it was. The puppy buyer that called me the other Day on Tuesday wrote to me about all of this. She said they even ripped all the carpet out of there house for her do to the vet saying she had a problem with it. Well no better. I had this happen to me believe it or not with my 2 house pups and I knew it had to be the same problem that were on Linoleum that I started to Clean up with a new invention I thought was pretty NEAT!!!
The swiffer mop and also the dry one to get hair and dust up off my floors. I kept thinking what have I changed and what is causing this after many trips to the vet and many medications for this problem.He also said could be the carpet and may have to remove it.
Well again I kept thinking and then it hit me the chemicals in the solution to clean the floors. Only itchy and sore on the areas that had contact from walking ,laying,and sitting all the time on the linoleum.
So I figured well I will clean up this mess strip it all down and re-clean with clorox and hot water then clean again with pure hot water to rinse several times. Yes it did dull my floor but guess what after doing this for a few weeks ands treating the pups with a good shampooing and utter cream on the areas that were affected and also kids socks on there paws at night with the same cream after gently cleaning the paws after about 8 days all was well they were better.
There was something in the Swiffer that did this to them they went right into the trash and the solution down the toilet no more in this house only Clorox cleanup and pine sol! They were irritated by the chemicals for sure. I told the first person to check with his wife about changing any products for cleaning in her home and about 3 months prior she also had started to use the same thing on her kitchen and bathroom floors. Also the Puppy buyer that called on Tuesday about her girl Bailey and going to another specialist this upcoming week was also using the swiffer products as I was even the dry ones. I explained what happened to COCO and my pups and she was really upset that she did not call me sooner because she could of stopped using it to see if this was the problem or not. But the bumps around the mouth little blisters reminded me of this mess from licking there irritated paws as Co CO also had and my pups I knew what it had to be. Her vet said nothing uncommon that this happens in Labs. Well I told her not that I know of without a reason then I told her mine.
She was off to call her vet to get the right things to help Bailey Because I told her other things that corresponded with the same problems with my pups .And who ever heard of fleas in the winter time if you keep the dog treated for them and none on the dog and your house is not infested and also no fleas to bite !!This has been going on for over a year and also has never really ever been resolved after all kinds of test and scrapings nothing just more vet visits and now a specialist.
I hope they do get the treatment on Bailey and clean up the floors and she will be OK soon. Some dogs and Cats can not tolerate the cleaning chemicals as I can not just from antibacterial dish sop but I use rubber gloves now to do the dogs dishes no more split cracking fingers and sore red irritated hands.

i would def tell your friend/pup owner to bring her dog to a specialist/her vet and have a allergy test done. make sure that you rec. to her to run a food one also. although they are not accurate and the vet will try and talk her out of it. it will at least give her something to work with.
when i first got my lab jake he had a really bad allergy prob. poor dog had to go through it for almost two years. for prob. half that time i was trying to have my vet do the allergy test but she said that it doesn't always work and owners usually never follow through cause of all the shots and stuff. i said i dont care i want it done.i am not going to lie to you, at times it was a big P.I.T.A. my dog hated it but with some trainign and bribing he got used to it. at this point i had a large what i called my mexican hairless.
so anyway we ran the test with food allergy done as well. after a period of time, can't remember how long i got the results and my dog was allergic to everything under the sun. i can't remember how many but there is a paper with a list with three rows filled.

with this info i started my work in slowly bringing my dog back.it took me about a year to do so. some of the stuff i think about now and i think i got a little carried away, like not letting him out of the house in the months of sep, oct, and nov except to go to the bathroom that first year(molds).but hey it worked. now he is fine/ or at least a lot better. i give hime two shots a month. actually i want to retest him this year to update. he still itches but he is not a leper dog anymore so i am happy.
hope this helps
adam

An owner that had one of my dogs took the dog to 2 different vets because of itching and hair loss. It wasn't until the 3rd vet saw it that they diagnosed mange. Once diagnosed it was treated with Revolution and daily medicated shampooing.

Hello

When one of my girls ( black) was younger she had dry skin. On the advice of her breeder I started to give her a sardine a day. I also started giving the sardines to my other dogs - including my black male who had symptoms pretty much the same as the dog you have mentioned.
Fable would reacte like this in late summer and I was told it was seasonal allergies - gave him benedryl which worked. However after he started getting the sradine ( I give him an extra one during the problem season) he hasn't shown the same reaction.
Cheers
Dawn