Skin irritations.... Pictures inside warning, might be gross!

It is gross, and she needs a vet.. We got her on Eukanuba Sensitive skin, (was on Retriever mix) Yuck, I know... after I piped up that her constant itching in this area is annoying, and MORE than likely hurts like... um.. yea... I have NO idea what the heck is causing this. We have tried over the counter medicines.. They don't work. Bag balm. And yes, it is for cows, but works for other animals as well. (works like a charm for icky wounds, but not this) I can't really explain it... She shouldn't have all this scarring tissue, or even look like this! Well, the pictures can explain it more than I can..







She should NOT look like this. I wouldn't post, if I didn't care.. Thank you for reading!

Any fleas ??? Looks like hot spot ....ouch !!

Does she have food allergies??

Haven't seen any fleas. Poor girl. We have her on flea preventative and heart guard. I know thats not a guarantee to keep them off though.

I don't know, I was thinking that, but then everyone said, she can't have food allergies... I've thought that. We use the oatmeal shampoo, and conditioner for bathes. And baby shampoo.

Looks like an allergic reaction to me, but I am not a vet. When can you get her seen?

Why "can't" she have food allergies? They're incredibly common in dogs these days.

I don't know, she could, I talked to all of my family about it, and they said she can't, but I know she can, because if people can have them, dogs can too. I don't disagree with anyone on here. Is there a test they can run for it?

^ Not for food allergies. I suggest getting an oatmeal and aloe shampoo and bathing her regularly... and getting her to the vet as soon as you can.

I bathe her every 2 weeks, or everytime she gets dirty.. :lol-sign: Do they have the combination shampoo? And of course the vet visit. I know you have some experience with allergies BP. With Buddy.

Earth bath makes a wonderful oatmeal and aloe shampoo that I use on Buddy. I always use it when bathing him.

We did allergy testing to test for environmental allergies. We were told that there was no testing for food allergies, but some say otherwise, I'm not really sure, to be honest.

I think it would best for you to sit down and try to remember when she broke out and what she had done that day and been around that day. And also, was it hot, did she get into something she shouldn't have? Is this a first time thing, etc.. All of these things the vet will ask you anyways, but it's better to have that knowledge ready and to ask questions and stuff.

Another suggestion would be to get her off that food pronto, it's not good quality at all.

Try and give her something with simple ingredients, like California Natural. One protien source, one carb. I think Euk uses both wheat and corn in both of those formulas, so she could be reacting to those ingredients.

After dealing with Ronin's skin thing last summer, the best thing that worked for us as far as shampoo goes is Virbac EpiSoothe. It's green, smells vaguely of cookie dough, and... it's great. Usually sold at vet clinics.

Might be good to go to a dermatologist and get a scraping ..... could be mange .

It kinda looks like when I get poison ivy (I just look at it and I get it... got it now). Can dogs get poison ivy?

Possibly could be ant bites, too.... Strange looking for ants, but I guess different individuals can have different reactions.

HAve you tried some cortisone cream for the itching?

Seamus, our old foster had something that looked extremely similar except it was on his elbows and sides. His turned out to be one of two things:

An allergy to grain

or

A systemic yeast infection that was brought under control by removing grain from his diet.

We saw a vast improvement in his skin and overall health within a week of switching him, by two weeks the wounds had started to heal, by week three new fur was growing over the spots. There was two foods that the rescue supplied for him, and they both worked. One was natural balance fish and potato, the other was natural balance duck and sweet potato. We preferred him on the duck version though, because the fish one made him smell really awful....rotten fish breath. :yikes: It's about the same price as the food you are feeding now. There are other really great foods out there too, I would definitely give it a shot.

My foster dog Kylie is allergic to grass, I guess-- Her previous foster parent told me that her irritations get to look like that sometimes. She's got medication to take when it acts up.

2 weeks is too often to bathe a dog, that alone can cause dry itchy skin. (Some people might disagree, but the majority of dog owners I meet on forums and in person agree that more than once a month is too often to bathe a dog, UNLESS needed. Like if they get covered in poo, or mud.)

And food allergies are very common. She most likely has allergies to the corn. When I had my dogs on crap food, Brad had bad bad food allergies. he had bald patches, red patches, dry skin. Much worse then the other dogs. Once we switched to a higher quality food, his coat was beautiful! No more bald patches, or itchy skin.

I think the last time she broke out is when I sprayed her with Pet Effects spray, it smells of gingerbread cookie. And when I gave her the Retriever Mix.. (she did awesome on Eagle Pack) Punky, she gets covered in mud, and filth a lot, and I try to avoid bathes as much as possible with her. Or if Hershey knocks over the trash, they both need bathes. (Its because people don't put the lids on!) But anywho.. Lizzy, my grandma gave me some cortisone cream to put on her, and my mom had some really good smelling stuff, that soothed it. It had Green tea in it, and some other stuff, those both helped sooth it. BP, this isn't the first time, she had it a few times as a puppy, when I cleaned her crate out. I used some gentle things on the crate to clean it up.

If its yeast related, try 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar in her water.