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Please help with itching!!

1888 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  LisaT
My dog Freud itches like crazy. I bathe him with medicated soap and he still itches constantly. He itches all over his body. He is on Canidae All Life Stages Dog Food. I have been giving him Benadryl 25mg two times a day but that has not done much. What is the deal?
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Benedryl only lasts for 4 hours so that is part of the problem. The baths are probably overdrying his skin as well.
This is a huge complicated question. It could be a lot of things. It could be an auto-immune skin disease. It could be allergies (food or environmental).

I would suggest taking him to the vets and see what they say. They can run some allergy tests on him too and see if they can figure it out.
Does he itch year round or is it more seasonal? When did the itching start?
Originally Posted By: mspiker03Does he itch year round or is it more seasonal? When did the itching start?
Well he is only 16 weeks old. The itching started about 12-13 weeks. He was on Purina Puppy Chow from the breeder. He is on Canidae now. I onlt bathe him once a week with medicated shampoo for itchy skin. He is definitely itching more now than ever before. I live in AL and the pollen count is definitely high now. Could be pollen, food, or a number of other things.
Originally Posted By: GS MomBenedryl only lasts for 4 hours so that is part of the problem. The baths are probably overdrying his skin as well.
From a once a week bath with shampoo made for itchy skin?
Does this sound at all like food allergies?
Wow-itching is rough!

There are fleas and since you are in the south you probably have more around due to weather?

But he's awfully young-I don't know enough about food allergies and environmental allergies to really say. Would the breeder talk to you about any issues with skin/itching they have with their dogs?

Does he wear a collar? Flea collar? If flea collar, take it off.

I ask about the collar because one of my dogs has a crap fit when he has to wear his collar. He scratches and scratches. Collar off, no scratching.

Is it possible he's sensitive to something in the food? I don't know-it has chicken, my two GSDs don't handle chicken well...but...I hope someone else comes along to see this!

OH-maybe a fish oil would help? Or coconut oil? If you want your head to spin and maybe even get dizzy-there is a thread in the food section about coconut/fish oils.
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it's possible he has contact allergies, too. Do you wash things like the floor and carpet with chemicals? how about bedding?

It truly could be anything! I would stop bathing so much, though... even though it's medicated shampoo.

it could even be mites. Looks like a trip to the vet is in order!
Even if your bathing in medicated shampoo your dog could be allergic to it. One of my shepherds was allergic to a "special" shampoo too. Non stop itching...it was awful.
Originally Posted By: Bones82Does this sound at all like food allergies?
To me it does.
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