Written By: Blake Kritzberg

Dogs are susceptible to various skin problems — which can be
frustrating for owners who want to see Fido comfortable and happy.
Does your dog have a skin problem, and if so, how do you fix it?

That depends on the symptoms you see. Of course, the most common
sign of a possible skin problem in your dog is constant, excessive
itching. Other symptoms include fur loss, either localized in a
certain location or spread across the dog’s entire body. More severe
cases may involve redness in the skin, changes in skin pigmentation
or even open sores that your dog constantly licks.

No particular symptom necessarily proves your four-footed friend has
a certain type of skin disorder, and you’ll need to investigate
other areas before you draw conclusions. While it’s common and
helpful for veterinarians to diagnose skin problems, it’s also
essential for dog owners like you to familiarize yourself with
typical canine skin problems, so you can react quickly and keep his
discomfort to a minimum.

Fleas, Lice and Ticks

One of the most common problems in dogs is the presence of fleas,
lice and ticks, which are parasites that live on the surface of the
skin and feed on the dog’s blood. These parasites’ saliva causes
skin irritation and results in intense scratching.

Lice and ticks can be detected visually when you check your dog’s
fur, while fleas are hard to spot with the naked eye. However, fleas
cause red pimple marks on the skin and also can be spotted through
the black, gritty trail of “dirt” they leave on a dog’s belly.

While you can remove ticks and lice with tweezers — applying
alcohol to relax the tick’s grip before doing so — you can also
adopt more general methods. For instance, you can give your dog a
dip with special tick shampoo to eliminate ticks. Flea sprays or
flea powder can also be applied to the dog to kill parasites. But
all these require persistence and it may be a while before you see
results.

One of the best methods to keep your dog comfortable is to prevent
ticks from living off your dog in the first place through the use of
a spot-on product, such as FrontLine or BioSpot. To apply these
chemicals, you drip a small amount onto the back of your dog’s neck
once a month. The chemical spreads throughout the dog’s skin and
kills parasites — including the eggs and larvae. When regularly
treated, your dog becomes an unattractive host.

Mange

Mange is a skin problem caused by mites that burrow underneath the
dog’s skin, causing intense and even agonizing itching. Bald spots
or inflamed red skin are common symptoms of mange. Two types of
mange exist in dogs: sarcoptic mange and demodectic mange, depending
on the kind of mite involved.

Most dogs carry the mites involved in demodectic mange or demodex.
However, these mites usually do not cause itching except when they
suddenly multiply into huge numbers. This may happen in young
puppies, or in dogs with decreased natural body defenses, sometimes
from stress.

On the other hand, Sacroptic mange or scabies causes intense itching
in the dog as the mites burrow under the skin and even lay their
eggs there. This causes large red spots on the dog’s skin, and
sometimes fur loss on the ears and elbows. Scabies can infect humans
as well and cause itchiness, although infection in humans usually
disappears by itself after a while. However, it is still important
for people to seek treatment if they get infected.

Treatment for mange requires patience and time, as eliminating them
or lowering the mite population takes a while to take effect. The
best way to kill the mites is to soak your dog in a lime and sulfur
medicated dip for 10 to 15 minutes a few times in a week. The dip
should not be washed off, but left to dry on your dog’s skin and
fur. During this time, it’s best to watch your dog closely and
prevent him from licking himself dry. As a further precaution, you
can feed him a raw egg to line his stomach before dipping him in the
solution. This way, even if he does lick himself, the solution won’t
be absorbed on an empty stomach.

When fighting mange, it’s also important to support your dog with
the highest quality diet you can find, to improve his immune system.
Healing from mange will take a lot of his internal resources. You
might consider looking into the raw diet for dogs and avoiding any
corn or rice-based products for the time being.

About the Author

Blake Kritzberg is proprietor of Poodle-oo: Fashion for Toy Dogs. Stop by
for toy dog couture and home decor, free toy dog postcards and the
Toy Dog Blog.

http://www.poodle-oo.com/

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