He has small scabs under his chin and around his neck as if something has been biting him.

If I scratch them they fall off with ease. I might add that he really enjoys me doing this so they must be itchy too.

All my dogs get a regular shampoo and a flea shampoo once a week. It has always been this way yet it's only recently that he's started to have this problem.

I'm thinking some kind of parasite, but I haven't been able to find any on him. In additon, the other two dogs are fine.

Anyone have a similar experience? What do you think it is?

Thanks

Andy

There could be a couple of reasons. You may be bathing him too much. Dogs don't need a bath anymore than 2 maybe 3 times a year. (unless they get into something yucky). You may not be getting the shampoo completely rinsed off. Depending on where you live, it could be some kind of little mite, gnat thing. It could be diet related. What do you feed? It could also be an allergy to something else. It doesn't really sound like an allergy, there would be other signs on the whole body if it was that, but your Vet could probably diagnose it either by looking at it or by doing a skin scraping. Also how old is he? It could be like a teenage acne thing. Hope some of this suggestions help.

Karen

I agree, get him to the vet. It could be anything from mites to allergies to low thyroid. Treating the symptoms won't get you anywhere if the root cause isn't addressed.

Lisa posted,

 Quote:

I agree, get him to the vet. It could be anything from mites to allergies to low thyroid. Treating the symptoms won't get you anywhere if the root cause isn't addressed.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I don't think Andy has a Vet he can chose. Remember he lives in Indonisia. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
His best source of help will be on this Board or another site someone can direct him too.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Andy, is this Rott driving you to insanity?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> I just couldn't pass this comment to you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Hope your Rott gets better. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I forgot about that. Neverhteless, skin problems can be symptoms of more serious underlying conditions. I don't think anyone can diagnose this over the internet. Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can be of more help, but I still think that the dog needs some diagnostic tests.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies. I already took him to the vet, who told me it's because I walk him too much and feed him raw meat.

He's coming up on 2 years old, the Rottie that is, not the vet (although sometimes I'm not sure).

There are loads of horrible bitey (is that a word?) things over here. It's just strange that this has only started in the last couple of months.

Butch - I love my dogs more than beer itself. None of them drive me insane since:

a. I already am (self diagnosis)

b. The problems are few and far between

c. I have this website to help me out when I don't know what to do.

Later

Andy

Wow, I know it's the Tropics, but you still need to find another vet: the technology and the know-how *is* there to do skin scrapings. As far as thyroid screens go, I've known many an enterprising vet to take the samples to a human laboratory and intepret the results him or herself.

With regards to raw meat, I would be hesitant to keep feeding my dog them because meat inspection standards are nowhere near as stringent as they are in the US: I would advise you to feel raw very sparingly and only where you're absolutely sure you know your source of meat, like you were there when the cow was slaughtered (and it was a cow whose owner believed in the fundamentals of animal husbandry like drenching and dipping). More especially since your vet is so incompetent.

If it's mites (and get that confirmed first), then what you need is a dip,no, not a natural remedy one, one that actually works, mixed strictly according to instructions and applied likewise.

As a matter of fact, *if* you have an ectoparasite problem, then dipping your dogs every other week until you break the chain of transmission is a good idea if you combine it with treating the environment, like burning their bedding and buying them fresh ones. If you have ticks, please mow the lawn short and burn all clippings. Tick instars climb onto grass stalks to hitch a ride on a passing host. We personally don't hold with fumigation, but you know your situation best.

Throw the flea shampoo away, it's a waste of money: fleas drown very quickly on exposure to any surfectant, so any shampoo will do as well. As a matter of fact, when you're dipping, you don't need soap at all unless your dogs are really dirty (can I say that daily brushing is good?)

Once you've got the parasite problem (if you have one) under control, then I've had good results in continued control with once monthly applications of Ex-Spot. You can find something similar (but no flea collars). It's a good idea to rotate if you can find more than one topical application product with different active ingredients. Please test a small amount on your dog's skin to check for product sensitivity first.

And as for the exercise, nonsense. Congrats on being one of the few people in your area (I'm sure) to do that.

Dei.

Andy, I too live in a tropical climate, and what a host of nasties your dog can get! From all the parasites, bacteria, fungus, ect.. and I'm sure you have to deal with your share of stray, not too healthy, dogs as well. It sounds like you may have to research this on your own and ask your vet for specific tests.

Go to the Leerburg Links Library and go to the Merck Veterinary Manual. There are also other online sources for reference.

I know of a dog here that recently got a terrible infection from the Norcordia bacteria, which lives in dirt and boggy areas. It can enter through open wounds. The dogs entire body was covered in pustules. My working dog broke out in Demodex mange when he was brought over from the U.K. and was successfully treated with Ivermectin.

I'm sure from my posts in the past, people think I'm crazy for how often I bathe my dogs. (Once every couple of weeks). If I lived in the cold white north, my dogs would get bathed 3X a year as well. But as stated, battling a host of nasties and lots of salt, I prefer to keep them cleansed with soapless shampoo. They don't have any skin problems.

Naa-Dei is correct about the meat too, unless your buying human grade, but even our local beef, I wouldn't eat unless thoroughly cooked.
Good Luck with your research and dog and keep posted with future developments.

When I told my wife what you guys said, we both had a good laugh about it.

Here's me, adamant that most Indonesians are useless and you can't trust advice from any of them, being shown up and made to admit I was wrong. So many people have been shocked upon enquiring as to what I feed them and told me I shouldn't, while all while here's me thinking they're just too ignorant to know the benefits of such a diet. Looks like the Pie is Humble tonight.

Anyway, thanks everyone for such great posts. Very informative and much appreciated.

Andy