I've never seen Eich itch himself outside...ever.

Rarely do I hear him itch himself in his crate.

But, when the following conditions are met, he itches himself to an annoying degree:
-He's outside the crate, but inside the house
-My wife and are I occupied with things other than him
-It's seemingly more pronounced post-rest...coming outta the crate.

Of course, it's a behavior which has been invoking my attention.

Is this a boredom/attention getting thing? Sound familiar to anyone else? I have my suspiscions.

No bare patches, or visible irritation I can see anywhere. He gives no special attention to any given area of his body.

He's fed raw of course, with plenty of salmon oil, E, C etc

Have I been trained?

What does his diet consist of?

Couple of thoughts...

Here are some times I have noticed a little generalized itching. My dog has never had allergies or ear infections/itchy paws/redness/hot spots/bare patches... Like yours he would itch mostly at rest (not sleep time (except with #4), not outside or when there is something better to do)

1.-when he was growing adult coat
2.-blowing/regrowing winter coat
3.-tiny hooked grass seeds make their way to his undercoat at certain times in the summer (no redness or allergy, they just must be uncomforatble)
4.-the one time he had dog lice
5.-when I feed too much chicken

About # 5- I try to keep chicken at about %30 of his protein. I don't have any hard evidence that too much chicken gives the itchies, but I see it come up again and again on some raw feeding sites, so I thought I would give it a try. Works for me. Also feel that keeping to around %30 chicken is more species appropriate than only using chicken for protein and RBM, but understand it is my personal preference and what I think works for my dog.

I know Eich is a smart one ...maybe he is training you for a little extra attetion. What kind of attention does he get for scatching?

Cheers

Hrm, some more things to think about.

Diet is definitely heavy in chicken (wing, neck, back). In terms of the meaty bone portion, I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of 60%, easily.

Honest Kitchen preference, probably averaging a little under a 1/2 cup per day. If not that, a handful of mixed frozen berries (ras, blue, black).

2 Teaspoons salmon oil, usually daily.
E Capsul
Ester C powder (half teaspoon)

Beef usually comes in form of knuckles...very little straight meat.

Haven't come across bargain pork in a long time.

My venison has run dry.

Canned salmon is popular.

Eggs come often.

The attention I give had been the form of massaging the areas looking for ticks. They have indeed been the culprit a few times.

Eh, what else. We spend a lot of time in tall, untamed grasslands. That's just the nature of our open areas around here.

Then there's the fact that is also my first dog, and I may just be annoyed by a normal degree of it. I wish I could quantify this better.

Does he seem uncomfortable, compelled?

Or lazily scratching all over?

Atopic dermatitis (allergies) is pretty obviously desperately itchy, IME.

If the dog has no flea problem (number one for the itchies), and the tick thing is controlled, I'd probably see what happened if I rinsed off his paws and undercarriage after each trip out on grass, and I'd wash his mat or blanket or whatever first, just to make sure he wasn't tracking in and sleeping with some pollen, etc., that's irritating him mildly.

Again, though, those allergies are generally more bothersome than you describe.

You could try taking him from the crate to a tiled floor and see if the carpet or something in it was doing something.

You could also try eliminating the flax and eggs (THK and eggs) for a few weeks and see what happens.

Is this daily, once every few days, or what? No dry skin or flakes?

BTW, if I suspected boredom or attention-seeking, I'd probably distract and up the exercise. I corrected once (verbally), long ago, when I had a dog who was doing some annoying licking and scratching, and I ended up with a dog who did it in private. This was a mistake, because I want to know if there's a skin problem or a compulsive behavior issue.

He needs MUCH more variety in his diet and I would cut out any non meat item (ie preference, veggies in any form, fruit)

Try to feed him more red meat and if you have to feed a lot of chicken read the label and try to stay away from any with "added solution". there is a brand available in our area called Smart Chicken with no added solution.

you might be surprised how much "broth" is added to chicken sold in stores, to increase the weight. Some I have seen is 12% added solution. The additives in there may cause itchiness in some dogs.

 Quote: Cindy Easton Rhodes

there is a brand available in our area called Smart Chicken with no added solution.

That's what I buy. I think it's available nationally.
http://www.smartchicken.com/

 Quote:

you might be surprised how much "broth" is added to chicken sold in stores, to increase the weight. Some I have seen is 12% added solution. The additives in there may cause itchiness in some dogs.

I've never heard of such a thing.

That's insane. Can't even take raw meat for granted. Unbelievable. Well, now I best be checking.

Chicken isn't even chicken anymore. God bless the food industry of this country.

Cindy, in your experience, I assume you're leaning towards a dietary root of this issue?

 Quote:

Try to feed him more red meat and if you have to feed a lot of chicken read the label and try to stay away from any with "added solution". there is a brand available in our area called Smart Chicken with no added solution.

Good point about the "solution". That is gross.

 Quote:

He needs MUCH more variety in his diet and I would cut out any non meat item (ie preference, veggies in any form, fruit)

Some ideas for edible bone, non-poultry for more variety:

Venison, lamb, beef neck bones. I prefer the venison and lamb, beef is kind firm bone for my 42lbs retriever, but for a GSD you might be fine and beef is cheap. You want lots of meat on it though not just recreational neck bone.

Ribs-I find beef ribs a little to splintery for my dog, but have had great success with venison ribs and something called "pork ribletts" sold really cheap at my grocery store "previously frozen"

Oxtail in large peices (not cut up into little medallions)

Rabbit-great one, don't know if you might source from some rabbit breeders in your area.

Don't know if you live near a raw food supplier or near a major center with an asian market or something. You might find chicken feet for really cheap. These could be added to red meat meals for bone content. (Dogs look hilarious eating these )

Also like Connie said, you could cut out the egg/flax too and see if that makes a difference.

As was mentioned, fleas would definatley have to be ruled out of course. When my dog had the lice, I had been looking for something that was causing the itching, but it was a while before the lice were big enough to see. And lice are slow and big compared to fleas! (lucky for me easier to get rid of though)

Keep us posted, I would be interested to know if you figure out what you think might be the culprit.

Cheers