Danke has recently begun chewing at her hind legs, in the itchy-nibble fasion.

She has managed to break off all her guard hairs on both legs, but has not actually caused herself baldness (nor caused any skin damage or irritation).

No smell, no skin changes, no gunk, no grease, no wax.

The chewing is limited to this area alone- her paws, face and ears are all completely normal (never had a dog with such clean, pleasant smelling ears before, in fact.)

When the chewing started (oh, probably about a month and half ago) I increased her Salmon Oil and E; I'd been giving it a couple of times a week. We are now on daily doses.

Salmon Oil: 300 mg daily
Vitamin E: 400 IU (mixed tocopherols) daily

Her diet consists of chicken and turkey RMBs along with bone-in ground venison and beef. We feed turkey and beef organs (liver, heart, tripe).

She also gets THK Thrive and Verve a few times a month, and the occassional raw egg (shell included).

The only change in her diet in the past 5 months is the increase in Salmon Oil/E.

She has had hips/knees x-rayed in the past 6 months, so I have no reason to suspect pain in the joints.

I've washed all her bedding, sans detergent, with no change.

She does not chew constantly, it is not interrupting her sleep or interfearing with anything except her beautiful coat and my peace of mind.

Thus far I've been treating this as a behavioral issue (I don't necessarily believe it is, but I don't want this chewing to become ingrained in such a young dog) and redirecting or correcting her for chewing. A simple "stop it" has been effective at making her stop, which leads me to believe if she is itchy, it is not severe.

WHAT GIVES?!?!

Any fleas? (A dog with flea hypersensitivity needs just one exposure.)

Also, until you know, I'd probably avoid telling her to stop. That can result in a dog scratching in private and you no longer knowing the extent.

Where on the legs? Shins or up near hips?

I've checked her from top to bottom for fleas and flea dirt (none), and she is on Frontline, but it is possible she got a random flea bite outside I suppose.

We didn't start her back on Frontline until last month, so...

The chewing is right at the "knees", on both legs.

Assuming she did get a random flea bite, how would one begin reversing the resultant fall-out?

 Quote: alyssa myracle

The chewing is right at the "knees", on both legs.

This makes me think it's not a random flea bite... same place on BOTH knees?
Those would be very strategic fleas...

Could she maybe have brushed through something irritating on a walk in the woods or something? How about any new training aides that might come into recent, frequent contact with her knees?

Sounds very curious...

~Natalya

I can relate to your current itching problem with Danke, as I have been having this problem with my two young GSD's.
Since it is spring, maybe she is reacting to the levels of pollens in the air?
Have you checked Pollen.com to see for your area, what the levels are? Just a suggestion that was given to me, and to my surprise, the levels here in Dallas are extremely high, in the 10's and 11's, with 12 being the highest.

It is frustrating to say the least, when you have checked for fleas and don't see a one, no flea dirt...
Mine however, scratch all over, but it too, is not constant.

It might not be allergies for Danke, but if the counts are high in your area, it would be something to consider.
Connie would know more about this, than I certainly.

I hope it subsides for Danke soon, I understand how you feel.

 Quote: natalya zahn

Could she maybe have brushed through something irritating on a walk in the woods or something? How about any new training aides that might come into recent, frequent contact with her knees?

I'm wondering if perhaps... there is some overgrown weedy-type stuff along our back fence behind the shed that she frequently bounds through to "visit" the neighbors pitbull through the fence.
You'd think it would irritate her belly as well, since the contact should be over her entire underside and all legs.

I'll pull all that crap out of there and see if that helps. If not, at least my yard will look a little better.

Hmm, our pollen counts have risen dramaticall in the last month.

I cannot search back past this month to see if they were also high in Feb/Mar, and therefore a potential cause.
Dangit! Does anyone know how to get historical pollen info beyond the past 30 days?

If you go to the pollen.com site and on the left hand column there is a pollen history, you should be able to get a one month overview.

oops, sorry, I didn't read carefully enough, you have the one month but wanted to see Feb/March. sorry.
If you find out how, will you post here and let me know as well?
Thanks.