My 6-1/2 yr old female GSD has environmental allergies. We live in a semi-rural area. I mow regularly and trim weeds as best I can. However, because the grass is mostly fescue and other wild types, we have rust fungus. She gets itchy and starts licking. I use an antibiotic ointment and give her hydroxyzine; the spots never get so bad as to bleed. But her fur is gone. Sometimes it grows back but mostly she has a bare spot. It's such a shame, she is such a beautiful sable. It has been suggested to me that the vet could administer an allergy shot. I hesitate because it is a steroid. Has anyone had a similar situation and, if so, have you tried the allergy shot?

Hi,


" It has been suggested to me that the vet could administer an allergy shot. I hesitate because it is a steroid."

Suggested by whom?

I would hesitate too. Pred injections are heavy-duty stuff with serious potential side effects.

"The allergy shot" is not what I'd call it. "Allergy shots" usually refer to the immunotherapy that is formulated for the individual dog based on intradermal test results. They are given to gradually increase the dog's tolerance to his own individual allergens.

Oral Pred has its place to break an atopy cycle, but there is still so much else to address. Have scrapings been done? Is there yeast as well as bacteria? How are the ears? Any ear infections?

Does the dog have any fleas?

How much have you read here about atopy?

Where on the body are the itchy spots? Legs, rump, face, backbone?

Is the itching seasonal? Is there any season when there is no itching?

Who diagnosed atopy? (Not particularly questioning it, because so far it's a pretty good guess, but more info: how much of the body is involved? How was it diagnosed?)

I would guess that the 'shot' that was suggested to you is a shot of prednisone which IS a steroid. (It can be the one thing that that can really STOP a bad allergy reaction.) Prednisone is generally what is used in response to an allergy flareup in humans as well. The vet can also put your dog on prednisone pills usually in a largeer load dose & then decreasing/tapering the amount over a week to combat occasional allergy bouts. There are many side effects of presesone over extended periods of time. But you vet would go over all that with you.

Allergies are not usually a quick fix type of problem. It is, at least if it is enviromental, an ongoing problem to deal with.

I have a dog with allergies. I also use hydroxyzine but I also use a natual hydrocortisone prescribed by my holistic/chiro vet. Besides the usual pollen allergies,my dog also had problems with mold. So I have to keep on top of it all year around. The worse time for my dog is heavy pollen, cut grass & rain hitting all at the same time. SIGH. If I keep on top of it all & the weather cooperates...bad flareups are rare for my dog.

I have been lucky & have had a good handle on my dogs allergies from the start, so I have never had to consider allergy desensitizing injections. But they are a good option for a dog having a really bad time of it.

I hope that Lori sees this & posts...she has had a great deal of experience with allgeries, desensitizing to allergies etc. Much more problems then I have had. She is a good source of info.

Also Connie & I am sure that she will see this also.

A note: Often allergies don't start to show up until the dog is around 3 years old.

Another thought... is to wipe or better yet wash your dogs feet when they come into the house. Also wiping down the dog. Frequently wash bedding etc during allergy seasons. Also freequent baths often help.

Often dogs with allergies, even what appears to only be enviromental, can benefit from a raw diet. I feed raw & always have...but there have been folks here that have found it a help in combating allergies in general for their dogs. I think that even dogs with enviromental allergies just seen to be more sensitive to 'additives' in foods not just the food 'ingreedients' themselves.

ETA...Connie & I were typing at the same time.b

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. To answer some of your questions, the person who suggested an injection was a vet tech in our vet's office. The problem spot is on her right foreleg. I do change her bedding frequently, weekly at a minimum. After we take our morning walk, I wipe her legs down with a damp cloth and dry them with a soft towel. I admit I don't always wash her legs after every trip to the back yard, especially if it is late at night. We bathe her with Earthbath oatmeal & aloe formula. I brush her frequently and vacuum the house daily. The problem seems particularly bad this summer, perhaps because we had nearly 4 months of extreme heat and drought.

Hi Patricia, we feel your pain. I'm on my second allergy dog and it's not fun. But there is a lot you can do. The number one thing I would do - save yourself a ton of anguish and go get an eval from a dermatology vet! I know it sounds expensive, but you will find us saying that over and over again in these forums. Regular vets just don't know how to deal with allergy dogs and they will most always resort to telling you to switch to a hypoallergenic kibble (that they sell) and want to give them steroids.

A derma vet can quickly assess the situation based on symptoms and the location of symptoms, and then help you come up with a plan of attack. Going to a derma vet does not commit you to skin allergy testing! I spent a ton of money with regular vets and never got as much info as I did with just one trip to the derma vet.

Here is a link where I shared some of the things I learned from a derma vet, maybe they will help you!
http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=31107&page=8#348094

There's one spot? Are you saying that the dog doesn't itch anywhere else ? Or that one spot is where the fur regrowth is retarded but the itch is widespread?

Were scrapings done? What was the result?

And Lori beat me to a paragraph I had all typed out and will use it anyway to reinforce what she said:

I'll tell you based on long experience that dermatology is a specialty for a very good reason, and that I'd think very seriously about making a derm vet appointment sooner rather than later. You can dump a lot of money onto the GP vet and then finally see a derm vet, or you can start immediately with the derm vet. JMO.

Still, please clarify the geography ..... one spot or many with one being the worst?

Thanks again for your replies. The only place she harrasses is the spot on her right leg (I even thought maybe it was a bug bite); she does not spend all day scratching. She left it alone through the entire night and has not bothered it yet today. I will continue to reapply the ointment. And I will also locate a dermatology vet for an evaluation.

I thought it was spots, plural. With just one spot, who diagnosed atopy? How was it diagnosed?

Something is unclear.


Is it ever warm, inflamed? Does it ever exude fluid (like pus)?

Did the GP vet do scrapings? What was the result?

In your original post you said 'spots' so I took that to mean she had them all over her body - you also said she loses all her fur. Guess I was confused.

If it's only one spot once in a while it doesn't sound like allergies and I definitely would not give a steroid shot for a spot. I'd get a second opinion.

 Quote: Lori Hall

I'd get a second opinion.

Me too.

Is this right? One isolated recurring spot?