Chicken is one of the more likely protiens for dogs to become reactive to. Seems many in my breed like to keep chicken to approx 30% of the raw diet.

That said, it sounds like fleas to me

It is not uncommon for not all dogs to react to the flea bites in the same way. Some dogs get infested more than others, some have allergies to fleas, some don't ....I hope it is not fleas!

The dog getting up in the night in the chew on itself is a clincher for me. That is what happened when my dog had dog lice

Shampooing the dog with dog shampoo will get alot of the fleas out, but they can crawl/jump back on the dog in the bath even. They make dog shampoo's that kill fleas too. Nasty to have to use insecticides on the dog......

Problem with fleas is you have to be vigilent to get rid of them, especially if you have multiple animals. You have to treat the animal, and your house. I have not delt with them personally, but have helped family memebers with their house cleaning flea routines

Have you done the flea check suggested? Did you find anything?

I couldn't see anything on him...I'm going to have the hubby take a look. What are dog lice?

 Quote: RobbinMann

I couldn't see anything on him...I'm going to have the hubby take a look.

Look for flea dirt (like pepper) where the dog has been sleeping or lying.

Two dogs -- came on fairly suddenly -- I'd be very surprised if this was any kind of allergy.

Jenn, were lice easy to find?

Called the vet about it, he said fleas are quite rare in our neck of the woods...didn't know they were temperate creatures, lol!

Yah, fleas are rare here too. Nobody preventitively treats for them even. That said, I do know dogs in town that have had fleas

Though your dog probably does not have lice, I thought I would include this info. It is often said it is found on poorley cared for animals, but I can assure you that the dogs in this town are well cared for, yet it is fairly common.

Dog lice is more common than fleas here, especially at this time of year. When mature and in the later stages of infestation they are visable to the naked eye. I found them at the stage when my dog was not sleeping (normal for him) and was chewing himself all night (not normal for him). I just put on a headlamp and parted the hair where I say him biting. It took a bit of looking, but I fond them eventually. They would be hard to find in the early stages of infestation I think. They range from very hard to see, to being quite easy to see depending on the stage of life. The nymphs are small and almost translucent and hard to see, the adults darker and bigger. Adults pictured here:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/vet/teaching/CAL/dermatol/p2_2b.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/vet/teaching/CAL/dermatol/p2_2a.htm&h=265&w=377&sz=61&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=9JmAOHTMw-7AgM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddog%2Blice%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4DBCA_enCA202CA202

Good thing about dog lice ratehr than fleas is that it completes its whole life cyle on the dog, and can't live off of the dog for very long. This means ridding your house of them is really only a matter of cleaning up, moslty where the dog lays. They don't jump, and they are not the same lice that affect people so you can't get lice from your dog. Dog gets it from direct contact with affected dogs, or sharing bedding that is frequently used by two dogs.

Symptoms of itching and chewing are common, though I thing the neck and shoulders are the most common places to find them. they have been known to like a dog's rear end as well

One flea shampoo bath and one treatment of revolution got rid of them for my dog last fall. The other dogs I know that had it last fall were treated with Ivermectin injections. (I used Revolution due to the possible collie heritage in my breed).

Hope you get it figured out soon.

 Quote: RobbinMann

Lately I've noticed that my male lab and my Levi are both itching their back legs and back towards the tail alot. As a matter of fact, Levi has been waking me up in the morning chomping on himself. Any ideas?? I don't think that we have fleas...we never have before. How do you check for them? What's the best way to treat them? My dogs swim alot, could the chlorine be causing them to itch?? My border collie never itches so I figure if we had fleas she would be itching too, right?? This has been going on for about a couple of weeks progressively getting more and more noticeable. What does the forum suggest using for dog shampoo? I just use human grade shampoo, is that okay?

Robin,

Sounds like allergies to me. If your dog is on Frontline or K9 Advantix he should not have fleas.Flea combs are the best tool to use when looking for fleas. You can buy them at pet stores or Walmart. Never use a human shampoo on a dog and don't bathe once a week...like alot of people do.The only time I use a human shampoo is baby shampoo & I only use it on the face. Glo Marr/Kenic shampoos are very good for dry, itchy skin and dogs with allergies. They also sell Oatmeal, Avocado & Emu Oil sprays which are excellent for helping with itching. I use these products in my shop because all the dogs down here seem to have allergies and sensitive skin.

 Quote: RobbinMann

Called the vet about it, he said fleas are quite rare in our neck of the woods...didn't know they were temperate creatures, lol!

All true ----- but again, two dogs presenting with non-flea (environmental or food) allergies at the same time is more coincidence than I'm comfortable with.

But I missed the part about Frontline or K9 Advantix..... Lisa is correct that it's far less likely to be fleas with two dogs on Frontline or K9 Advantix.

Very interesting, though, since flea itch most often starts at the dog’s back and tail base.

Are you planning a vet visit? I would, if my dogs were on Frontline (or similar) and two of them started exhibiting this kind of itch. One dog -- yes, I'd be giving you some allergy information. Two at once..... I think we will all be very interested in this diagnosis!

BTW, you may know that contact dermatitis is rare in dogs. (Good reason for the fact that it hasn't been brought up in the thread. )

However, I'd probably give a soothing dog shampoo (non-colloidal oatmeal, for example) a shot.

I wouldn't let this go for a long time, either, because no matter what the trigger is, you don't want to get a hot spot started.

 Quote: lisa harrison

... Never use a human shampoo on a dog and don't bathe once a week...

I'm with you, Lisa.

Vet visit is scheduled for Wednesday the 12th. Along with a half neuter, and some xrays, well I'm still ify on the half neuter, lol. Wow, is he going to be mad at me...