Thanks for the picture!

Truman's skin actually LOOKS itchy. (I can almost feel his agony!) My dogs skin does not look itchy, other than the couple of small (look like mosquito bites) spots. Also I haven't noticed any hair loss or thinning, and it's been about a month now.

I looked at the website, and one that suggests a test to do to see if your dog has mange. I am going to do the ear test when I get home tonight. http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/mites.html

Yes, try the pinna-pedal response test. Neither one of my dogs reacted to the test, but I think I remember reading it's about 80% accurate.

Well, she didn't do it. I rubbed and played with her ear, ran my fingers along the edge of it, and she just sat there happily.

She is going about 20 minutes between scratching now, and she is the worst of the four. If sleeping she can go about an hour to 1.5 hours. They are all focussing on their necks, shoulders, and armpits. My girl was even scratching her elbow this morning.

I guess I am going to make an appointment with the vet. Although from my research, mites cannot easily be found with a skin scraping.

I am still not 100% sure it isn't fleas. I'm PRETTY sure it isn't, but not totally sure.

I bought some Borax just in case!

Ok We had our vet appointment last night.

Vet didn't find any fleas on her either, but found 3 or 4 of those "hive" looking things on her skin and recognized it as a flea allergy. (I had been starting to wonder if it was hot spots or hives).

She thinks I probably have only 1 or 2 fleas in the home, or they are outside in the yard, which I why I haven't been able to find any "evidence". I've been vacuuming and washing their dog beds in hot water weekly, so likely have been keeping the population down.

She says likely my girl is the only one with a flea allergy, since the other 3 have been itchy but not very much.

Now begins my flea elimitation regimen!!! I hope I will see improvement soon.

What did this end up being? The picture you have at your dog's worst is what my poor little dog looks like-I don't know how to help her.

 Quote: Tracy Anderson

The picture you have at your dog's worst is what my poor little dog looks like-I don't know how to help her.

Tracy, I recommend that you post a history. Where (exactly) is your dog's itchiness? Is there a rash? Is there flea dirt? Is it seasonal? Is it interrupting sleep? What does the vet say? At what age did the itch start? Is there ear inflammation or debris?

DG is our little Boston Terrier. She turned one year old on November 10th. She started having skin problems approximately 6 months ago. She is fed a diet of Honest Kitchen which is made with Dehydrated Turkey, potatoes, bananas and various fruits, vegetables and herbs. I also supplement with Honest Kitchen Perfect form and Honest Kitchen Sparkle. These are herbal supplements for her coat and digestion-She has awful gas. I top dress her food with Natural Balance Dog Food Roll or Parmesan cheese. Up until two weeks ago I also fed her raw chicken with and occasional recreational bone. (My spouse seems to think she might be allergic to chicken....sigh) She also gets scraps. It is hard to control our two teenage boys giving her treats because she is a food hound and they adore her. She also gets chewies and dried duck treats. She is a healthy weight.

About 6 months ago DG started having skin problems: Welts under the skin, itching between her paws, on her face and neck for the worst part and the rest of her body too. We have taken her to the vet 3 times at least for these problems, but her skin is the worst it has ever been and I will take her tomorrow. I opted not to do allergy testing the last time because it is $250 that we could not afford. The vet said we had to wait at least a month to do the testing if we didn't do it then, for the prednisone to get out of her system. She had scrapings tested, a prednisone shot and antibiotic. As I was leaving the building the poor thing was itching fiercer then she ever had. I looked at her and her poor face was covered in welts. I took her right back in as I could see she was having an anaphylactic reaction to the antibiotics.

Here are a couple pictures in the past that the boys took when DG was sleeping. You can see the redness on her skin:


And here is our poor girl a few minutes ago:

She has dry/dead skin that is peeling like a sunburn. Like others have said, benadryl does not seem to do anything for her.

My spouse says he is also started to get itchy.

Thanks for any and all help.

 Quote: Tracy Anderson

... I also supplement with Honest Kitchen Perfect form and Honest Kitchen Sparkle. These are herbal supplements for her coat and digestion-She has awful gas. .... Welts under the skin, itching between her paws, on her face and neck for the worst part and the rest of her body too. .... I opted not to do allergy testing the last time because it is $250 that we could not afford. .... She had scrapings tested, a prednisone shot and antibiotic. As I was leaving .... she was having an anaphylactic reaction to the antibiotics. ...

Next time please post a link to photos rather than actual photos in the thread. Thanks.

Poor dog.

Gas:
I am going to guess that the gas is likely to be (not definitely, but likely) unrelated. What did its onset relate to? Has she ever had a different food? (And don't get me wrong: THK is an excellent food.)

For the gas, I would probably first try a homemade limited-ingredient diet for ten days and see what happens. If this eliminates the gas, then I'd re-introduce ingredients one by one. (Keep a log, too, in case there is any itch change. I pretty much don't expect that from the symptoms you describe, but a log is still crucial.)

PM me if you need a homemade food to do the gas thing with.

Skin: Specific points: What did they do for the antibiotic reaction? What was the antibiotic given for? (What was infected? Her skin?)

I saw no mention of fish oil. Does she get fish oil?

What was the reaction to the Pred? Was the itching temporarily relieved?

What did the scraping show? If negative for parasites, was it re-done? (If not, why not, considering that you have an itchy human too.)

Those red welts: Are they spontaneous or are they from her scratching? Do they go away and reappear?

Is there any seasonality about her worst itching? Any time of day worse than others?

Benadryl is the least beneficial of the antihistamines (for dogs). Have you tried Hydroxyzine? (About 30% of atopic dogs are benefited by antihistamines. The % is higher if the dog is on fish oil too.)

Is there any odor in her skin folds, ears, paws?

These questions are to try to get a feel for parasites, pruritis, atopy, and/or yeast.

I assume that this vet is not a derm vet, right? What was the diagnosis?

I would discount the gas as well. Bostons are known for their gas even under the best of diets.

I'm no expert but I can speak from my own experience. Those look like contact hives. Usually from exposure to an allergen within the enviroment. By chance 6 months ago did she get a new collar or chain? Did you add a new plant in the yard, resod the lawn, new rug in the house?

They do look like contact reactions.

However, contact allergies are rare in dogs, so while I'd probably keep that in my mind and check out the immediate environment when there is an eruption like the last photo, I would check out the more likely environmental/inhalant and external parasite (like FLEAS) possibilities.

The reason we think that contact allergies are more common in dogs, I think, is that allergens on the dog's coat and skin that are being breathed in 24/7 because of their proximity lead us to think that it's contact. Add to that the fact of their histamine receptors being in their skin - ours are more in the mucus membranes - and it's easy to see why we might think that the least common of the 5 main allergy types in dogs is more common than it is. But of course, to the dog who DOES have a contact allergy, its rareness is irrelevant.

I would really want a derm vet for this dog.