dog scratching

[lastditchattempt50]

Hi All,

I have had my 2 year old lab cross for 7 weeks now and I've noticed she is very itchy, has been treated for fleas so not that. I've read a bit about how its often digestive issues that can cause the dogs to itch and scratch, there seems to be so many different digestive/probiotic options to try that I thought I'd ask if anyone has had success with a particular brand (especially for a Lab?)

Cheers :)

Our old lab developed terrible itching through dermatitis. Stopped within a week of starting her on a hypoallergenic dry food and avoiding giving her any treats that weren’t hypoallergenic. She never had human food anyway so that wasn’t an issue. I can’t for the life of me remember the brand though as she died a few years ago and current dog has something different. We used to buy it in huge sacks iirc.

You need to find the cause of the itching before you can treat it - has she been checked over by a vet since you rehomed her? I would start there with a full health check.

Definitely get her vet checked
it’s seasonal allergy time at the moment but it could be her food
don’t just change her food as you could give her colitis you have to gradually introduce the new food slowly
i used to wash my allergy girl in pure Castile baby soap as it’s very gentle
I also had to wipe her face and body down after a walk to get the pollen off her

yes she's has a full health check and all fine at the vet check up

Have you discussed the use of piriton tablets with the vet? My dog was a allergy dog and ended up on monthly injections and daily medication as her allergies were awful
with the approval of her vet she was allowed the piriton tablets but you’d need the vet to work out what dosage she can have based on her weight and do not tell pharmacy it’s for your dog!

Mine has just started scratching and nibbling her paws but she has hay fever. We give her Piriton.

My dog can be slightly itchy and has Apoquel.

I wouldn't change her food if I were you in the hope it will make a difference until you discuss it with your vet.

I was told by my vet that establishing what's actually causing itching can be costly and take time so unless it's causing dog massive problems it's probably more straightforward to just treat the symptoms.

With a lot of dogs itching can be cause by allergies to something in the environment such as the grass or plants that they come into contact with on walks or something in the home.

My Lab puppy was itchy and I mentioned it to the staff in the farm shop where we bought his food. They suggested he might be sensitive to chicken, which is very common. Swapped him to a salmon and rice kibble and he's had no further issues in the last three and a half years.

I have a lab cross and we’ve been through it all with the itching and nibbling and licking her paws/bum!!

After a clear bill of health from the vets, we were told (by them) to look at her diet. After a process of elimination, I now know that grains, chicken, beef and root vegetables cause her to itch and become yeasty (that Doritos smell they sometimes get).

The most common allergies are grains and chicken so you could start there and see if cutting those out helps.

It’s very common for it to be a food intolerance. What food do you currently feed?

interesting that people are saying chicken, I would have thought that was fine....

I have noticed that she itches a lot after being in the garden, I also seem to get bitten a lot in our garden but husband and child / other people don't 🙄 we back onto woodland and have lots of wildlife visiting the garden and probably more midge type insects than most as we have lots of trees, so maybe its something external? Short of moving house though, that's not going to get resolved any time soon...

At the minute she has a mix of Harrington's wet and dry food as we were advised it was a good mid-range option, she seems to really enjoy it, but I'll do some investigating.

thanks for all of the advice 😄