dog itchy skin

[cbloran]

I have a miniature schnauzer who has been itching for some time, it has turned the hair red on his legs does anyone know what to do with him to help aleviate the itching or stop it.

[SalemWitchChild]

It could be allergies to food, fleas, or dry skin from overbathing with a harsh shampoo. You need to find out which one it is before we can really give you advice on how to treat it.

[pung-yo]

My dogs never scratch....but since we have the a/c on all the time now, I noticed if you had a/c. It seems to dry out their skin for some reason. Funny that you mention the legs, it sounds like some kind of dermatitis. Get your vet to take a skin scraping, so you know what you're dealing with exactly.

[Moo]

I know dogs who turn red on the legs just from every day staining from the ground. But this red is coming from her skin? Is it raw? It is pretty serious if the area is discolouring the fur.

But like Salem said, it could be any variety of things. Is he on flea/tick control? What type of food is he eating? Have you changed detergents recently (even clothing detergent)? How long has this problem persisted for?

[cbloran]

thanx for the info, we have never had a problem with him itching untill we moved into a new home about 3 months ago, at present we are renting and the previous tenant had both a cat and a dog. I had the area around his hind legs clipped today and up his belly and found what I believe are fleas, so he was shampoo with flea and tick shampoo and got a collar as well, but he is still itching, ? is this gonna take some time for the itching to stop?

[SalemWitchChild]

Have you started Frontline Plus or Advantix? If not I recommend you do now. That will take care of your future Flea population. It will take awhile for them to die out. Yes it is going to take a little bit for the itching to stop. You should see a difference within a week or two.

You may also consider flea bombing your house. I've had to do that before. However be aware that you will need to leave your house for 24 hrs. Of course your animals cannot stay there either while you bomb. But it does take care of them very quickly! Get the bombs from your vet.