I have been advised to use a certain shampoo by another poster, but yet to get round to buying it online.

Basically about 4-5 weeks ago now, maybe more my dog started scratching like mad and i found a few small areas around his nipples and along the middle section of his back and base of his tail that were red, pimply and slightly swollen.
I did try a few things, but with Bentley and everything that was going on with him i pushed this problem to the back of mind as such.

We went to the vets last week, maybe even the week before(time, i have no concept right now). He looked at it and it had got a little worse. I had at this point started using Maleseb and also hibiscrub on the areas. We also had tried piriton and E45 cream. Vets gave him anti biotics which made no difference. Since then we have also tried savlon..

We are going back to the vets tomorrow and not sure what i need to request from him. I have been thinking about skin scrapings or being referred to a specialist. Its got really bad now, all in his groin area, very red, dark scabby bits and very sore looking and what i call angry

Any suggestions?? I can ease the inflammation slightly with what i am doing, but i want to get to the root of the problem so we can fix it, rather than cover it up.

Further to this he is all up to date on his flea and wormer. We don't use anything with artificial fragrance in the house.
Also he is up to date on flea and wormer
I have re-cleaned the house out again today and sprayed house flea spray around - thought about dust mites as a reason???

We have not changed any washing powder or food(which is raw). Nothing has changed and this all started before Bentley fell ill, so can't see that it would be linked to him.

Have you or your vet considered mange or do the flea treatments you use cover that?

I thought of mange. Just checked the packaging and says it covers Sarcoptic mange.. Its Advocate i use, though i know that Stronghold is good, but vet said this is better than that..

The vet has now put him on piriton for the next few weeks until he goes in for skin scrapings and also blood tests.
Hope we can find the answer to this as vet feels its an allergy he has to something..Lets hope we can find out what

do you think it could be a diet intolerence just a thought.

Whilst you are sorting that out did you say you've used Hibiscrub?  When mine is a bit irritated or itchy I slosh him off after each walk with a weak solution of Hibiscrub in water - I first have to hose the mud off  - then apply the solution with a sponge.  I wipe his eyes and round his mouth first then slosh it on his tummy, pits and paws.  I find it helps to dry out any sore bits and make them less angry or weepy.

My other dog gets 'hot paws' which we think is caused by cow mud (usually near field gates and mixed with manure and urine) or when we walk past the muck heaps.  I slosh each paw in a weak Hibiscrub solution in a small bucket.  I have used Malaseb in the past but find this seems to do a similar job with less effort and it seems kinder on the skin too.

Another thing which can help from time to time is Aloe Vera; it's great for humans and dogs.  Our breeder gave us a plant a few years ago and we all use it, ideal for burns, bites, nettle rash, scrapes, sores, spots etc

Good luck - it can be very distressing to see them sore and itchy :)

Have you tried Camrosa shampoo or cream??

Sounds to me it could be something in his feed. Change to a quality feed such as Oregin. Bathing him in T-gel by Neutragena will aid the scratching and improve the wellbeing of the dog. Salmon oil will also aid the recovery.

I have re-cleaned the house out again today and sprayed house flea spray around - thought about dust mites as a reason???

The house flea spray could certainly be the cause or if not the cause a contributing factor!

Too many chemicals is the first thing that springs to my mind, conventional wormers and flea treatments can all cause skin problems and many more problems too.

I would be thinking on the more natural products now, something like neem shampoo (to soothe his skin), colloidal silver, garlic to protect against fleas, a natural wormer and there is a neem shampoo to treat mites too.

Also food, might be a good thing to try a raw diet too?

Hot paws can anyone explain this as we walk ours in a cow field and the border keeps licking and chewing his feet and they feel hot!!! No problems with the cocker but he has so much fur his feet are like teddy bear feet!!!

> Hot paws can anyone explain this as we walk ours in a cow field and the border keeps licking and chewing his feet and they feel hot!!!

Whistler, as I mentioned, we have this problem and think it's one or all of the following!
**cow urine is quite acidic on cracked or 'winter' paws
**a lot of the cow fields round here have huge numbers of ground covering thistles which irritate even when they don't stick in
**as the mud dries it tightens the skin and makes the paws itch

Soon after moving here (nr Severn Estuary) we found it was a problem and we did once try a trip to the vet but he had no more idea than we did.  I do wonder if it's also something to do with the 'type' of mud we have here as it was never an issue for us in Cheshire!!  A slosh off with hibbiscrub does the job nicely and has thankfully stopped the problem completely for our 'hot pawed' one.  Interestingly he is a multi cross terrier type mongrel that has a hefty dose of border in his makeup - a coincidence?!
 

Try Dermacton-its brilliant-I've used and recommended it lots of times for itchy dogs-so far its worked every time.

> Try Dermacton

Thanks Helen I've ordered the spray for my dog first aid supplies!  It's currently 10% off here til the end of Dec

The poster has confirmed that the dog is fed a raw diet already. I have an itchy CKCS and like yourself want to get to the root of the problem - easier said than done :(  I have found that bathing with Epi Soothe has helped immensley and also adding a splosh of sunflower oil to each meal has also helped the 'flakeyness' with my boy. I have no other advice to offer but I do hope things improve.

I'll try that scrub, Jake walks in and out to the office with OH (about 3 miles) a day and he is forever chewing his feet. They keep cows in the fields so he is constantly ploughing through pats. Whistler doesn't walk that way or I would be forever washing him, he ploughs through cow pats nose first every time he finds one!! and I have never seen him chew his feet? So i'll keep a scrub here at the office and at home to give his feet a wash down thanks for that!