Cant seem to find the problem to cure it. My 9 month old bitch is scratching her face also biting her front legs behind the wrist, she has scratching fits a few times a day. Been to vets they combed her with the nit comb then put it under the microscope and found nothing. Theres no redness or marks.
We don't use any powders on the carpet.
She lays in our bed room at night and because of this vet says it may be an allergy towards us, so we kept her out of the bed rooms to see how she goes and theirs no change.

We were at Manchester CH show today and she was having one of her scratching fits in the ring, I was a bit embarrassed buy it. Any advise/info will be appreciated.

Can I ask for a bit more history;
What breed is your Bitch
How long has she had these signs&symptoms
And what treatment has been given so far?

A few years ago I had a problem with one of my dogs' itching and skin scrapes,flea treatments ,diet etc had no effect in eliminating the problem and my poor boy was red raw and I was getting fed up of going back and forwards to the vets.

The thing that eventually cured him was neem oil and regular neem baths.I bathed him about 3  times a week for a few weeks with neem soap and then sprayed him with neem oil and didn't rinse this out.I came across this treatment when doing some investigations on the net and as neem is a natural oil felt it was ok to try

this worked for my dog and he hasn't had a problem since. It may be worth a try but must point out that neem has a very odd smell and not one that I like but I was willing to try anything.

I have similar questions to HG and a few more!  How long is it since she was excluded from the bedroom?

Has she been bathed since then, and what did you use? Have you made any other changes to her bedding?  What does she sleep on during the day?

Thanks for the replies.

She is a Border Terrier
She has had the symptoms for about 3 months maybe more.
No treatment apart from Frontline.
She has been excluded from the bedroom 4 weeks now.
She has been bathed and we use Asda,s own mild shampoo for us. Shes not bathed very often.
During the day she sleeps on a leather couch,night time she stops on the floor.

I wanted to  get a skin scraping but vet said were from she's not sore so were do we get the scraping from and assured me that would be a waste of time.

Hmm sounds like it could be an allergy but working that out can be a longish process and will usually require a blood sample - google York Test.  Your vet may well prefer to wait before testing but I don't think the results are affected by age.  My pup showed signs of allergy at 9 months old and was tested quite soon afterward.

The big questions it will answer are whether it's an allergy to external irritant like dust mites or pollen OR to food.

In the meantime I'd err on the side of caution and keep her on natural fibres as much as possible - the leather ought to be fine but use cotton towels on her bed - and wash her bedding with something like Surcare.  I'd also suggest bathing her in very dilute Hibiscrub rather than any supermarket shampoo and giving her a footbath in the same after every walk.  If you are really strict about this and see some improvement after 8 weeks then allergies could well be the cause of her current itching

I have a dog with severe allergies and although his problem irritant is pollen, when he in an elevated state then all the usual suspects make him more itchy.  He hasn't been upstairs in 4 years; sleeps on a Tuffie wipe clean bed with a cotton cover; is washed after every single walk, every day of the year; is on a raw diet; and has monthly injections.  I also have a coping strategy which involves Piriton, Dermacton, and Garlic & Fenugreek tablets.  It's hard work but has just become 'normal' - I manage to keep him on the right side of his problem and although we get the odd flare up he's pretty good considering...

Incidentally what are you feeding her?  Did you change her food 3 months ago?  Finally, how are her ears?

Ears are fine. She was being fed on Arden Grange until a week ago, now she is feed a raw diet.
The vet thinks its an allergy but not severe enough for steroid injections. Just docent look good when she is scratching in a CH show ring.

Maybe its an allergy to storage mites? 

Only way to find out for sure if its indoor/outdoor allergies, is to have a York blood test done.

Maybe not the same problem but a suggestion; ADVOCATE
Our cat scratched for probably 1.5 years, there were tufts of hairs all over the place, she would sit out on the driveway doing nothing but scratch, her skin was covered with loads of scabs (we were using Frontline), in the end she started losing weight, she was not a very happy pussy!
I changed my vet, to cut a long story shory we tried ADVOCATE, the result was amazing, within about 3 days the scratching had stopped, it took a while to see the results but in a short time there were no more chunks of hair and scabs all gone. We now have a Happy cat!
A friend of mine has an old dog who has spent most of his time over the past years permenantly scratching, ( friend says he is just a compulsive "scratcher") she also used Frontline, she insisted there were no fleas but when the hair started to thin on this poor creatures body she asked what I thought, I suggested she should visit her vet and speak about the possible use of Advocate. I have not seen the old dog recently but initially after treatment the scratching stopped and the hair began to regrow.

Could be food related, but you wouldnt notice a difference until about 6 weeks after changing food. If it persists you may need to request to be referred to a specialist who can do an allergen test for her.

Could even be Frontline, try a different product you could also try Piriton for a short while to see if that helps, if it does then it will be a allergy of some sort.

Advocate is effective against mites.  Frontline isn't.  So if the dog has some undiagnosed mite problem behind the scratching, Advocate will help.  But only if that.

I'd also get some Thornit and use that in her ears, paws and where tail meets anus - since it's effective against mites, readily available and something to try.

Do you wash her bedding in bio washing liquid?  Try to find a non-bio washing liquid for ecszema sufferers, like Surcare, and try that.

Hoover frequently, as dust mites can also be a cause of allergies and regular hoovering helps cut those down. 

Hi Elliejake,
I feel for you, the minute I saw this thread I knew it was going to be a bit of a quagmire of opinion! (Allergies and 'allergies' causes the same in even in the medical/veterinary worlds too,so no surprises that feeds down to the populous!)
     Your Vet has already embarked on some exploratory work, so obviously is best placed having been hands and eyes on the dog (unlike Internet users on a keyboard) to be honest there is a potential allergen for every member of this forum (could be a long thread if they did all pitch a suggestion!)
    Then there is the 'skin condition' spectrum still to run through....!

I would say your best bet is to persevere (and pester if necessary) your Vet to assist you. Without proper testing and hands, nose and eyes on the animal every other potential diagnosis is moot!

When I had this same problem with one of my dogs, what I found useful was to keep a diary, of where my dog had been and what she had eaten.. A whole day in the life of! This really helped to brain storm with my Vet as to realistic possibilities.

I would also suggest that meantime, alleviating your dogs symptoms ( until you can cure the symptoms) would be a kindness and relief! And lessen your stress for your dogs comfort first and foremost and showring performance there after.

Neem oil has already been suggested ( I have also used this with good results)
With a dog I had ( a Eurasier) I eventually found the cause to be a particular bush in our field that she liked to ratch about in and lie under ~ I used Quistel~Bio restoring lotion and shampoo the lotion is a liquid spray that you can spritz onto the affected area ( and its fine if the dog does then lick that area... Unlike Thornit which has been recommended) within a day of using Quistel I had dramatic positive effects and no worrying of the area by my dog.

I like Nova's suggestion of using an anti-histamine to see if symptoms reduce and point to allergy.. However I would do this after discussion with your vet as to which would be the best anti-histamine to give your dog and as your vet knows your dogs history, wether this treatment and what dosage will be ok for your dog.

Sympathise with you as I've been there.

I hope you find the cause soon, if any of mine are itchy I find that liquidised raw spinach helps.

Just a thought but it could be something to do with the furniture, if the dog lays on the leather sofa . See here :- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/3547273/Toxic-leather-armchair-kills-father-son-and-cat-family-claims.html

I've had exactly that here a few times now - since July River and Phoebe were both itching like mad, it turned out to be fleas but I never actually found one on any of the dogs.  I found a few on me over a period of months and the vet found one on River when I took her in for it, frontline and effipro (same ingredient in both) did naff-all but Advantage and spraying the house finally sorted it and no itching from them since.

Raine has itching because of food - she's doing it at the moment and my suspicion is the webbox I use to make the food more interesting.  I only use a teeny bit but she's very sensitive - the only kibble she's not been itchy on so far is Chappie.  I don't know what ingredient it is triggering it but I'm 99% sure it's down to food.