My boy's rash had improved slightly with use of an ecollar over the weekend, but today his belly looked a bit pink again and the scabs from his skin scrapes had come off but were stuck in the fur so I decided to malaseb the area.

First I laid him down and rubbed his belly and thoroughly examined him. It looks to me like the pinker areas, which spots form on the edges of, are around where he pees from, and on both inner thighs, where they rest on the area where he pees from, when he is lying down. I had never noticed before because I've been clipping the fur quite short but now there's enough hair the wee is stuck in it.

Is it possible I have spent over £100 at the vet on nappy rash?

I thought it was in his ears as well.i f u think it's nappy rash as daft as it sounds as  sounds paint the area with egg white and leave to dry.it protects the skin from urine burns and won't hurt if he licks

He had one pimple-looking spot on his head next to one ear, and one spot, then three, now none, under the leather on the same side. He did also have a pimple on his lip over the weekend, but they all looked and acted exactly like a pimple (got bigger, came to a head, drained, healed up) so I'm not sure I'd call what's on his head "rash" now. I was lumping them together because the vet asked "any spots anywhere else?".

The tummy rash is slightly pinker skin with the odd red spot. Odd meaning 2-3 spots at a time on the whole area. He also has patches of reddened-follicles where old spots have been and he has licked/chewed them which heal up after a few days.

He does get a bit messy, because he still pees submissively most days. Ironically he licks his tummy but doesn't clean his wee off the "wick" of hair there (and I had tried trimming it off but then he sprinkles himself lower down the legs).

Thanks for the egg-white tip. At the moment he has sudocrem on it (as he's in the ecollar and can't lick) but it will help with maintenance if this cures things. I'm going to spend the next days keeping him cleaner and putting the barrier cream on. I will be mad if it's this, he's currently signed off training on the grounds that if he's being treated for mange we must assume he's contagious. I'm a fool.

Can I also thank everyone, even just for reading, this millionth chapter in my ridiculous minor-rash-saga.

First time puppy owners = annoying.

> Is it possible I have spent over £100 at the vet on nappy rash?

If so applying Vaseline once a day will soon soothe and heal the area and you can do this to protect the skin from urine scald.  Could be his urine is more concentrated in the mornings due to the hot weather.

U are not a fool at all after all the vet didn't think of this I hope it is nappy rash albeit a expensive one

He had one pimple-looking spot on his head next to one ear, and one spot, then three, now none, under the leather on the same side. He did also have a pimple on his lip over the weekend, but they all looked and acted exactly like a pimple (got bigger, came to a head, drained, healed up)
They can get 'puppy acne' Daughters Rott had it ............ very similar to teenage acne

> My boy's rash had improved slightly with use of an ecollar over the weekend

I don't think you mean an ecollar as that is usually the term used for those barbaric electric shock collars and I am sure that is not the type of collar you mean.

I was assuming Elizabethan? I hope that's what it is anyway.

> I was assuming Elizabethan? I hope that's what it is anyway.

I am sure it was - just didn't want poodlenoodle to be tarred with the wrong brush .

Ha! Yes, good grief, Elizabethan!  Although actually it isn't even that, as i would have called that the lampshade of shame.  He is actually wearing an inflatable buster collar, which allows only a brief lick at the inner hock (which he has to strain to reach).  I hadn't thought of the e-electronic collar thing.  Yuk.

I DO think he has sensitive skin, as i don't think the amount of wee is huge, it's not as if he's going around dripping or stinking, and he is bathed every 2 weeks (recent malaseb routine aside) and wiped of in between.  But i also think this really might be the issue.  Yes, the vet should have spotted/considered it, but then it DOES look like about 20 things that dogs can get.  "Irritated skin with spots".

Well fingers crossed it is this, and lesson learned by me!

> I DO think he has sensitive skin, as i don't think the amount of wee is huge, it's not as if he's going around dripping or stinking, and he is bathed every 2 weeks

Maybe you are bathing him too often? My dogs very rarely get bathed - apart from one they are double coated breeds. I do rinse them off in the winter when they come back from a walk and are literally covered in mud but apart from that the only time they are washed with shampoo is if they have rolled in something revolting. Perhaps the very frequent washing is removing the protective oils from his skin?

Maybe, but he's a poodle so after a fortnight his legs are getting brownish and hard to brush (as the fur is stiff with mud particles and mats up quite quickly).  Even after 2 weeks the water runs brown when i wash him (i actually shower him, rather than bathing him).  Also his legs and feet get most attention/soap in the bath and the rash is only on his stomach/inner thighs.

his legs and feet get most attention/soap in the bath and the rash is only on his stomach/inner thighs.
It could be that soap is being splashed and spread on his underside and not rinsed thoroughly off?
Have you asked on a poodle grooming group?  I'm sure there will be one

Definitely not soap left on, i am VERY vigilant about rinsing him. 

I haven't talked to a groomer, but to my breeder who grooms her own.  I do think there is a grooming issue, as i have been clipping the fur on his "sanitary area" close to try to keep it all cleaner, which makes things more irritated, but probably leaving too much on the prepuce (through fear of catching his skin), which holds some wee like a teeny sponge.  I am now going to let the protective hair grow on the tummy but shave the end of the prepuce close.  I should think he'll be lifting a leg not-to-long from now and that will help a lot.

I don't know but I wonder WHY they have longer  hair on their 'gentleman's protusions' especially as pups. Could it be for directions lol?   I only started trimming that area once about 7/8 months. I don't know the value of this though.

Right or wrong I've never trimmed whispa hair in that area.infact it never occurred to me to do so. Since he is now 9 I think I will leave things alone as  he seems to manage his personal hygiene very well I m happy to say :)

I always assumed (possibly wrongly) that the hair gave direction to the pee when they are wee.

I've always assumed it's just a side effect of being bred to have a lot of coat.  Same reason they have a lot of hair between the pads, so much hair growth on the face that is has to be kept short so they can see and so on.  Just one of those things.

> They can get 'puppy acne' Daughters Rott had it ............ very similar to teenage acne <img alt="" title="roll" src="/images/epx.png" class="fsm fsm_roll" />

Yes.   I had a litter with some puppies who managed to develop this - it's a staph infection (I was horrified as I keep my puppies clean!).   My then vet, out in Canada, recommended I used undiluted Johnsons Baby Shampoo, applied with a Q-tip.

> as i have been clipping the fur on his "sanitary area" close to try to keep it all cleaner, which makes things more irritated

Have you considered it might be clipper rash ? Don't want to teach you to suck eggs but if your blades aren't sharp enough or the clippers are too hot it could be whats causing the problem? My bitch had horrendous clipper rash after being spayed. Aloe vera gel sorted that out.

I had wondered about the clippers. They definitely aren't hot, I'm careful of that, and are as old as him so still very sharp. They are small trimmers not the big clippers I use on his body. I clean them well but perhaps I need to really thoroughly sterilise them rather than just cleaning? But then he gets rashy when I use the guards too, so I think it's more likely prickling hairs, if it's the clipping. I do clip with the direction of growth.

I think if he had more coverage on his tummy the whisp on the end would be fine, but it does need trimmed no matter what as it holds urine like a sponge and will just get longer and longer.

His tummy definitely looks paler and calmer today, I just gave him a wash and dry and sudocrem. Will see how it goes.

How common is it to trim or need to trim this area in Any breed or is this a poodle thing? Having never xi sundered doing it in my lh gsd . The more I hear about boys the more I think I m lucky with mine and will stick with bitches in future

I think it may be more of a problem with low/non shedding breeds and those with a profuse coat.  My terrier mix hasn't really moulted, he's broken coated, i just trimmed the very long hair from his prepuce as it did get quite wet, and frankly I didn't like the look of it., I did similarly with my Pap though he has a very thick long coat I've not had much trouble since, crossing fingers.

I did have trouble with poop getting stuck in his hair - that wasn't nice and definitely needed a hygiene trim

Yes Mia pom x chi needs hygiene trims .no idea why whispa doesn't as he has very thick long trousers

One of my cockers needs to be kept trimmed there, the other doesn't, nor did my previous boy.  The one who needs trimming "mixes his own mud" when he needs a trim - he gets his tummy feathers wet and then in ordinary walking about kicks up dust which sticks to the wet patches and comes home as mud.  I think it may be their own personal biometrics - my last boy was so made that after he cocked his leg he naturally put his paw down into his puddle;  neither of the current two does.  I keep a pack of baby wipes and a bowl of water and a couple of cloths by the door ....  Boys, huh!

My last boy (a short double coated moulting breed) never needed anything trimming/washing/attended to in his sanitary areas. So I agree it's probably a long coated thing.This boy just gets a narrow strip at the back shaved down, and then I'd been doing his whole tummy but now will be doing only the end of the prepuce. His spots are healing up now, he's still in his buster collar and sudocrem but the area doesn't seem to itch anymore.

I was reading the other day about vaginitis being common in female puppies and thought "thank goodness I got a boy" so it goes both ways and ultimately depends mostly on the specific dog. Ear plucking initially gave me pause when we were considering a poodle, but actually some grow almost no hair in there, and some (like mine) grow tons but are fairly patient about having to have some pulled out. This sensitive tummy skin thing is definitely more annoying and you'd be hard pressed to find ANY puppy that didn't have a fairly bald tummy and soft baby skin.

Just a minor update, after two days of a good wash + thin coat if sudocrem and his tummy looks basically completely normal again. However when I left his buster collar off he did chew his prepuce a bit on one side (i haven't trimmed the hair off it yet).

I don't know why he chewed it as I didn't see him do it, but I was watching him before and when dissuaded from chewing the hair in his front legs he went straight to chewing (but not at all damaging) my cardigan and then, when redirected again, a towel.

He has new adult teeth at the front of his mouth, every remaining milk tooth is loose now and I suspect by the careful but rapturous way he eats his frozen duck wing that his mouth is bothering him. Perhaps he is hurting himself accidentally with his big teeth on the less hairy areas, or perhaps his chewing was to relieve his mouth. Either way, he is in the buster collar again when unattended and out of it when attended or busy. So far so good, and I think we've solved this thing now.

If this is the reason for your insurance get the vet to include s note that there were no dkin conditions other site skin caused by him licking after seeing.just in case u have to claim in the future.akward eotditd instance companies and u dint want them being difficult

I'm not sure it will affect my insurance - I haven't claimed for any of this and the vet hasn't put conclusions on the file, only the appearance of the rash and the treatment so far. I'm going to ring them and ask when we can consider him safe to go back to training (as training class have had to assume mange since they're treating for it) so I'll double check. Thanks.

Claiming  doesntmatter it's what the vet writes down on the notes that can me the difference later. Just as long as u are happy.

I'm glad your boy seems to be over his itchy tummy, and that it turned out not to be anything serious.  I hope you've got over your own itchiness, too (which you mentioned in your previous thread on the topic of the Itchy Tum)? 

My itchiness never returned after visiting the vet. which goes to show that becoming hysterical over nothing-much is expensive