My older beagle has been scratching so much lately that she's made herself bleed and has some little scabs on her body.  She's scratched a lot of her skin off her belly so you can see pink skin.   There are no signs of fleas, although in the summer she did pick some up and seemed pretty sensitive to the bites - ie was a lot worse than our younger dog.
I know there can be a lot of causes - too much protein in the diet, fleas, other allergies but before I rush her to the vet, is there anything anyone else can recommend?   We've given her another bath last night and washed her bedding in soapflakes.   We change the make of food quite regularly although it is usually a popular brand, by which I mean either pedigree or bakers - not one you would consider of the more expensive varieties.  Has anyone got any suggestions or past experiences?

http://www.animal-allergy.com/

Allergies can only be correctly diagnosed by testing (see link above).  Allergies may be environmental eg house dust mite, grass pollen, orcarpet freshener, fabric conditioner, biological washing powder (more likely to be skin irritants than true allergies) or nutritional.  Nutritional ones can be readily sorted.

If I was looking at food I would be choosing one with as few additives as possible.  Bearing in mind that Bakers contains colourings, salt and sugard this would not be top of my list.  Hae you thought of using Burns or Naturediet?

regards

I have thought of trying something like Burns but it seems strange that she's never been bothered by food before.  But I suppose allergies can come on all of a sudden.

I developed an allergy to base metal in my late teens; unfortunately I can only wear gold and platinum now :D

Sarah,

Don't assume it's allergies - take her to the vet for a check up.  Especially if she's an older dog changes in the way organs function (liver, kidneys) can effect cause symptoms such as dry skin or excessive itching.

Stacey

I sympathise with your problem. I have a 26 weeks old Tibetan Terrier - similar problem. Changed his food from Royal Canine to Burns, and have seen an improvement in his coat. We are currently treating him for flea allergies and mites. Again like yourself, no obvious signs of fleas.
Good luck .....

theres a  lot of sarcoptic mange about just now, might be worth checking for that,

That was something I had considered, but thought more unlikely as her ears weren't affected.  I took her to the vets last Wednesday and she thought it was probably an allergy - but to what - who knows? and gave her a steroid jab and a course of antibiotics.  She is now improving - no more scratching.  There are two possible causes that we can think of.  We recently started taking her swimming, so maybe the chlorine, or about that time we changed her food for 6 weeks.  I am thinking of feeding them a more natural diet as so much dog food is full of additives.