My old dog (14 & half years) has always shed very heavy through the summer and is prone to getting itchy and occasionaly a bit sore. Every summer frontline seems to do the trick along with much more brushing (to help remove all the dead fur).
The last few weeks he has been itching more than normal and caused a couple of small bald patches, which I have partly put down to his age and the humid weather and the fact that he has food sensetivities that can make him itchy. Stepping up his brushing seemed to be working, along with some tea-tree spray to calm & sooth any sore spots he had caused from nibbling himself.

BUT, yesterday evening the itching got worse to the point he had made him self so sore accross the side of his back that it looked like his skin had been peeled off, the fur over this patch had come away in clumps (it was all stuck in is mouth :( ), the patch was about 4 inches long by 2 inches wide, was bleeding and pussy looking. He has always been a smelly dog, but the smell from him is different and quite strong (it's a sort of a sweet smell).
After wiping this area down & stopping him biting at it any more I noticed my mastiff (12 month old) was now doing the same, he was chewing at a patch on his back end just above the tail. A round patch 2 inches round, pussy and sore looking. The old dog is so itchy you just have to touch him & his start a scratting motion, the Mastiff is sensetive on the sore patch and doesn't seem itchy other than that.

Needles to say they are both off to the vets later today.
When I made the appointment the receptionist asked me if it was mange, my reply - "I haven't a clue, I've never seen mange before", so any ideas - is mange that distinct that it has it's own set of symptoms?

For the mastiff to have 'caught' mange from the old dog, wouldn't it need to be sarcoptic mange? I have no idea how they could have picked that up as the old dog hasn't been out for a walk in over 2 months (unsteady on his little old legs now :( ) and the Mastiff has been having shorter walks on pavements only.
I am dreading being sent away form the vets with a 'try this & see diagnisis', not being uncommon for them to diagnose by ellimination, I know, but I hate not knowing the cause, I want the vets to just KNOW what it is so the dogs can have 100% the right treatment from today :(
Anyway, sorry for the long ramble, I just worry so much and like to have a bit of knowledge about possibilities before seeing the vet so there is less chance of being 'fobbed off' with needless or futile treatments. (even though the vets are normally really good)

The vet may choose to do skin scrapes to try to see if there are mange mites. It could also be malassezia, which has a distinct smell, and will require regular baths. Is he insured?

Thanks for the thoughts Jeangenie, malassezia seems very fitting - I'm pretty sure the vet will be able to tell a lot, just from the smell of the old dog, he is really stinky today :(

The old dog isn't insured, but the Mastiff is. So only half as scary a price tag!!!

I've just looked up 'malassezia'.. The old dog has food & flea allergies (recently been treated with frontline), the Mastiff has no allergies (none that I know of, he's never had any probs before) but he hasn't been frontlined yet as needed him weighed for that.

With mange - cats can catch it too can't they? My cat is fine, no itching etc..

Urgh, my skin is crawling at the thought of it all.
At least the old dog has stopped itching for the moment and is having a nap - the mastiff keeps going in circles, trying to get at the sore bit on his rear :( Roll on thier appointement time, if there isn't a definate diagnosis today, I'm sure the vet will prescribe something to give some relief to them.

COuld it be a hot spot?? Although unlikely for 2 dogs to get them at the same time. My Rotties suffer from them (not noticed a smell though), and whilst normally on the cheeks, the beastie had one at the root of his tail a few weeks ago.

They look like you're describing wet, sore and pussy if not caught early enough. We treated the beastie ourselves, shaved the area to let the air get to it, scrubbed with hipiscrub and then a good spray with Daktarin athletes foot powder. Dried up in a couple of days.

Thanks Tadsy.
That is how the old dog started out. Like you say, for them both to have the same thing (allthough the mastiffs is very mionor compared to the old dog) it seems that they either have something contagious (sp?) or there is a common irritant in the house - ie fleas :( Allthough there is no sign of fleas, the cat & the old dog have both been frontlined, there is always the chance that I have the pesky little critters lurking under the skirting or something and I haven't treated the house for fleas.
Then again, it could be a hot-spot on the mastiff and started as a hot-spot on the old boy that led to his skin becoming infected.... or both dogs could have completely different things!!!!

I've just had another good check over the mastiff, his poor 'doo-daas' look sore too, no pussyness or broken skin, just pink patches :(

Gosh, there is so many possibilities, I don't know how vets cope with making a diagnosis!!!!
Thier appointment is at 4:45 so hopefull soon we'll know what's going on. I must say that I don't think this weather is doing most dogs any good, 1 minute it's hot & humid, the next minute it's pouring with rain - ohh must remember to tell the vet that the Mastiff got soaked to the skin in the rain 2 days ago (quite happy to sit in the garden in the rain!) - I can never get him completely dry as he doesn't like the hair dryer.
It's amazing the worry we go through with our dogs, even though this is a very minor problem in the big scheme of things, it's stressing me out - I want my doggies back to normal :(

You were both right!!!!
Buster (the Mastiff) has a hot spot, Rocky (the old dog) started with a hotspot and now has a yeast infection , they didn't give me the clinical tems but malassezia is a yeast infection. The vet said that 1 simple flea bite would be enough to have caused the hotspots in both dogs. Rocky and the cat have allready been frontlined but Buster hasn't so he now has some frontline too, as well as that I need to de-flea the house just to make sure.
Buster has some cream to rub on his hot spot, Rocky has some shampoo (bath twice a week). :)

Buster hates the car so the he wasn't that impressed, but the old boy loves his car rides and really enjoyed his trip!! :)
The whole bill for the both dogs was £125 that included 3 lots of frontline for Buster, wormer for Buster, treatment for both the dogs and the cost of 1 consultation. Without the frontline & wormer it would have been £75, so quite reasonable me thinks :) 

Blimey! I'm not usually right!!! Anyway pleased you've got a diagnosis and the treatment can begin. Hotspots are horrible things, and they can come up from nothing to a wet and nasty wound in less than an hour. But if caught early enough can be dealt with quite easily. We're paranoid about them now, so anytime one of ours is paying particular attention to a certain area we jump on them for a full inspection!!!

Learnt the hard way though, our first encounter was when we picked our eldest (and at that time only) girl from kennels to be presented with a bill for £120 for a hot spot, which then took a further 2/3 weeks to clear up, and several vets visits. PRobably cost us nearly £200 in the end.

My old bordeaux used to get them on her chin n she would rub her head on the carpet until it bled, sudocrem cooled it down usually before it got too bad. Never had it with these 2 luckily

Hope ure 2 will be ok soon,

could be the heat of summer at the moment that used to flare hers up.

I was given a very good tip for hot spots and it really works. Good old Savlon.

Dermacton is brilliant for sore,itchy skin,it comes in either cream or spray.