My dog has brown spots on her private area and licks a lot. Why?

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! From the photos, the discoloration looks like it is caused by salivary enzymes from chronic licking. This can be due to an underlying skin infection or environmental/food allergies. Your vet can rule out these conditions with some skin samples and possibly a food trial. I hope this helps!

It's a little odd that it is only on one side of the belly/leg. The rust color looks like saliva staining from your dog licking more frequently. The brown spots are likely clogged pores. I would work with your vet to treat itching (making sure he is on a good-quality flea preventative), food allergies, atopy, etc. You can also ask for a benzoyl peroxide dog shampoo to help flush the pores.

Those spots on Nala could be several things including fleas, allergies, skin mites, bacterial infection, ringworm (which humans can get) or endocrine disease. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing her diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. You can wash the lesions once a day (not her whole body, just the lesions). Also protect the area from trauma by having your pup wear an elizabethan collar at all times. If the lesions do not start improving within a week or if they are getting worse, have her examined by the veterinarian. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Dolly has a lick granuloma. The staining you are seeing around it is from her saliva. Often times dogs lick a particular area due to underlying pain (ie: arthritis in the joint). Sometimes it can be that something irritated the skin which started the licking and the subsequent reaction. No way to tell just by looking at it. Here is a good article about this issue: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/lick-granuloma-in-dogs I recommend you get her to the vet for some treatment. Usually steroids and antibiotics are needed to clear this up. Also, she will need to wear a cone to stop the licking. No matter what you treat her with it will not get better if she continues to lick it. Hope this helps. Best wishes!

I hate to hear this is happening to Halo. In general, those spots on Halo could be several things including allergies to fleas, allergies to something in the environment, food allergy or endocrine disease. Each one of these problems is detected and addressed differently and I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian which one to start hunting down first. Parasites are often ruled out with an oral medication like Simparica. Food allergy is best ruled out with a diet trial using a hydrolyzed protein. Endocrine diseases are detected with blood work. Environmental allergies are a little more difficult to detect but a response to therapy or a blood test can give an indication. Once you figure out and address the underlying cause, the lesions should not come back. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Also protect the area from trauma by having Halo wear an elizabethan collar at all times. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

It looks like there may be a small skin infection (called pyoderma). You can use a medicated shampoo like Dechra Malacetic Ultra Otic, but if it doesn't look better in 72 hours, your pup may need oral antibiotics to clear the infection.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This may be due to a focal infection. You can try to use a medicated shampoo containing chlorhexidine based shampoo and bathe him twice weekly for about 1 week. If he does not get better, have him evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Alternatively, this could be secondary to allergies. Hopefully it is just an uncomplicated superficial infection. Good luck!