My dog has crusty bumps on back that brush off, leaving bald spots?

The bald spots and pimples may indicate minor infection or may be a symptom of a broader underlying condition. Skin problems can have a variety of causes, sometimes more than one. It is important to have the condition addressed by your veterinarian to determine if there is a medical cause for your pet’s skin issues and treat accordingly. Young dogs can get skin infections, commonly referred to as 'puppy pyoderma'. This usually occurs on the belly and inside the hind legs. This type of infection usually resolves without treatment as the puppy gets older. [*Staph* infections](https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/staphylococcal-pyoderma-1/) are common in dogs of all ages and may requires antibiotic therapy to treat. In pets of all ages, [fleas](https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/flea-allergy/), [food allergies](https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/food-allergies/) and [environmental allergies](https://www.petcoach.co/article/food-allergies-vs-environmental-allergies-whats-the-difference) (contact or inhaled) can be a cause. Any one of these may not be enough to trigger the breakouts, depending on how sensitive your pet is, but a combination can be enough to start the itch-scratch cycle. Finding out the cause and eliminating it is the best course of action. With flea allergies, if your pet is sensitive enough, a single bite can cause them to break out scratch enough to tear their skin or cause a [hot spot](https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/hot-spots/). Diagnosing the cause of allergies may require [allergy testing](https://www.petcoach.co/article/allergy-testing-immunotherapy-in-dogs) and [food elimination trials](https://www.petcoach.co/article/food-trials-for-allergies-in-pets-what-to-expect). [Check for fleas](https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-check-your-pet-for-fleas-and-ticks) with a flea comb. Look for fleas and/or tiny black granules, like coarse black pepper. This is flea feces, consisting of digested, dried blood. You may find tiny white particles, like salt, which are the flea eggs. Applying a good topical monthly flea treatment and aggressively treating your house and yard will help break the flea life cycle. If you use plastic bowls, this is a possible cause for hair loss, though this tends to be on the chin, where their skin touches the bowl while they eat. If you suspect this to be the culprit, try changing the bowls to glass, metal or ceramic. Food allergies are often caused by sensitivity to a [protein in the food](https://www.petcoach.co/article/all-about-protein-in-pet-food). Hill's Science Diet offers some non-prescription options for sensitive skin as well as [prescription hypoallergenic foods](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/category/dog/dog-food/prescription-dog-food-and-treats) for more severe cases. Royal Canin carries limited protein and [novel protein](https://www.petcoach.co/article/what-is-a-novel-protein-pet-food) diets that may also offer some relief. Your vet can recommend a specific diet that will help.

This does not sound like a normal thing to happen in dogs, and I recommend that Binky see a vet for her skin issue. Your vet may do a skin scrape to look for mites, skin cytology to look for bacteria or yeast under a microscope, or bacterial or fungal cultures may be needed. Possible causes for bumps include fleas, mange, lice, infections (bacterial or yeast), ringworm, allergies, among others. I would recommend that Binky be on year-round flea prevention. While you await for your appointment, you can try a medicated shampoo like Dechra MalAcetic Ultra Shampoo, but be careful not to get it into her eyes. Also, think of any changes that have happened in the last few weeks, like changes in food, treats, medications, supplements, or household cleaners that could have had an effect on her skin.

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach! What you are seeing may be a bacterial skin infection. I would recommend using a shampoo such as Duoxo PS Chlorhexidine combination shampoo and bathe twice weekly until resolved. If there is no improvement, then I would recommend having a veterinarian take a look at Shadow so that further testing and treatment can be performed. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!

Chronic skin problems 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 Simba wear an elizabethan collar at all times to prevent licking if needed. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Dogs with Cushings are more likely to develop skin infections, and it is possible that these crusty lesions are from a bacterial or fungal skin infection. Dogs with allergies can develop similar skin issues. I'd recommend making an appointment with your veterinarian to have Bruiser's skin evaluated and discuss what treatments might be recommended: sometimes shampoos or sprays can help and other times oral medications are necessary.

Lesions like those in the pictures can be caused by bacterial, parasitic or fungal infection, dietary or environmental allergies or sensitivities, immune system disorders, or a combination of the above. In dogs like yours with hair loss and itchiness, one common cause can be infection by mites that can live in the hair follicles and lead to hair loss, and secondary bacterial and fungal infections that can develop. I recommend making an appointment to have your dog seen by your veterinarian to help determine the cause of the hair loss as soon as you can. The vet will likely want to look at a sample from the area (taken by a procedure known as a skin scraping) and examined under the microscope to determine what kind(s) of infection may be present and to figure out what medication is appropriate for treatment. I hope that helps!

This presentation is due to a diffuse and quite severe pyoderma. A medicated shampoo, systemic antibiotics and a check up are absolutely needed to solve the problem. Pyoderma could be secondary to other diseases which cause immunosuppression. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.