What's causing my dog's dark, thick, sore skin on chest and stomach?

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). The following products can be found online and can be tried as a first line approach: Douxo PS Calm shampoo, Essential 6 spot on by dermoscent, Krillex Krill oil chews. Hope this answer was helpful, but 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

His chest seems worse than his feet in those photos! an allergy is vet likely but for joe t seems it may be infected also. If you can't get in before next week you can try a medicated shampoo twice a week to help clean and rinse the skin and wipe the feet down after coming in from outside. You can apply a medicated powder between the Toes to help and give an antihistamine such as Benadryl.

This redness indicates inflammation and is usually itchy. This is often due to one of two conditions. 1) Allergies - this can happen suddenly and is usually due to an environmental (i.e pollen) cause. https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-tell-if-your-pet-has-allergies/ 2) External parasites - fleas, lice and mites can all cause intense itching. It's good to check her for fleas and get treatment if needed. This pattern is more suspicious of mange, which is a mite infestation. A veterinarian can check for these mites and prescribe treatment. One thing you can do for itchy skin, is give a bath with cool water using an oatmeal or aloe shampoo. You can get these shampoos at the pet store. Below is a link with more helpful advice for relieving the itch. https://www.petcoach.co/article/4-great-strategies-for-relieving-your-dog-s-allergies/ I hope this helps you to identify the problem. If not, then it would be worth taking her to the vet. We can usually discover the cause quickly and provide the best treatment.

That does not look like a typical yeast infection, but your vet can do some simple skin tests to tell you for sure. Unfortunately, sometimes dogs have allergies that result in itching without any secondary infection and the only thing that helps are medication for the itching. There are some over the counter medications like Benadryl (https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/) that you can try, but the prescription medications work much better. I would recommend having your vet examine Chelsea, decide if she has a secondary yeast infection that needs treatment (which could be topical or oral medication), then decide on a treatment plan for her itching. I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat her with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advantage), then get her to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

This looks potentially like a superficial skin infection. Skin infections like this can occur secondary to allergies, fleas, or sometimes to contact with an irritating substance. I would recommend having your veterinarian take a look. They might recommend topical treatment or an oral antibiotic, or they might want to do some testing as well.

It looks like he has a bacterial skin infection which could be associated with allergies. Have your vet take a look at him as he will need an oral antibiotic, anti-histamine, and/or a corticosteroid to help treat. You can also bathe him with a medicated dog shampoo.