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My dogs have dry, flaky, itchy spots and a smelly bump. What to do?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Maltese | Female | unspayed | 10 years and 6 months old | 30 lbs

I have 2 dogs one that's 10 and the other that's 4. They both seem to be getting small, flaky, dry spots like this all over the body rather suddenly. They keep scratching and licking them and the very dark black spot seems to smell. The very dark bump though is only on the legs of the older dog. Please help me figure out what I can do at home to make the spots go away !

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jenny, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 17th, 2017

The first thing to do is to check for any fleas. Some can be allergic and make scratching worse. They sell Advantage and Frontline over the counter to help control fleas if needed. The odor may be from a secondary infection from all the scratching. They will likely need to go to the vet to determine if there is an infection or a separate allergy (environmental or food) causing this. All you can do at home is a regular bath once a week to help their skin and apply antibiotic ointment (neopsorin) to the areas that seem worse and have scabs. They make omega 3 fatty acid supplements for dogs that help their coat and with dry skin that might be beneficial to add.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM
Veterinarian
I can't really tell from you photo if the black spots are raised or did the skin just turn black? That first photo looks like a mass/tumor on the leg..... Again, I can't really tell from the photo.

I think I would try a medicated shampoo first. If there is an odor it may be a yeast skin infection (although it doesn't really look like it). I would recommend this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Dechra-Miconahex-Triz-Shampoo-8-Ounce/dp/B00K4WWY3U

Lather the shampoo on the coat, let it sit for 10 minutes and then rinse thoroughly. This is very important. The shampoo needs that long contact time to work effectively. Wash them 2-3 times a week until the spots/smell is gone. If no improvement in 2-3 weeks then you should take them to your vet for an exam.

If that one spot is a mass/tumor you should have that checked right away as it could be a cancer.

I hope this helps. Best wishes!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS
Veterinarian
Published on February 6th, 2019
This is due usually to a chronic type of inflammation, which could be caused by yeast skin proliferation for example.
I would recommend, first of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape or similar skin tests - this might reveal an infection or a mite (or different type) infestation.
If all of those came back negative, the next step is to consider allergies as possible causes.
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). Shampoo are porven to be quite effective in these cases and medicated ones (like Malaseb) can be prescribed.
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!

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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