My dog has peeling paw skin and bumps on her head. What's wrong?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This may be due to allergies. The bumps are likely a secondary infection. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is difficult to know without being able to examine her. This could be a benign or malignant growth. There is no way of knowing what it is just based on its appearance. This is often differentiated by a test called a fine needle aspirate (FNA) which is a pain free, inexpensive and easy procedure which in most cases will help reach a diagnosis. Sometimes a biopsy is needed for a definitive diagnosis. I recommend that you have her evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. I am really hoping for something benign. Good luck and have a good day!

In your second picture it does look like Val might have a skin growth that could be a papilloma or wart, or might be something like an adenoma. I doubt that is the ultimate cause of her signs since both legs are affected. Her toes look red and I'd be suspicious of a secondary bacterial or fungal infection. Mites are possible and would show up on a skin scrape. Allergies might also be triggering these recurrent infections. I wouldn't recommend any home treatments especially since this is recurrent - I'd recommend talking to your vet to see what they would recommend as the next step.

This is likely to be due to an infective pododermatitis. It is possible that the generalized infection is actually due to an underlying predisposing 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!

Very interesting looking. Given the young age of your dog I am optimistic it isn’t anything particularly infiltrative or aggressive. However, it does concern me that it is likely cause your dog some discomfort with the resultant self-mutilation. I think you need to have that paw and those lesions along with the rest of your dog examined after the holiday weekend for a more thorough work up of the issue. In the mean time if you have get one, place an e-collar on Ruger to prevent further unwanted licking and injury. You can potentially try like booties as well if you think he won’t just rip them off right away. When you get to the vet, depending on the results of the physical examination they will likely want to potentially get needle aspirates of the lesions to get a better idea of what they might be. They may even recommend a full thickness biopsy instead. I think this because needle aspirates on the feet are frequently subject to contamination from blood - gravity does not work in out favor in that particular instance. If the areas is small enough and it is causing your dog discomfort, your vet may even just want to schedule to have it removes and worry about biopsying the area after its gone. Pre surgical biopsy would be nice though to better plan out the procedure and how much margins might be needed when removing. Finally, I realize your dog is having issues with this paw only. However, I would look at each and every one of your dog’s paw pads to see if anything else is forming elsewhere. If so, this might suggest a more generalized problem that would require a non-surgical approach if something is curable or treatable. Shepherds in general do like to get lots of weird skin issues so it wouldn’t be a far stretch. Things to consider that might be causing this are cysts, benign growths, malignant growths, some sort of abscessing tissue, a primary dermatological problem, or an auto immune problem. Hope this makes sense. I can discuss with more detail with your in a consult if you’d like.

The bump you are seeing could be a mass, or it could be a skin lesion caused by bacterial, parasitic or fungal infection, dietary or environmental allergies or sensitivities, or could be a combination of the above. I recommend making an appointment to have your dog seen by your veterinarian to help determine the cause of the bump you’ve noticed and to make sure it is treated appropriately. The vet will likely want to look at a sample from the area under the microscope to determine what is causing the bump and to provide treatment. . In the meantime, if he is licking the area, I recommend putting an e-collar/cone on him to help prevent licking and reduce the risk of infection.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Bodie, it sounds as if he has had a rough three days. Bodie's lesions on his paw could certainly be related to an underlying environmental or food allergy that resulted in the development of a severe superficial and possible deep pyoderma, which can be difficult to treat if the bacteria present are resistant to normal antibiotics. Other potential causes could include fungal infections (depending on your location), and neoplasia (cancer). For lesions that do not respond to typical therapy with antibiotics and anti-itch medications (such as corticosteroids, Apoquel, Atopica), it may be necessary to perform a culture/sensitivity of the lesions to determine what type of bacteria present (if any) and what antibiotic it is sensitive to, or even a biopsy which could help rule-out certain fungal infections or neoplasia. I would recommend having Bodie re-evaluated by a veterinarian if the sores do not resolve to determine what the appropriate next step will be.