My dog has red skin around his mouth. What's wrong and what to do?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This looks like dog acne which can occur from eating or drinking water from a dirty bowl. The best way to prevent this is by keeping the water and food bowls very clean. If he has been itchy, you may get an e-collar from your local pet store to prevent further scratching trauma to the area. Keep this as clean as possible. You can use soapy water. This usually resolves on its own. Good luck!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It looks like local skin infection, it could have allergic trigger, but it is not always the case. Please, take Rona to your local vets for an appointment. She will likely need a course of antibiotics in form of tablets or ointment/cream.

Hello. Without a clear picture, it is impossible to assess what might be the problem. Since cleaning the area has not helped ( have you been using a mild skin cleanser such as one with chlorhexidine? ), this might be some kind of allergic irritation. These can especially show up if the feed &/or water bowels are made of any type of plastic. Always use stainless steel or ceramic dishes. If this does not seem to be the case, then the best thing is to have your veterinarian take a good look at the skin. Your vet can assess the area, do some rather simple skin scrapes or hair analysis to see if this is an allergic, inflammatory or infectious process. Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor guy! Your can try this: It won’t hurt him if he licks it off. However, if it’s not improving in 5 days or so, I would recommend that you schedule a recheck with your vet. I’m worried he may need antibiotics, as he may have a deep skin infection. If it continues to be a problem , a skin biopsy may be recommended. Thanks for asking PetCoach!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Lucy. She may have a mild skin infection around her muzzle. If she has had any new treats or dog food she may be reacting to the diet change. This will be more common if she is experiencing irritated skin around her anus as well or if she has had any vomiting or diarrhea. If not, check her eyelid margins, ears and footpads for any lesions. These are commonly affected areas for autoimmune skin disease. If her skin does not heal or spreads, she will need to see her veterinarian. In the meantime, keep her muzzle clean and dry. I hope this information helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are medications such as Apoquel or prednisone which may help with the itch. 

 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!


It does look a little irritated there. That could be caused by irritation from a muzzle or face halter, or could be regular allergies starting up. I would recommend keeping the area clean and dry, for now. If it's not getting better after 3-5 days, I'd recommend a vet visit to see if she needs most medicated wipes. It's common for young dogs to get superficial bacterial infections around their lips, which usually doesn't require oral antibiotics, but may require a topical treatment. I hope that helps! If it goes away and comes back right away or even next fall, you'll know it's allergies and can start a conversation about that with your vet. Good luck!