Are scabby black spots on my dog's tail near butt a skin infection?

It sounds as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. 

The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. Your dog will most likely need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. 

 I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

What you are describing could be a localized skin infection. You can use Sentry Wound Topical Ointment, which you can find at PetCo and apply twice daily to see if this helps. If there is no improvement or other areas become affected by the same thing I would recommend having a veterinarian examine Sadie so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. 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.

This looks like a hotspot. This is a localized area of infection. It can absolutely happen overnight. I recommend an ecollar until you can get an appointment with your regular veterinarian. They will be recommending shaving the area and medication to help with the infection. This is caused by him licking the area. The cause of him starting to lick can be multiple different reasons which you can discuss with your veterinarian after they evaluate him.

It’s hard to say if he tail is infected since it just looks crusty now with the treatment. It does look swollen. Test it for pain or being able to feel heat as this can indicate infection. If that is detected, try to get him into the veterinarian ASAP. Applying sterile petroleum jelly can also help condition the skin and promote healing. The biggest component is to prevent more trauma. He ears do not appear red or seem to have an excessive amount of debris so I would say that look normal to me. Definitely keep an eye on the ears for redness, odor or shaking the head as this indicates a problem. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Looks like an infection but I don't know what the underlying cause is. If he doesn't seem too bothered you can try applying this wound spray (you should be able to get it a your local Petco). If after 5-7 days of treatment, if no improvement or it worsens, he should see a vet. ( https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/vetericyn-plus-hot-spot-antimicrobial-gel-for-dogs )

Hello, that looks like a local skin infection. This could be secondary to fleas or or some prior local irritation which causes itchiness and a subsequent infection, This could respond to antibiotics if the infection is bacterial. Other kind of infections include parasites and fungal infections which are less likely. I would recommend having the area looked at by your veterinarian as it may need either topical or oral antibiotics to treat. Additionally, ensure your dog is on adequate monthly flea prevention and in the interim, you can put an e-collar on your dog to keep the area protected from the licking which could make it worse. Hope this helps and best of luck.

This looks like it is most likely an infection in the skin. It is very common to start out red and crusty like this. The black spots are usually a reaction to irritation and the skin gets more pigment. Most of the time, infections in the skin are secondary to allergies or anything else that causes inflammation in the skin. I would recommend an evaluation by a veterinarian and a skin scraping. The skin scraping will look for mites, yeast and bacteria. This way, the veterinarian can choose the right type of treatment. Often, these infections need to be treated with oral medication. I hope this helps and that Chappie gets better soon!