Why is my dog scratching, pulling fur, and bleeding from dry skin?

Simply dry skin shouldn’t be that itchy. I would recommend that you have Ricky examined by the vet to check for mange, fleas, allergies, or skin infection which could be causing the itch. Depending on the cause of the itch, there are lots of treatment options, ranging from medicated shampoos or mousses to oral antibiotics-inflammatories or antibiotics. Make sure you change the bandage daily. I don’t like air impermeable dressings like cling wrap, because most wounds need oxygen to prevent moisture from getting trapped underneath and causing additional skin issues.

I can definitely see the small scabs and hairless on Peanut's back - those must be so uncomfortable. It can be frustrating to watch her scratch constantly and not have anything help. While the remedies you tried may help to decrease the symptoms, they do not provide a cure for what is actually causing Peanut to itch. I recommend that Peanut sees a vet who can figure out the underlying cause. Things like mites buried deep in the skin (which are not treated with flea sprays), food allergies, and chronic bacterial/fungal infections can be causing her issues. Your vet can take a sample from the skin to determine what is going on, as well as run some blood work to rule out underlying hormonal imbalances.

Unfortunately she may have an environmental or food allergy involved here. I would recommend taking her to a vet to get the skin looked at. If it is bleeding chances are she needs a good antibiotic and an strong medicated anti-histamine +/- steroid combination to help control the itch. Then comes the fun part, trying to figure out what she has an allergy to? This can be discussed with your vet in detail based on what things have changed in the home (bedding, shampoo's etc) and possibly even starting her on a food trial to rule out food allergies (I like to use Royal canin hypoallergenic hydrolyzed protein or Hill's Z/D for dogs- prescription foods). Only prescription products have been shown to be consistently effective for treating dogs with food allergies. Some dogs even have dust mite allergies of grass allergies (which are proved with skin allergy testing).

My concern would be hank has a type of allergy. The most common types are food, environment or fleas. I recommend keeping hank on flea prevention year round. Most likely hank needs to go see a veterinarian for medication to fix his skin infection from scratching.

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). 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!

Considering the signs you described and the pics, this presentation is likely to be due to an allergy, although skin infections or mites could be responsible for it as well. First, to rule out skin parasites, I would recommend to ask your vet to prescribe a good quality flea treatment and perform some skin tests to rule out infections and mites. If all the tests are negative, allergies can be considered and treated.

I would recommend taking Sugar to a veterinarian. There are a few different things that can cause skin like this. It could be allergies and she could just be so itchy that she is creating the infection. It could be fleas and you may just not see them. Even one flea can create bad reactions if the dog is allergic to them. There are different mites that can also make dogs very itchy which in turn leads to issues like this. It could also be an endocrine disorder if everything else is ruled out and then blood work is required to see what is going on with her. Your veterinarian can evaluate her skin, provide medication to help her feel so much better and pin point exactly what is causing this in Sugar. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.