My adopted puppy's skin infection won't heal. Should I bathe daily?

Congratulations on your new addition! I do see a bit of mild redness in areas of Hazel's abdomen, but it's hard to see the scabs very clearly. The good news is that her skin is by no means in terrible shape, despite her itchiness. Certainly, the more a dog licks and scratches at themself, the more they damage the protective outermost skin layer, which can lead to the development of a bacterial skin infection. With that said, I don't see obvious signs that Hazel currently has a significant infection, but it's important to curb her itching as much as possible. I'm glad to hear that she's been routinely receiving Nexgard - be sure to continue it and adjust the dosing to her current body weight as she continues to grow. This will help to prevent issues with fleas, and also mange (although this is not a labeled claim). Generally speaking, puppies do not typically experience significant allergy issues because it takes repeated contact with an allergen in order to mount an allergic immune response. However, puppies can develop some contact dermatitis issue. You can certainly bathe Hazel with Malaseb, but be sure to leave it on her coat for 10 minutes before rinsing well. If her itching continues, you'll need to take her to her vet for an exam to try to get to the bottom of this issue. I hope that everything goes well!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Boondi. This is a bacterial infection caused by a staphylococcus organism which is a normal skin resident. This is very common in puppies due to an immature immune system, nutritional/intestinal parasite problems, and environmental causes. I would advise taking the puppy to your veterinarian for an examination. Your vet can advise you on treating this condition and also on providing the best preventive health care (vaccines, deworming, etc). If you cannot get to a veterinarian, I would advise a benzoyl peroxide medicated shampoo. Lather her up well with the shampoo and leave the lather on for 10 minutes so it can work. Rinse very well. Repeat this 2-3 times weekly until improvement occurs then decrease to once weekly until gone. She might need antibiotics to help clear this up. Good luck

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This looks like a focal infection. You can try to use a medicated shampoo containing chlorhexidine twice weekly for 2 weeks. If there is no improvement or in the meantime this appears to be getting worse, have him evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a good night!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Based on the photos, it appears that Po may have a skin infection. We call this superficial pyoderma. For these, I recommend topical therapy and skin supplementation. If after 10-14 days there is no improvement with this approach, I recommend visiting the veterinarian and having the vet take a look at Po 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! 1. Douox PS Chlorhexidine Combination shampoo and bathe twice weekly until resolved 2. Miconahex + Triz and spray to the affected areas twice daily until resolved 3. Essential 6 spot on by Dermoscent 4. Krillex Krill oil chews All of these can be purchased online quite easily.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It does look like Max has a skin infection. Washing him was a good idea but he likely needs oral antibiotics to cure it. Puppies commonly get skin infections on their belly because they have a weak immune system. I would take him to the vet to get medications started. Good luck and kisses to Max!

It looks 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 hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the infection and itch so it can be treated appropriately. Because your puppy is so young I would be very concerned about Demodex as the primary problem. 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 (based on the type of infection your veterinarian can recommend the most appropriate one). I would also recommend that he be on a good flea control routinely too. The thyroid gland is located in the throat area but it is probably not what you were feeling. I suspect you may be feeling a large lymph node or just severely inflamed skin tissue judging by the severity of his infection. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.



It sounds like she has a lot of seborrhea which is oil. This could be due to an infection like yeast or bacteria on her skin but it could also be due to allergies. I like dechra's dermabenss shampoo. It really cuts the oil and has a pleasant smell. Be sure to leave the shampoo on for 10 minutes before rinsing. I would bathe her at least twice a week. If there are any crusts, ulcerations, black "elephant" skin then she will likely need to see your vet in order to be completely resolved as there is likely an infection involved as well. I would also start her a Benadryl regimen twice a day. See link below. I hope this helps. https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/cat/benadryl/#!