My dog has a sore on his neck. Will it heal on its own or need a vet?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Jack. He will need to see his veterinarian this week. The wound will likely be cleaned and the surrounding hair shaved to further evaluate it. Regardless of the cause, he will likely require antibiotics. In the meantime prevent him from scratching the area. You may check his ears as well. Some dogs with ear infections will cause self trauma from scratching itchy ears. Check for any redness or debris in the ears. I hope this information helps!

Ouch! That sore does look pretty large, and if you suspect it was food-allergy related, switching back to his other food (or a different bag) is a good idea. I would continue to keep it as clean and dry as possible, and if it's not healing, or has already been there several days, bring Bear into your vet. Your vet can carefully trim the hair in the area to see how large the sore is, thoroughly clean it, and provide you with antibiotics and pain meds as needed to help the area heal and Bear feel more comfortable. In the meantime, keeping the area clean and dry, keeping Bear from rubbing or pawing at it with an E-collar or T-shirt, and keeping the site monitored is best.

Even though a picture would help to understand better the underlying cause, this presentation could be due to a localized persistent spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. 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!

Unfortunately hydrogen peroxide doesn't help pets with any type of skin condition. In fact we don't use it for any wounds because it can potentially cause cell necrosis (dying off of normal tissue). This appears to be a deep infection, which is likely why it hasn't healed well for you. You can try cleaning it with Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water and the hair needs to be shaved around this to allow the skin to breathe and heal well. I would not place Neosporin on a wound like this, because it likely won't help. You may be able to find a hot spot spray at your local pet store that can be used. However, there is a good chance this won't heal without the help of your vet, who has stronger oral antibiotics and topical medical sprays to take care of this properly. I would schedule an appt if the Betadine and clip are not able to improve this area well within the next few days. Best wishes getting Murphy's skin to heal. Take care.

This is commonly seen when they get a skin infection (aka hot-spots). The neck is a common place for this to happen, because moisture often gets trapped under their collar and/or loose skin. It appears to be minor, so you can try a couple of things at home to get clear the infection. 1) Clip the hair around the area and expose all of the lesion(s). There may be more than one of these. 2) Wash the area with warm water and a medicated shampoo (can get this at the pet store) once a day. Use a cloth and gently wipe away the scabs. Do not scrub, because it will irritate the skin more. It's OK if all of the scabs do not come off in each washing. 3) Make sure the area is completely dry after washing. 4) Leave the collar off. You should start seeing good results within a week after starting this. It may take a few weeks before it's completely cleared. If two weeks go by and it's not getting any better, then it's best to have a veterinarian exam it. Also, if it appears to get worse, then take him to the vet for treatment. I hope that helps and this gets cleared up soon.

The spot in the picture looks infected, it will need to be clipped and treated with antibiotics. he will also need to wear an e-collar in order to prevent him from licking the area and making it worse. i would recommend taking him to the vet in order to get it treated.

This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria -hot spot-). A check up, appropriate disinfection and eventually antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection can eventually be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid scratching. 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.