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Help! My puppy has widespread scaly, pus-filled skin bumps.

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Great Dane | Female | 3 months and 3 days old | 24 lbs

I have a 13 week old Great Dane puppy that has bumps that look like zits all over her head,neck,in and on her ears and has now spread down her back. Some of them have popped and they have green puss that comes out. Others are scaly and dry looking. When the dry skin comes off some of them bleed and a few hairs come with it. I've tried shampooing her with an oatmeal dog shampoo and tried a tea tree spray. Help! What could it be. When we got her from breeder only had a few bumps. now everywhere.

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

Published on May 8th, 2018

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 her 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 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!
Vote Icon8Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

  • Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 31st, 2017

    This is probably 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 (advocate or advantage), 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).
    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.

    Vote Icon

    34Pet Parents found this answer helpful

  • Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 29th, 2018

    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. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

    Vote Icon

    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

  • Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on February 10th, 2018

    This is probably 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).
    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.

    Vote Icon

    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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