atopic dermatitis or dog skin allergies

If you think your dog has dog skin allergies (or atopic dermatitis), try considering other factors as well as a skin allergy, there may be many contributing factors to your problems, and certainly all of them will compound your dog’s skin problems.

Fleas and worms can make your dog miserable, ring worm for example is defiantly show up in the skin and make it dry and itchy and miserable, and contrary to popular belief not all dogs will scoot butt first on the carpet.  Similarly, fleas are the bane of all small fur bearing mammals, with the feces they leave in the dog’s hair, the eggs, and the insatiable biting.  Fleas are the only thing that keeps me from wanting to live my next life as a dog.   Rid your dog of all these issues before pursuing any other problem.

Food allergies make up roughly ten percent of the dog allergy world, and I think many people confuse food allergy with food intolerance, food allergies will not cause vomiting or diarrhea in your pet.  They will however cause miserable itchy skin, and this can be a tricky issue to trace.  No human food or treats, only pet food and water, twelve weeks of control.  If your symptoms do not improve, switch to a food with different ingredients (I.E. beef and corn to lamb and rice, etcetera.) make sure the new food has different ingredients, or you are feeding the same product.  Keep at it for twelve weeks at a time until you find a product your dog can work with.

Issues in the air can cause a dog’s body to react in adverse ways, making itchy dry skin crazy at certain times of year, or year round.  Some of the causes for this type of dermises are house dust, dangerous or benign molds, various types of pollens (seasonal or otherwise), insects other than fleas or parasites, you name it.  I have seen some dogs react violently (the skin, not the dog itself) to perfumes and other scents.  Some types of shampoo can set off itchy dog skin at the drop of the hat, the wrong sort of bath can cause them misery for days.  In any event, bathe them often with a shampoo they can handle and give them an apple cider vinegar rinse.  I use fifty percent mixture in the water, and I let it sit in their fur about ten minutes.  It removes soap residue in the coat an relieves itchy dry skin.