I am hoping somebody can help my labradoodle. Her hair is more labrador than poodle. Long story short, after a trip to the kennel last summer, she started biting and licking at her fur constantly. We took her to the vet, who said she was fine, and it was just a bad habit. We tried another vet when it didn't stop, and he said it's behavioral, and to use an anti-itch spray. We've done the spray for months, tried correcting her, tried distracting her, and it continues.

I do not know what else to do for her! She is almost 3 years old, and is now chewing a spot till it is raw. I have an antibiotic spray for it, and will take her back to the vet if the spot worsens, but I am desperate for a way to help her. I keep thinking she must be itchy and uncomfortable to constantly do this, despite what the vets say. I had a dog once who had hot spots, but that was always in the summer when he was outside, and seemed related to irritation from the bugs or grass.

My dog does not have fleas, or ticks, and we do use Frontline. Wondering if this could be affecting her??

Thanks for any ideas!

What food are you feeding her? There could be something in it she is allergic to.

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Gosh, how uncomfortable for her. It sounds like an allergy of some sort. If there is an vet allergy specialist in your area I would think about making an appointment. My experience is limited to cocker spaniels who are known for their skin and ear problems and almost all of the time it's a food allergy of some sort. I'm feeding my present dog Eagle Pack duck and oatmeal kibble and his ear problems have cleared up so he was clearly allergic to something in his previous diet.

I've given my dogs benadryl for the occasional itchies but please check with your vet for proper dosage.

I know how hard it is to watch your pet be tormented by such a condition and wish you luck in solving the problem. There is clearly something going on medically and IMO the vets who told you otherwise weren't doing their jobs.

labs are known to be allergic to grass. when she goes outside is she on her back scratching.. is her skin dry and flaking? My bil is a vet.. I'm a lifer to prednisone for my lab.

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Dog food, Dog food Dog food can't say it enough change brands.
We had the same problem almost washed the poor dogs hair off with all the stuff the vet had gave us from fleas, didn't have any and he goes one will make some dogs itch to she has dry skin.
It was the food we were feeding her. At the time was feeding O'Roy dog food which she loved and we loved as cheap but store was out of it one day and got another brand. She quit itching and then got another bad and she started again.
So try another brand of dog food, you may have to try several till you find one that works for her. But keep trying as am sure that is what is wrong with your dog.
After we found out the vet said lots of dogs have a allergy to dog food. But never told us till we found out ourselves.
Hope your dog gets better. Keep us posted.

Thanks for all the quick responses...makes me think I'm not overreacting, and that the vets are, in fact, under reacting.

She has always eaten Purina, so I was investigating other foods. One site for pet owners recommends any food whose first ingredient is beef, lamb or veal. The next site says NO beef, lamb or veal! Very confusing.

I asked the second vet about Benadryl, and he said he never recommends it, so would not discuss dosage.

I did not know labs are predisposed to grass allergies, and she's my second lab! She occasionally rolls on her back to scratch outside, but not often. Her skin is not dry and flaky.

I should probably mention she came back positive for Lyme a few months ago, but underwent antibiotic treatment. Every do in the state has Lyme at this point.

our doxie was allergic to EVERYTHING! science diet was all he could eat without itching. the vets didnt have a clue what was causing it but we got a new vet and he knew right away what it was. after we changed his food, all his fur came back and he stopped itching.

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Please see another vet. I once obtained a FOURTH opinion for my dog and was glad that I did so! It sounds like your dog has been going through this for way too long. Dogs, like people, can develop allergies at any time. Good luck!

Could it be "Hot Spots"? I can't remember how it looked like, but one of ours had hot spots and I remember it just drove him insane.

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My boss's black lab scratched constantly and had raw patches because he scratched so hard. I started giving him vitamin E caplets every morning (he's at the office all day w/ us) and the scratching has stopped. His coat looks great and he's a happy fella. Might help your dog, too.

A food allergy trigger for some cockers is corn which is used as a filler in many foods. A vet specialist I saw for my first cocker with skin problems suggested I limit his diet to only home cooked ground turkey and rice for a good 6 weeks then gradually introduce other foods to see what activated his problems. We eventually ended up feeding him Nutro Chicken and Rice which helped but never completely solved his problems. One vet told me she had a doxie that was so allergic to corn, that even a tiny bite of something with corn would trigger an allergic reaction.

My present cocker eats only Eagle Pack Duck and Oatmeal. Treats are baby carrots and "quakers" which are dried duck fillets (yucky). This diet has worked well for him.

If you do a google search for "bendryl for dogs" there are many sites which explain the dosage for dogs.

As another poster said, it sounds like labs are prone to environmental allergies too but hopefully a change in her diet will help.

I do wish you good luck and hope she feels better soon.

I second trying Science Diet....it really does sound like a food allergy. Our English Bulldog had tons of problems with this, at first we switched her to the Hills Prescription diet and some Vitamin E caps, and once it cleared the vet gave us the go ahead to move her to the science diet sensitive skin. He also had us switch shampoos and start using a conditioner. He had us switch to Mane N Tail. It has worked wonders for her.....the main ingredient in the prescription diet is Venison....so if you know any hunters you could give it a try.....I would try another vet, and discuss benadryl, because our dog has her own bottle.....dr. recommended....said it would be cheaper and work better if we used the adult strength benadryl then anything he could prescribe for itching.....

One thing you have to watch if you switch the dogs diet is what you are giving for treats.....A lot of times treats can be the guilty one. We stayed away from Chicken, Beef, and lamb. We were lucky we had someone in DH's unit we was a hunter and gave us a ton of venison and even made some into jerky for us, so the dog never felt like she wasn't still being treated the same.......HTH

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Nancy...I'm unable to answer your PM to me but was able to email you. I haven't heard back so maybe that email address was a old one? Just don't want you to think that I wasn't responding to your question.

I haven't read all of the replies but do know that when our dog had dry itchy skin, the vet recommended we add a good olive oil to his dry kibbles each day. We have a 10 pound dog and added 1/2 teaspoon. It cleared up within a couple of weeks so we stopped giving him the oil a couple of weeks ago. The dry skin has not returned.

I have a friend who has a dog like this and it is allergies. I will check and see what they are doin for it.

My vet told me that the top food allergens are:

1. Corn
2. Beef
3. Wheat


Look for a food without these ingredients. Itching and biting the fronts of the legs until they are raw is a common sign of allergies. Could be food allergies, could be environmental allergies. It is hard to tell. Try the food first. It could take up to six weeks before symptoms disappear if it is a food allergy.