Scratching, licking and biting, OH MY!

Bodhi's Blog

Life on the Dog Ranch

Hello fellow dog lovers! I am coming to you from the lovely dog ranch that is right now FULL of foster dogs looking for forever homes. I have recently began to walk everywhere and my mom says I am getting into EVERYTHING. I just call it exploring. Just like puppies, everything still goes straight to my mouth, too! How else am I to tell the texture? 

Celebrating Red Nose Day.
Don't worry, the nose went into my mouth plenty!

Today is not about the best chew toys for dogs and babies, though. Today is about the annoying sounds of jingling dog tags. Constantly. From 14 dogs. Jingle, jingle, jingle. Now, I LOVE music and if the jingles had any melody I would be happy, but these jingles are occurring because the dogs are nonstop itching!

Prim trying to hit the itch in her ear!

Have you noticed an increase in your dog's scratching, licking and biting recently? Your dog's tags driving you nuts, too? Well then this blog may help you! Instead of ripping their tags off, or better yet, duct taping the tags together, I decided to help the pups stop itching. 

The cause of most of the itching with my foster pups is seasonal allergies, which tends to manifest in dogs as skin, ear and eye issues. There are plenty of other reasons for a dog to be itching, licking and biting, but if these behaviors came along fairly suddenly and you also notice and increase in eye goop or your dog shaking its head, a good first guess would be seasonal allergies.

The only kind of licking that I like!

What can you do to make them stop? Ban them from going outside? Move to another state? Well, before you put a for sale sign in your yard, I suggest you start with over the counter allergy medicines like Benedryl, Zyrtec (NOT Zyrtec-D as you don't want any pseudoepehedrine) or Claritin (NOT Claritin-D as you don't want any pseudoepehedrine). These human medicines are also safe for your dog and can relieve a good portion of his or her itching.  

Benedryl's typical dosage is 1-2 mg per pound of body weight twice a day. Zyrtec's typical dosage for a dog is .5 mg/pound of body weight every 12 hours. Claritin is a bit trickier, so here is a graph. It is also good to remember, each of these has a generic, which may be cheaper. For Benedryl look for diphenhydramine, for Zyrtec look for cetirizine and for Claritin look for loratadine. And, just like in humans one medicine may work much better for a dog than another medicine. It is also important to remember there may be side effect associated with each of these medicines. For more information visit: http://www.veterinaryplace.com

Bo bitting at his back leg. Itching sucks!

**Now, please remember I am 14 months old, so you need to check with your vet first as I haven't quiet graduated from vet school. Your dog may have underlying or other health issues that could make any of the above medicines dangerous. I am just showing you there are options to help your pooch with allergies.**

Eliza, our newest foster girl, has major hair loss due to untreated allergies.

If these meds don't help your dog, your vet may need to give him a steriod shot or put him on stronger allergy medicines like Apoquel. This is only available through your vet so don't stand in Walgreens looking for it!

Derma-ionx, an all natural topical medication, is also available for the treatment of skin issues. Coconut oil and fish oils also help your pooch's skin and coat stay hydrated which can help with the flaky dry skin.

Hope these tips help you and your pups sleep better tonight! 

Love, Bodhi!