# Help! My puppy's skin condition



## PuppyTrina (Mar 15, 2011)

I need help trying to determine what is wrong with my puppy Trina before I can get her to a vet. I should first say I am not her primary caretaker, she is my boyfriends dog and lives with him. Her skin condition has been worsening and I am starting to really worry about what this may be. She is not even a year old yet, I believe she will be a year in April/May.

The condition has started to become red & inflamed.. she doesn't seem to be in pain nor do I see her itching. My boyfriend said he occasionally sees her itching. Just recently around her mouth has became red & inflamed. On her back she has a lot of flaking.

Any advice/suggestions would be extremely appreciated.


You can see her red mouth & red bumps on her chest








Sorry for the view - I wanted to get a picture of her bottom & legs
















My poor baby's red mouth


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

A lot of skin problems look like each other and you can't really tell the difference between them visually. Anything from bacterial or fungal skin infections, allergies, mites or fleas, and many other problems.

The one thing you can do easily at home is to look for fleas. You may not see live fleas, but as you look through the hair you may see "flea dirt" (flea poop) which looks like little flakes of black pepper or dirt. But if you smear them out on a wet paper towel it will smear out rusty or red. 

Otherwise, unfortunately the only advice I have would be to get her to the vet (or encourage your boyfriend to take her). Because treating it successfully really depends on figuring out what it is, which can be difficult with skin problems. I really hate skin problems.


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## ksymonds84 (Mar 5, 2011)

My Sheltie was allergic to corn and wheat. Whenever he had a food with those ingredients his mouth would look like your puppy's. As Sassafras said it could also be fleas, mites ect. Only the vet can tell you for sure.


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## RRM_Mom08 (May 5, 2008)

Also to get her a bit of relief you can give her some liquid childrens benadryl it may give her some relief it could be food allergies ? Posion Ivy/sumac ? You could try to put her on a limited diet (no dog food) an use ground meat (I use beef) and rice and see if she starts to get some relief then you know it could be linked to her food or treats (you will have to do no treats during this too) and then slowly over a period of 4-5 days at a time introduce and new treat or her food and watch for itching and redness..


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Start feeding a grain free alternative protein source food, like Taste of the Wild High Prairie formula, or Pacific formula. Use pieces of that dog food kibble as treats. Avoid commercial treat products.

Bathe with Microtek Anti itch shampoo. (You can get it at most horse supply stores or online (Valley vet supplies, Jeffers Vet supplies, Dover Saddlery).

Use a stainless steel food and water dish.

It may take a couple of weeks to start seeing a difference if it is a food related allergy. The Microtek shampoo will kill fungal infections.


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## TomN (Jul 1, 2007)

Please see your vet before you start guessing on what is the best course of action. Until you know what your dealing with it's pointless.

Your vet will most likely ask for a skin scraping to rule out parasites such as mange etc. So do the proper thing first and see your vet.


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