I have 2 shelties, in the last year they have come down with some type of skin problem. They scratch a lot. I have also battled with fleas. I have treated my yard and home and dogs. ( I buy the flea medication that the vet sells) I have taken them to the vet and he assures me they have some type of allergy, we have ruled out that it is not a food allergy. He gives them steroid shot and they get better for a little bit then back to inflammed skin and sores. One loses hair, has some balding areas. I wonder if I should get a second opinion? They do not appear ill, they play and eat. The scratching drives me crazy. They are able to sleep. I have given them flea baths also. Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you

Dogs can be allergic to many things. The best thing is to have blood work done, and find the real cause, and try to remove it from their environment or in some cases, they can be desensitized. Unfortunately all that is very expensive.

I don't have much more. Work with your vet, or maybe try another one.

You should seek a second opinion. The veterinarian must be qualified to do allergy testing. Many do not do it frequently enough to be really competent to perform the test correctly. A veterinarian dermatologist would be a helpful in determining if your dog are suffering from allergies or have other underlining medical conditions. I have listed two links below if in the event you would like to further research this subject. I hope this was in some way helpful to you.

Treatment of Allergies

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1587&articleid=137

Allergy Testing & Immunotherapy

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&articleid=504

Thanks to all, who responded. I will keep you informed of results.

You need to find a natural flea killer and stop with all those chemicals which can aggravate skin conditions. Pet Supplies Plus has one and regular baths also help to keep the fleas away. I agree you need a second opinion hopefully from a holistic or natural vet that will treat the whole animal not just the symptoms that they have. I had 2 Shelties for 16 yrs. And they never had a skin condition like you are going through. Best of luck to you and resolving this.

I have a sheltie with the same problem.I am now working with a holistic vet and that has been the most successful

Our sheltie has the same problem. It started about 2 years ago. This summer has been the worst. He has lost a lot of hair. I switched vets and had allergy tests done. Most of his allergies are to grasses,trees and weeds. He has had 2 rounds of antibiotics (which clears up the crusty patches temporarily) and steroid shots this summer. We bathe him weekly and use a leave on skin conditioner- per vet instructions. We are considering allergy shots if his skin doesn't improve.

Shelties are prone to DERMATOMYOSTITIS, it is a skin and muscle disease, that will cause leasions and muscle deterioration. We lost our first sheltie to this, the vets thought it was allergies and dipped him and tried all the allergy treatments they could think of. By the time we figured out what it was he was too far gone. Please contact your vet and bring up this option, if they are not familiar with sheltie and collie disease they will not even think of this.

I had a sheltie that had the same problem. In time he did grow out of it. After about 2 years. I feel for you guys good luck!

I have 2 shelties, in the last year they have come down with some type of skin problem. They scratch alot. I have also battled with fleas. I have treated my yard and home and dogs. ( I buy the flea medication that the vet sells) I have taken them to the vet and he assures me they have some type of allergy, we have ruled out that it is not a food allergy. He gives them steroid shot and they get better for a little bit then back to inflammed skin and sores. One loses hair, has some balding areas. I wonder if I should get a second opinion? They do not appear ill, they play and eat. The scratching drives me crazy. They are able to sleep. I have given them flea baths also. Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you
We had the same problem... Check them for low thyroid. Shelties should be in the high range of the normal T4 scale

Dermatomyositis (DM) AKA... Sheltie Skin Syndrome, Sheltie Skin Disease.
http://www.illinoissheltierescue.com/dm.html

I would highly recommend looking at this website and ruling this out.

Shelties can also have symptoms like these from low thyroid. But I see someone has already said that but I recommend making sure that's not it. The same website I posted, has a page about that.