[catablanca]

Dogs shih tzu & poodles that have very pink skin and are always biting & scratching it , can anyone help apparently its quite common with these breeds?

[badams007]

I rarely disagree with Labman, but this is one topic I do disagree on.

I know that there are millions and millions of dogs who do perfectly well on kibbles that are commonly available. However, I do rescue work with one breed who tend to have skin and coat problems which can amazingly often resolved through a change in food. I openly admit to feeding one of the higher end foods, but can;t say enough about the objective results my vet even admits he has seen.

I do nothing more than give them good food and they change from digging, scratching, almost naked, with thickened, blackened skin patches and chronic ear infections into health furry kids in a matter of a few weeks - without any steroids (though I do aggresively treat the ear infections).

Odds are no one will even read this, but if they do, please don't discount that there are advantages to even the slightest step up the food quality scale....

-Beth

[catablanca]

Hi badams007,thank you so much for your reply and i totally agree with you.
So many people just feed a dog canned meat & its ingredients are more than likely 1 step away from being garden fertiliser. This is my parents dog so i know it does not eat that kind of food, but can you explain the diet more or one part of it that makes a difference! Cheers

[labman]

Have you been working with a vet? They can do tests to pinpoint the problem if it is an allergy. You can then try to reduce the exposure to whatever it is. If a dog is allergic to lamb, the solution is not a more expensive, additive free lamb based chow. Switching from lamb and rice to chicken and rice won't cure a dog allergic to rice.

The blood tests for allergies are fairly expensive. You might start seeing how well they respond to Benadryl, up to 2 mg per pound every 8 hours. This is one of the few cases where I suggest medicating your dog except with instructions from a vet.

If they don't respond to the Benadryl, it may not be allergies.