# dog scratching himself constantly



## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

Is it normal for my dog to scratch himself consistently on his sides? He also nibbles on his back leg and body a bit. Could it be ticks? If so how because he hasn't been let out on the ground yet...when i took him outside a bit I was always carrying him. I'm worried I dont want his skin to be dry and flaky.


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## carrera (Oct 8, 2008)

I am having the same issue--would like to hear feedback as well. I'm 99% sure its dry skin, carrera has 3 tan spots on her and the rest of her fur is all white, I can see the dry patches easier in her tan spots, if you chi has any color I would check his skin there. --now we have to figure out if its from the weather or her food.


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

oooh~ in terms of weather it's cold and the floors are wooden in my room and throughout the house except for the livingroom and mom's bedroom. I feed mine Royal Canin and Cesars packets. They recommended those from the store I got it from. I also have been feeding him Panacur for his parasites, maybe there can be a itching side effect? Hmm...I can't really tell about the dry patches because my guy has a whole load of fur

Any suggestions would help though, could it be dandrufff?


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

Scratching in dogs is most often allergy or flea related. Based on the foods you are feeding I would think diet would be a good place to start.

Most pet stores do not offer training on label reading or basic pet nutrition. So it is best to research your food choices elsewhere.

Royal Canin Chihuahua 28 is not a high quality food. It is basically loaded with grains and fillers and actually contains beet pulp in it. Beet pulp is known to cause allergies in dogs.

The Cesar packets ... the main ingredient is water followed by: Beef By-Products, Meat By-Products, Liver, Poultry By-Products. Nasty! The one I really don't like is the " Meat By-Products" - this could be horse, dog, cat or roadkill and being By-Products of these things means that it is not mainly meat but are the parts of the animal left over after the meat has been stripped away from the bone. 

Also "Chicken By-Products" include head, feet, entrails, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, stomach, bones, blood, intestines, and any other part of the carcass not fit for human consumption ... and this doesn't even get into the dyes and other additives in there either.

So in my opinion both foods could be a major factor in your dog's scratching. I would seriously consider changing the diet to a premium food that is grain free and has human grade ingredients. 

We use and recommend Orijen dog food however there are many great 6* dog foods available out there and they are the best for dogs with allergies or digestive issues as they contain quality products, no fillers etc.

You will also want to look for a food that has Omega 3 fatty acids in it. When we have had rescues come in with food allergies/severely dry skin we have put them on Orijen 6 Fresh Fish Formula which is extremely high in fish oil etc which is great for the skin!

Some dogs are having a hard time this time of year with the heating systems turning on and it dries out there skin but most dogs on a premium diet don't have this issue (or don't get it nearly as bad) because of their diet.


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## Copper's Mama (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks for all this info; it is so helpful. We are trying to find the right food for our chi and all of this info helps tremendously.


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

I dont feed him the chihuahua one that's for older dogs. I actually feed him the puppy one which has fish oil in it too. it's called "Royal Canin MINI Puppy 33™ Formula" recommended by my vet too. I've heard about beet pulp being an allergen but on the bag it says that the sugar is removed...hmmm i dont know -_-; The vet told me if i changed his diet he is going to have diarrhea  i'll have to ask him again when i see him2 days after Thanksgiving


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

pigeonsheep said:


> I dont feed him the chihuahua one that's for older dogs. I actually feed him the puppy one which has fish oil in it too. it's called "Royal Canin MINI Puppy 33™ Formula" recommended by my vet too. I've heard about beet pulp being an allergen but on the bag it says that the sugar is removed...hmmm i dont know -_-; The vet told me if i changed his diet he is going to have diarrhea  i'll have to ask him again when i see him2 days after Thanksgiving


Most vets are not pet nutritionists. Here in Canada (and I have heard elsewhere as well) the vet students receive a an afternoon nutrition clinic sponsored by the food company du jour. 

So most vets push the food they sell (as obviously there are financial reasons for it).

Yes the formula you are currently feeding has anchovy oil (#10 on the ingredient list)and salmon meal (#31 on the ingredient list and again 80% water/20% salmon) - compare that to a premium food that is fish based like 6 Fresh Fish from Orijen where the main ingredients are:

Fresh salmon (includes chinook. coho and sockeye species), salmon meal, russet potato, herring meal, fresh lake whitefish, sweet potato, fresh lake trout, fresh Northern walleye, freshwater cod, fresh herring, sunflower oil, salmon oil (preserved with mixed tocopherals, a natural source of vitamin E), sun-cured alfalfa, dried sea vegetables (brown kelp, Irish moss, dulse and bladder wrack), leeks, psyllium, crab shell, rosemary, lecithin, apples, black currants. - see the difference??

Your puppy will not get diarrhea if you change him over to a higher quality food slowly. You can't just cold turkey him over and expect good results.

Usually the recommended change over schedule is:
100% old food 
75% old food 25% new food 2-4 days
50% old food 50% new food 2-4 days
25 % old food 75% new food 2-4 days
100% new food

If your vet supports this food - ask him why he/she does because of the following:

The first ingredient is a meal which is 80% water and 20% meat - meaning that protein is not the main ingredient.

It contains fillers, grains and beet pulp (sugar removed is better than not but still an allergy concern).

A vet who is truly knowledgeable about canine nutrition would likely steer you towards a human grade ingredient food with quality protein as the main ingredients.


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## Brenda (Jul 28, 2008)

My chi was the same way.
I bought salmon oil to mix in his food and
that took care of his scratching.


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

hmmm he has a dog too though  I'll look more into it if he keeps scratching. Thanks


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## *Sarah* (Apr 19, 2005)

I agree with feeding the fish based Orijen it sorted out all of our dogs allergies and skin problems.

Also try star flower oil and oatmeal shampoo's (not sure if anyone else mentioned those)


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

pigeonsheep said:


> hmmm he has a dog too though  I'll look more into it if he keeps scratching. Thanks


Please tell me that you don't blindly trust your vet because he is a dog owner too. 

Barry Herbeck (Google him if you would like but don't if you can't read graphic stuff) was a dog owner too but would you take his nutritional advice?

This is going sound harsh but sometimes people need a wake up call. 

You have a dog that is constantly itching (which is horrible for the dog - it must be miserable) that is eating a food full of fillers/grains which are a leading cause of allergies in dogs AND the food you are feeding has a known allergy causing filler Beet Pulp but you blindly trust your vet who suggested this food to you?

So many people just "go with the flow" and then after their dog dies/costs them thousands of dollars in vet bills they start to kick themselves in the butt because they realize many things could have been done differently and usually the first thing they realize is that the diet they were feeding was crap.

As a pet owner you are responsible for what you feed your dog and I am telling you now that 99.9% of vets don't have a clue about pet nutrition. You need to seriously research what goes into pet food and understand how it can affect your dog. 

There are great vets in the world and then there are idiots but most fall into the middle of the road and although they can treat most conditions relatively competently - they are not always the best examples of pet ownership or the best resources for advice.

Most vets feed the foods they sell because they buy it from their clinics at cost or get it for free from the feed salesperson OR get opened returned bags for free (once the clinic has written them off as most manufacturers just tell them to junk it). Is that a good reason to recommend and feed a food? I don't think so.

Breeders are no better. Many breeders feed a certain food (think Eukanuba, Royal Canin etc) because those companies have extensive breeder programs with puppy packs, discounts etc. Getting a little bit of a discount and some puppy packs is not a good enough reason to feed substandard crap to your dogs. 

Again, I don't mean to sound harsh but I have been around hundreds of vets in the last 10 years. There are less than 10 that I would trust with my dogs. I have heard the most unbelievable reasons for vets recommending a food, treatment etc and as a pet owner it is our responsibility to listen to the suggestion but do research before we accept it as gospel.

I have had vets recommend special diets to me for various animals over the years. When I have questioned the quality of the ingredients etc - they have no response for me or justification as to why that is good or bad - they simply go back to: "I feed it to my own pets" or "It is a great quality food". Which to me is a cop-out!

A vet should be able to tell you in depth why they are suggesting a food. They should educate you on label reading going ingredient by ingredient so that you understand what to look for good and bad.

A vet that just recommends one brand is not necessarily the best person to listen to especially if they are recommending a food like Royal Canin.

Yes, Royal Canin is better than Old Roy at Walmart but I couldn't feed Royal Canin to a dog that I owned - to me it is not worth the $1.00 savings from feeding Orijen. It is a no brainer and my dogs aren't itching! 

Do you know how many vets I have had to educate on nutrition?! To go over labels with them ingredient by ingredient and explain WHY I will not feed that food to my dog/cat etc?

What we put into our dogs, affects them and can over time actually kill them.

Many foods have been found to contain horrible additives, preservatives, pesticides, dead/dying/diseased/decayed meat condemned from human consumption, the rendered carcasses of euthanized cats/dogs, road kill and a little thing called: sodium pentobarbital (the drug they use to euthanize our pets - well it survives the rendering process).

*Please research dog foods. Please look for a more knowledgeable vet. 

If you upgrade on both - your dog will be better off.*


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## * Bailey & Kahlua's Mom * (Nov 10, 2008)

OrchardLane said:


> Many foods have been found to contain horrible additives, preservatives, pesticides, dead/dying/diseased/decayed meat condemned from human consumption, the rendered carcasses of euthanized cats/dogs, road kill and a little thing called: sodium pentobarbital (the drug they use to euthanize our pets - well it survives the rendering process).
> 
> B]



Blah, that is SO gross! I am happy that we didn't use the "puppy kit" our vet sent us home with. He was raving about the Science Diet, but they have many things in there I didn't want to feed my baby. I agreed with him on lots of things, but not about the food he wanted us to feed Bailey. We donated the Science Diet stuff to the animal shelter.


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## Jules (May 11, 2008)

I echo the Orijen comments. I feed my Chi baby and My Jack Russell on Orijen and I wouldn't touch another brand. I wouldn't feed my children on donor kebabs etc so why expect my dogs to eat "dog junk food"?


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

okay okay! LOL you don't need to burn your fingers out Orchard  I just looked into the product and it looks really good but too bad it's canadian, so they dont sell it local here -_- is there any other brand that's similar to that Orijen one?


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

I am not sure where you live in New York but there are lots of dealers in the state that carry it, also most pet health food stores would be able to get it in so if you know of one - ask. Also you can buy it online through several US retailers.

If you still can't get it - there is Innova another brand of dog food. It is 6* as well.


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## Jules (May 11, 2008)

pigeonsheep said:


> okay okay! LOL you don't need to burn your fingers out Orchard  I just looked into the product and it looks really good but too bad it's canadian, so they dont sell it local here -_- is there any other brand that's similar to that Orijen one?


 Myself and Sarah live in the UK and if we can get Orijen from the net all the way over here it has to be even easier to get it from Canada seeing as it's your neighbour lol 
"Because your dog's worth it" lol sorry that's bad isn't it..assuming you guys get that advertising slogan over there too!


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2008)

My vet is always very interested in what I discuss with her about canine nutrition. She readily admits that vet school doesn't teach much of anything about pet nutrition. Since I have one Bichon who gets terrible itchies and I have it under control, she is interested in how I did it. She has dog food for sale in her office, but doesn't push it. She knows I belong to a Bichon List with 1500+ members and a Chihuahua list and the information I get has a lot of experience behind it, so she listens. The store where I get Wysong dog food started carrying it because I asked for it and the owner has passed on the information I told her about Wysong stopping my Bichon's itching to others who come in complaining about dogs with itching. She had to keep increasing how much Wysong she stocked and now carries lots of it. There are so many really good foods out there now, if you keep looking long enough, you should find one that suits your dog's particular needs well.


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## Dixie's mom (Jan 3, 2007)

My chi did the same thing , she had the dry skin b/c of the weather and i gave her a bath with some shampoo ! was to help the skin !


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

Dixie's mom said:


> My chi did the same thing , she had the dry skin b/c of the weather and i gave her a bath with some shampoo ! was to help the skin !


i would itch too if it was cold  did it make it go away?


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## blondebond (Mar 1, 2009)

I live in NY too and all of the Pet Depots carry the premium foods. Do you have one of those near you? I have a great dane that would scratch constantly and his hair was dull and he was flaky. We found out by trial and error that he was allergic to grains. Once we switched him to a quality holistic food without grains, he not only looked better, but also calmed down considerably. It's worth a shot to see if that's the problem.


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

blondebond said:


> I live in NY too and all of the Pet Depots carry the premium foods. Do you have one of those near you? I have a great dane that would scratch constantly and his hair was dull and he was flaky. We found out by trial and error that he was allergic to grains. Once we switched him to a quality holistic food without grains, he not only looked better, but also calmed down considerably. It's worth a shot to see if that's the problem.


i feed him orijen puppy though :| they only carry it in manhatten and online


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