Possible skin allergies in dogs?

My 2 y/o Jack Russell/Shih Tzu mix scratches, bites and licks at his back almost constantly to the point of having bald patches. There is no sign of him having any fleas and nothing has changed in the household. His diet consists of mainly Alpo canned which I have checked and it contains no red dye #40 which I have been told can cause skin problems in the shih tzu breed. Any suggestions of what may be causing his skin problem or what I can do to alleviate it or at least improve his condition.

Possible skin allergies in dogs?
if you are feeding fish to your dog then just stop it i am 100%sure fish causes skin problems
Reply:this is a situation that needs to be addressed by your vet....there are so many possibilities....





has the dog recently been vaccinated?


could still be a food allergy


do you use plastic dog dishes?


possible skin problem other than allergy


stress related etc





at any rate,your dog is uncomfortable and deserves to be seen and treated to feel better
Reply:My best guess is a food allergy, but you really want to consult a vet on this issue.


The red flag here is that you are feeding Alpo. Here are the ingredients:





http://forums.dogfoodproject.com/showfla...





Ground yellow corn, beef and bone meal, soybean meal, beef tallow (preserved with BHA), animal digest, salt, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, added color (red 40, yellow 5, blue 2), manganese sulfate, niacin, vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, brewers dried yeast, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, natural flavor, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite





Nearly all or ANY of these ingredients could be negatively affecting your dog. Corn, by-products, soy and so on can all create issues in your dog.


I would suggest you look in to something of a higher-quality. And yes, you CAN afford something better!!!











How about these:





Merrick


Innova


California Natural


Natural Balance





Heck, even Nature's Recipe might be best for your dog!





Please do some research in to dog food and the ingredients you should avoid. The best place to start is here:





www.dogfoodproject.com





Good luck!
Reply:A vet is the first place to start. Your dog might have something not able to be seen by the human eye. I just adopted a dog that has food allergies... yes, she is allergic to wheat! So she gets a wheat free diet. That also means no table scraps.. Not only that... she can not go running out in the woods... grass allergies. The worst yet... she is a hunting dog. Well, this is the reason she was dumped by the breeder to a kill shelter. So do your self and your pet a favor... take her to the vet.
Reply:Don't rule out fleas if you're not regularly treating with a veterinary flea treatment. Doing this is the only way you can be sure he doesn't have fleas, unless you know exactly how to check for them.





Beyond that, this could be mites, a hormonal imbalance or skin infection. It could still be allergies - these can develop spontaneously, even if nothing's changed.





You really need to get the dog checked by a vet to find out what's causing this. If you don't know what's wrong, you can't treat it of course - you can't just apply random treatment if you don't know what's wrong, it might make things worse. I'm afraid there's no way we could diagnose over the internet, even if we were vets.





Chalice