Does your dog have a skin problem, and if so, how do you fix it?

That depends on the symptoms you see. Of course, the most common sign of a possible skin problem in your dog is constant, excessive itching. Other symptoms include fur loss, either localized in a certain location or spread across the dog’s entire body. More severe cases may involve redness in the skin, changes in skin pigmentation or even open sores that your dog constantly licks.

No particular symptom necessarily proves your four-footed friend has a certain type of skin disorder, and you’ll need to investigate other areas before you draw conclusions. While it’s common and helpful for veterinarians to diagnose skin problems, it’s also essential for dog owners like you to familiarize yourself with typical canine skin problems, so you can react quickly and keep his discomfort to a minimum.

Fleas, Lice and Ticks

One of the most common problems in dogs is the presence of fleas, lice and ticks, which are parasites that live on the surface of the skin and feed on the dog’s blood. These parasites’ saliva causes skin irritation and results in intense scratching.

Lice and ticks can be detected visually when you check your dog’s fur, while fleas are hard to spot with the naked eye. However, fleas cause red pimple marks on the skin and also can be spotted through the black, gritty trail of “dirt” they leave on a dog’s belly.

While you can remove ticks and lice with tweezers -- applying alcohol to relax the tick’s grip before doing so -- you can also adopt more general methods. For instance, you can give your dog a dip with special tick shampoo to eliminate ticks. Flea sprays or flea powder can also be applied to the dog to kill parasites. But all these require persistence and it may be a while before you see results.

One of the best methods to keep your dog comfortable is to prevent ticks from living off your dog in the first place through the use of a spot-on product, such as FrontLine or BioSpot. To apply these chemicals, you drip a small amount onto the back of your dog’s neck once a month. The chemical spreads throughout the dog’s skin and kills parasites -- including the eggs and larvae. When regularly treated, your dog becomes an unattractive host.

Mange

Mange is a skin problem caused by mites that burrow underneath the dog’s skin, causing intense and even agonizing itching. Bald spots or inflamed red skin are common symptoms of mange. Two types of mange exist in dogs: sarcoptic mange and demodectic mange, depending on the kind of mite involved.

Most dogs carry the mites involved in demodectic mange or demodex. However, these mites usually do not cause itching except when they suddenly multiply into huge numbers. This may happen in young puppies, or in dogs with decreased natural body defenses, sometimes from stress.

On the other hand, Sacroptic mange or scabies causes intense itching in the dog as the mites burrow under the skin and even lay their eggs there. This causes large red spots on the dog’s skin, and sometimes fur loss on the ears and elbows. Scabies can infect humans as well and cause itchiness, although infection in humans usually disappears by itself after a while. However, it is still important for people to seek treatment if they get infected.

Treatment for mange requires patience and time, as eliminating them or lowering the mite population takes a while to take effect. The best way to kill the mites is to soak your dog in a lime and sulfur medicated dip for 10 to 15 minutes a few times in a week. The dip should not be washed off, but left to dry on your dog’s skin and fur. During this time, it’s best to watch your dog closely and prevent him from licking himself dry. As a further precaution, you can feed him a raw egg to line his stomach before dipping him in the solution. This way, even if he does lick himself, the solution won’t be absorbed on an empty stomach.

When fighting mange, it’s also important to support your dog with the highest quality diet you can find, to improve his immune system. Healing from mange will take a lot of his internal resources. You might consider looking into the raw diet for dogs and avoiding any corn or rice-based products for the time being.

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If we can't spend some quality time with our pets, we might as well not have them at all

Does your dog like to chews the furniture, gnaws on shoes, turns over the trash cans, howls and barks when you're not around, or even seems really depressed when you come home? 

There could be many reasons for behavior problems such as these, but chances are that your dog just misses you too much, and is showing she's bored and lonely. 

This is especially true if you only have one dog in the house and she's home alone while you work. 

One solution to the problem is to try to keep your dog entertained while you are gone. Get a bone or a Kong chew toy, so she'll have a challenge for when you're not around. 

Another tactic is to turn on the radio so she'll hear human voices. Puppies respond especially well to this; it seems to reassure them much like an actual human presence. 

Also, if you can lend her a worn shirt, try leaving this in your dog's bed so that your smell remains even when you aren't there. 

Discourage Destructive Behavior 

In cases of destructive behavior problems, it pays to correct your dog immediately when you catch her chewing your furniture or taking out her frustrations on your belongings.

Be vigilant at first -- instant feedback is much easier for your dog to understand than corrections a minute or two later. When you catch her, rush to your dog's side, grab her by the back of her neck and give her a firm "No!" 

This should let her know she's done wrong, but if you catch your dog doing it again, some owners may want to roll up 10 to 20 sheets of newspaper and give her a mild whack on the thigh. This won't hurt her, but the sound will seem threatening and loud. 

I used to come home to the remains of a stack of mail, ripped to shreds by my dog. I knew that she'd probably done it hours ago, so to reinforce the memory of the negative behavior, I grabbed some of the mail, put it near her mouth and uttered a firm "No!" She shredded the mail a few more times, but each time I reinforced with "No!" and she soon got the message, to our mutual happiness. 

Help Your Pup Feel "Up" 

Are you playing with and talking to your dog when you come home? Doing so can make a great difference to her feelings. 

Just like us, dogs want to be acknowledged and fussed over when we're around. Dogs being such social animals, it doesn't work if we merely feed and walk them and ignore them the rest of the time. 

If we can't spend some quality time with our pets, we might as well not have them at all. 

If you can afford it and your dog is alone, give serious thought to getting another. This worked well for me -- after my second dog came into the picture, my first turned into an angel, and has stayed that way ever since -- which is to say, I have a happier dog! 

If a second dog just isn't an option for you, you could also spend a little more time bonding with your dog by enrolling both of you in an obedience class. 

This way, you'll learn more control and teamwork involving your four-footed friend. You may even find your dog more relaxed and better behaved, as the training puts you in a dominant light and takes the pressure off her to lead the household "pack". Plus, your dog gets a chance to meet other dogs. You'll soon notice how eager she is for the next class!

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If your dog shows any of these signs, he/she is may be sick !

The dogs can not tell you that they are hurting or cry real tears but a dog may vocalize their pain in a different way. A dog that is hurt suddenly (such as being stepped on) will cry out or wimper in pain. This also happens when an external injury or internal injury (such as an organ) is touched. Whining or vocalization that is unprovoked may be caused from an internal injury as well. 

Some breeds of dogs (such as the American Pit Bull Terrier) have a higher pain threshold and need to be watched more closely for signs of pain. Breeds with a high pain tolerance are more likely to endure the pain without vocalization.

Most canine illnesses are detected through a combination of various signs and symptoms: 

Pain

Dogs that are in pain will likely indicate that they are suffering by giving you clues as to where the area of discomfort is. For instance, a dog that has abdominal pain will continually glance toward their belly, bite or lick the area, and will not want to leave his/her bed. The dog may stand hunched over, or take the ‘prayer position’ which is when a dog gets down on it’s forelegs with the hind legs still standing, because of the pain in her abdomen area. 

Behavior Changes

Any behavior changes that are not associated with a change in the household atmosphere, such as jealousy over a new pet or child may be an indication of an illness. Signs of behavioral changes may be:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Sleepiness
• Trembling
• Falling/Stumbling

If your dog shows any of these signs, he/she needs to be kept under close watch for a few hours, or even a few days, until positive signs develop or he/she has returned to normal. Do not try to exercise the dog or put him/her in any situation that may cause stress. Most veterinarians will want for you to keep track of when the symptoms first appeared, whether they are getting better or worse, and also whether the symptoms are intermittent, continuous, or increasing in frequency.

Temperature, Respiratory Rate and Heart Rate

A newborn puppy will have a temperature of 94-97º F. which will eventually reach the normal adult body temperature of 101.5º F. at the age of 4 weeks old. Take care when trying to take your dog or puppies temperature as the thermometer can easily be broken off in the canine’s rectum. Also any form of excitement can cause the temperature to rise by 2-3º when the dog is actually in normal health. If your dog’s temperature reaches 105º or above or 96º or below please take him/her to the emergency vet immediately! 

An adult dog will have a respiratory rate of 15-20 breaths per minute (depending on such variables as size and weight) and a heart rate of 80-120 beats per minute. You can feel for your dog’s heartbeat by placing your hand on his/her lower ribcage just behind the elbow. Don’t be alarmed if the heartbeat seems irregular compared to a human’s heartbeat, it is irregular in many dogs. Have your vet check it out and get used to how it feels when it is normal.

Another clue to pain is a change in temperament. A dog that is in pain may show signs of aggression. Please take note of this before concluding that a dog has become vicious and let your veterinarian know so that the correct treatment can be administered. 

Also females in general (even humans!) have days when they are just in a bad mood for no obvious reason. Take note of days of times that these mood swings occur as well as any events that might have triggered them.

Other signs that your dog may be sick:

• Ears: discharge, debris, odor, scratching, crusted tips, twitching or shaking.
• Eyes: redness, swelling or discharge.
• Nose: runny, thickened or colored discharge, crusty.
• Coughing, sneezing, vomiting or gagging.
• Shortness of breath, irregular breathing or prolonged/heavy panting
• Evidence of parasites in the dog’s stool, strange color, blood in the stool, or lack of a bowel movement (constipation).
• Loss of appetite or not drinking as much water as normally would.
• Weight Loss.
• Strange color of urine, small amount of urine, straining, dribbling, or not going as frequently as normal.
• Bad odor coming from mouth, ears, or skin.
• Hair loss, wounds, tumors, dander or change of the skin’s color.
• Biting of the skin, parasites, scratching or licking the skin frequently.

If any of these symptoms occur over a prolonged period of time, please seek the help of a veterinarian and the dog owner should keep an accurate and detailed account of their dog’s symptoms to help the veterinarian correctly diagnose and effectively treat the dog’s illness or condition. 

I hope that this article will help stress the importance of keeping watch over your dog’s health patterns and the importance of keeping an accurate, detailed health record for your veterinarian’s convenience.

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