I realize this is waaaay off topic but I know there's a lot of dog lovers on this site. Our Schnauzer/Bouvier cross is suffering from an itch that drives him to chew himself to the point he's bleeding. He's had this every spring and summer for a few weeks at a time. Our Vet has checked him a couple of times and ruled out the normal things like fleas,ticks,mites, etc.It's almost like an allergic reaction. The poor dog has been living with a cone on for almost 3 weeks now , we just had him trimmed and this morning my wife discovered he had chewed his tail all up (the only hair longer than a half inch). Any advice would be appreciated , TIA.

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Democracy dies in darkness, you have to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

Definitely yes. My vet advised me to give my dog Children's Benadryl Liquid once. Liquid, since it's easier to get past the dogs mouth.

Thanks Ron...our dog will take anything hidden in a piece of cheese! Whew...we're glad to hear that we aren't going to cause him any grief by giving him the benadryl caplets....just couldn't stand to see him suffer anymore. Again, thanks for responding so quickly as we were wondering whether we should/could administer his next dose in a few hours.

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Democracy dies in darkness, you have to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

Happy to help -- sure hope your pup gets to feeling better.

Let us know how the dog is after this ...
btw Have you also tried Oatmeal baths???
I know those are good for ithchy things....

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'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

I feel your pain. We have been going through this with our dog forever.

We've gone through the basics (checking for fleas ticks mites etc) then taken her to a doggie dermatologist that cost a few thousand and yielded zero results. Special dog food, special shampoos, special raw diet for a month (expensive ugh...), and all we end up back to is cortisone pills to stop the chewing, and itching. This dog is miserable without it. We had tried Benadryl but it did little to help to stop. I am at a loss of what to do at this point except keep her on cortisone.

At one point she had chewed herself three bald spots that were bleeding. Horrible....

I shampoo her with selsun blue and let it sit on her for about 15 mins before I rinse it off. This seems to help for a little bit, but not nearly long enough. I ran into a doggie pharm rep (yea they have those) and she reccomended buying some doggie derm caps for dry skin. She said it helped her dog. That is the last thing I can think of doing. I also ran into a few people who used the same Derm-vet and they said they also spent a couple thousand with no results (except less money in their checking account) either.

Keep me posted if you find something. My dog never had a problem for two years then started. After moving across country the problem stayed the same.

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1994 C 280 117.5k, White (Good as new)
1997 Toyota Camry 149k Miles (Not so pretty anymore)

1990 190e 2.6 95k (Sold-Should not have)
1981 240d Stick ??? Miles...sold

May I add that perhaps a visit to the vet for a doggie cone, such as the one in the attached image, would be a wise investment of time. It will inhibit your pet's ability to gnaw and lick the affected area so that it may heal expeditiously.

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My mom went through the same thing with one of her pups -- turned out the dog was allergic to just about all commercial dog food. Now the dog eats some kind of special food and he's happy as a clam.

It's late Az -- go pack!

GOOD POINT.
THAT WOULD BE A WISE PLACE TO START.
THERE ARE SO MANY ILLNESSES CAUSED BY FOOD ALLERGIES....

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

Geez, I'm sick of all this crap! Where does it all come from?


I guess I missed the cone reference by skimming the content. Evelyn Woods owes me a refund.

We gave our Dachshund half of a benadryl after he got stung on the inside of the side of his mouth by a yellow jacket. It was kinda funny, seeing his long nose have a big bump on the side of it, and he kinda pouted about it too, just kinda sat in my mom's lap. After that, anytime you make a buzzing noise with your mouth, he will run away and shake off the imaginary yellow jacket

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Our Lab has had an open wound / hot spot for three years. Tried bandaging it, but he eats them. It`s been almost healed a number of times, but he opens it every time. He's been on drugs for separation anxiety's, and we stayed with him 24/7,for six months. Almost healed , went out for dinner, he opened the wound again.

To your question, we give him benys and it seems to give some relive, sleeps better too.

John

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President Minuteman Section MBCA
www.mbca.org/minuteman

Years ago I picked up a abused lab. He had a horrible skin condition. After many vet visits and months of pills the condition got a bit better but not much. I did some reasearch and found a paper written by a leading vet reasearch school. Basically the jist of the paper is that 85% of all skin conditions in dogs are directly related to diet and commercial dog food is garbage.

I put the dog on Pet-Tabs. A dog vitamin-mineral supplement. Within 3 weeks the glossy wet look returned to his fur and the condition vanished. Some months later I ran out of Pet-Tabs and kept putting off getting more. His coat gradually faded to a dull frizzy look. I thought WTF! Back on the vitamins his coat returned to the glossy wet.

Ever since then I have always given all my dogs Pet-Tabs. My vet sell them for 24.00 for 180 tablets, 3 dollars cheaper than the pet store. I also augment my dogs diet with human food. Yes, I know the old line about no human food for dogs. I call bulls@#$! My current dog, Boomer, enjoys fruits and vegies in moderation. Scrambled eggs(4) with lots garlic once a week.

Then again, I have no children or wife so I treat my dog as my child.

PS. Boomer says "Hi!"

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79 240D (no name yet) 203K Miles Maple Yellow
98 2500 4x4 HD Dodge 24 Valve Cummins TD
83 Chevy Van (Dead-Trans. shot)

Foods you should never give dogs!

Grapes or raisins
Onions
Macadamia Nuts

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79 240D (no name yet) 203K Miles Maple Yellow
98 2500 4x4 HD Dodge 24 Valve Cummins TD
83 Chevy Van (Dead-Trans. shot)