shakespeare

@ vectisvagrant -Same here with Margot. I had my vet refer us to a holistic vet for her skin and it has really helped.

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The Highbury Hounds Tallulah, Isabel and Margot

FranksMum

Reading through all these comments, I had to smile when I came to this comment because we were perhaps lucky with our line in that generally speaking we didn't have skin problems. Truly! Mine were, with one exception, tricolours, and dark tris at that after we used a visiting Am.Ch. who was basically black and white. His son is my current avatar. Anyhow, having said that, one of our older boys did start having skin issues - inner flaps of ears being his worse problem. And guess what, he had NO problems whatsoever until he was CASTRATED (prostate flare up problem). However, this may have been a coincidence as all our bitches were spayed, once retired and other than growing a thicker coat, some of them, they had no skin problems

However, our sole lemon/white boy did have problems throughout his life and he def. favoured a line that I knew had to be dipped to keep their skin problems under control.

On the other hand, amongst all his other problems, Frankie has pink armpits and in the groin area, and on his front legs. And carries a line back to the old boy we had to have castrated. Go figure!!

HigginsMama

Avoid the Iams food. It's not good quality and has a lot of fillers. Look for foods that have meat (and not meat byproducts or meal) as the main ingredients. Grain free and potato free has also worked for many dog owners I know who have dogs with allergies. Lamb and fish are supposed to be good.

I just took my 5-yr old basset Higgins in to the vet because he had a dry itchy belly and was scratching himself. His nipples were inflamed also. I thought it was the winter weather and tried to give him some moisture with olive oil. Turns out he's developed a yeast infection likely from scratching due to food allergies. We did put him on the Hills prescription diet z/d, and he was given an anti-fungal wash and some antihistamines. The diet does seem to be working. Today I was able to skip the antihistamine and his belly is less red. His underarms did smell a bit funky, so I gave him another wash with the anti-fungal soap.

He was having some gas issues also in previous days, but that seems to have subsided also. We made an abrupt diet change and he had some digestion issues (pooping a lot less). The past 2 days we have given him a tablespoon of pumpkin in his kibble and that has helped with the pooping, and no itching so far, so pumpkin must be ok.

He gets one fish oil caplet a day. I poke it with a pin and squeeze it over his kibble.

I plan to change his food once this clears up to a grain free, poultry free, and potato free food. I read that potatoes are bad for dogs with yeast issues. He was eating Fromm's gold, which is a good quality food, but he seems to have developed an allergy of some sort to this. He was also getting boiled carrots and turkey with his kibble, so I suspect a poultry allergy. I'd like to get him off the hypo allergenic food because it is even more expensive than a high quality dog food, so we'll see how that goes.

I suggest smelling your dog's belly and especially under his arms to see if it's a yeast infection. The vet likely would have been able to diagnose this, but maybe it was missed. If he smells funky, maybe he's got a year issue (perhaps an immune response to his meds and possibly food allergy related).

Food allergies are not easy to diagnose. It's sort of trial and error. If he's doing ok with the hypoallergenic food, stick with it, but try to introduce some other things into his diet. Grain free has worked for other dog owners I know who have dogs with allergies (not bassets). I also read that a dog's diet should be changed periodically to help avoid allergy development, though I also have been told by vet techs that there should be no need to change a dog's food. I don't totally buy that because Higgins has been eating the same food for 2 years and now all of the sudden allergies.

I would also NOT put moisturizers made for humans on your dog's belly. That could make things worse. I was using natural moisturizers for Higgins (olive oil and this gardener's balm made from bees wax, castor oil, and coconut oil) and it only allowed the yeast to grow more. People soap/shampoos should NOT be used. Get a good quality soap, perhaps from your vet. It will likely be more expensive, but if it save several trips to the vet it's worth the cost.

Keep your dog hydrated. That helps with dry skin too. It's hard to get a dog to drink water if he's not thirsty, but Higgins will eat ice cubes like they are treats, so that is one way to get him more water.

I will say that the fish oil has also helped a lot. Higgins' coat is super soft. I did buy the derma caps from the vet, but I imagine the ones at a pet store are similar. I might avoid the cheap kind you can get for humans because sometimes there are fillers in them. You want a good quality supplement.

ALSO: TREATS! If you are still giving your dog regular dog treats you are undermining the whole treatment. We did but the hypoallergenic treats, and I will be on the look out for other options, but no more milk bones and other treats like that.

These things are costly sometimes, but once you figure out what works, you probably won't be spending as much as when you are trying to figure things out.