Scratching And Itching

[Dick in Reno]

We have a 6 month old Wheaten who scratches all the time to the point of distracting himself from training and going outside for toilet training. The vet says he can't see any skins dryness or other problems. The groomer gives him a non allegric bath and also doesn't see any problem. What is going on....we have even tried a half of a benedryl to see if that would work. Needless to say this problem makes it hard to train him and his attention span is somewhat short..

Thanks for any input

[t-time]

Maybe a diet issue? A food allergy could manifest itself as an itchy dog but I would have thought there would be more visible signs such as a rash.

Are there any particular areas your Wheaten scratches? What about his ears? His bottom?

Perhaps the grass he's sitting on makes him itchy during training?

If the benadryl is working it definitely indicates some sort of allergic reaction. The product is not an anaesthetic to soothe itchiness, it is an antihistamine.

Kind-of a tricky one without a few more details...

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

More details please

Could be anything, can you give an indication as to type of grasses you have?.

Diet as 6 months is hard to work out, are you following diet that the breeder gave?.

If you think it may be diet then feed only a bland diet of chicken and rice or chicken and cottage cheese, and then slowly re-introduce what you have been feeding and see what happens.

Did your dog have this problem before leaving the breeder?

What shampoo does the groomer use?

[Rascalmyshadow]

Are you sure your groomer is rinsing him properly when he's being bathed. If he is not rinsed properly it can cause severe itching with no other signs until down the track when the skin starts to finally react and either become inflamed or get dandruff.

[Zorro_007]

As the others have said, it is definitely an issue of allergy here. Either it's a contact allergy - grass, weed, nylon carpeting, bedding that has not been rinsed properly, in other words an allergy to a specific soap powder. Another form of allergy is 'atopic' allergy meaning something that the dog is breathing in that is causing him to itch like dust mites, pollen, flowers, etc. Food allergy is another one, some dogs are allergic to red meat or more often to the high cereal content of dry foods so its a case of opting to feed a raw diet or making sure that the food you are feeding is not full of cereal and grains. As Nicole has said, rinsing is very important, any shampoo residue is likely to cause itching. I have found that the more you shampoo when a dog itches the worse the condition becomes unless there is a bacterial infection or skin condition that needs treating.

Does he have a habit of lying on something in particular all the time? some type of grass? wandering jew?...

Edited December 23, 2006 by Zorro_007