LOVE_MY_DOBE

I have a 11 month old red/rust doberman pincher and for awhile i had his skin problems solved by using a oatmeal shampoo from my vet. Now his body is not breaking out anymore, but his legs and chin and the underside of his belly is. It looks like ant bites, but i know it is not possible for him to be getting into ants bc i watch him like a hawk. Does anyone know anything about what to do about this? I haven't switched his food or changed shampoos and he's up to date on all his shots so i am at a loss to what could have caused this. What can i do to prevent this from breaking out further and resolving his problems? He is on science diet small bites for large breed and i occassionally mix canned food in his dry food as a treat. could he be having an allergic reaction to something or do doberman's just have skin problems like this? please someone help me and my dobie!

Luvbirds59

Could be a staph infection or his food. I'd check on the Staph first, take him to the vet and ask him to do a skin scraping or just treat him for it, antibiotics....then look into possible food allergies. Are there any grains in his food? Wheat and corn can cause problems. You could switch him to a higher quality food now, like Innova, Canidae, Solid Gold, etc.

Welcome back....please post some pictures of your guy!!!

Carol

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dobebug

On Dobes in his age range the first thing I would suspect is staph. This time of year and on any dog with a short coat the second thing I'd suspect would be fleas. And before you say "My dog doesn't have fleas!" I'll remind you that fleas are opportuntistic and get one and off host animals and sometimes the only thing you see a bites and/or flea dirt--stand him on a white sheet and run a flea comb through his coat and see if you get black specks--if you do, drop a couple into water and if it turns red that's flea excrement. Also in some parts of the country at this time of year chiggers (which are practically microscopic) can be a problem and can show up as red spots on belly and legs (anywhere the hair is sparse).

The bottom line is that I'd have him in for the vet to have a look--particularly is it's something that started suddenly. You'll do a lot less worrying about it if you know what's going on.

tjmom

At this age it sounds like your pup has staph. I have had three dobies and all three have experienced staph around this age. Their immune system is weaker when they are younger. I would take your baby to the vet for some antibotics. And just as a tip I try and tell as many people who will hear make sure that your vet does not prescribe sulfur based drugs for your dobies. Dobies do NOT do well on these drugs. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

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Bilclarie

It could also be your detergent/fabric softner you wash and rinse your dog bedding in, something you put on your carpet's to make them smell fresh it could be anything.


Maureen

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charlesmdodson

Bedding wash is important. I would get something organic that is safe for pets and even use that sparingly. How often do you bathe your dog? You dont want to do that too often either. Maybe just a rinse off with water only but a lot of soaps robs the coat and skin of important oils and may leave him susceptible.

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TopSkipper

Not sure about the specifics of "how" you bath your dog, but here is an interesting article from DPCA site on bathing.

written by Anna Browning, Windsor Dobermans
submitted by Marj Brooks, Manorie Dobermans
NOTE: "The wetter the dog, the less soap you will need for a good lather". Anna also said to dilute the soap. If you do this just about any soap will work including Joy dish detergent. The shampoo however must have the right p/h balance for dogs. I suggest that you print this out, try it and learn to bathe your dogs this way.

Here are Anna's instructions:

Many years ago, while at the Western States Veterinary Conference, I attended a lecture on Dermatology. The speaker started off by saying, " I'll bet you that most of you don't know how to bathe a dog...". Well, we all laughed, but he then piped in, "Seriously, I'll bet you that at least 90% of you are doing it wrong!". Silence came over the room as he explained. Most people bathe their dogs in warm water. This, he said, is for the owner's comfort ... not the dog's! His rules for bathing were:

Bathe in tepid water -- when I say bathe in tepid water, this really means room temperature water ... NOT warm. I thought I'd clarify this as some people think that tepid means warm. If in doubt, go COLDER, not warmer.
Use a hypoallergenic/PH balanced DOG shampoo
Wet the dog thoroughly
Dilute the shampoo before putting it on the animal
Start at the head of the dog, and using ONLY your finger TIPS (NEVER the fingernails!), gently massage the dog WITH the grain of the hair... NEVER rub against the grain of the hair.
Once the entire dog is properly bathed, rinse in tepid water
Rinse again
When you think you've rinsed enough, rinse one more time!
Other rules are:

Don't over bathe (don't bathe too often... he suggested once a month if needed).
If you do bathe, use an conditioning spray afterwards, such as HyLyt Bath Oil Spray to replace essential oils removed by bathing.
When petting the dog, don't rub against the grain of the hair.... especially important in short haired breeds without
undercoat!!
His theory on "bathing reactions" are:

People use warm water to wet the dog. This opens the pores. They then put shampoo on the dog, full strength,
irritating the skin. The person then "scrubs" the dog against the grain of the hair, using the fingernails to get the dog "good and clean"! This further irritates the skin. They rinse the dog, again with warm water, shoving the shampoo
into the open, irritated hair follicle. They don't rinse thoroughly enough and once the warm water stops running, and the dog starts to dry, the pores close. Now, you have an irritated hair follicle. This irritated hair follicle now becomes infected, leading to folliculitis (those little zits your dogs usually get the day after bathing!!). The owner then thinks the dog is allergic to the shampoo and has to go to the vet to get hydroxizine and prednisone to make the
bumps/pustules go away.

At the end of the lecture, the room was DEAD QUIET! Myself included. Up until that point I really didn't know how to bathe dogs!

Erik Christie

Our 9 month old "Jagger" dobieboy has the same issue. Vet sold us some medicated shampoo and conditioner. Did not solve the problem. He recommended Cephalexin in which we are giving him 2- 500mg capsules a day. Hope this works! The skin irritation does not seem to bother him but it looks like he is starting to lose some hair in some locations.
Thoughts?

Will keep you posted on progress. We justed started this medical therapy yesterday. We have a 30 day prescription. EDC

Dobes&Hounds

Aubrey had allergies, and would scratch till she gave herself little patches of staph. I used Chlorhexadine shampoo. It worked wonderfully and was not harsh on her coat. It is made by Davis Veterinary Products. I have also used a spray with eucalyptus and chlorhexadine that I cannot find anymore..

alwayshadpets

They will sometimes look worse before they look better. Did your vet recommend a shampoo with benzoyl peroxide in it? This is a drying shampoo so a conditioner also is ususally recommended. They sometimes have to be on the meds for 30 days. Check carefully after finishing the meds.