My husky Roxy has had itchy elbows since she was about 2 years old. She is now 5-1/2 yrs. We took her to the vet when we first noticed the itching and they treated her for allergies, told us to use benadryl and gave prednisone, as well as atopica. As long as she was taking the prednisone she wasnt scratching at her elbows. After a few months i took her to another vet for a second opinion. She diagnosed her with Zinc Deficieny and advised us to only use metal bowls and add zinc supplements to her diet. Over time i tried many different brand of the zinc supplements and nothing has resolved the itchy elbows. Ive even added tuna in oil and a fish oil supplent along with zinc. Ive tried kelp powder, dermapaw, different allergy meds. She eats grain free salmon dog food. I know my pic isnt great, but you can see the dense hair spot. At times its worse. She has scratched until theyve bled before. The skin under the hair is scabbed most of the time, unless shes been scratching alot its red and raw. Any help is greatly appreciated as i dont know but a few husky owners in my area and they havent had this problem with theirs. I also have a labrador and not had this ever with him so im thinking its something husky breed specific.

Welcome to the forum Lindsay! Did the vet do a skin scraping to determine ZRD? If not then go to another vet, zrd normally starts in the face area, if it's only the elbows it might not be zrd. ............so a couple of things, I don't recommend tuna, at least not as a supplement. I would look for salmon made for dogs oil or pill form instead. Bonnie and Clyde makes a good product. Which dog food brand do you feed? have you always fed this brand and this protein? Lastly pic didn't show. Although I am not confident that it is ZRD, I am also not confident it is an allergy, often times allergies progress, like with my gsd first it was goopy eyes, then excessive paw licking, then smelly coat, etc, does your dog have any other issues?

Before her elbows became itchy she had scaly patches on her eyebrows. I am not sure what all the vet did when we took her, it’s been so long ago. I use evolve grain free salmon, and no I have not always used this. She used to eat dog food that wasn’t 100% grain free

My very first dog, way back in Medieval times, developed scaly, itchy elbows. Snoopy was a short-haired terrier mix. The itchy patches turned out to be callouses from her lying on her side on the carpeting. I remember my mom putting coconut oil on Snoopy's elbows, which seemed to help soothe the scaling and itching. Mom also stopped using carpet cleaner and stuck with only steam-cleaning after that. Snoopy's callouses didn't go away -- they turned gray and looked like elephant skin -- but they did stop bothering her.

My Labrador has calluses on his elbows that are like you said kind of like elephant skin, they are nothing like my huskies elbows. We do not have carpeting in my house. I have used dermapaw cream that contains several different oils. I have used coconut before, as well as plain Vaseline and different topical allergy meds. I’m out of ideas I’ve tried so many things. I put the rubber covers over her nails before which prevents her from breaking the skin, but they are such a pain to put on.

Evolve Salmon still has chicken in it and some dogs can't do chicken. Which it looks like all the evolve formulas has chicken. Does she seem itchy in other places as well? Does she get a smell between baths? How often do you give a bath? How do her ears look? While you don't have carpet in the house do you have any rugs that she lays on? What are they made of? If you could get the picture to show that might would help some. Welcome to the forum. I hope we can help find something to make your girl feel better.

Where does Roxy usually lie down and/or sleep? Even hard floors can cause elbow problems -- pressure points that become painful or irritated, and then they become worse if the dog scratches at them trying to get some relief. Lying down on the grass or ground could also do the same thing.

Most of the time she lays on the leather couch. Even at night she may start off either in my bed lol, or hers, but she doesn’t stay long and she goes to the couch. Typically she does not lay in grass when she’s outside, she has a big dirt hole by my porch that she dug and she lays in lol. Within the last couple of weeks she has developed a spot on the heel of her back foot.

She hasn’t always ate the evolve we switched to it trying to help her. Currently she is itchy on both elbows and one heel. I only give her a bath about every 5-6 weeks, that is unless she gets into something stinky. Her ears look great, I clean them about once a month. I tried to upload a pic but got some reason it won’t post. She usually doesn’t lay on any rugs. She prefers the leather couch.

U can see the flaky scaliness under the hair on the last pic

Lindsay, can you gt a couple of pictures taken from a bit further away - those don't look like pressure calluses to me. Only the one in the second pic - on her elbow - even remotely looks like a pressure problem. The last picture looks more like an allergic reaction to something.

Thanks for the photos! Yeah, Al's right -- That last one does look like an allergic reaction. Possibly a combination of allergy/pressure...? Could she be lying on something that she's allergic to?

Has the vet tested her for for a Thyroid imbalance?

Our male golden had major itching, scaling, ear crud, along with developing elephant skin around his elbows from the hard floor. Over the 9+ years we have spent bucket loads of $$ on various meds, food changes, different creams, oils, and conditioners, you name it trying to figure out what was going on.

Recently we changed to a new Vet that is closer to our home and they ran a T4 blood work on him after listening to us describe all the things we have done for his skin/itching problems; she told us that his level was below the threshold of measurably and he has Hypothyroidism.

While Hypothyroidism is not common in Husky's, its worth asking as the test was only $100 and his meds now are $20/month.

Hope you figure it out; its very frustrating knowing that they are suffering and you feel helpless.

Something I forgot to add is we gave her Dinovite mixed in with her food for a good while, out of everything we tried it helped the most. Dinovite still is not 100% affective, just not as itchy and the spots aren’t as big. I’m wondering if there is maybe an ingredient in the Dinovite that helps and maybe she is just needing a larger amount of that one ingredient. She’s never been specifically checked for thyroid issues, but she has had blood work recently and everything is good. I do not think she would be lying on something she could be allergic too as anywhere she lays is allergen free if that makes since lol. I am an allergy sufferer myself and getting ready to have the rush allergy shots soon. We dont do carpet and try to keep things allergy free. Pet dander is the biggest issue in my house lol. When she’s outside she stays in her dirt hole most of the time. I don’t have any trees that she can get to and I don’t have any type of shrubbery at all.

I don't really have any advice as far as treating whatever it is causing her issues, unfortunately. Another member in here had something similar happen with her GSD, and could have been related to Ivy she had growing in the yard, but it doesn't sound like you have Ivy, so that's out. The only thing I can suggest is less frequency in baths. Unless she gets to smelling, of course, which would be odd for a husky and probably related to this skin condition, but huskies are super clean dogs, even when they get dirty, haha, they seem to be able to just shake it off. My two get baths maybe 2-3 in a year. Baths dry out their skin, which probably isn't causing this, but I think it's just healthier for her skin, overall. So maybe instead of 5-6 weeks, extend it out, if possible. I know, I'm not much help here, just thought I'd throw that out there. Good luck to you, I know how frustrating it must be

Lindsay - I don't see anything in those pictures that would indicate a pressure callous, I wouldn't rule out an allergy since the simple things that most people aren't allergic to can cause deathly reactions in a few others.

But I don't think it's either of the above, given its locations - generally above where I would expect to see a pressure callous and what I'm seeing - I'd suggest the vet take a skin scraping and check for various infections - my first reaction is a fungal infection given its long term history and that it appears to be closed and on the surface of the skin.  Given that you bath her more than most of us would indicates she has an odor which would be consistent with an infection on her skin.

Take a look at this link from VCA Hospitals for more information on my thoughts.

ETA afterthought:  I went looking for pictures but almost all of what I found were extreme cases and what I see in Roxy is not a major outbreak.

5-6 weeks for bathing is an average guess. She does not get baths often, I learned from my Labrador who is older, that frequent bathing is not good for dogs skin. She never develops an odor unless she gets into something stinky. Huskies are pretty clean dogs as I’m sure you know! I’ve seen her feet covered in dirt and next thing you know she’s cleaned herself and you can’t tell she was ever in dirt. There’s really nothing in my house that she would come in contact with that would cause an allergic reaction. Nothing outside as well. My husband has wondered if she does it out of boredom or maybe some sort of anxiety issue. We rescued her when she was 8 mos old. She kept coming to my house for about a week and hanging out and we finally found her owner. When we took her back to him we noticed that he had her tied in his back yard. When she showed up at my house she had a piece of the cable hanging from her. She had no food or water dishes, or even shade for that matter. When my husband knocked on the door the guy came out and drug her by her neck through his gravel drive. He told my husband that she was nothing but trouble. My husband told him that we would love to have her if he didn’t want her. Wasn’t about an hour later he showed up at my house and gave her to us. She was still a puppy and he wasn’t devoting time to her like he should. She was so skinny you could see her bones. We was actually going to find her a good home, but she done had us hooked. She is the absolute sweetest thing ever! We could tell she had been hit before because when we would try to verbally correct her for say digging in the yard or chewing up a box she would immediately turn over on her back showing her belly or flinch like she was being hit. All you had to say was awwww what did you do, or did you do this? Like I said she was only 8 months old, but she came from a bad situation. Could she realize how much better off she is and how much she’s cared for and possibly have anxiety when we leave for work and licking, scratching and biting at herself is a way of coping? I’ve heard that dogs do get separation anxiety? Or maybe it’s just pure boredom needs more exercise? We don’t have a big yard, but about 3/4 acre. We have the radio fence for both dogs and they have most of are yard to roam. They are both mainly house dogs, but do go outside several times a day. In the warmer months we walk them during the week and will even take them to my parents farm so they can run.

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Does anyone use taste of the wild or wellness core dog food? Thinking about switching to one of those. I refuse to use the blue buffalo brand as I constantly see recalls or warnings for that brand. She currently eats evolve grain free salmon and sweet potato and give her tuna every other day. Someone earlier mentioned to not give tuna and try salmon and try an oil by Bonnie and Clyde company.

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Hey Lindsay, it was me that mentioned Bonnie and Clyde salmon oil Tuna is ok in small doses, but I believe it can contain some mercury, etc, so it should be given on a once in a while basis. I also have not heard of anyone use the oil as a benefit for a dog, I have heard people using krill oil for instance. Salmon just seems to be the it oil for dogs, many benefits using it. I feed taste of the wild. My gsd is allergic to many food items so I have fed Pacific Stream with good results, and have switched over to their prey line, which is a limited ingredient line and my gsd is doing great on it, and my husky also approves I will say quite a few of us in the forum feed TOTW. Wellness I have never fed, but believe is a good food as well.

As far as separation anxiety, yep my husky girl was pretty bad when she was younger, having the gsd around has helped a lot for us. It could be that Roxy did chew at herself when she got lonely and has manifested into a habit. If that is the case tho, I can't help but think she is still doing so (can you place some cameras in the house to watch her for a day or two?) but there may also be some type of infection like Al mentioned, since this has been going on for a while. I would seek out another vet, maybe go back to your current one, in any event, sometimes as a owner we have to help guide the vet, as in tell the vet you want a skin scraping to rule out all types of skin infections and ZRD, you may also want to do advanced blood tests to rule out Thyroid, again you have to ask for it specifically.

Dinovite, well there are some good things about and not so good. If Roxy does have allergies there a few triggers in it, so that may be why you seen some improvement but not a complete one. i would also back off on the bathing routine. I have not bathed my husky since September 2014 when she was sprayed by a skunk, she probably had 3 or 4 baths between when we brought her home in December 2012 as a wee pup and 2014. I have never cleaned her ears, she is not allergic to anything, she is intolerant to grains so I do feed grain free. My gsd is allergic to chicken, eggs, flax, and she will smell, eat at her paws, have gunky ears and eyes, she has never had a bath, and I have only cleaned her ears during an allergy issue, at 2 points because of allergies she did have 2 separate ear infections. I am only saying this because, a truly healthy dog, specifically a healthy husky doesn't need a bath nor should need ears clean but only once every so often. I believe an extensive vet visit is in order, there more than likely is a health issue going on, even at this point a skin infection from her constant licking is a health issue. I wish you and Roxy lots of luck, this can't be easy on either of you. And thank you for giving her a loving home. <3

I have been reading the reviews for the Bonnie and Clyde oil from different sites. A lot of people switched from salmon or krill oil to this and having better results. I think I will be giving it a try when she runs out of her current fish oil supplement. I also plan on switching to the taste of the wild when she is finished with her current food. The pacific stream is the formula I was wanting to try for her. From different things I’ve read online there’s no harm in feeding salmon or tuna to dogs, but it is high in sodium. Just about everything I’ve read says that mackerel and herring are better choices so I may try adding one of those maybe a couple times a week. My vet uses the petly website and you can view your pets medical charts. Roxy has had a skin scrape test. I wasn’t 100% sure what all the vet had done so I logged on this morning. I plan on talking to husband about having the test to check her thyroid. What about a biopsy of the area? Would it be beneficial at all if her scrape test was fine?

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Does it list what they looked for when they did the scrape? Sometimes they will go in and only look for mites (demodex show up but sarcoptic often don't) or only look for infection and not keep an open mind and look for it all. Mites can be a real pain to deal with if you ever get them and hard to spot in some tests. Occasionally they might show up on a black light. Some fungi show up on black light as well but the test for looking for some kinds of skin fungus takes a while and has to be sent off for so if you didn't have a few days wait they probably didn't do a deep check as to what was going on in the scrape they took. If you have a dermatology vet in your area they could probably get to the bottom of it much faster than your normal vet and save you money in the long run. A biopsy could be done but often doesn't need to be done if the vet will be thorough when handling the scrape and smear panel.

I feed TOTW, first pacific stream and now Prey Angus, as a supplement to raw. Mine too have done well with it. Haven't been on Prey long enough yet though to really know what changes could come with it.

I'm not a pro but I can share my findings .. I have a westie purebred . With dry eyes . I found just changing diet or soaps when washing bedding had a effect .
This best I found was fish oil 1000 mg a day and stop washing bedding so often. And using minimum nasty soaps around house where she likes to be. It all helped a lot made it all better . Didn't fix it but she only needs prescription eye drops once or twice a year . Instead of $35 a month for eye treatment. Food had biggest effect on her eyes . Beneful to Iams even treats where changed around . All these little things helped . Trying vitamins now also .. Its like trial and error . Also I suspect she's not drinking enough water also . This has been a 5 year process of trying stuff
One of the tricks I have heard and sounded interesting is making your own dog food so to feed more fat and higher protein. See the investigation goes on...
Hope this information helps you.

Husky2008

We had a Siberian Husky years ago that was allergic to straw anytime I put straw by her she would lose her hair in spots . On my current husky I have now male I just use cedar chips and he's never broke out and had no hair issues. But they need to be changed more when they take on moisture.