Hey everyone, going to keep this post sorry because I'm on my phone but I will provide more detail when I get to a computer... but Hunter has been nipping/biting and scratching himself ALOT, to the point that he is getting scabs all over his body, no hair lose but it's got me worried.

I took him to the vet and she put him on Amoxicillin but it hasn't done anything really, been on it for a week now. The areas have changed, used to be his back under belly and inside hind legs... now it's on his chest, inside front legs and front shoulders on top.

It doesn't keep him awake but when he is playing he will stop and nipp sty himself pretty good.

I noticed he had a spot on him when I visited the breeder at 6 wks but it has gotten much worse. He is on a raw diet, I don't have carpet in the house, I have also given him a bath since I brought him home... I just recently started adding the coconut oil/salmon oil to his food. But I'm not sure what else to do.

The vet check his poop and that was negative... I am taking him back this wknd to get his first round of shots since being home but I'm tempted to get a skin scrap?

Had anyone else experienced this? How did you deal with it? I tell him to stop and distract him with toys but he still goes to scratch and nip and bite.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

What proteins are you feeding him in the raw diet?

K-9 Kravings Chicken & Vegetable.

http://www.k-9kraving.com/raw-dog-food/chicken-vegetable-frozen

Okay, Diz has some skin issues and his are associated with food allergies. Recently, due to playing in the water multiple times a day, he developed a pretty bad ear infection. I didn't really notice it until it got smelly and he was shaking his head a lot, so I think it had been going on for a while. One night I was petting him and noticed a big scab in his fur in front of his ear and realized that he had caused a hotspot in front of his ear by scratching from the ear infection. Anyway, thanks to his food reactions, I've got a good routine down pat for healing hotspots, which I'll share. The most important thing, however, is to find the cause of the reaction and eliminate that. Here is my remedy for hot spots, it usually clears Dizzy up in about 1-3 days.

1. Trim the fur around the hot spot as best you can. Diz makes it easy and is totally chill about it, but with a puppy its going to be much harder. Just do the best you can, but don't make it a scary experience for him.
2. 2-3 times a day, gently wash the area with soap and water. I like to use something with tea tree. It's gentle, but has antiseptic qualities, also use cool water. This time I used this, from the body shop because I use it for myself and happened to have it on hand. Gently scrub the scabs off. I use a paper towel and a pitcher. Any mild soap will work though, essentially you just want a clean dry area.
3. Rinse with water, and dab completely dry with a paper towel. I also use a cold, gentle setting on the blow dryer to get air movement over the area, but with a puppy, that's probably not going to happen.
4. Once the area is mostly dry, use a small amount of cortisone cream. It will soothe and moisturize, but also make the area much less itchy.
5. It sounds like with your puppy, he is having a big reaction, and is just generally very itchy. In his case I would also use benadryl. Here is some information from 1800petmeds on how to use benadryl. This will help calm the allergic reaction to get the sores under control.
6. Switch him to a different protein source and completely eliminate everything else from his diet. No exceptions; no treats, no table scraps, nothing but his food. Each dog is different, and you'll have to do some work to figure out what works for your puppy, but turkey works very well for Dizzy. It's one of the few things that I can be sure will not bother him.
7. Use the dreaded cone of shame. Yes, it's going to make for a grumpy puppy, but you've got to put it on him overnight and any time you can't make him stop scratching or biting within a second. You'll know when he's healed up enough to stop.

*If any of the spots are smelly, or look infected, he will probably need another course of antibiotics as well, but I would try this for a couple days before you go back to the vet.

You should see a dramatic difference within 24-48 hours. Good luck!