Hi everyone!!

Jasper started developing a "sore" on his chin around February month, at first it was small but it began to spread almost all over his lower jaw, initially i blamed it on the ice and him digging but now i'm leaning more towards him scratching it and breaking it open again. It sometimes bleeds and his fur frequently has dried blood in it. I was treating with polysporin but no improvement so I took him to my vet, they originally diagnosed as a hot spot and put him on anti biotics, this was over a week ago. Now, instead of improving, I found another spot behind his ear. It looks like an open sore with hair loss directly on it and dried blood in the fur. Called the vet back and she said if it didn't respond to anti biotics it's not a hot spot. I'm slightly skeptical of the vet here and hesitant about bringing him in for more tests.

Anyone on here experience anything similar? or have any ideas what it could possibly be?

This vet seems to work on trial and error and I don't want to pump him full of meds

Do you have any images of them? That would help

i don't know much for treating hot spots but it may take more then a week to clear up

I'm only going by what the vet said, she said they should be healed by now if it were hot spots.

Oops!! I'm on my phone, don't know why they came up twice

I've seldom seen a hot spot that wasn't round, moist and weepy.  This doesn't appear to be the case with your boy.  If it were only on his chin, I'd be asking what you use for a food bowl as plastic sometimes raises an "allergic" reaction.

I'd rule out a hot spot and I'd also rule out your vet ... hot spots are too blasted obvious in most cases.  Given the proper medication, the hot spot should dry up within a few days but the wound caused by the hot spot will take longer to heal depending on it's size (( which is completely unrelated to anything since, as I said, I don't think it's a hot spot from the picture ))

ETA: You might also want to look at this web site as the sore on his lip looks a lot like others I've seen here with ZRD.

Yeah I've been researching hot spots and I don't think thats it either.

His bowls are stainless steel and get washed in the dishwasher every day or so. He's been on the same food for 3 years so I don't think thats it either.

I'm starting to lean towards zinc deficiency but I know absolutely nothing about it

Nichole, ZRD would need a vet to do skin scrapings to be 100% sure it is ZRD. Allergies can be seen from using the same food for that long, but as Al said, hot spots, which is also typically caused from allergies, may look different. I would opt to see a different vet and ask about skin scrapings to rule out ZRD, if it is not ZRD, I would go back to the assumption of allergies, which, imho, antibiotics will help heal an infection but not clear up the problem, so you would have to figure out the cause of the allergen, typically in food many grains and chicken seems to be a huge culprit, as is significantly dry weather, which is typical from winter weather, using heat in the home. Start with ruling out ZRD first, then move on to allergies. In the meantime you could add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to his food, or rub into the sores and see if there is any relief, have read coconut oil is anti microbial, anti fungal and anti parasitic, and at the very least will help if his coat is on the dry side.

Jack has ZRD and these images dont look like his... do the areas have dry raised bumps, and has the fur started falling out?
I agree with Renee, find a new vet that works with huskies and skin issues and have them scrape and test it. We tried many meds to clear his up, changed foods and spent a lot of money till we figured it out and started treating for ZRD.
I have a thread on here somewhere with pictures of jack at his worst. I will look for them when im at a computer

@MiyasMomma and @jbealer Thanks for you input on this since I've never had any experience with ZRD I was just possiting it as a possibility from the area around his mouth. I've never even seen pictures about ZRD that weren't either eye or 'lip' in nature so the one behind the ear (?) looked odd to me.

Here are 2 threads that may help, the 2nd one is my boy

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t14188-possible-zinc-deficiency-advice?highlight=zinc

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t12322-bacterial-infection