I've noticed my dog has some redness around his mouth/nose. It started a few days ago and seems to be getting worse. I'll take him to the vet this week if I can't find the cause or make some improvement.

Any thoughts?

It's hard to tell from the pics, I'm posting so this can be bumped to the top, so you can get some advice. What kind of food are you feeding him?

He's on Acana Prairie Poultry at the moment - switched from Beneful Salmon a few weeks ago when we adopted him.

He treat diet is pretty varied (coconut oil, jerky treats, liver treats, homemade broth ice cubes, tripe, cooked chicken, etc), but he's been on a strict kibble only diet for the past 48 hours, he was having some digestive issues, and I wanted to narrow his diet so I could pinpoint if something specific was causing the digestive problems. He's been doing better today in that area.

I have noticed he's been sneezing a fair bit when we're out on walks. He's always sniffing intently along the ground. Also likes to shove his snout into creeks and streams.

Poor guy's probably going to the vet this week.

It could be seasonal allergies or something in one of the foods you have fed. I would definitely cut down on some of the extras you were feeding and keep it simple for a while and see what happens. Is he itching and licking his feet any? Does he have a runny nose?

TwisterII wrote:

Is he itching and licking his feet any? Does he have a runny  nose?

His feet don't seem to bother him. His nose is sometimes a little wet and runny, but not usually.

I reckon is must be something he snuffles around in on our walks. Could be an allergy (maybe he's a fellow hayfever sufferer), some kind of vegetation that's an irritant, or maybe even lawn care products.

Made an appointment at the vet today, I was going to try to isolate the source over a few days of controlled walks, but I'm too neurotic for that... will check in after.

Some dogs get canine acne as well. Can't tell if there are any little bumps in the pictures or not.

Well, we went to the vet.

Buddy gave the vet a couple air-snaps as warnings, but he put up with a LOT of handling (and got the cookies for it!) and so he did pretty well. The vet said it's most likely something that he stuffs his face into on walks, or that it could be from his food dish, and to try washing those regularly.

She also suggested just cleaning the area with baby wipes 1-2 times a day. Even if he stops being exposed to the irritant, it could take up to 3 weeks for the skin to heal. She said to try to photograph it so I can see if it's getting worse.

His feet & gums are fine, and there's no pustules, pus or scabbing around his mouth. So, just keep an eye on it and come back if anything changes, or if it doesn't clear up in a few weeks.


In other news - the receptionist at the vet's office gave me a contact for someone around here who does mushing year round, and helps train other people & dogs since he's trying to get a club going in the area. I'm definitely going to get in touch with him when Buddy's ready to start that. Needs to master some more basic obedience before I let him pull me though, haha.

Following up on your vets comment. Some plastic bowls will cause a reaction that looks like an allergy - I've switched over to metal bowls just because of that - add in the fact that they're easier to clean.

Thunderbird wrote:

I've noticed my dog has some redness around his mouth/nose. It started a few days ago and seems to be getting worse. I'll take him to the vet this week if I can't find the cause or make some improvement.

Any thoughts?

Ami has similar coloring around the front of his mouth and just behind his nose - I just assumed its his red, liver color as he is a dilute red (this morning more of a grungy orange yellow thanks to his 2nd peroxide wash of the year due to his skunk proclivities.) I've just sort of noted it and keeping a watch. There is a distinct possibility he is getting too much calcium/phosphorous with his "bone habit" so I am monitoring closely. No weeping, rash, bumps or swelling so I will assume all is well until something declares itself.

Update :

The vet suggested we clean his mouth daily with wipes, and clean his food dishes.

After a few weeks, no improvement in the mouth area, and he's developed irritation around the nostril. The first photo shows this irritation pretty well if you zoom in.

So, we spoke to the vet. She says the next thing she wants to do is a skin scraping and take some hair samples to look for mites, ringworm, or bacteria / yeast.

He actually did have worms before we got him, his previous owner had treated him for worms 2 weeks before we adopted him.

She also wants to put him on Trazodone (anti-anxiety drug & sedative) so she can get the samples. He gets a bit snappy when handled, so she suggested that as a good way to be able to take the samples safely, and without getting him all stressed out.

So... anyone have any thoughts?

I did google all the potential causes she mentioned, and it doesn't really look like any of those things, although, all of my information is based off google. He sneezes a lot in the morning, and sometimes on our walks. I'm wondering if his nostril irritation isn't just from sneezing?

My husband and I are having a discussion about how to proceed on this issue. If anyone has any insight, I'd appreciate it.

You may look into a zinc deficiency if you haven't already. Could be the starting signs of it. Is your vet wanting to put him on trazodone all the time or just before coming in? If all the time you may look into CBD oil as an alternative. If it were my dog I would probably do the skin scrape if not really expensive. If topical things are ruled out then I would lean toward some kind of deficiency.

The vet just wants to put him on Trazodone before the appointment. She also wants him to do a trial dosage in our house to see how he reacts before that. Seems sensible enough to me. We're muzzle training him (and working on handling issues), but that doesn't really help if the area she needs to examine is under the muzzle.

Has the vet looked inside his nose? You mention sneezing a lot, and to ME, all that redness in the areas they are in, remind me more of a dog that is rubbing his face, for example with his paws, or even in grass or carpet, etc. as if there is possibly something irritating him inside of his nose.

Years ago, I had a brother and sister pair of huskies, the boy knew how to open the refridgerator and one day when left alone, had done just that. They both ate an enormous amount of American Cheese (from Costco, so you can imagine the size of it) and then proceeded to go around the house throwing it up, well, the girl would try to "bury" the throw up, in the carpet, using her face...and it looked A LOT like this, I have pics somewhere in my computer even, but yeah, to me I think it's possible *skmething* in his nose is bothering him, and he might be rubbing his face on stuff to try and relieve it. Just a thought though.

There are some grasses that have little plume like things on the ends, that when dried out, break off, these plume like things have barbs on them and if inhaled for example, only go one way...and keep working their way up, the barbs don't allow them to go back down. There are different names for every area of the nation, but here where I am, they are called fox tails. They're evil!

If they do a nose swab there should be the presence of eosinophils if it's an allergic reaction or mild sinus infection. I would have thought they would have checked that though. That's just standard practice with sneezing dogs.

Please get your dog to the vet.
My baby girl of only 10 months has similar symptoms but a little further progresses.
Storm and I are looking at possible auto immune disease and maybe hip dysplasia.
So please get a biopsy done asap.
The sooner it is sorted the better.