Dogs licking and scratching, constantly.

Piggybacking on editor’s answer, if it’s a b*tch licking its female parts, it may be infected or a simple yeast infection.

If it’s a male, it’s raw/infected, or the neuter may have always been irritating to the dog, but you just didn’t notice it.

Keep these in mind, and also that you can flea bomb your house for $16 at petsmart.

Magic and phrannie are right, it is likely a flea or food allergy, but…

Since you said “licking”, it makes me wonder where they are licking. If it’s near their butts, they might need to get their anal glands expressed. Letting them go too long can cause infection.

I have 3 dogs and 1 of them I can find like 3 fleas on. But the others are flea free.

Ok, Hannah is 1 1/2 old Angel is 7 years old Teddy is about 3 or 4 years.

well how old is your pup cause all pups do that at the beginning…trust me EXPERIANCE my do g did to

we have a dog who does this to my father in law takes him to the vet and they give him some sort of shot he has a skin condition he has a special shampoo and medication but the only thing that has every really worked was the shot I think it was some kind of steriod shot but dont qoute me on that im not really sure and the downfall is it is only a temporary cure it last for maybe a month or less but I feel where you are coming from I totally drives me nuts when he does it lol

Fleas! I am sure of it! This has been the absoulute worst year I have ever been through and nothing is working very well. I have stuff on all the ground that I use every year that has always worked. I have the same flea spray I always have trusted in the past and still find fleas on my dogs. My Vet’s shelves are cleaned off, everything is bought up all over town.

You may think you do not have fleas but I would guess you do? We all do right now

I would not be suggesting Advantage, etc..as these, while small doses, contain pesticides…that over a long time can cause liver problems…and those problems usually show up in the skin. They are part of the problem. Alternatively, Tea Tree Oil, Garlic/Brewers yeast are natural flea/tick and other pest retardants, and seem to have no side effects. Bugs don’t like the smell of garlic, etc. Don’t worry, your dog won’t smell like garlic!

Also effective in natural repellents is taking about 6 drops of geranium oil in 6 ounces of water in a misting bottle. A lot of the time itching can be diet related. I would switch to a raw diet.

You can read about the advantages of raw and the myths associated with it. I would not be taking the dog to the vet to get vaccinated for this and vaccinated for that…Because I have found that this simply damages their immune systems to the point scratching gets worse as they get older. I told the vet to can the vaccinations. Over vaccinating/anti-biotic uses can simply destroy a dog’s immune system by killing all the good organisms in the body that ward off infections, etc.

Also, if you live where people are incessantly spraying lawn chemicals…this can be a problem as well..as 53%, for example, of the chemicals used by Chem-Lawn type companies are known carcinogens..and some chemicals can mimic hay fever allergic-like reactions.

If you’re absolutely sure there are no fleas…no tics on them…that they are completely parasite free (if not, then time to get some Advantage)…I’d investigate allergies…So many dogs anymore, are allergic to corn (check your dog food bag and see what grains are in it, and where they are in the list of ingredients)…and some dogs are simply allergic to ALL grain…(there are a number of grainless dog foods out there…Innova’s Evo…Taste of the Wild…to name a couple)…They can’t have bisquits either, if they have grain in them…

Shampooing usually won’t do anything for itching and licking with the exception of a flea shampoo, if they have them. It’s more likely to cause dryer skin, which itches more.

phrannie