Why does my dog scratch?

Scratching is a very common symptom in dogs
and as owners we should aim to nip it in the bud early before self trauma causes secondary injuries and infections to our dog. Its wise to rule out common causes like fleas and mites, that can lead to bacterial (hot spots) and fungal (ringworm and yeast) infections, before thinking your dog could have an allergy to something its coming into contact with, or eating in its diet.
The thing is, the two are connected. If the dogs immune system is weakened because it is already having to work overtime because of other causes, then a simple flea bite can set off a reaction within the body, from a simple angry spot, to an all over body rash, or full blown alopecia where all the dogs hair falls out, and thus could take months to years to clear.

As we are all aware these days, allergies have become more common in both children and adults compared to several generations ago. Vets too, see a higher percentage of allergies in pets. It’s difficult to explain this phenomenon, theories range from alterations in the content of pet foods to the use of modern day household cleaning products or simply genetic evolution. One thing is certain, whatever the cause, allergic dogs benefit hugely from avoiding the offending allergen or, if that is impossible, appropriate treatment to minimize the itchiness.
Lets start with the presenting signs of an allergy in dogs. Itchiness can manifest itself not only as obvious scratching at the neck and flanks, but also as face rubbing, foot licking or chewing and a dog over grooming itself. Foot licking, for example, is often perceived by owners as normal, when in fact the dog is responding to itchy feet in the only way it can, by licking them. The skin between the toes may turn red and sore due to the compulsive licking, and in white dogs such as West Highland White Terriers and Bichon Frises, the fur is stained brown by saliva.

Ear infections are another common sign of an underlying allergy. Though general waxiness, hair in the ear canals, lack of ventilation, bacteria and yeast may trigger the infection, an underlying allergy is often the root cause of the itchiness. If your dog gets recurrent ear infections, by eliminating an underlying allergy you may prevent your dog from going over the ‘itchiness threshold’ and developing full blown ear infections.

So, what are the common allergies in dogs? For convenience they are best separated into 5 categories, with the highest at no.1

1) Adverse food reaction caused by insufficient diet
2.) Flea bite hypersensitivity
3) Ear infections caused by mites or yeast infection
4) Atopic dermatitis
5) Contact dermatitis

Adverse food reactions are more difficult to treat as it’s difficult to isolate the precise ingredient responsible for causing itchiness in your dog. Also, treating adverse food reactions requires owners to be exceptionally disciplined and motivated in preventing their pet having even a single treat unless the exact ingredients are known to be safe. The best way to start is putting your pet on a diet that your pet was designed to eat, eg Meat. In the long run it’s cheaper to feed, because your pet will be healthier, so the health care costs will ease. Remember with ANY food change or exclusion the food must be excluded for at least 6 weeks and when trying a new food, tried for at least 3 months, as your pets body will begin to flush out toxins that have built up, so again, your pet will appear worse when in fact they are getting better, so don’t give up!

There are two ways of diagnosing an adverse food reaction (also known as a food allergy). For those readers for whom cost is not an issue, a blood test can be done to measure for ingredient specific antibodies in the bloodstream. The blood test is quite costly, and if combined with a blood test for environmental allergens is usually very expensive (>£200). The company performing the blood test then provides a list of ingredients (chicken, beef, pork, rice, wheat etc) and a score next to them, suggesting which ingredients are best avoided. The owner then picks a commercial diet which does not include any of these ingredients, or indeed a special home cooked diet. The second way to diagnose an adverse food reaction is to conduct a dietary trial. This involves picking a very bland hypoallergenic diet and feeding your dog exclusively that for at least a month, preferably 6 weeks. I have used with success a simple diet of turkey and vegetables, as less dogs are allergic to turkey than chicken. Of course if your dog happened to be allergic to turkey, which is rare but nevertheless possible, you would be none the wiser as the itchiness would continue and you would assume you had ruled out a food allergy having done the turkey dietary trial. Remember if you are doing one of these trials, then your dog must not be given any treats, especially not pig’s ears, chews, biscuits, dental sticks or any rawhide products. Literally nothing must be swallowed other than turkey (and water!) for the entire trial period.

Flea bite hypersensitivity is really straight forward to cure. It is a simple case of stopping the dog from being attractive to fleas, eliminating them crucially, in the pet’s environment. The itchiness is caused by an allergic reaction to the flea saliva, so even a solitary flea can trigger a scratching frenzy. To rule out flea bite hypersensitivity, rather than a treatment that requires your pet to get fleas on their skin or get bitten, Use a repellent to stop the fleas ever wanting to get on your pet in the 1st place. Your house too, should be thoroughly protected by the use of Repellents, chemical use can add to your pet’s condition, by over working its immune system. There are natural killers such as Diatomacious earth that is harmless to animals but kills ticks mites and fleas.

Ear infections are hard to cure, again prevention and repelling is the best “tool” to help your Pet as the cause can be very difficult to detect without months or years of constant daily care. A simple regime of daily cleaning out the ears and using a good ear cleaner should address the problem. And don’t think its not working when your pet suddenly has yucky gunk coming out of its ears! That is a good sign that the body is finally fighting back and clearing all the infection out. But if you miss a day the mites and yeasts will soon multiply again. So make ear cleaning and hair removal your daily or weekly bonding time with your pet and keep them happy and healthy!


If you have ruled out flea bite hypersensitivity, adverse food reaction, and ear infections, the next step is to consider an environmental allergy, also known as atopic dermatitis. Symptoms of atopic dermatitis can begin between 1 and 3 years of age, though any age is possible. The itchiness is often seasonal, which is consistent with a pollen allergy, though some dogs are itchy all year round. There are certain breeds which are predisposed to this condition: Boxers, Bull Terriers, Dalmations, English Bulldogs, German Shepherd Dogs, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Shar Peis, Shih Tzus and West Highland White Terriers being the most commonly affected. Diagnosis is usually made based on the history and ruling out all the other causes of itchiness, many vets will treat the condition on these presumptions. However, definitive diagnosis can be achieved via a panel of injections into a patch of skin, or blood tests. Neither of these are particularly effective and generally not performed unless the owner is prepared to attempt a desensitization programme. This involves a long term course of injections given by your vet on, say, a monthly basis to desensitize your dog to the offending allergen, and so make the allergic reaction much smaller when he/she does come into contact with it. A the simple addition of locally produce honey once a day will desensitize a dog to the pollens naturally, and taste far better!

Contact dermatitis is a skin reaction caused by your dog coming into contact with a chemical that is an irritant. It therefore only tends to affect the stomach, groin and feet of the dog, and is characterized by reddening and drying and flaking of the skin in these areas. It can also be seen when owners shampoo their dogs with a product that is not intended for use in dogs. Contact dermatitis is rare, but easily ruled out by careful use of cleaning products around the household. Just think, did the itchiness coincide with the introduction of a newly laid carpet or laminate floor, or new carpet cleaner, washing powder or fabric softener? Do you use plug in air fresheners, or toilets fresheners? These are well known triggers. So again, go around your home and remove anything that could be causing the problem. It’s a case of trial and error. I’d also like to mention here, that when a dog is bathed in ANY shampoo, the natural reaction is for the pores to open, with the water, and flush out all the dirt or bacteria. This like with us when we first get out the bath or shower, will make the skin red, from the blood vessels close to the skin. If good natural shampoos are used that don’t contain harsh soap bases, the chances of the dog over reacting are minimal. Always check your groomer is using natural shampoos, of can use a Vet prescribed shampoo that list the ingredients, rather than cheap commercial shampoos that don’t.

Steroids are very effective at stopping itchiness caused by allergies, but they only suppress the immune system so the likely hood is that once out of the dogs system, the dog’s symptoms will re appear. Also long term use can lead to undesirable side effects, such as adrenal gland disease. Long term steroid use should only be used as a last resort, when everything else has been tried and there is no other re dress, it’s not something I would use personally because of the long term health implications, but if it relieves the poor animal, anything might by worth while trying in the short term.
By far the best treatment for any allergy is avoidance of the cause, one of the main being an insufficient diet which doesn’t fully support your dog without the use of supplements like vitamins, etc. Where as, a breed specific diet, which promotes and supports the immune system will avoid it becoming too weak to fight off the above health problems. You wouldn’t expect a car to go very far on a mix of water and petrol? The same goes for your dog. If you’re not feeding it a proper diet. of raw meat, vegetables, fish and bones, then It won’t have the right fuel to keep its immune system happy and healthy. There are alternatives to steroids to relieve itching.. These other medications include antihistamines, essential fatty acids, (oily fish) apple cider vinegar, to change the PH of your pets skin to allow the growth of good bacteria and prevent the growth of the bad bacteria and thus prevent skin infections.

In all of the above you can see, prevention is better than having to put your pet through the cure. A good diet in the first place should be your 1st option. Then your pet’s immune system will be self supporting on its road back to good health, without the need of more chemicals and drugs that may add to its immune system weakness and cause yet more symptoms to appear, to alert you to its weakened condition.


If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me via email.

In The Salon this Month - Puppies & Coat Care

We’ve had a couple of interesting things occur, that I felt were worth passing on.
The one I feel is really important, is about the number of puppies aged around 9months of age, who turn up for their 1st EVER grooming appointment, with a coat that is full of moulted un-shed puppy hair, and full of tangles causes by Bathing that mucky puppy when they’ve been doing what puppies do best, getting into mischief!
This isn’t because the owners are negligent, but because of misunderstood instructions from the breeder of their precious pup.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard;
“Oh but the breeder said not to touch the coat until he’s at least a year old”
Or;
“But the breeder said his coat mustn’t be clipped until his adult coat comes in.”
Both of these statements are correct, but not in the way most owners would think.

Let’s address the 1st one; “Oh but the breeder said not to touch the coat until puppy’s at least a year old”.
This doesn’t mean the puppy’s coat mustn’t be brushed and combed daily by the owner,
Nor does it mean the puppy should not be introduced to professional grooming at around 12 weeks old to allow it to get used to all the new experiences of being handled and examined, noisy clippers, dryers etc. they have what’s called a “puppy intro trim”. This involves gently introducing them to the clippers, trimming around their privates, and in between their pads, toes, and the hair in their ears. To keep these areas hygienically clear of hair, so mud and dirt don’t accumulate causing skin problems etc. Nails are trimmed to avoid those growing bones from being put out of line by the wrong gait, caused by overgrown nails. And the puppy fluff is gently carded out using specialist tools, and then the tips of the puppy hair, where its beginning to die is gently trimmed, without going down into the growing adult coat.
It’s so important to daily groom your dog, to spot pest problems or health issues from developing, and it gets the pup used to being handled, so it doesn’t fear Vets visits etc.
So you can see, these appointments should be around every 4 to 10 weeks depending on the breed of dog, and make the daily home grooming by “Mum or Dad” so much easier.
In-fact, pups need to be brushed and combed daily by their owners, so that all that puppy hair that is moulting out is removed allowing free and easy access for the adult coat to grow through.
Failure to do this, can mean that the adult coat has to struggle to grow through the dense puppy fluff, and in some cases, the adult coat gives up and also dies, thus giving the signal to the puppy coat to grow thicker and quicker! By the time the pup is 9months of age, the coat is a felted mess, and resembles a sheep’s fleece, and we all know sheep are impossible to brush out, they get clipped off once a year, and then the coat is left to grow out untouched, for another year. The same goes for a pup, if you don’t touch (brush/comb/groom/bath) the coat, the ONLY option is to clip this off, and start again with a clean sheet, so to speak. But doing this whilst puppy is going through this stage means the time for the adult coat to come through is extended, or even halted until both recover.
All dogs go through around 4 coat changes between the age of 12 weeks and 2 to 3 years. And a complete coat change can take up to 18months to complete. So get it wrong at the very start, it’s not an instant fix, having the dog clipped off, but the start of a long road to get it back growing properly, into a coat that is easy to brush and comb, and doesn’t knot up easily.

Now let’s sort the 2nd statement. “But the breeder said puppy’s coat mustn’t be clipped until it’s adult coat comes in.”
This is true again, but the breeder means clipping down the body and leg hair whilst puppy hair is still present.
This is because if this is done, the message goes to the hair shaft of both puppy fluff and adult coat that they BOTH need to grow twice as quick, twice as thick, because they have been cut down! So they both do, and this is where the problems start. The puppy coat is finer, there is more of it, and was designed to keep the puppy both warm and its body protected from accidents etc, whilst it was immobile, and unable to run from danger.
The adult coat is designed for streamlined speed, protection from danger, and the extremes of cold and heat, hence shedding and moulting 6 weeks before either cold or hot weather is predicted. It was perfect, until us humans came along! I’ll explain;
Once the puppy is mobile, it needs to shed that “Puppy fluff” as soon as possible, its holding puppy back, preventing the adult coat from growing, as there’s only room for so much hair!
In the wild, twigs, brambles whist running through the undergrowth, tumbles with brothers and sisters, and the grooming by the bitch Mum, would take care of that puppy coat, so by 9months of age, the pup would be sporting a glossy “teenage coat”. So we as owners have to take on this puppy fluff as soon as the pup arrives to live with us at 8weeks. Daily care, checking toes, removing hair inside the ears, checking inside the mouth, brushing and combing, right down to the skin, always starting with the brush, ending with the comb being able to get right down to the skin throughout the coat, ALWAYS ensuring that has been done BEFORE bathing the pup, because if not, that shed puppy fluff is going to turn into a solid knot that will be almost impossible to brush or comb out without causing the pup a lot of pain. It’s this pain and discomfort that can turn a pup into hating being handled or grooming, because of the discomfort the knot cause them, pulling constantly on their skin. Sadly, through misinformation, this is the owners fault, not the groomers.
If daily correct brushing and combing is done, with regular professional grooming visits, the puppy enjoys grooming, is easy to keep clean, and by 9months of age your pup will be sporting an almost adult easy care coat!
If the above has left you at all concerned, or you are at this moment struggling, because you are daily brushing your dog but the knots and tangles are still there. It might just be the case you are not brushing and combing correctly. I’m happy to show you just how easy and quick it is to groom your dog correctly, and for free, as this benefits all concerned.

Firstly, your pup who will feel so much better and happier being groomed well, and will enjoy the close bonding time with you its owner. And it will enjoy its Spa time and playtime with me.
You, because it will no-longer be a struggle both you and your pup will enjoy the experience, and you will both release those endorphins called happy hormones, making you both feel so good!
And me, because I know the puppy will be relaxed and happy about grooming, so will enjoy coming for its pampering with me and its playtime with the doggy friends they’ll makes whilst visiting. And you the owner will be happy about leaving a relaxed pup for its pampering grooming and playtime with me.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any queries or wish to book an appointment for a puppy brushing demonstration.
If you’re out of our area, but still want advice, or want details of how to contact a Groomer in your area.
Email me I’m only too happy and willing to help.

As always, your dog’s wellbeing comes first.

Treating Adverse Vaccine Reactions by Jean Dodds, DVM

Click on this link - Treating Adverse Vaccine Reactions by Jean Dodds, DVM

This article should be read by all dog owners.
World-renowned pet vaccination expert Dr. Jean Dodds has written a wonderful article on managing and treating adverse reactions to vaccination (published here with her permission). She also clears up common misconceptions about vaccination, titer testing and vaccinating against rabies. This is an important article. Because Dr. Dodds is a scientist, researcher and veterinarian, this article is more scientifically technical than my own vaccination articles. I really hope you’ll read it and bookmark or print it for future reference and also send it to your veterinarian and dog loving friends.

Dr. Patricia Jordan's New Book on Vaccination

With grateful thanks to
http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/refer.php?s=759396917&u=19574223&v=2&key=fede&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dogs4dogs.com%2FJR_Articles%2FLateSummer2009
A brilliant newsletter sent out 4 to 5 times a year, with updates on health, and welfare of our 4 legged friends.

Dr. Patricia Jordan's New Book on Vaccination
Shocking! Controversial! I don't want to believe it! That's what people will say about Patricia Jordan's new book.We crossed paths with Dr. Jordan, a veterinarian with advanced training in homeopathy, acupuncture and Chinese medicine, because of our mutual concern about the dangers of vaccination. You may have read her hard-hitting comments in some of our blog articles like http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/refer.php?s=759396917&u=19574265&v=2&key=0435&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dogs4dogs.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F04%2F29%2Fvaccinating-sick-dogs-cats%2F and http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/refer.php?s=759396917&u=19574267&v=2&key=05a6&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dogs4dogs.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F07%2F01%2Fdog-flu-vaccine-do-you-need-a-shot-for-the-h3n8-virus%2F

Dr. Jordan's astonishing new book, Mark of the Beast, is finally available. You can learn about Dr. Jordan's research and conclusions, and her book, by listening as Drs. Kim Bloomer and Jeannie Thomason interview Dr. Jordan on http://www.jordanmarkofthebeast.com/ radio. Thanks to them for generously allowing me to offer this interview here: http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/refer.php?s=759396917&u=19574269&v=2&key=bec7&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogtalk.vo.llnwd.net%2Fo23%2Fshows%2Fshow_461206.mp3 Please listen even if you're not interested in the book. But expect to be shocked.

Learn about how scientific information and medical and veterinary experience clashes with financial and political interests promoting vaccination. Her conclusion: that vaccines are not evidence-based medicine and that their effectiveness is questionable. She wrote me: "Any benefits given to vaccines are medical ASSUMPTIONS and simply do not hold up in factual numbers. I used the material from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for the documentation of this fact." You can learn more about Dr. Jordan's work and can purchase a pdf of Dr. Jordan's book and at http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/refer.php?s=759396917&u=19574271&v=2&key=5c87&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jordanmarkofthebeast.com%2F While you're there, listen to the book's Foreward which is narrated by holistic veterinarian Stephen Blake. You can purchase a hardcover of the book at
http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/refer.php?s=759396917&u=19574273&v=2&key=0d5d&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.createspace.com%2F3391600 MP3s will be available soon contact them here http://uk.mc240.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to= dogs4dogs@aol.com

If you worry about what vaccines and vaccine additives are doing to people and animals, and are willing to consider the science behind the myths, read Mark of the Beast. Dr. Jordan is a meticulous researcher and is passionate about animals. Agree with her; disagree with her. Dr. Jordan wants you to hear the side of the vaccination story the pharmaceutical companies won't tell you.


(They profit in no way.)

Posh Pawz Dog Grooming Gosport: To Clip, or not to Clip - Summer Shave downs

Posh Pawz Dog Grooming Gosport: To Clip, or not to Clip - Summer Shave downs

To Clip, or not to Clip - Summer Shave downs

To Clip or not too Clip; That is the Question…
Should I have my dog clipped off really short in this heat?
With this Heat Wave Summer we are having, the temptation to have our dogs clipped off skin short is alluring.
But look at it from this point of view, what do we do when we get hot?

We seek the coolest place; we cover up to stop the suns rays from burning our skin.

The last thing we do is to is strip off naked and walk around in the sun, with NO WAY of choosing to cover up when the heat is too much for us.
We realise that flimsy loose clothing that flaps and moves as we move, cools us quickly, and provides us with our own generated breeze, however slight, that keeps the suns heat away from our skin, like a thermal barrier.

The same goes for our dogs, choosing the right level of hair to remove is a must!
Take too much off, and our dogs Cook!
Too little and you achieve little, or the dog is even hotter, especially if the thick undercoat is not thinned out to allow the “breeze effect” to work.

The ideal choice is to take the hair back to a length whereby the hair is still protecting the skin, but allowing the hair to bend and form thermal pockets of cooling air against the skin.
Each breed of dog has specific needs.

For example;
The Labrador, bred to help catch fish, etc, has a short dense but coarse coat just the right length to protect it from freezing temperatures and the blazing sun, the coat bends, provides thermal pockets against heat and cold, and water.
The northern breeds, Gsd’s Huskies, etc, They too have a coat designed to protect against heat and cold, and being so closely related to the wolf, they still do it naturally, shedding their coats 6 weeks before any weather change.
In summer their dense undercoat almost disappears to allow their top course coat to provide a cooling system from the snatched cooling air in summer breezes against their skin.
Even Chihuahua’s bred as rat catchers in their country of origin, have coats made for extremes of temperatures.
Shizu’s and Lhasa’s too bred for the extremes of heat from the sun and cold from the night time and winter temperatures.

The common denominator is the way these coats have been developed by breeding from the canine design for practicality to the human design for looks.
What has been overlooked and not fully explained during this passage from practical hound to pawfect pooch is the need for human help in keeping the pet happy and its coat fully in working condition.
This HAS to be done to every dog, regardless of coat type, be it the short haired Labrador or the fluffy Lhasa. They are no-longer charging through undergrowth, swimming daily in water, or play fighting and group grooming with pack mates.
We as owners are their Pack mates, and as such, should take care of the daily brushing and combing to remove the excess hair that stops the coat from being able to perform its job.
We can also help by having our dogs clipped down for summer, but to a length that will still allow the coat to do the job it was designed for. Not something that simply looks good to us, or saves us time.
I know I’m guilty of that with my 3 dogs, I got caught out this May, clipping my Maltese and my Yorkie TOO short, thinking by summer’s heat, their coats would be long enough to protect them……hmm
Poor things were so hot!
Didn’t know what to do with themselves.

Consult with your Groomer the best length for your particular breed, and your lifestyle.
I tend to stick to around ¾” inch and no less with most breeds.
And just thinning out and scissoring back to the under coat with the northern breeds or retrievers, though you can go shorter, but not skin short, this can cause the hair the grow back twice as thick, twice as quick, or in some cases, only the fine undercoat re-grows, not the top coarse coat. And this then means it could take upto 3years for the coat to return and before the dog looks like its breed again.

Poms, are a breed that one really takes a gamble with, most are ok, but if you get them clipped down during a shedding stage, they can remain almost bald for a good couple of years! Something I don’t think is fair on them at all.
Far better to take on board your groomers advice and not have certain breeds clipped down, but just groomed out to thin the coat right out, as this is just helping nature speed up a bit.
as this is just helping nature.

Groomers have to follow owner’s instructions, even if they have warned the owner it may ruin the coat afterwards or risk sunburn, sadly then, it’s the Groomer that gets the blame.

But the last thing a Groomer wants is to cause distress to their doggy client, by taking them too short, and maybe allowing the risk of sunburn or heatstroke.
Yes its harder work wise, on the groomer to leave the coat longer, but oh so much better for their client, whose true needs and welfare must ALWAYS come 1st!