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Recognising the signs of a skin condition is crucial for maintaining your dog's quality of life. It’s easy to overlook these signs as typical doggy behaviour, but delaying a diagnosis can leave your dog in discomfort and may cause the condition to worsen over time. Watch our animated videos below to explore the signs of skin conditions in more detail, helping you understand what to look out for so you can help provide a source of comfort to your dog if they begin to experience any issues.
Is their scratching worrying you or even waking you up at night?
While your dog's itchy skin condition could be caused by various things, one thing is for sure, their constant itching is not normal. Their skin is irritated and they're scratching to try to relieve their discomfort, which disturbs you almost as much as it disturbs them.
Are they always licking, biting or chewing themselves?
These are ways in which your dog is trying to find relief from the discomfort of an itchy skin condition. Licking and chewing can also release endorphins to ease their discomfort but this can turn into a repetitive cycle, making things even worse. You need to treat the root cause of their itchy skin.
Are you wondering why they keep rolling around?
While this might appear amusing, it's not for your dog. This is because they may not be playing. Instead they could be trying to rub their itchy skin on the floor to find some relief, particularly the areas they can't physically reach.
Are they rubbing their face on the floor or against different objects?
It's very likely that they are experiencing itchiness on their face and they are trying to relieve the discomfort. The head and face are particular sites for irritation in allergic dogs so just about anything in your house, including you, can become their personal itching post.
Noticed the fur on their feet has turned red or brown?
The saliva of your dog, alongside potential infection, can actually cause their fur to change colour. The discolouration is a sign that your dog could be experiencing a constant itching sensation in their feet, which they are trying to relieve through licking and chewing.
Noticed an unpleasant smell coming from your dog's skin or ears?
Itchy skin conditions can increase the risk of bacterial or yeast infections in your dog. This can lead to a nasty smell coming from them as a result of their skin problem and your dog may require additional treatment to remove the infection.
Noticed dark or reddened skin on their hairless areas?
This is because your dog's skin could be inflamed due to excessive itching caused by a skin condition. By stopping the itch and addressing the underlying cause, you can relieve the inflammation.
Have you noticed they're losing fur?
Itching and inflammation, due to a skin condition, can disrupt your dog's hair growth. This can lead to hair loss or thinning as a result of excessive scratching and damage to the skin and hair follicles. So the longer an itchy skin condition goes on, the worse this can get.
Noticed either greasy fur or dandruff?
Various skin conditions can lead to changes in your dog's skin or coat. Depending on the underlying cause, this may make their fur greasy or their skin extra dry leading to dandruff, either way, making cuddle time less pleasant.
Noticing more abnormal signs at particular times of the year?
Itchy skin conditions may be caused by allergies to substances in their environment such as pollens or dust mites. So their itching can increase at times of the year when these allergens are more prevalent, disrupting the fun times you can have together because of their discomfort.
Have you been wondering: why is my dog scratching so much? Do they seem to be itchy all the time? Maybe you’re starting to wonder – or worry – about what could be behind this behaviour? And you’re just getting concerned that it might be causing them discomfort…
It's heartbreaking for any dog owner to see their pet struggle with skin issues. The scratching, itching, and visible soreness can be difficult to watch – and you just want to help them feel better.
The symptoms of itching in dogs can vary from mild to severe, causing the need for itch relief for dogs. From occasional episodes to ongoing, more serious cases, this kind of skin irritation can affect any dog at any stage of its life.
