Possible Hot Spots and diet changes to help

[Hisnamesjames]

Hi folks!

I'm hoping someone is able to help - our 1 year old newf Gibson is suffering with possible hot spots around his lower back and hips. He's been given a treatment of steroid tablets on one vet trip, and a cream on the second, but neither has helped enough for the problem to resolve.

Has anyone had experience in this before, and was there anything that acted as a trigger?

To add some clarity, he eats twice a day, half wet Pedigree, half dry Large Puppy Pedigree, with a big handful of peas added after some advice on him eating grass (this has been a recent addition, the hot spots precursor this by about a fortnight). We walk him around a local park that is mowed quite regularly and is hedged on two sides, which he likes to explore.

Suggested possibilities have been a grass seed allergy, which we tried to combat by combing his fur out briefly after each walk, blocked scent glands (I don't know much about this issue or how common it is) and that Pedigree is a pretty crappy dog food.

Any help would be great, I hate seeing him looking up at me out of the cone of shame (nearly as much as I hate being caught around the back of the Legs by it!!!)

 

[Angela]

Does he have fleas?

 

[Jeannie]

I would switch to a higher quality food. Pedigree is not very good. Have you combed out the undercoat? If the air cannot get to the skin it can cause hot spots.

 

[Hisnamesjames]

Hi thanks for coming back to me!

We've been treating him for fleas routinely (anytime we saw him on a big scratching session is usually the start of our treatment course) with Frontline 40-60kg dog. Our vet was reasonably confident it wasn't linked as it's very localised to his hips and lower back.

Do you have any suggestions as to brands? Ideally inexpensive, but the good fast cheap triangle comes into play with everything!

 

[Kimkc]

Like Jeannie, I wonder about the undercoat. Our Newf was getting hotspots constantly when she first came to live with us. I was grooming her, but not getting enough of the undercoat out. We invested (on advice from many in this group!) in a k9-iii dryer and use that regularly to blow her out. She hasn't had another hot spot yet! We feed Nutro Large Breed Lamb and Rice. Hope it's something as simple as our problem. I know what it's like to get caught by the cone! Ouch!

 

[Jager's Mom]

"Inexpensive"...I wish! Nothing about owning a newf is "inexpensive". LOL.

But seriously, a good food is extremely important and well worth it.

We feed Taste of the Wild. But there are many good foods out there...I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[shellyk]

We feed our dogs raw and one of our Newfs has allergies. I would like to think that it helps but I can't say that it does - he's still on appoquel. Our journey with allergies began with a major flea allergy and last summer we used both external and internal flea control.

Both our Newfs and our Lab eat grass. I already add green beans to their meals to help them feel full with less food. The beans pretty much go right through them. This summer I added fresh celery. It hasn't stopped them eating grass but now I am not worried that it's due to lack of green stuff in their diet or fiber. My next door neighbors have a plum tree that dropped a lot in our yard. I cut them up and put them in the dogs food. They haven't left any behind. They have a pear tree in the front yard that the ravens have been feasting on...I should ask them if the dogs can have some pears.

 

[Hisnamesjames]

This is our first summer with Gibson, so is somewhat of a learning curve compared to my previous dogs (Labrador/Doberman cross, American Bulldog, and a Dog De Bordeaux cross) and the groom time is a definite rise!!!

We have two brushes, an undercoat rake and a pin brush for the top and loose hair. I'll look into the K9, that sounds like it might be good!

Thanks for everyone's input, I think I've found a Royal Canine source that's only marginally more than the pedigree per kg. seems to be well recommended!