Itchy Puppy?

[Anonymous]

We have an almost five month old mini goldendoodle. She seems to be scratching a lot (near her collar, sometimes paws). We did a flea/tick topical a couple of months ago but it isn't flea/tick season is it? How would we know if she has fleas? We don't bathe her very often (she hates the water), but we bathed her maybe 2-3 weeks ago. She's a bit skittish, which we are talking to a trainer about (she is not afraid of much, but she's hesitant with people some of the time - we approach, she dodges us). Could this be a stress signal or is there something else itchy that I'm not thinking of? I do notice that she does this when she seems stressed (we tell her to come and she thinks we are going to put her in the crate, or we're trying to get her to come to us to give us something she shouldn't be chewing on, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Does she go out often? She could b allergic to something she picked up in the yard.
You can try using a flea comb. You should be able to see fleas jumping if she haas them. It's not cold enough this year for fleas and ticks to stop being a menace.

[Anonymous]

OP here: yes, she goes out a lot (in our fenced yard and for 2-3 walks per day).

[Anonymous]

If you look in her fur you would see fleas.
They are small and black and jump around.

[Anonymous]

Switch to grain free diet for a few weeks and see if it resolves. Sounds like allergies. If it gets worse again with grain based food you have your answer. Grain free worked great for my dogs, unfortunately I spent a ton on allergy testing and shots before doing the easy diet switch.

[Anonymous]

Allergies exhibit in dogs as itching. It could be a food allergy or it could be environmental. There are no tests for it so you're going to have to experiment with different foods to see if that might help.

[Anonymous]

Switch to grain free potato free and even chicken free food.

Pulsar fish is an excellent food from Canada that helps many dogs with allergies. Switch all treats to fish. Maybe purebite white fish? If you still give treats or table food with the allergen then you won't see any improvent. Make sure to slowly transition from old food, what is he on now?

[Anonymous]

OP again. Thank you. She does eat grain free food. She eats Pacific Stream puppy formula grain free. But she has been having 1-2 milkbone bisquits per day - I wonder if that could be it?? We do mostly cheese for training treats.

[Anonymous]

You are a very perceptive pet owner! I was a volunteer puppy raiser for a guide dog organization and my trainer highlighted rapid tongue flicking, head shaking and scratching as specific signs of puppy stress. If you're only seeing the scratching in stressful situations, that's probably it. In addition to other suggestions, I would switch to a hypoallergenic shampoo. My doodle needs it. Otherwise he chews his paws. But this he does relentlessly, not just in stressful situation. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

You could also try Benadryl. That works for my Yorkie.