We are inclined to think of dogs as being tough; animals that can take care of themselves; animals that are far more in contact with nature than we humans are and we kind of admire them for it, after a fashion. However, the truth is that dogs come under a lot of of the stresses that we do including pollution and junk food, even though they do not have to do the nine-to-five or sit in traffic jams, which are of our own causing anyway.
Most of the stresses that dogs suffer are not of their own causing, they are our fault as well. These stresses often out themselves in much the same way as they do with us in neuroses, anti-social behaviour and skin problems amongst other ways. In this piece, I want to talk about some of the most common sorts of canine skin irritation, not all of which can be attributed to human activity.
The foremost cause of bad skin in dogs is fleas in the town and fleas and ticks in the countryside. The cause of the inflammation is these parasites’ spittle. A dog’s immune system can handle a few fleas, but the problem comes when he is infested. Brief infestation can happen fairly quickly, but usually it is a symptom of neglect. If a dog was groomed every week, the problem would not get out of hand.
Often a neglected dog will look mangy because he has pulled his hair out and injured his skin with continuous scratching, try to rid himself of his tormentors. If the dog had remained in a pack like it was born to tens of thousands of years ago, it would be groomed every day by its companions. A domestic dog relies on its owner to do this for him. You could liken it to a child crawling with lice waiting for its parents to do something about it.
You can treat it and prevent it happening by bathing your dog in insecticidal shampoo as indicated on the label and dusting him and his box with flea powder on a regular basis, say, in conjunction with his weekly grooming.
A similar looking condition is mange. Mange is caused by minute parasitic mites burrowing under your dog’s skin. Again, your dog can handle a few mites, but an infestation is bad. It can also be caught by humans, but our bodies usually clear the problem up. However, your dog will be driven to distraction by an infestation of mites.
If you cannot find scores of fleas on your dog, it is probably mange, also known as scabies. You should be able to catch this early if you notice red, possibly bleeding patches of skin. Your vet or pet shop can sell you something to cure it fairly quickly.
Mosquitoes can be as much, if not more of a bother to dogs than they are to us. Mosquitoes harass dogs on the snout and genitals, but you cannot put DEET or other creams for humans for the reason that they will lick the chemical off causing stomach problems. You can apply lemon juice or oil scented with grated lemon rind and lemon juice, because mosquitoes hate lemon smells.
If your dog’s skin problem does not fit into any of these categories, then he is probably suffering from an allergy or pollution of some sort and you will have to take him to a vet.