Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 12/18/2008

Question
I have a female boxer that is about 1 1/2 years old. She has skin irritation on her stomach where it is red, starting to turn black, and often gets pimples. Also, her chest and neck are really irritated and looks like a bad rash. She has hair loss on her legs, feet, stomach, shoulders, and very little on her face.
I have taken her to the vet and they believe it may be a skin allergy and suggested I go to a dermatologist if it doesn't clear.
We moved to Virginia from PA in July and she started getting symptoms in October. At first I thought it really might be an allergy to something that is different in VA from PA. Then I was researching and thought it may be a yeast problem. What should my next step be?

Answer
The first thing that you should o is to find a vet in your area that does a lot of skin work.  In a young puppy, a skin scraping for parasites, like mange mites, and a culture for ringworm fungi would be first.  The dog may need to be treated for mites with a shot of ivermectin.  If there is a ringworm infection, that will need to be treated.  If the dog has allergies, it can be to environmental allergens or possibly the food.  Testing for allergies can be done with a blood test and testing for food allergy is done with an elimination diet.