Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 7/30/2010

Question
My 2 year old female pit bull (all shots up to date) has been biting her self and in some places she is missing fur or is gets these lumps - sometimes her belly is rashy looking. She is low to the ground and gets tired on walks so tends to lay on lawns towards the end. She had a couple little bumps on her peep and the doctor said it was reaction to bug bites so gave us antibiotics which she is horrible at taking - actually tightens up her mouth so bad you give up. I bath her 2 times a week in Oatmeal shampoo with a Keihl conditioner for dogs (because the vet told me to bath her more than once every week or two). I put bactroban or resortin on the cuts some of the days. i have also been giving her half a capsule of human allergy meds a day. We give our two dogs a variety of food - i know not good - but they are picky - give the training loaf, dry, gravy and usually some human meat in it. My other dog is fine - he is a Cur mix with American Shaff. Terrier.  

I look forward to hearing back.

Answer
I would be worried about a two year old dog that lays down after walks like that. Why would she be so tired at that age? My dog is 12 1/2 and she still runs like the wind when she can.

So let me ask you, is she current on her heartworm medication?
As far as her skin, there are a lot of grasses that will cause a contact dermatitis when a dog lays on them. These can get so irritated that the dog will lick and lick their feet, bellies etc and spread it all around their mouth.

Bug bites - what kind of bugs? Most dogs don't have issues with bug bites. Certain part of the USA have chiggers and there a few types of those as well. Some bother humans only and the little orange ones can cause the dogs and cats to itch. They look like bright orange patches on the dog's skin.

As far as medicating your dog, I understand that some dogs are hard to pill but you giving up just lets her continue to not be well. There are many ways around her clamping her mouth shut. Wrap the pill in peanut butter, a piece of sticky cheese, a ball of canned food etc. The dog only sees the food and down it goes. There are little "pill pockets" you can buy as well.

So that is not a reason not to give her the medication.
Bathing twice a week is not good for her skin. That will dry it out, making it more susceptible to infection and itching. Once a week or every other week as the vet said is better. His way of saying it is every other week basically. That will prevent her skin from getting too dry.

Changing her food often is the worst culprit of all. They are picky eaters because you have made them picky eaters. Domestic dogs are made to eat one food all the time- their digestive systems can not handle a variety. Changing foods often leads to pancreatic problems which can be fatal, digestive disorders and as you found out, picky dogs.

Get her or them on one good food- We feed and recommend Science Diet large breed adult for a dog like her. Why Science Diet? It has a proven track record of over 50 years of wellness preventative foods that provide optimal nutrition. What that means is the dogs eat less because they get more per feeding of nutrients. So their energy needs are met with less food and they are in better health and your food dollar goes farther. Feeding them human meat is the worst thing you can do on top of it.

Basically it costs about 66 cents a feeding for a 4o lb dog.

Try their 3 bag challenge and see the results for yourself. This food will not make them sick and it will give them bright eyes, shiny coats and wonderful health. Our dogs and cats live much longer and disease free than pets fed other foods. The proof is in the feeding! My last dog lived to be 16 and she weighed 55 lbs. My cat Floyd was 19 when he died and he had one month of kidney failure and that was it. My other cat Crouton lived to be 15 and she had a week of kidney failure at the end.

So yes, they do live long and happy lives.
Check it out for yourself:

http://www.feedingisbelieving.com/believe/3BagChallengeForm.jsp