Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 12/28/2006

Question
i have a 6 month old male shih tzu and ever since we have had him he scratches himself like crazy....we give him a bath at least once or twice a month and we give him frontline once a month and i can never find a flea on him....but he will sit there and scratch every 10sec and i have no clue why but it gets on my nerves but more than anything i know it bothers "Deuce" extremely...i have heard that shih tzu's are prone to skin allergies but i do not know what he may be alleric too...any suggestions?

Answer
In a young dog like yours that scratches all the time, I would be worried about Sarcoptic mange.  it is very difficult to diagnose, but easy to treat.  So ask your vet to treat him for that.  If that doesn't help, then he may have a food allergy. Change his diet to a hypoallergenic one for 6-8 weeks to see if that helps.  Your vet can help you with that too.