Expert: Kim Wingate - 7/3/2009

Question
i have a 5 month old male poodle mix. about 2 weeks ago i started noticing that he was licking and scratching himself a lot. Then i noticed that the skin in his belly is turning black, even the skin around his private areas. Also on the left side he now has 2 small bald spots.  hes an inside dog so he doesnt spend much time outside in the sun. what could be wrong?

Answer
Hello Joselyn,
Some dogs get this and I am not sure why.  It is a skin issue, and can be helped with Prescription shampoos.  You might want to contact your Vet and get some special shampoo from him.  
On his side, the hair should grow back in as long as you don't let him lick or bother the spots.  You can buy a product called Bitter Apple that you can apply to your dogs hair where he is licking to help keep him from licking.  

It could also be a skin allergy from a number of things (they can become allergic to the same things we are) so you might make sure that you haven't changed anything recently, such as detergents, foods, cleaners, etc that he could be allergic to.  
You might try giving him a 1/2 Benedryl tablet in the evenings for about 2 weeks to see if this helps with his itching and biting.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim