When it comes to dog skin problems, dog skin allergies are by far the most common. They are often difficult to diagnose since they share many of the same symptoms with other diseases and conditions.

Skin allergies can present themselves in a dog in a variety of ways. Signs can be anything from dermatitis to ear infections. However, they do tend to affect the dog’s entire body in some form.

Dog skin allergies are usually caused by an adverse reaction to some particular allergen.

Definition – Allergen: a substance that is given off by certain elements in the environment around us including vegetation pollen and food.

When these elements come in contact with your dog it can provoke an allergic reaction if her body cannot neutralize the allergen.

Some of the most common forms of dog skin allergies include…

• insect and flea bites
• food
• pollen
• fabric
• rubber
• wooden matter
• dust

Anyone of these factors or any combination of them may trigger an allergic reaction in  your dog. The reaction can range from mild to extremely severe. Almost all allergic reactions to one of these factors will involve excessive itching and scratching.

Skin allergies can also present themselves as rashes and heat bumps on the surface of the skin.

Treatment

These dog allergies can be treated by making changes to the dog’s environment to eliminate the allergen – if you know what it is. You may also opt to provide her with medication to eliminate some of the uncomfortable symptoms.

The problem with medications and topical creams is that they are usually just short term solutions. They provide fast relief and often clear up the affected areas, but they do little to prevent another allergic outbreak.

If you have the time and the patience to follow thorough with finding what the source cause is then you and your dog are better off by trying to make changes to her environment.

A mixture of both types of treatments is in the best interest of your dog.

The key thing to remember is that it is all about finding the right solution that will bring your dog immediate relief as well as provide a long term solution that will prevent future outbreaks.

Tags: allergic reaction, allergies, dog allergies, ear infections, skin allergies