Pup scratching and biting
Discussion
I have an 11 week old cockapoo that seems to be troubled with scratching and biting himself.
I took him to the vets who checked him over and said he has a little dry skin but nothing else and to give him a bath with sensitive skin shampoo which we did and to give him an oil supplement in his food which we have done.
He is still doing it so when he got his second jabs we mentioned it to another vet who gave him a look over and said it was nothing to worry about. It could be because he is developing.
I spoke to a third vet and he is now having half a piriton a day. Still nothing.
We have changed his food away from dry biscuit chicken and rice to a lamb biscuit and soaking it in water.
Anything else I can do to help him? He is fine in himself, playful, confident, eats well and happy to socialize.
Shame he didn’t know the clocks went back and it’s 5am but there we go. Help is appreciated.
Thanks
I took him to the vets who checked him over and said he has a little dry skin but nothing else and to give him a bath with sensitive skin shampoo which we did and to give him an oil supplement in his food which we have done.
He is still doing it so when he got his second jabs we mentioned it to another vet who gave him a look over and said it was nothing to worry about. It could be because he is developing.
I spoke to a third vet and he is now having half a piriton a day. Still nothing.
We have changed his food away from dry biscuit chicken and rice to a lamb biscuit and soaking it in water.
Anything else I can do to help him? He is fine in himself, playful, confident, eats well and happy to socialize.
Shame he didn’t know the clocks went back and it’s 5am but there we go. Help is appreciated.
Thanks
Edited by sc0tt on Sunday 25th October 05:05
is it a modern, dry poorly ventilated house with the central heating on?
Maybe boredom related? and becoming habitual.
My dog (springer x lab) now 11 but got at 8 wks, someone suggested whole raw unpeeled carrots, pop them in the freezer and give them to her for treats to stop chewing furniture when she was teething.
This works brilliantly though your problem may be completely unrelated.
Do you have a river, loch somewhere he can swim in?
Shampooing often is not great as tthis removes natural oils in the skin.
My bet though would be central heating . How would you feel wearing a winter coat indoors when the heating is on? Thats what your dog is being forced to do. Often they do better outside.
Finally and I hope not, maybe you bought him/her from a dodgy source.
Good luck
Maybe boredom related? and becoming habitual.
My dog (springer x lab) now 11 but got at 8 wks, someone suggested whole raw unpeeled carrots, pop them in the freezer and give them to her for treats to stop chewing furniture when she was teething.
This works brilliantly though your problem may be completely unrelated.
Do you have a river, loch somewhere he can swim in?
Shampooing often is not great as tthis removes natural oils in the skin.
My bet though would be central heating . How would you feel wearing a winter coat indoors when the heating is on? Thats what your dog is being forced to do. Often they do better outside.
Finally and I hope not, maybe you bought him/her from a dodgy source.
Good luck
loskie said:
is it a modern, dry poorly ventilated house with the central heating on?
Maybe boredom related? and becoming habitual.
My dog (springer x lab) now 11 but got at 8 wks, someone suggested whole raw unpeeled carrots, pop them in the freezer and give them to her for treats to stop chewing furniture when she was teething.
This works brilliantly though your problem may be completely unrelated.
Do you have a river, loch somewhere he can swim in?
Shampooing often is not great as tthis removes natural oils in the skin.
My bet though would be central heating . How would you feel wearing a winter coat indoors when the heating is on? Thats what your dog is being forced to do. Often they do better outside.
Finally and I hope not, maybe you bought him/her from a dodgy source.
Good luck
Hi LoksieMaybe boredom related? and becoming habitual.
My dog (springer x lab) now 11 but got at 8 wks, someone suggested whole raw unpeeled carrots, pop them in the freezer and give them to her for treats to stop chewing furniture when she was teething.
This works brilliantly though your problem may be completely unrelated.
Do you have a river, loch somewhere he can swim in?
Shampooing often is not great as tthis removes natural oils in the skin.
My bet though would be central heating . How would you feel wearing a winter coat indoors when the heating is on? Thats what your dog is being forced to do. Often they do better outside.
Finally and I hope not, maybe you bought him/her from a dodgy source.
Good luck
Thanks for your response. House is 30 odd years old but I guess the heating has been on a bit more lately. I could turn this down a notch. Thinking about it he has been itching more since the weather is colder.
Yes he has frozen carrots and kongs as treats.
I’d hope it isn’t boredom as he gets our undivided attention a lot of the day, toys and training.
Re. Source, i’d hope not. Dad had all DNA checks and we met the mum who was a lovely spaniel. His temperament is excellent. Oddly he loves the cold floor in the conservatory so maybe I’ll go with your suggestion for a bit. He was only able to go out yesterday for his first walk so will see if that occupies him some more.
loskie said:
sounds like central heating maybe, you can buy a "cool" mat for dogs, designed for summer I guess but may help.
Do you have a utility room or somewhere cool where he can stay at night?
Do you have a utility room or somewhere cool where he can stay at night?
Unfortunately not but I’m happy to lower the heating for his sake and stick a jumper on.
Thanks for your advice
Is it just one specific part of his body he's scratching and biting?
If so and there's no obvious sore, red dry skin there it's possibly just habitual and obsessive behaviour.
Our 13 year old flattie has habitually chewed and nibbled at his dew claw on his left front paw for years he usually does it when he feels slightly bored or neglected (usually because nobody has stroked him or paid him any attention for a whole 30 seconds), we're sure he's not getting any pain or irritation from it, he just does it out of habit, he doesn't even seem to have noticed that he's got another dew claw on his right leg!
If so and there's no obvious sore, red dry skin there it's possibly just habitual and obsessive behaviour.
Our 13 year old flattie has habitually chewed and nibbled at his dew claw on his left front paw for years he usually does it when he feels slightly bored or neglected (usually because nobody has stroked him or paid him any attention for a whole 30 seconds), we're sure he's not getting any pain or irritation from it, he just does it out of habit, he doesn't even seem to have noticed that he's got another dew claw on his right leg!
if the Piriton isn't stopping it I would STOP giving him that. Needless medication is never a good thing.
It does sound like you may have nothing to worry about, 3 vets (nil diagnosis), problem no worse. I wonder if you are being over cautious and I mean that in the kindest sense.
Dogs don't need wrapping up in cotton wool.
It does sound like you may have nothing to worry about, 3 vets (nil diagnosis), problem no worse. I wonder if you are being over cautious and I mean that in the kindest sense.
Dogs don't need wrapping up in cotton wool.
Edited by loskie on Sunday 25th October 07:32
Edited by loskie on Sunday 25th October 10:03
loskie said:
if the Piriton isn't stopping it I wood STOP giving him that. Needless medication is never a good thing.
It does sound like you may have nothing to worry about, 3 vets (nil diagnosis), problem no worse. I wonder if you are being over cautious and I mean that in the kindest sense.
Dogs don't need wrapping up in cotton wool.
Yes will certainly stop the piriton.It does sound like you may have nothing to worry about, 3 vets (nil diagnosis), problem no worse. I wonder if you are being over cautious and I mean that in the kindest sense.
Dogs don't need wrapping up in cotton wool.
Edited by loskie on Sunday 25th October 07:32
Potentially but I can tell he is quite troubled when he is scratching so don’t want to exacerbate any issues. Thanks for your advice.
We were in the same situation a few months ago when we got our pup . On vet advice we switched to grain free food , washed all the bed / bedding with ecover. I also had those plug ins all over the shop and heating on full bung. Binned the plug ins and turned heating down and thankfully all ok now.
Marniet said:
We were in the same situation a few months ago when we got our pup . On vet advice we switched to grain free food , washed all the bed / bedding with ecover. I also had those plug ins all over the shop and heating on full bung. Binned the plug ins and turned heating down and thankfully all ok now.
Just thought I’d update this, turned the heating way down, stopped the piriton, and having changed his food and giving him omega supplements he seems to be itching and chewing like a normal puppy one week on.He still gets up at an ungodly hour though
sc0tt said:
Just thought I’d update this, turned the heating way down, stopped the piriton, and having changed his food and giving him omega supplements he seems to be itching and chewing like a normal puppy one week on.
He still gets up at an ungodly hour though
Thanks for the update: that's good to hear.He still gets up at an ungodly hour though
Re the getting up: you have to (hard as it is) ignore it and try to get him to fit in with your routine. He is training you rather than the other way round. It's easy to say what I'm saying, I know but dogs are amazingly clever, more clever than us humans.
It's all about learned behaviour.
I hope you are enjoying your pup, dogs are wonderful companions.
sc0tt said:
Just thought I’d update this, turned the heating way down, stopped the piriton, and having changed his food and giving him omega supplements he seems to be itching and chewing like a normal puppy one week on.
He still gets up at an ungodly hour though
Could it be that he thinks he needs out before he has an accident. Possibly he's a bit young to last through the night. I've got a seven year old rescue that often wants out if i go down in the early hours. Often it's just a look round, sometimes a pee. Just like us, they sometimes need an extra chance to go . I look at it as if I need to go in the early hours, then perhaps dog might also need. He still gets up at an ungodly hour though
Some dogs are extra fussy. I had an old lady that had the run of the house in the night. Not often, but occasionally, she'd come knocking on our bedroom in the small hours. She needed out. I always praise my dogs for this behaviour, and if they have an "accident" NEVER punish them.
That's the joy of being a good pet owner.
Who me said:
sc0tt said:
Just thought I’d update this, turned the heating way down, stopped the piriton, and having changed his food and giving him omega supplements he seems to be itching and chewing like a normal puppy one week on.
He still gets up at an ungodly hour though
Could it be that he thinks he needs out before he has an accident. Possibly he's a bit young to last through the night. I've got a seven year old rescue that often wants out if i go down in the early hours. Often it's just a look round, sometimes a pee. Just like us, they sometimes need an extra chance to go . I look at it as if I need to go in the early hours, then perhaps dog might also need. He still gets up at an ungodly hour though
Some dogs are extra fussy. I had an old lady that had the run of the house in the night. Not often, but occasionally, she'd come knocking on our bedroom in the small hours. She needed out. I always praise my dogs for this behaviour, and if they have an "accident" NEVER punish them.
That's the joy of being a good pet owner.
Now he is 4 weeks in we get him up at 3:45am take him for a wee, but he now likes waking up at 5:30
I managed to get him back to sleep at 5:45 but checked my work email and something had gone awry so no back to bed for me.
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