# My little poodle has a problem



## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I think she has allergies. The pushing could be another way to scratch herself and then the shaking happens because it just feels so good.

Get her off of all grain foods and chicken, would be my first thought and see if that helps. Bathe her in as cool of water as you can without freezing her.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Probably is allergies, and after trying all of the "home remedies", a veterinary dermatologist would be the way to go.
Meanwhile, a really good home remedy for chin itching is to apply listerine mouthwash to a cotton pad and wipe her chin with it. 


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Sometimes a single source protein food is helpful if it's an allergy and grain free. It could be environmental or food. Baking soda is soothing. And you can ask your vet about trying some Benadryl.


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## PoodleFoster (May 25, 2013)

Hello
Having your poodle checked out was the first step, great! 
Is she chewing her belly or her back end? Is her skin dry or flaky? Are her pads hot? Is her hair thin? These are all signs of food allergies.
I think that a lot of vets are unaware of food that causes skin issues. Poor skin can be a direct indicator that food practices are not agreeable. 
Putting your poodle on grain free, is the first step. Do your homework! There are plenty of choices! Be mindful of TREATS that they are also grain free. Feed her from ceramic or stainless steel bowls and wash them often.
Giving your poodle a gentle shower and massaging her hair is very therapeutic. This is done between bathing. Using medicated shampoos and following the recommended directions will also be soothing. Use very little heat to dry.
Is is cold in your area? You might want to coat your poodle in a cotton fiber, so that the skin can breathe. Acrylic/polyester fibers could make her hot and itch more.
Using listerine on hot spots can help healing of these trouble areas. (it's a topical soother and it tastes bad...)
It takes time for the allergens to leave the body. The rescue dogs who have come in with skin/food issues normally take 6 months or more to totally clear. 
Good luck, you can do it!


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## seekey (Dec 29, 2013)

Thank you so much for the advice. Her skin condition is very good, and she has only scratched under her chin until the last month when she started to put a lot of pressure on her mouth and push very hard (I can even hear her teeth grind when she does it.) Naturally I thought she had a tooth problem but vet says she is OK. I will certainly start on her diet now on advice from the forum. By the way, I have never been on any forums before and am so interested in all the posts. Great work!!


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## seekey (Dec 29, 2013)

Thanks, I will get some Listerine today - have to go to town 50 kl away.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

I love listering for skin issues, I've used it on everything from rabbits to horses. - use the original formula, not the blue sugary, minty one. 

Bug gets itchy, too. What I have found seems to be working with him (besides using a humidifier in the house) is once daily, I use a vitamin E coat conditioner. I just put a little on my hands and rub it in. I was using it on my hair one day and he was 'helping' so I did it to him as a game, we've been doing it daily ever since. It really seems to help him. He also gets Salmon oil and Vit E in his breakfast. I started treating my DD's itchy shih tzu with that almost 10 years ago - Oh wow, I just realized that Sic Puppy will be 10 this year, I still remember the day I brought him home. hmmmm

Best wishes for your little girl!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

seekey said:


> Dear fjm,
> Thank you so much for your information. I have been trying to think what has changed over the past month or six weeks to cause this behaviour. You asked if she does this when she has just been clipped? SHE DOES, right from a little puppy the would scratch under her chin, worse when just clipped!!! I take her to a groomer in a large town (3hours away) The time before last she was not groomed very well and had an injury on her ear. I thought that this may have just been an accident. I had to go back to the city again three weeks later and so took he for another grooming. All seemed well till the other day I was told by a woman who worked for the vet that this groomer did not treat the dogs very well. Now I will not take her there again. I do not groom her to look as pretty as I would like but I do it with love and would never hurt her. I will just have to see how she goes in the coming months. I will keep you posted and thanks again.


It could be triggered by clipper burn, like rasor burn in humans. It leaves the skin a bit sore and irritated, so the dog scratches and makes it worse. I'd suggest asking your new groomer to use a longer blade (eg 10) on her face and paws, and to use a soothing lotion on her face and paws after clipping. I know there is CC one highly recommended on the forum - I'll copy these posts to your other thread so others can tell you more about it!


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I wanted to say, make sure your treats are grainfree as well, this could take a few months to fix, but you don't want the allergy shots from the vet!!!! Your dog will not stay healthy if you go with the shots. Also, just because the kibble bag says Lamb ect, read the bag, could still have chicken. My Cream girl had terrible allergies when I first got her at age 2. Her first owner had been giving her shots every few months and she was a mess. I put her on ocean Wellness and she got well in a few weeks, however a year later, the allergies came back . It took a few months, but I have her itch free again. I switched to Orijen Red , the treats had to be switched too.


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## dfwcarguy (May 12, 2013)

Don't know if this is really true or not. But was told that a plastic water bowl can lead to a dog scratching around their face a lot. Knew someone that was having an issue with that and they changed to ceramic bowls and it helped solve the face scratching.


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## cindyreef (Sep 28, 2012)

Im not sure if I would call it an allergy, probably more of a food sensitivity in our case. He was itchy but mostly red spots on his belly, a couple of hot spots and loose stool a few times a week. My dog was on a very good vet recommended diet ( Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy)for 10 months and I finally took some advice from poodle people and switched to a grain free diet. I also feed him a fair amount of raw meat. We eat meat daily so what we eat he has his portion. I believe the culprit was the corn. Its in so many foods. I switched to 100% grain free Blue Wilderness (Blue Buffalo) chicken formula, and there is no scratching and no red spots on his belly and no hotspots...knock on wood.  He loves it. 

I would also pay attention to clipper burns. It causes then to scratch where there hair is trimmed short.

BTW my vet still thinks the corn based diet was fine.....but the proof is obvious, it wasn't for my dog.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

The product I was thinking of is Chris Christensen's Peace & Kindness Colloidal Silver - I have not used it myself, but I know many people on here swear by it.


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