Doberman Skin Problems

[Kelly McMackin]

Just wondering if anyone has any advice for me and my poor Doberman, Kane. Kane is a 10 year old Fawn colored Doberman, he is the greatest with the exception of his poor skin. He looks like he has a serious acne problem; red blister like bumps that will actually get large enough to erupt like a volcano; his hair is extremly thin from his shoulder blades to about his hip bones; it's so thin that during all this cold weather I had to make him a fortress out of blankets, he does live outside 24/7/365 with his other two buddies (an Aust. Shephard and a Siberian Huskey-which neither have this same trouble). His skin looks dry and flakey, but I rarely catch him scratching. Everytime I take him to the vet they do the same thing; medicated bath (two of them before they let me pick him up) and they give him a antibotic; none of this really helps much, maybe a little but nothing major. They tell me to try and keep him out of the dirt, like that's a simple task when we live on a farm, but I've fixed up his bed in a clean area and he doesn't sleep on the ground. I don't belive that he is in any type of pain, cause he still acts like he's a puppy but I feel so sorry for him. I feed him good food, Diamond Dog Food (it compares to Iams) and has the Omega 3 in it and 26% protein. The vet has never called it anything but a bad case of dermatitis. Any suggestions out there??? I would appreciate anything so I can try and help "my boy"...thanks!!!

[Pit Chick]

While this may not cure him, my first suggestion would be to make him an inside dog. Being outside is only irritating his skin more. He needs to be kept cool, dry, and clean. As the weather starts warming up, you can only imagine what being out in the heat with skin problems is like, add to that biting bugs. Next I would get a second opinion or a referral to a specialist because some vets are just band aid doctors that can only give basic advise on special situations. I have a Husky mix with the same problems your Dobie has and the only thing my vet can recommend is the baths twice a week in the special shampoo. She is on a good food and I've tried several different things, from fish oil to zinc and nothing seems to work. My problem is I can't really afford a specialist right now so the best I can do is make her as comfortable as possible by keeping her in the house, on the good food, and baths. Sorry I couldn't be of much help, but I hope it helps a little.

[mruffruff]

I agree with making him an indoor dog. It has to help. It also couldn't hurt to add a large tablespoon of yogurt to his food.

I have a shepherd/beagle/?? mix that has some trouble with his skin, too. He lost most of the hair on his rear several years ago before I got him. He's dry and flaky in spots and always was itching or licking, and shedding.

I put him on Nutro dog food and this helped, but he was still itchy and shedding like crazy. I finally bought some VitaCoat Plus from Drs. Foster & Smith. After 2 weeks I saw a noticeable difference. Very little shedding and much less itching and licking.

This may not solve your problem, but there has to be help somewhere. I think I'd ask a different vet for an opinion. He may be alergic to something in his food.

Let us know how he does.

Mary

[Scooby4]

Add some brewer's yeast to the dog's food. You can buy it in powder form at a health food store and add it to their food. They have it in pill form at pet stores and walmart. Avoid the kind with Garlic in it. It can cause gas.
It works on my dogs! My old Eskimo Spitz eats it like a treat! Although my Scooby may be allergic to yeast. It does take a few days to get into their systems. It is also supposed to help with fleas but haven't seen it do much for that. However, their coat will improve and help with shedding issues.
Also try increasing combing/brushing. This should help spread natural body oils throughout the coat and skin. My short hair dog LOVES to be brushed. The wire brushes work well and it helps with "Scratching". Which I am sure the dermatitis is doing.
Gives some benadryl if the itching gets too bad. My 35 lb dog has taken a full pill and been okay. However, I like to break the capsule and get the powder in their mouth or on food.
My neighbor has 2 fawn colored Dobies! They are outside but have shelter. They are soo sweet and cute! One of them is named Benji just like mine! Adds confusion when I call .
I understand why you keep the doggy outside. If you make that choice then make sure you keep making the effort of clean water and bedding. Not every dog can live inside with you. I wish I had kept my adopted Boarder Collie outside. She's too big. Also she has peed on the carpet and eaten my furniture! She was a lost dog and I believe lived on a farm. It has taken ALOT of time and patience to get her to adapt to living indoors. It is still a work in progress!

[bckrazy]

I completely agree with Ruff and Pit Chick. Especially as an older dog with hair loss, he needs to be inside where it's warm and you can monitor his health more easily. He may also be experiencing stress outside which could aggrivate skin problems, along with the cold aggrivating possible arthritis. Your other dogs should also spend time inside, there is no such thing as an outside dog, and it isn't fair for them to spend 24/7 outside subjected to cold/heat. Even if they are farm dogs, Aussies and Sibes and Dobermans are all very people-oriented dogs who probably would love to have inside time in the warm house with their family. Just allowing him to sleep in a crate inside might help. I don't know a lot about skin problems, I would try other foods to see if this could be food allergies. Look for lamb-based kibble, like Solid Gold Hund-N-Flocken. There are also a lot of holistic medications and creams (some available from Solid Gold) to help with skin problems.

[bckrazy]

Originally posted by Scooby4
I wish I had kept my adopted Boarder Collie outside. She's too big.

the lamest excuse for keeping a dog outside. ever. Dogs are pack animals and, especially those that are only pets, need to be with their pack indoors. Border Collies are absolute velcro dogs and thrive on human attention and interaction. Whether they weigh 2 lbs or 200 lbs. I think all of us have gone through potty training and behavioral issues, with rescue dogs especially. To ban her to the backyard because of that is heartless, to me. Is it her fault that she's a medium-sized dog? Or that her last owners were not as kind to her? Maybe she's poorly potty trained because your Dad kept her outside 24/7? Keeping dogs outside 24/7 causes so many behavioral problems that can be hard to fix, but its worth it.

Why does anyone even want a dog if the only purpose/job they serve is to be a backyard ornament?

[LorraineO]

dobermans are NOT outdoor dogs..... I am surprised you are not aware of this... but now that you are,, perhaps you can help him out and remedy that right away!! I dont have much in the way of advice for his skin,, but my dober girl has thinning hair,, but her skin is fine.... but please,, bring your dober boy INSIDE!!!! these dogs are Velcor babies,, they NEED thier humans and love to be close.....

dogs are pets,, not outdoor ornaments... sorry to sound harsh... but thats the bottom line as far as I am concerned!

[Kelly McMackin]

I think somethings wrong with me email....

[Scooby4]

I live in the south and have a very mild climate. Keeping dogs outside isn't a big deal. My dogs no longer develop a healthy winter coat due to them being kept inside a majority of the time. Developing and shedding a winter coat is a good thing for a dog to do each year. It allows them to keep healthy coats and skin.
My border collie is very much a farm dog. She loves to stay outside and had a hard time adjusting to coming inside the house! Her bathroom habits were to be expected and have improved but NOT perfect.
I wish I had kept her outside as she is a much better dog out there. Her personality and activity level is improved outside. Inside she has extreme nervous behaviors. She ate part of my dresser! She loves to chew on sticks and subsituted my dresser!
I don't see a "BIG" deal of keeping a dog outside if it is properly cared for and given shelter. To get on a high horse and insist this is just plain cruelty is just too judgemental for me. The last time I checked Dobermans were used as guard dogs on the OUTSIDE. The Egyptians were the first to domesticate dogs/cats and they kept them outside. If I am to keep ALL the animals inside where do I put the Bear?

[Kelly McMackin]

Easy on me there folks! My dogs have all lived outside all of their lives; we live in KY, the weather is not that rough here. Yes we do have cold winters and yes I do bring the dogs in when it's terribly cold BUT like i said before we have a large metal building back behind the house where we keep the tractor, hay bailer, horse supplies, etc. that the dogs stay in; they have the biggest dog house in town w/ nice soft snuggly beds, a big water bowl and their food! I spend time with them every morning before i go to work and i stay outside with them while i feed them their supper every night and then we have "play time" for a little while. My dogs get plenty of love and attention and i'm offended that anyone would even consider calling them "yard ornaments"; their are all members of our family as far as I'm concerned but you tell me...would you rather live in a house and be stuck in there all day by yourself while your owners were at work or would you like to be outside with a big house that you can go in and out of when you want and you've got about 350 acres all around you have free rein to roam around because your aunts, uncles and grandparents own the entire road? Bringing them in on a permanent basis is not an option, it simply would not work with two adults that work full time an hour away from home. Also, the fact that my step son and I both have allergies would not work with a house full of dog hair and not to mention the pollen, etc. that they would bring inside. And tell me what Siberian Huskey wants to be inside? Chubs will lay upside down in the yard when it's snowing on him and fall asleep; he will not come in the house, i think he feels confined, he just doesn't like it, the closest he will come is the door and give us a few "woo woo woo's" and wag his tail out of control! The other two will come in but about after an hour their at the door ready to go back out; they love it outside and i love being outside with them. We go for a lot of walks together and when we get the horses out they follow right along with us and all of the other riders even if we go 15 miles back in our knobs; my dogs are in great shape and they are tough as nails. My dogs also do not have any type of behavioral problems because they live outside; they are all complete angels. They do not tear things up because their not bored. The don't even go #2 in our yard. They all obey very well and know how to sit, shake hands, lay down, and stay when told. A dog with behavioral problems is a dog that gets no attention and is bored; not because their outside; give me a break.
I'm going to try out the VitaCoat from Dr. Foster's and some brewer's yeast and see if that makes any difference in Kane's skin. Thank you for the suggestions! If anyone else has any ideas to share on what I can do to help my dobie's skin (I would love to hear from someone w/ the same trouble???) I would love to hear from you. Thank you all for replying so quickly...have a great day!

[Corinna]

I have a springer with what sounds the same as your dog. Merlin is an indoor dog. I started giving him a cayene pepper capsule and a oil Pill(its a combo Flax,fish,and borage from Rexall) each morning and it is clearing his skin and helping with thin coat.
Do the blisters smell? Merlins do and the vet has no clue what we are dealing with so I started studing nutrinets and came up with this. Its been a month and His body whitch was covered, is almost all cleared up.I am also bathing him every couple weeks with a puppy shampoo,Like a baby shampoo. I had to shave him bald to start this so your dobie is already to start . I just scrub the heck out of him to try to get the blisters to erupt and get that yuck out of them.
Hope it helps if you try it.

[Kelly McMackin]

Corrinna, thank you for the ideas and thank you for not getting on my case about my dogs being outside
What size of a pepper capzule to you use? How much does your springer weigh? My dobie is about 95 lbs. I just don't want to give him to much or to little....I think the food I feed them has all three of the oils you mentioned, wonder if they can get to much? How much do you give your dog and I'll look into that too.
I don't think his bumps stink, they just look like acne with a bad case of extra dry skin, kinda like an alligator texture in places. Some of the bumps will get big and erupt like a pimple and blood and a puss will come out, i just clean him up with a little perioxide and some neosporin and he goes on happy as can be snikering from ear to ear! He loves a bath so that won't be a problem and the puppy/baby shampoo sounds like a good idea because it's probably extra gentle on his skin. Thanks again Corrinna, I'll give these ideas a whirl too!!!

[Corinna]

Merlins erupt and look like the waxy stuff from a black head. Merlin is 65-70 lbs (a tad over weight) the pepper is 40,000 STU Spring valley brand the oils (his food has it too but he needed more) The oils are suppling omega 3,6,9, most foods only provide 6 . I take these to so they working for my on my diabetes too. The pepper says for adult people 2-3 tablets 2-3 times a day so I think one per day should be safe. In my thread I have answered a lot of questions for others. "Found answers for skin problem"on the dog health

[Kelly McMackin]

Thanks to you too Scooby4 for giving me a break on the "outside dog" issue Especially on the Doberman inside deal, goodness sakes, not what I expected from another dobie owner, they were bred for guard dogs outside, you hit that one on the nose! *thumbs up to you*
I agree with you about the coats too, my dogs (w/ the exception of Kane) all develop beautiful winter coats and they shed them with no problems over the summer, I'm big on brushing too and they all love that. Kane isn't bald by any means, his hair on his chest and around his neck is pretty and shiney, it's the same way on his "bootie" and the back of his legs, it's just the part in-between that looks rough; he does have enough to shed a little himself; i don't use the same comb on him as the other two dogs, it would be to hard on his skin. I use a softer brush just for him and it works well. Sometimes i even have to use the horses curring comb on the Huskey, his hair will come out right and left when he starts shedding; I swear you could make another dog out of all the hair that comes off of him!!!
Thanks again, I'll give y'all an update when i get this new stuff and try it out on Kane's hair/skin. Keep your fingers crossed please! Have a great day!

[Pit Chick]

Originally posted by Kelly McMackin
their are all members of our family as far as I'm concerned but you tell me...would you rather live in a house and be stuck in there all day by yourself while your owners were at work or would you like to be outside with a big house that you can go in and out of when you want and you've got about 350 acres all around you have free rein to roam around because your aunts, uncles and grandparents own the entire road? Bringing them in on a permanent basis is not an option, it simply would not work with two adults that work full time an hour away from home. Also, the fact that my step son and I both have allergies would not work with a house full of dog hair and not to mention the pollen, etc. that they would bring inside.

How many other members of your family live outside 24/7, 365? My dogs have no complaints about being inside all day while I'm at work because my scent is still there reminding them of me and they have each other to keep them company. They sleep or watch tv and when I come home they get time to romp and play outside and when they are ready to come back in they stand at the door either barking or banging to come back in. If I wasn't afraid of my dogs being stolen while I was gone, I would put in a doggy door so they could come and go as the please. All of the dogs in my house were rescues that more than likely spent their entire lives outside 24/7 and now that they've had a taste of the inside life, they have no desire to go back to being a "yard ornament". Horses and cattle need acres, not dogs. So are you allergic to dogs or pollen? If it's just pollen then maybe you shouldn't ever go outside because you might inhale a little while you're out there, far more than your dogs could carry in on their coats, which wouldn't be a problem if they were washed and brushed regularly and aren't out there 24/7. If you don't think living outside 24/7 is so bad, why don't you?

Scooby4,

Border Collies are a medium sized breed which I'm sure, unless you are a very little person, are much bigger and tall than. So if a BC is too big to live inside a house, wouldn't that make you too big to live inside also? I don't think Egyptians had a lot of doors and windows to keep their dogs and cats outside only and having dirt floors, they probably didn't care if the animals were inside. I think until the invention of carpet, animals were probably more welcomed inside. If your BC is destructive, then she may need more activity and play time and mental stimulation, not just being secluded to the backyard so she won't destroy your precious furniture. Furniture can be replaced, a dog that gets stolen or hit by a car can't.