Why wont he stop eating/scratching away his hair?

[lovemymaltese]

Please help. I have tried evrything with my poor maltese. The vet has also done everything possible. Tango is determined to eat/scratch away all his hair. He has been on antibiotics whichdo not work anymore, aveeno baths, tested for food allergies, you name it. I have also put shirts, and socks on him and he just pulls them off and goes for it again.I think that it has become more of a habit than anything else. I do not know what to do to get him to stop long enough for his skin to heal and his hair to grow back. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[manyinone]

hi,

we have that problem with our older golden. we have tried everything possible to stop her from scratching bitting...ect..
her problem is a combination between habit and allergies. once we fixed the allergy portion we are now working on the Habit part.

what we do now to prevent her from doing it is we have a spray bottle with plain water in it. and if she starts we spray her once and say NO. and if she continues we do it again..
ususally we only have to do it once to make her stop. the inital squirt usually distracts her from what she is doing.
i have read that the spray works because the dog usually doesnt understand that YOU are the one spraying them so eventally they combine the spray with the command NO and you can wean off the water and just say no.

also she gets bored really easily so we make sure we have toys for her to chew on instead of herself.

also we have some stuff i cant remember the name right now but it is a spray that we spray on her that doesnt hurt or sting or anything that makes her not itch anymore...so it is habit not allergys.

i have also read the more attention you pay to them when they are doing it the more they will continue....example if you start talking in 'baby' talk when they are doing it. they feel rewarded and will continue to do it. where as with the simple command NO they get that they arent supposed to do it!

just some suggestings
take what ya need and throw out the rest

Manyinone

[lovemymaltese]

I think the spray bottel is a wonderful idea. Tango just keeps doing it. I have treid the no thing and heaven forbid I have had to pop him on his hiney, nothing works and I hate to punish him. I will give your idea a try.

[mruffruff]

Samson was the same way 2 years ago. I thought he was going to be bald!

The solution turned out to be a diet of lamb & rice with the addition of Omega fatty acids. Before I put him on the new diet, I ruled out any invisible critters by dipping him (and all the dogs). I also used the squirt bottle. In about 3 months, he was scratching only occasionally. I have continued to feed him and the other dogs Nutro Lamb & rice, but discontinued the fatty acid capsules.

I've been trying to break him of excess barking lately. I accidentally grabbed a squirt bottle that had a little vinegar and water last night. THAT sure got his attention!

Mary

[manyinone]

i hope the water bottle works for your pup.
they also have this spray i saw at the pet shop the other day that you can spray on them and it takes icky and they wont like it...or so it says LOL

Manyinone


Mary i bet that vinager was a real shock LOL

[Helene]

I have a Keeshond who had a big problem with scratching and itching. He was literally pulling out his coat in clumps and causing sores on his skin> After numerous trips to a number of vets in search of an answer I found that he needed a low protein diet and supplemented with a product called Megaderm. This is Omega 3&6 for the coat. His diet is calcuim enriched chicken mince and chicken necks and a very low protein chicken based dry dog food. This worked within a week and he has a beautiful coat. I also apply frontline fortnightly as I think he also has a flea allergy. Good luck. I am sorry but I disagree that chewing is habit forming I think there is a reason for it.