What the heck is this???

[Big Horn Posse]

I just noticed Ozzy has a couple spots on him that I have no clue what they are. One is on his back leg and the other on his rump. He has been licking them too. Maybe hot spots? Maybe one of you can tell me what they are and how to cure it. I have never seen anything like this on any of my dogs before.

[Benny G]

Hot spots from his dog house most likely. If you lived in the hot country you would recognize them easier.

[Big Horn Posse]

Yeah it got really hot here really fast. He usually sleeps outside during the day and in with Bella in a big 4ft by 3ft dog house. You think he would be used to the heat as he just came back from 3 yrs in NM last Oct. What can I do to clear it up. Seems him licking them is making it worse.

[Benny G]

Put some dirt in the dog house to get him off of the plywood.

[Big Horn Posse]

I have pine shavings in there and the dog box. Do you think straw would be better? I usually use cedar shavings in the summer to keep the fleas and ticks off.

[Benny G]

The problem with most beddings is the material seems to be easily manipulated out from under the dog. When a dog scratches out a bed, most materials bunch up and easily make a "hole" that exposes the floor of the dog house. If fleas and ticks are a concern, get an insecticide that won't hurt a dog. The kind that screws onto the end of a garden hose works well. Spray the entire area, as well as the inside of the dog house. It also drops the temperature inside the dog house for a little while. You don't have to soak the inside, just spray a little in there. It works, I have the same problems.

[LarryBeggs]

You mentioned in another post looking to change dog foods.A couple of mine will get spots like that if I feed to high a protien dog food or a cheap high protien dog food with out enough fat .It will show up with in a week. I switch there dog food and put Seargents Antimicrobial Wound Cream on them.Within a few days the hair starts groing back.There are quite a few things that will work on hot spots but my dogs hate the sound of a spray bottle.The cream is just easier for me to use. Good luck, Larry

[Big Horn Posse]

Larry, I haven't switched the dog food yet. I think it may be due to the wacky weather we have had. It was cold, then rain then hot and the dogs have yet to shed their winter coats. I hunt them hard 3 or 4 times a week so they are in top physical shape. Just thought it weird for him to get these spots all of a sudden. None of the other dogs seem to have them.

Thanks guys for the advice will see if I can get it healed up

[briarpatch]

BHP, we have plenty of "hot spots" on dogs here in hot Texas. Many of them are a result of the dog scratching, biting, chewing it's self trying to get rid of the fleas, ticks, MITES, etc. which are dealing it misery. These pests are especially bad this time of year. I have had good luck with a product by Happy Jack they call Kennel Dip 11.

briarpatch

[Tim Pittman]

It's a bacterial infection,give cephelexin 2times a day for 7-10 days,it'll go away.Try to determine the cause and change culprit[shavings,bedding,kennel area}is where it usually stems from.About 3 years ago[aftr many years]of dealing with this-usually in the spring time,We took a couple dogs in and had it culture by a vet and that's what they prescibed.Go on line and get the fish version of cephalexin in capsule form for a quarter of the price than the vet.

[Redwood Coonhounds]

Take clippers and shave the area to the skin, put some BlueKote on it or something similar, and some oral antibiotics will help. Hotspots are a bacterial infection of the skin. Something triggered it, then chewing and being moist caused the infection. So long as he is licking and chewing and the area is wet, it will get worse. This is perfect weather. We treat about 3 a day at my work.

Don't ask me why, but I have tried everything for hotspots. Just the topicals and oral antibiotics, with no improvement, until I shaved the area. Then almost overnight they go away. I hate having to shave mine because I show them. But I suppose its better than a huge raw mangy looking spot

[Hazel Hill Blueticks]

Bacterial infection, that is normally the cause of a hot spot. Wooden dog house hold a lot of bacteria in the wood. If you use shavings, straw or hay it needs changed out often. Get a good anti bacterial cream or cephalexin will also fix it.