Itchy Dog - no fleas - maybe due to lots of swimming last week?

[PennyK]

Teddy and the family went camping last week!  He was soooo good!!  We also discovered that he must have got a good amount of Newf in him back in the day when they were crossbreeding Newfs with Saints - LOL - he loves to swim!  Couldn't keep him out of the pond!

Anyway, he has been terribly itchy since mid-last week.  Seems like its everywhere, not just one spot.

We gave him a bath on Saturday morning to see if that would help but it doesn't seem to.  We also treated him with back-of-the-neck flea & tick medicine about 3 days before we left (his 1st time for treatment).

He also started shedding like crazy!!!  (my guess is moving from air conditioning to just a trailer caused the excessive shedding).  I also noticed quite a lot of dander at his tail head today.

Do you think it was something in the pond water? Maybe just being wet all week? Mosquitoes?  Flea medication?

What can I do to help the poor guy?

[ozzysma]

i have never heard of swimmers itch on a dog, does this happen.  i had the same thing with my newf, thought it was a staph infection but it has seemed to clear up itself. so do you think it was swimmers itch?

[Nicole]

Didn't you say that you have recently switched Teddy's food, Penny? All of those things sound like food allergies to me. Itchy skin, dander and blowing the coat can all be related to a food allergy.

Just my two cents!

But, he could also have gotten into something in the water...but my guess is a bath would have taken care of that.

[shi_ni_ke]

If he drank the local water or drank lake water, could have been something in the water along with the recent change in food. It could have also been an allergy to something growing around the lake that doesn't grow at home.

We have found that Johnson's Lavendar and Chamomile Baby Bath (not Shampoo)often helps with the skin itch. Switching food could have also started the dander and shedding. Course depending on where you live Teddy may just be shedding out the summer coat. If you have a vacumn with a hose, set it to blow instead of suck and then back "brush" Teddy with the vacumn. This will help to blow out the coat and expedite the process.(Something our groomer taught us with our Siberian Husky.)

Our weather is finally getting cold and Frodobert just started a major blow coat session. A good shedding rake and a vacumn help to expedite the process. As the new hair grows in it may itch. I would have the vet check for staph and for mange just to make sure.

Also, could have been a reaction to the flea and tick preventative. Different preventatives have different medicines and some dogs are sensitive to one but not another.

Hope Teddy feels better soon.