Puppy is pulling / eating his hair

[altatension]

I need advise on what to do about my puppy's habit.
He licks and chews on his hair/body until the spot shows skin
then he picks a different spot and repeats the process.
The vet say no fleas and no disease just a bad habit.
He a maltese/poodle, 7 months old. Started doing this about two weeks ago. Some say could be alergies. He has been eating the same food since puppy (natural balance). I have a huge backyard with lots of grass and plants and sometimes i see him eating them.
Today i gave him his first bath with medicated anti-itch shampoo (sulfodene) hope this helps. Any ideas? Help!!

[Ami]

Try to switch his food and see how it works.

[flyndog]

Is he licking mostly on his feet and legs or everywhere? Has there been some change in your family or household recently? In other words, what's different now than last month? Any lawn fertilizer or weed killer recently applied?

[paramount]

I agree with flyndog, what has changed in his environment in the last couple of weeks? I would try sitting down with any family members and run through everything in the house and outside and write what has changed on a list. Nothing is too small and you never know what it could be. Good luck : D

[Kade]

If you can't find any outside causes, they do sell bitter apple spray that you can put directly on the dog.

(Of course, if he's anything like my dog, he'll think, "Oh, what is this delicious flavor I'm tasting on the rugs, furniture, leashes...?!? I've died and gone to heaven!")

[altatension]

No changes in the enviroment. I did switched his treats from lamb/rice to turkey (both natural balance). I will switch back to see if that helps. He has 5 spots so far. One on his back at tail's end. One on each upper tigh, each spot is about the size of a silver dollar. We just did the anti-itch shampoo so we'll see about that. I am going to limit his trips to the backyard to short and supervised. I am really concerned. Thanks for your replies.

[altatension]

I just realized that a major change has taken place.
Starting about two weeks ago the outside temperatures has reached the 100's and it gets worse (about 105 mid-day) here in Valencia California (hot and dry). I could shave him for the summer but i don't like shaved dogs ...sigh

[Kade]

Originally Posted by altatension

I just realized that a major change has taken place.
Starting about two weeks ago the outside temperatures has reached the 100's and it gets worse (about 105 mid-day) here in Valencia California (hot and dry). I could shave him for the summer but i don't like shaved dogs ...sigh

Yes, but you could be faced with a patchy, sick-looking, unhappy dog as an alternative.

[Carrie]

I don't think you need to shave him. His hair probably helps to insulate him. And Natural Balance makes a venison and rice formula which is helpful for allergies. Is that the one you're using? I am inclined to think that this is not a physical problem, but perhaps an emotional one....like biting fingernails. Is he kept busy a good deal of the time? Obedience practice and not only a "session," but a little command here and there throughout the day is good. Exercise is good. Stuffed Kongs and other chew toys may help relieve him if he is bored. I don't mean to suggest that you aren't doing any of this. You probably are, but since you didn't say, I just thought that might have something to do with it. I guess I wouldn't make a big issue of it with him, but instead try to distract him into some other activity. There is such a thing as obsessive compulsive disorder in dogs. It probably isn't to that point, but I would try and ward that possibility off.

I could be dead wrong in this suspicion, but thought I'd toss it out since the vet doesn't see anything physically wrong and Natural Balance isn't likely to cause a problem. If outside plants and such are a problem, you'd think you'd see some kind of irritation to the skin. But maybe not. Do you have air conditioning? Is there a way to keep him out of the sun too much and out of the heat? That is awful hot.

I hope for his improvement.

[calgal]

I think your dog is suffering from a bad case of nerves. You may want to keep things very low key and not do anything to get him real excited. I've seen this condition on dogs that were bought by very high strung and active people and the dogs ended up suffering from neurosis.

[altatension]

Thank you Carrie and Calgal. I think you guys nailed it. Didn't know about kongs, it sounds like a great idea. When we are home (50 % daytime) we play and do things with him until he quits but when we are not there, it must be a really big contrast. Calgal makes a good point, we are not high strung family but we are so many (Dad, Mom, Son, Daughter, grand-daughter, son-in-law) you get the picture, all of us fighting to play with Coco (too much, too concentrated). We will try your advice (allergy food, kong, lower key). BTW he is an inside dog and treated just like our kids.

[rescuechihuahuaowner]

I know this is weird, but we have a cat that when she was young she would ATTACK my head on a daily basis. The vet also suggested that we switch the food. I mean she was the demon cat from HELL! So you know what we did? We got her spayed. After that she was the sweetest, and laziest, cat I have ever seen in my entire life! I suggest doing just that, or neutering.

[rescuechihuahuaowner]

Also if you are against my other theory, the dogs really like when you smear peanut butter on the inside of the kong! EXTRA PLAYTIME! and a lil treat as well. Good luck.