In our last post, we discussed food as being a potential irritant in a dog with itchy skin. But our environment can also play havoc with our health, and lead to an imbalance in the body, in turn leading to skin issues such as itchiness and scratching. It’s not normal for your dog to scratch herself any more frequently than you would scratch yourself. All animals itch and scratch, but use yourself as a guide. After all, you’re an animal too.

Take a good look around your house. Even though our dogs live in the very same home we do, they exist within them differently. For example, when we walk on the kitchen floor we may have on socks, slippers, or bare feet. We wash our feet in the shower, and wash our socks in the laundry. Our dogs, on the other hand, walk on the floor, lay on the floor, and then lick their bodies and feet. This means, what your put on your floors affects your dogs health in a much more profound way. So, what do you put on your floors? If you're using a common floor cleaner from the supermarket, it leaves a residue, especially if you wax afterward. Do you wipe it between washes with a Swiffer disposable wipe? Toxic residue. What's your floor itself made out of?  Vinyl flooring contains PVC which releases toxins. Make the switch to healthier cleaning products, and your dog will thank you. There are many companies that now fill this demand, or you can make your own household cleaners.

How about your carpet? Do you sprinkle carpet freshener on it? What about deodorizing sprays such as Febreeze? Do you use a steam carpet cleaner which sprays synthetic detergents and leaves chemical residue? Is it made from wool, which is naturally flame retardant, or is it synthetic? Synthetic carpets contain a vast array of toxins.

Aerosol sprays are another no-no – air fresheners, bug spray, hair spray, etc. (although you’re spraying the air, the mist particles still land on the floor). Your dog rubs against all these toxins on a daily basis, and then ingests them when she licks herself. To make matters worse, an itchy dog spends considerably more time chewing and licking her coat and skin. Start by eliminating the chemicals you use regularly.

Next, consider where your dog sleeps. Did you buy her a new bed around the same time she became itchy? Did you change the laundry detergent you wash her bedding with? Switch to a hypoallergenic one, or one of the healthier brands such as Seventh Generation. Do you use disposable dryer sheets? These leave a toxic coating on fabric. Try using dryer balls, or re-usable fabric dryer sheets. Psst… they’re also better for the environment, and your pocketbook.)

And finally, one last note. It may not be any one of these things I've mentioned that is causing your dogs discomfort, but a combination of any or all of them that bombard your dogs immune system with toxins, eventually showing up as skin issues. There are many reasons your dog may be itchy, and I haven't covered all of them. But remember to think of her body as a whole, and the skin may be indicating something wrong with the system. Perhaps this is your opportunity to create a healthier home for your whole family, and you can all enjoy many, many happy hugs.

Now that you’ve ruled out fleas, start with the most likely culprit. Usually this is diet. If you feed your dog the same food every day, she’s probably lacking nutritionally, even though the label on her dog food says “complete and balanced”. The nutritional requirements a dog food company must live up to, ensure your dog is getting enough nutrition to keep her alive. This is not the same and healthy and thriving. Think about what is important for humans (we are both mammals, and omnivores after all). We need variety. If we ate fortified cereal (“for a complete and balanced breakfast”) and even threw in some broccoli and apples every day, we would still be lacking in many other essential vitamins and minerals, and eventually become ill. So give your dog variety. Now think about fresh food if she’s been living on kibble and / or canned food, processed food is bad for people and pets for many, many reasons. Find a good purveyor of fresh dog food in your neighbourhood, or learn how to make it yourself. Be sure to do your nutritional research if you do decide to make your dogs food, be it raw or cooked. Many people find a raw diet completely eliminates their dogs skin issues, but remember, dogs need variety just like us, so you can’t just go to the butcher and feed her hamburger meat. Also, be sure to buy organic fresh foods. There is a world of difference! Non-organic meats, vegetables and fruits are laden with pesticides, radiation, and medications, which will tax an already depleted immune system.

Now comes the hard part. Narrowing down which ingredients your dog may be reacting to. An advantage of making the switch to fresh food is, you know exactly what ingredients are in her diet. Narrowing down now becomes much easier.

Here’s where your journal comes in. Write it all down… every ingredient and the date. Switch her food gradually over the next couple of weeks, so her body has time to adjust, especially when introducing raw food as it is harder to digest than processed food (but more normal). Give her a few weeks on the new diet, and watch. If she’s still the same, switch one ingredient. If you switch more than one, and there’s a change, you won’t know which one helped or hurt. One at a time. This is called an elimination diet, because you are trying to eliminate the thing that’s bothering her.

This approach obviously takes more time than a trip to the vet for a steroid shot, so remember the hug and the promise you made.

Itchiness can be upsetting… both for you, and your dog. You desperately want to help her, but you’re running out of ideas, and becoming frantic. You take her to the vet to be checked for fleas, but he doesn’t find any. Your vet suggests it may be allergies, so you buy the best hypoallergenic food he has to offer. He gave your dog allergy tests in an attempt to find out exactly what is bothering her, and treats her for fleas just in case. She goes for steroid shots which help with the itching, but make her feel terrible. Out of frustration, you go to the local pet store to see if they have a shampoo that will help. They’re more than happy to sell you one, until you realize as much as you want it to work, you really don’t think it does.

What do you do next? Well, go over to your dog, give her a big hug, and tell you’re going to make a commitment to her, ‘cause this is gonna take some effort. And you’ll need a journal.

Your dog’s skin is an indicator of her overall health, and often, the problem isn’t just skin deep, so to speak. We live in a toxic world, where potential irritants are a-plenty. Your dog may be reacting to something in her food, or something lacking in her diet. It may be environmental, perhaps something in your cleaning arsenal, or it could be the new rug you just brought home. Getting to the root of what’s causing your dogs discomfort takes a keen eye and diligence, and since your dog can’t talk, you’ll have to do all the detective work yourself.

First, have your groomer check for fleas even though your vet already did. Your groomer has a more intimate relationship with your dog’s skin & coat, and this is what she specializes in. Because fleas move so quickly across your dogs body, she can get a much better look at the skin when it’s wet, and by using a hairdryer to part the coat, can move the hair aside quicker than fingers can.

If she does find fleas, ask if she offers a chemical free alternative to getting rid of them and have her do this. At this point, it is best to deal with the flea issue you probably have in your home at the same time your dog is getting rid of the fleas on her end of things. What happens is this: the fleas that live on your dog bite her, and excrete dried blood, and lay eggs. The eggs and ‘flea dirt’ are dry and fall off your dog wherever she goes, so a serious vacuuming is in order. Be sure to empty your vacuum into the garbage right away, and remove it from your house immediately. Then consider every surface your dog lays on, and launder what you can, vacuum what you can’t. It’s crucial to do a good job, otherwise those little eggs hatch into larva which eat the ‘flea dirt’ and later become fleas, only to jump back onto your dog within a day or two. Resist the urge to spray a chemical insecticide; these are highly toxic for everyone, despite what the manufacturer may say.