Dog biting himself. HELP!!

[NiceGirl]

hope this makes sense. i'm not really good with dog terminology. but any help is appreciated.

my sister got a golden doodle in april of last year. not too long after she got him, we started noticing that he would bite himself. my sister was told they're called "hot spots." she went to the vet and he told her that some dogs are just prone to hotspots. he has about 3 hotspots which have now healed, but have left dark red fur growing in the area (he's blonde). his latest hotspot is quite large and is on his hind leg, close to his paw. it looks really scary because it's all red and i there's barely any fur there now. my sister and i have been cleaning the wound with epsom salt and antiseptic solution, and then put on a topical med called panalog. we notice that he starts biting himself if he's alone (even for 10 minutes), or when he thinks we aren't looking. we've tried putting the cone on him, but he's still able to bite himself in that spot. does anyone else's dog do this? if so, what do you do to make it heal faster, and more importantly, what do you do to prevent it?


NO, we do not abuse our dog. we love him very much and are very worried.

[SiR001]

do you give him lots of exercise?(long walks, doggie parks, doggy daycare?)
also chew toys to keep him busy?

[Lil Bastrd]

This is a classic food allergy. If it was a habit licking it would always be in the same spot. The fact that they have been in different spots suggests an allergy reaction.
The number one allergy reaction is to grains that they are eating in the food.
I would switch the dog to a grain free kibble or to Raw.
polysporin helps heal hotspots fast. I had dealt with these for years with dogs until I switched all my dogs to raw. I notice that when I am using too many cookies that have grain the licking/scratching starts up again.

[NiceGirl]

thanks!

along with the change of dog food and some added yogurt, his hotspot seems to be healing!

[Lil Bastrd]

You may find the dog will still every so often lick the feet. Most dogs that are allergic to grain have a very low allergy to grass. So when other allergens are bothering their system the grass will too. This doesn't mean to keep them off of it. Just to make you aware. I wouldn't be worried about it unless it gets to the point where the hair is getting shorter.