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White spots on my new 3-month-old puppy's skin. What should I do?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
I have a Dashund of approximately 3 months which I just adopted. Since a fews days white spots has started to appear on his skin's surface. What should I do?
3 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on April 20th, 2017
I would get him checked for external parasites, such as lice or mites (Cheyletiella comes to mind as a possibility). If those aren't the problem, it could be a bacterial skin infection secondary to allergies. Your vet can do some simple testing to get this sorted out.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on October 19th, 2019
I would recommend having your veterinarian take a look at Toby's skin. It may just be an area of irritation, it can be a hotspot, growth, etc. Without examining it, it is hard to tell. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on January 17th, 2017
He could just have some dry skin but could also have a skin infection, allergic dermatitis, etc. You could bathe him with a moisturizing dog shampoo and see if that helps. If not, have your vet take a look at him to determine the cause. He may need an antibiotic, anti-histamine, or corticosteroid to help treat the problem. Make sure to use a monthly flea prevention, like NexGard, Revolution, Frontline, etc.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
New Pet
Hello. Just yesterday I noticed that most of my 3 week old puppies are getting these dots or spots. It looks kinda like a dry spot just with little to no hair. Is this something to be concerned about or is this common?
Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the con
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Have just brought a new puppy home. He is scratching himself a lot and the are little white dots/specks on his fur. He sleeps fine and it doesn't seem to be causing him discomfort. What do you think it might be.
He could just have some dry skin but could also have a skin infection, allergic dermatitis, etc. You could bathe him with a moisturizing dog shampoo and see if that helps. If not, have your vet take a look at him to determine the cause. He may need an antibiotic, anti-histamine, or corticosteroid to help treat the problem. Make sure to use a monthly flea prevention, like NexGard, Revolution, Frontline, etc.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
New Pet
We rescued an 8week old puppy today. It has very small bald patches around face and belly area. Due to Covid our vet can’t see him right away. We have another small dog as well. Could these bald patches be something serious ?
I would keep him separate from your dog until he can be seen by your vet. The spots on his skin could be a bacterial infection and may not be transmissible to your other dog, but it's best to be safe. It doesn't look too serious and the place on his chest looks more like the hair was worn off by lying on a hard surface but it's best to have your vet diagnose his skin condition so he can get the correct treatment.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
My puppy has 2 spots on top of his head 1 is white and I is like a scab. What can I use to treat them and what are they?
He could have a bacterial infection, demodex (mite), or possibly ringworm. You could bathe him with a medicated puppy shampoo and see if that helps. Otherwise, he should be examined by a vet to determine the cause and treat. Your vet can do a skin scrape, culture, and cytology, if needed, to help diagnose and then prescribe medications to treat.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
New Pet
My 3 week old puppy has bald patches over her body. What can this be. It's a miniature chuawawa breed
Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
I rescued a German Shepard puppy and at first she just appeared to have extremely bad flea bites. I give her a bath every 2 days in flea and tick shampoo. Her sores seemed to get better. She had lost fur around the bites and the fur had started to ev
This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat her with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advantage- never use flea shampoo, they are dangerous and irritate the skin), then get her to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Newly developed brownish spots on white male boxer. Age 1
Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be
Updated on September 24th, 2025
New Pet
I just got a 7 week maybe 8 week old puppy and she has a spot on her and wanted to know if you could tell me what it is
Congrats on your new addition! The picture is a little blurry, but the area looks concerning. Did the breeder give any vaccinations? If so, she may have had a reaction to the vaccination if it was injected into the skin instead of under the skin. Another possibility would be that it is simply a skin reaction/infection from something else. I would recommend having your veterinarian examine the area to determine if it only involves the skin or if it involves any deeper tissue. They may need to take some samples to evaluate under the microscope to determine if the skin infection is bacterial, fungal or even parasitic (like mites). Then they will be able to determine the best treatment to resolve the area. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Boop by Petco.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Hi, I have a 12 week old puppy and also a 2 year old dog. My puppy has come up with spots over her on her legs sides and back mainly. I thought at first it might be from my older dog from his nibbles during playing fighting and Nik long but I'm not s
It's a little difficult to tell from the picture but the things you listed are all good ideas. If the areas are small and not overly irritated, I would consider giving a gentle bath and keeping an eye on it. If it seems to progress, it may be a good idea to have it checked out and consider switching to a flea control that covers more parasites including mites.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
New Pet
My 3 month old puppy has brownish spots under tummy spreading over below the legs what happened to him??
There are several reasons this can occur. Try washing Henry with an antibacterial dog shampoo once a week. If this doesn’t help after a couple weeks or if it gets worse, have him seen by his veterinarian to check for skin mites, fungal infections (some of which humans can get) or allergies. Of course you don’t have to wait and you can have Henry checked at any point. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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