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Why is my dog scratching a lot and has a bald spot on his chest?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Male | neutered | 1 year and 5 months old | 11.5 lbs

Harrison has a pretty big bald spot right below his collar and above where his harness is on his chest. He is part chihuahua part jack Russell terrier. Age 1. He has been scratching a lot lately but I really am concerned. What could it be?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on May 31st, 2017

This is probably 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 (advocate or advantage), 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). 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.

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