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Dog has black specks on skin. Is it yeast? Can I treat at home?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Beagle | Female | spayed | 1 year and 8 months old | 30.25 lbs

My dog has little black specks on her stomach, things, and genitals. It does not wash off and is not flea dirt. She was seen yesterday at my vet but I didn't notice this until today. Her vet diagnosed her with a yeast and bacteria infection in her ears possibly due to allergies so I was wondering if this was possibly a skin yeast infection? If so is this something I can treat from home without another vet visit?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Joy Fuhrman, DVM, MBA, CPA

Veterinarian

Published on August 10th, 2017

Black specs could be a parasitic infection such as lice or mites or it could be due to a bacterial or yeast infection. It could also be normal pigmentation variations. You can try to bathe Luna in an antibacterial soap being careful to avoid her ears. But if this does not clear up in the next few days she will likely need to be seen by the vet again to obtain a diagnosis and get appropriate therapy prescribed.

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    Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

    Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

    Published on

    This could be part of a skin infection, possibly also due to yeast and/or bacteria. However, given that your veterinarian already looked at her, its appearance must have been inconsistent with dermatitis (perhaps did not look inflamed or irritated). It is ok to continue to watch for now unless Luna appears to be itchy, scratching at those locations and overall uncomfortable as that may represent part of a skin allergy, inflammation and secondary infection.

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    Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Published on August 10th, 2019

    It is quite possible. The most common cause of a dermal yeast infection in dogs is secondary to the chronic inflammation caused by allergies (food, fleas, environmental). The small dark specks are often clogged skin pores. The larger patches of dark skin are pigment changes caused by chronic inflammation. Short-term, you can look for an antifungal pet shampoo at the store. Once that also states anti-inflammatory may give Penny some relief. But she really needs to be thoroughly evaluated by the vet to get to the root of the problem to help the skin.

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