My dog is licking his fur off in Hawaii. Is it allergies or heat?

Question

I have a Alaskan malamute and husky in Hawaii. He Seems to be a healthy boy but he seems to have a really few bad itches that he always is licking his hair off. Aparantly he had some type of ring worm come out of his rear end a year ago at which at the same time around that time a year ago he started to develop these same spots in different areas.. A heat rash or some type of disease that makes him do this to himself. The outside temperature is about 85 degreees. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | neutered | 5 years and 6 months old | 61 lbs

Ricardo Fernandez, DVM · Accepted Answer

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

My dog is licking his fur off in Hawaii. Is it allergies or heat?

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