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Why is my puppy scratching, licking paws, losing fur, and bald spots?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Male | unneutered | 5 months and 15 days old | 39 lbs

My dog has always scratched himself a lot specially around the tail. The vet dismisseded it, gave him advantix for fleas although I never saw any flees and I never got bitten by any. In the last days it has gotten worse, he won't stop scratching and leeking his paws and the amount of fur lost is crazy ridiculous. I wash his bed and blankets with baby soap. I clean his paws after taking him out. I switchted the floor detergent to vinegar, and I feed him burgess sensitive puppy. He has a bald spot

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on July 5th, 2019

It could be Sombra has allergies or mites. Since what you have tried hasn't fixed things, I would take him back into a vet today. You can take him into another vet for a second opinion. Best of luck.

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    Answered By Tomasz Wnuk

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 25th, 2020

    It does sound like an allergy. If the over the counter medications ( I assume antihistamine drug) has not help, you should take your Max to your local vets to get stronger anti-allergic medications for him. Please, try and stop him from biting and scratching (head cone is usually the best way to achieve this) as he will make things worse by constant chewing on the paws. You may use oatmeal shampoo to soothe the skin, but in cases of bad allergy it is often not that effective.

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 7th, 2018

    Itchiness, hair loss and licking of the paws can be caused by various reasons such as fleas, mites ,fungal infection, bacterial infection and allergies. the first 4 needs to be ruled out before we start treating for allergies. in order to do that first de-flea Bruno with a high quality flea treatment such as advantage spot on, if it doesn't help - take him to the vet in order to check for/treat the other possibilities. If everything is ruled out, then an allergy treatment can be started. Usually an hypoallergenic food is a good way to start together with anti histamines. if it doesn't help - the best solution is a medication called Apoquel which treats allergies with great success and without side effects.

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    Answered By Megan, DVM, CVA

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 13th, 2018

    Poor Max! It sounds like a really bad case of allergies. This is likely environmental or flea allergies. Make sure he is on a high quality flea preventive like nexgard, comfortis or bravecto. Also, you can try Benadryl orally and Benadryl spray on the spots to help control the itching. See link below. You can also bathe him in a calming shampoo like duoxo calm. If the Benadryl doesn’t help, then I would have your vet take a look at him. He may need something stronger to control his itching like steroids or apoquel or cytopoint. These stronger medicines are sometimes necessary to prevent infections. If he already has raw spots, crusts, or pustules, then I would go ahead and take him in. He will likely need some antibiotics as well. I hope this helps! https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/

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