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My dog keeps scratching her neck. What causes persistent itching?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | unspayed | 5 years old | 15 lbs

My dog is scratching herself a lot. I gave her bath with "Dettol Liquid" diluted in warm water & the the scratching at the hind side seem to have stopped and even some hair is growing back. But I am unable to control, the area around the neck. I have not yet used any med's till now except "Antihistamine" 10 mg. Previously doctor suggested Doxycyline 100 mg 2 times a day for 20 days & Antihistamine 10mg Once a day for 14 days. That helps but only for 1 month or so. Can you suggest anything plz.

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5 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 4th, 2018

It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. 

The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. Your dog will most likely need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has cleared up Tommy can continue using an allergy medication like Apoquel or Cytopoint to prevent the itch and infection from coming back. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.


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Other Answers

  • Image profile

    Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. 

The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. Your dog will most likely need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has cleared up Tommy can continue using an allergy medication like Apoquel or Cytopoint to prevent the itch and infection from coming back. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.


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

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 20th, 2018

    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, 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.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on February 16th, 2017

    Poor Dutches! This itchy spot could be caused by fleas, mites, allergies, or ringworm. If she isn't up to date on her flea treatment, she will need a spot on treatment such as Advantage or Revolution. You will need to disinfect the environment as well. If she is up to date on her flea treatment, I recommend taking her into the vet for an exam tomorrow. The vet can do blood tests, skin scrapings, and use a Wood's lamp to diagnose allergies, mites, and ringworm. Once the cause of the itching is found, the vet can prescribe the appropriate treatment.

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    Answered By David Darvishian

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 20th, 2017

    Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Bex. Itching can be caused by many things and the first things we as vets think about is external parasites including fleas, ticks, mites, others, etc. Even though you may not see any parasites at home your vet may be able to find them hiding somewhere on the body or they have bitten the pet and aren't on them currently. Other reasons include a bacterial infection which can be spontaneous or caused by a lot of things, an acute hot spot which is an area of intense itching that becomes infected since the pet won't stop scratching a particular area on the body, allergies can cause intense itching, ear infections are a big cause of itching at the neck area on dogs or even just an allergic ear canal that hasn't developed at infection yet, insect stings from ants, bees, spiders, among other things. The best thing to do is to get to your vet so they can examine Bex and see what they think the problem is otherwise if she continues to itch that area she will develop an infected area described above as a hot spot. They can examine her neck and ears especially to determine a probable cause. You could try one thing at home and that is bathing that area or the entire dog in a hypoallergenic oatmeal shampoo and leave the lather on for 10 mins at least. Then rinse thoroughly and dry to see if the oatmeal as helped with the itch. You can try antihistamines also but you would need to call your veterinarian for the dose and type. Good luck with Bex. I hope the itch goes away soon.

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