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My dog has red rings. Is it ringworm and contagious to humans?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Miniature Schnauzer | Male | 5 years and 10 months old | 30 lbs

Noticed a weird red ring on our dogs, one on one dog, four on the other. Worried it’s ring worm and worried it’s contagious to us. Would like to know what it is.

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenny, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 4th, 2018

Ring worm is a possibility and is contagious to both people and other animals. There is no way to be certain from the photos. Your vet can check it with a woods lamp to see if it reacts or do a culture to confirm it. It may be a reaction from a tick or allergy that is also causing those spots You can try to keep the spot clean and apply a topical antifubgal until you get the seen to be safe

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

    Licensed Veterinary Technician

    Published on December 29th, 2017

    It does not appear to be ringworm. It is possible it may be a resolving localized skin infection. Confirmation of either would need to be done by your veterinarian after a physical exam. On occasion, a sample from the area is collected and submitted for fungal culture. You can have Kato examined at your convenience or you can simply monitor the area for resolution or spread. Keep it clean and dry. An e-collar (cone) can prevent licking. In the event that the lesions spread or do not heal, an exam would be strongly recommended.

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    Answered By Joy Fuhrman, DVM, MBA, CPA

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 10th, 2017

    This looks like ringworm, a fungal infection of the skin. Your veterinarian will be able to diagnose and prescribe treatment for ringworm and determine if there are any bacterial skin infections as well.

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

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 22nd, 2019

    Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

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