My dog is scratching herself raw...

[ciaraciara]

My 7 year old collie bitch has no fleas or mange but she is scratching herself so much that much of her hair has been pulled out and her skin is raw, Does anyone know what could be the cause of this and how to cure it???

[boxtops]

Take her to the vet - she could have an allergy, she could be just plain bored. Does she get lots of exercise?

[ciaraciara]

Yes boxtops I'll definitely do that, I just wanted to see if someone might know what was wrong as my dog is particularly savage when it comes to strangers..!!! Yep she gets loads of exercise, running around fields every day, she also hates the rain, because it irritates her skin ..

[boxtops]

Not bored then! There could be a number of causes, however we have cats not dogs so I am sure a dog-owner may come up with some suggestions.

[divegirl]

I could be a flea allergy, it's certainly the time of year. One of my dogs doesn't actually have to have fleas but just get bitten by one. I've seen him go bald on on his back before now. Get it checked by a vet but I give a child dose of Piriton[he's a yorkie] and when I bath him I use a tea tree oil based shampoo and brush it through his coat in the bath then rinse really well.
Lisa x

[DaisyBoyd]

Have you changed her food recently? Maybe you should speak to one of the holistic dog food companies?

I've had food from landofholisticpets.co.uk for my collie. The guy who runs this company is very helpful.

Daisyboyd

[carmalee]

if it isn't fleas it could be an allergy to a cleaning product - or a new carpet - I'm assuming she has no sign of mange?

[chelle7272]

Same as divegirl, my border collie had a flea allergy, one bite and he would go bald all over his body and scratch himself raw. it did look like mange, it was awful.
Get the vet to check it but if it is an allergy then divegirls advice is good. Good luck.

[dothawkes31]

My dog MaX was allergic to rye grass that grew long in the summer where we used to let him run off the lead, he would get the pollen under his hair and before we knew it he would have rubbed his back raw on the fence to get at it!

[brenda]

Grass allergy very possible.

[jules77]

Where is it she is scratching, it could be an allergy, or perhaps a hot spot.

http://www.dogbreeder...20topics/hotspots.htm