What could be wrong with this dog?

My friend has a 7 year old rottie/staffie mix that bites herself. She has now bitten fur from her butt and tail and it is becoming bald. I don't think it is mange....but could be. Also her dog scratches a lot when nervous, confused, or doesn't know what to do (like if two people call her name and she doesn't know who to go to). My friend thinks its a mental problem with her. What could be wrong with her and how could it be treated? I'm trying to get them to switch dog food to improve skin but could cheap dog foods really cause all this?

What could be wrong with this dog?
some dogs have what is called a hot spot that is chewed ,licked till hair is gone and skin is raw,there is medicines for this go to www.drsfostersmith.com or call 800-826-7206 for catalog they have a wide variety of different pet supplies for dogs and cats as well as pet care tips its free
Reply:Could be demodectic mange stress can cause that.
Reply:I think it could be bad food or allergies, or both. Adding salmon oil to the dog's food will help, but a better change would be to a brand like Wysong, or Innova, Evo, Canidae, Merrick, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover....., California Natural, or even Nutro.





And just as a training/behavior aside - take extra care to not push this dog too much - keep your training sessions very short. The behavior you describe is stress-y, and she's telling you by scratching (and probably yawning, and sniffing, and avoiding eye contact) that there's too much going on. Good luck!
Reply:This could also be known as something called hotspots.They they burn and itch and if kept irritated it will cause a dog to bite scratch till the hair is gone and down to the skin,If this is something that just started a short time ago then I would look into allergies,Pets get the same things we do but they affect them differently,unfortunatly not all dogfoods are as healthy as we think ,the old saying ,you really do get what you pay for.I bought this book as My dog has allergies as well and he is 100% better than he was on the store food
Reply:It could be mange, the vet can check for it.





It could also be allergies. My dog is allergic to EVERYTHING. Switching to a high-quality lamb and rice food will help if the dog is allergic to her food. Other possible allergies are fleas (it only takes 1 flea to make the dog do all of that), or environmental allergies (smog, grass, etc). Dog's allergies manifest themselves in skin problems, not respiratory problems like they would in a person. One other thing it could be is an infection - bacterial or fungal - on the skin. An infection can cause the hot spots and the hot spots can also get infected if they get bad enough.





My dog got bad flea allergies last May (he's always had food allergies). He chewed until he was bald and scabby from his rib cage to his tail. Once they get bald spots like that, it becomes a vicious cycle. The spots itch as they start to heal and the hair re-grows, so they scratch and it starts all over. We had an e-collar (aka big goofy cone) on our dog from August until this week. It prevented him from biting and his hair is almost all grown back. He still wears the cone when we leave him alone, but he is almost all healed.





Other remedies we tried to stop the itching were Goldbond powder, cortizone cream/spray, topical hot spot spray, flea baths, oatmeal baths, every OTC anti-itch cream/lotion I could find, oral Benadryl, and all kinds of hypo-allergenic and prescription shampoos.





A vet can try to determine if it is mange, allergies or something else causing the problem. Then you can start to treat it. It could be a mental problem, but more than likely it's something else, and possibly stress causes her to itch worse. I would definitely have your friend take the dog to a vet. In the meantime go to Petsmart and get her an e-collar so she can't cause any more damage to herself.





EDIT: We feed our dog Nutro Naturals Lamb and Rice food. Its not as expensive as some of the other premium foods, and it has helped his skin a lot. If it's a food allergy you also need to avoid all treats and table scraps.
Reply:allergies, dermatitis, yeast infections, ODC...





My Pekingese has been diagnosed with all of these over the years.





He used to be balding on his butt and he chewed his tail up so badly that it had to be amputated.





Now he gets bathed in medicated shampoo (Maleseb) every few days, and since we moved to the desert (not as many fleas and ticks here as there was when we lived on a farm), he is much better. No more constant biting and itching and he is no longer balding anywhere.





The problem may or may not be related to food so your best bet would be to get your friend to take the dog to the vet. They should be able to diagnose the problem and inform you on the best way to treat it. The dog is probably miserable right now. I hope everything works out well for it.
Reply:you might want to tell your friend to switch to natural dog and ask fora vets opinion