We are just about to lose our minds here. All 3 dogs are scratching, itching, trying to get or almost have hot spots breaking out.

We first noticed Smokey really licking & biting, red blotches on his tummy. So I started Pitcairns fast & have been fasting since last Tues. Tummy kinda cleared up, then he started on his side. Smokey is also the one that is hard to treat because he's afraid of grooming. We're trying to handle this ourselves. We can't afford a $500.00 vet bill to knock him out - he's the guy that has to be darted to knock him out for any treatment. He will let my son rub stuff on, but you can't use a spray. We've used aloe vera from the plant outside and the Earthbath itch relief. Spray it in a bowl, then rub it on him.

Now Smokey's tummy and back of a paw are a strawberry pink almost - he's still scratching.

Taffy has her allergy issues. I gave her a collidal oatmeal bath Sun. - by Mon, she was developing a hot spot and itching worse than ever. We goofed there not drying her with a hair dryer, so we shaved the spot & she was still going out of her mind itching.

My son bought some Earthbath oatmeal & aloe shampoo and a bottle of their Hot Spot & Itch Relief last night. So he gave her another bath. Immediately after, she's itching like crazy, so then he used the itch relief and it finally calmed her down to let her sleep. It seems like the itch relief after awhile helps.

Licorice is itching too, biting at spots & has scabs from biting which I'll have to watch that doesn't turn into hot spots. She does the 3 legged balance and scratch with the other leg. Although she's not quite as bad as the other two.

We can't find any fleas. My son has been driving me mad as well, questioning - first he thinks it's mites from reading stuff on line, then is it something in their food their all allergic too, saying you give them eggs, are they all allergic to that. I don't know if it's the rice grains in their diet, or if it's a seasonal thing, or they might have had a flea bite and this is an allergic reaction. I'm vacuuming like mad too.

I'm thinking I need to go get them some Benedryl. From past posts I've found dosage amounts for Benedryl. Quercetin is also mentioned, but I'm wondering how much I would give and from what I've read it needs to be from a reliable source. Would Whole Foods have it? And just what is the right ingredient that I need to look for on a bottle label? Wouldn't you know it, I've been out of Sea Pet fish oil for awhile, but that should be coming any day now, so that should help too.

So that's what we've been up against here. We've got bottles of this and that spread through the house like a sick room. I've tried witch hazel, dabbing spots with tea. So Thanks for reading, we'd appreciate any suggestions. At the moment all 3 are peacefully asleep, but I know it's just the calm in the storm till their at it again.

Wish I had an answer, but I don't. I am sending lots of love and healing vibes. I know someone here will have some good advice. Good luck to you.

Wow, I don't have any suggestions for you. My first thought was fleas, since they all seem to have started itching one right after another, as if the fleas were spreading from Smokey to Taffy to Licorice. But if you're not seeing any fleas or finding any flea dirt on them when grooming, then I have no idea.

I sure hope you can figure it out soon, so that all of you can get some relief! Lots of "no more itchiness" vibes headed your way!

Poor things!!! No idea on the Quercetin, but the benadryl will at least provide more short-term relief. Benadryl is wonderful for itchies.

Any chance you or a neighbor has sprayed/spread anything on lawns/trees--fertilizer, pesticide, etc? It's very strange that all three have the same problem at lamost the exact same time (not to mention frustrating for you!). Do you have mosquitos around? Ella reacts quite badly to those. Have they been swimming in a lake/ocean/stream recently? Just trying to think of all the possible triggers, even if it doesn't really help in the short term.

If they're really sensitive to fleas, just a few bites could send them into this level of itchiness. Just a thought, since you'd be highly unlikely to see that one F**ing flea hopping from dog to dog, biting them each a few times.

Lots of calm and soothing vibes from Ella and I!

I don't think there is any thing different around here. Haven't noticed any strange smells or anything. No body has gone skinny dipping where they shouldn't. I haven't noticed mosquitos, although the news says were still prone for West Nile virus, so they have to be around.

The only thing I can say for the environment is that we are so dry, in a drought. Our water bill is through the roof, we barely water, lawns are half dead. So I called for an audit of our bill. Guy comes out yesterday, tells me we were overwatering, not to water more than 4 minutes at a time, the rest is just waste that goes into the aquifer. So yesterday, as I was mowing my over watered lawns that hadn't been mowed for 3 weeks - huge lawn front and back - I got 3 baskets of cuttings. For a visual, if you see a dead weed in a sidewalk crack, that's a picture of our over watered lawns. - Our combined power and water bill is more than our house payment.

Thanks everyone for the calming vibes, we could sure use it here!

Ugh - poor puppers, and poor you. I hope you can figure out what it is - maybe they stepped or rolled in something out on a walk?

Still itching.

I had to shave Licorice's back, her spot from this morning doubled in size. Bill was looking through the short stubble in that spot tonight & thought he might have seen a flea, but like that cruise commercial about a smile, it was gone in a flash. So he probably did see a flea, he said he thought it was brown colored. And chances are if one dog has fleas, they all do.

So maybe we need to do some sort of a bath that would address fleas. Taffy is licking like mad.

We got some Benedryl and gave them each a couple of tablets. Hope to knock them out if nothing else. I had to lay down and take a nap this afternoon myself. We're all exhausted. Hope we settle down here before long.

Ok, I just found a black speck on Taffy. It turned red when I laid it on a piece of white paper and wet it.

So, now how would you go about treating their fleas without poisoning the dog or us?

do they get frontline or advantage?

No. That's the topical stuff isn't it? It seemed in the past when I put that on, they'd get a bump on the back from where it was applied, but I don't know, we may not have a choice. We're between a rock and a hard place. Especially Smokey, don't know if he'd let us do a flea bath anyway.

Oh, we did decide where we could be getting fleas. The neighbors next door have 3 dogs that they neglect, they are always outside no matter how hot or cold it is. They are fed Pedigre. Occasionally the little mutt gets a board loose off the fence and gets in our yard. So it could drop fleas when it visits, or the fleas then migrate to our yard.

Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Wash all the dog bedding (I did it daily for awhile). Try using a flea comb on them, and dunk any fleas you get off into water with dish liquid in it (they can apparently just jump right out of plain water). When Jack got fleas last summer and I was too clueless to figure it out until we were overrun, I had resorted to Frontline and multiple baths where I left the shampoo on for a long time (trying to smother the little buggers). Even with all of that, I ended up having to flea bomb my house twice before I got the infestation under control. I believe you can use DE to try to manage the fleas outside; I didn't try it because it was too wet here at the time.

I'm glad you figured it out before it gets to the point mine did. My ankles were covered in flea bites for weeks!

I feel for you. The dry weather and watering restrictions are contributing to the problem. Even after getting control, you'll need to continue anti-itch measures until the dogs' skin is healed (benadryl or perhaps something herbal).

Bathe the dogs in regular dog shampoo, not flea shampoo. Leave it on for 5-6 minutes before rinsing.
In the house: Order FleaBusters powder. Get the dogs out of the room you are working on, put on a dust mask and work the powder into the carpets, and the back of the couches / chairs like the directions say. Vacuum up the loose particles. It is important that the dogs nor yourself do not breathe in the powder, which is why you keep the dogs out of the room you are working on until you have finished. This is supposed to last a year, and kill any emerging fleas.

Outside: when you can start watering again, then put down beneficial nematodes. They are live bugs that eat the flea larvea. The flea larvea has to be on the ground for them to eat, b/c that is their food (that and other things like grub worms). This has to be applied during a light rain, or after a light watering and yes, you do have to keep the soil light wet and not dryed out so they won't dry out.

Doing a routine the next few weeks of vacuuming and washing everything will be tiresome, but it should help.

If the sores start bleeding, you may want to get from the vet a topical antibiotic so that a staph infection doesn't take place. I use betagen when my girl bites sores into her skin when she is allergic to something.

I'm sorry to hear you are having so much trouble, Johnna.

Some people have given good advice already, but I wanted to add that using a hypoallergenic shampoo might be the best approach, since as nice as oatmeal shampoos generally are, in some dogs they just make the itching worse.

I've noticed that with Taffy. It seemed like after the Aveno Oatmeal bath she was itching worse than ever, and our troubles just magnified after that.

And wouldn't you know, Bill went out and bought Earthbath's Oatmeal and Aloe Shampoo. She itched like mad after that one too. It wasn't until he sprayed on some of Earthbath's Hot Spot and Itch Relief that she got any measure of relief. Although it lists oatmeal on the label of that, with Aloe Vera and tea tree oil after that. So I don't know what to think.

I also read another link someone posted about spraying Apple Cider Vinegar to relieve itching - 1:1 for itching or diluted 50/50 for broken skin. It also recommended a ACV rinse 50/50 after the wash.

Lets see now, we've bathed her Sun. and Tues. this week. Could we do it again?

I do have some of Dr. Bronner's Pure Castille Soap, unscented - should I just that like it is - could I add some Aloe Vera to that or just use the Castille soap as it is?

I think it would be a good idea to bathe again, to remove as many irritants as possible.

The plain Dr. Bronner's soap may work out fine already, just don't leave it on too long.

A vinegar rinse might bring some relief as well, but I wouldn't make it that strong, just mix a cup or two with 4-5 gallons of water and then slowly pour it cupful by cupful over the entire body (not the face though).

Another quick question: should I dry her after her bath. Some sites I've read recommend letting the dog air dry after a vinegar rinse? Or will I just give her hot spots?

Maybe just towel dry good & let her air dry some in the sun?

Johnna -- I hope everyone at your house is starting to feel better! Snoopy has been itching like CRAZY, too, but NO fleas (believe me, I have searched). He does well with a little bit of Benadryl occasionally - it seems to be worst early in the morning (around 5 am - I've had to take his collar off bc the jingle-jingle-jingle of his collar while he is scratching drives me LOCO!) It might be our weather, lately. I'm not sure if you are in southern Cal or northern....

My dog pharm book says to give benadryl 1-2 mg per pound. We give abt 1 mg per pound so I give him a 25 mg tab.

We're in So. Cal - we are so dry! I started out giving 1 mg a lb, but have upped it to 2 mg. Our dogs are 50-60 lbs. So I've started giving 4- 25mg.tablets and Licorice just a little bit more since she's the heaviest.

So here's the latest. I did give Taffy another bath with the Castille soap. I made up a vinegar rinse, 1 cup ACV to 5 gal. water. As soon as I started pouring it on she started acting like it hurt, wanting to bite her back, so I figured uh, oh - it was too strong, so immediately washed it off. She had a patch near her butt that looked like it was either dried skin or flea eggs, I couldn't tell. By that time I had had it, so called the vet to see if we could get her in. I call, get no answer, but the machine said they were open till 9. So we go over there. Their closed, nobody there.

So even better we wind up at Pet Co. Got a package of Advantage & gave a dose to Smokey.

Plus we found a decent flea comb, not the crappy blue plastic thing PetSmart sells. This one is called Grip Soft by the JW Pet Company, the blade is 1/2 long, much longer than the blue thing that's probably only good for short haired dogs. This one says it's good for dogs with Curly, Flat, Wiry, Long & Medium (our guys) and short. Having a decent handle helps to comb also.

Found a flea on Taffy, comb all we could that was all we could find. Licorice who doesn't seem as itchy as Taffy, although she has gone after her butt and flank - found 6 fleas on her right off the batt. That was sort of scary, I'm thinking oh, jeez, she's got a major infestation.

Taffy is still itchy, so this might be a long night, her skin is so pink looking, poor baby.