Flaky skin and odor

**theoconbrio** · 01-06-2011, 12:43 AM

Does anyone have experience with seborrhea? (In dogs--I don't want to hear about your own dandruff!) Theo was at sleepaway camp with his best buddy over the holidays, and since he's been back we've noticed a flaky buildup under the very dense fur on his neck, especially between his chin and chest. It feels oily there, and there is a pronounced doggy odor--not terrible, but noticeable. (In general, he has very little odor.) He's also itching. Googling around, it seems consistent with seborrhea, but I'm not sure. The skin isn't broken or inflamed, and it doesn't seem to be bothering him too much. But I would like the smell to go away, and I don't want it to blossom into something more serious. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try bathing the area with a medicated pet shampoo, or giving him a lime dip.

Thanks for any advice.

**patm** · 01-06-2011, 06:29 AM

Since this hasn't happened before, and it happened after being with another dog (assuming his best buddy was a dog) , I would probably got to vet instead of trying to treat it myself.

**AngusFangus** · 01-06-2011, 11:47 AM

Yeah, maybe you could just take him in and they could do a scraping. Sounds like it would be an easy something to diagnose. It must be something he picked up, with it happening so fast and after kenneling/sleepover. Hope you can get it figured out quickly!

**theoconbrio** · 01-06-2011, 12:12 PM

OK, OK. It's to the point that I'm actively embarrassed calling them, they know us so well.

**TangerineFizz** · 01-06-2011, 12:27 PM

Yeah, it sounds a bit odd that it's only just started after his visit with his friend. I might try giving him a bath first with some oatmeal shampoo, cause maybe it's been irritated by saliva from another dog - you know how they like to grab each other's necks, faces, etc. so maybe it's an irritation from something like that?

**theoconbrio** · 01-06-2011, 12:43 PM

What's doubly odd is that this dog, although he is a total sweetheart, is allergic to everything and always smells. When he comes to visit I always feel like shampooing the carpet after. Since he's been getting allergy shots things have improved dramatically.

Theo did a lot of swimming while we were away, so my hypothesis is that they left his collar on and his neck never fully dried out, and now he's having some kind of reaction. Either that or he picked something up from his buddy. We're taking a wait-and-see approach right now, although I did give him an oatmeal and aloe bath and did a lot of brushing, and that has helped the itching considerably.

**labby** · 01-06-2011, 01:30 PM

No idea Nathan, but don't let it go too long. Once the dog develops skin probs, they can be a bugger to get rid of sometimes.

**Kate** · 01-06-2011, 05:52 PM

It sounds just like what happened to Archie. He was flaking and itchy and smelly. Since he has had allergic problems in the past I wanted to nip it in the bud. They did a scrape and it was an infection and he received antibiotics to clear it up. We are not sure what caused it but it seems anytime he gets in pond water something happens.

**theoconbrio** · 01-06-2011, 06:37 PM

Thanks. We're all going away for a couple days, but we're going to take him in to get scraped as soon as we get back.

**georgie** · 01-06-2011, 06:38 PM

Good idea to go to the vet & have a scraping done. But I will tell you when we went on vacation Molly wore her collar almost always because we were away. She swam in the ocean every day. Not sure if it was from not having her neck completely dry under the collar but I noticed an odor when we got home. She has a very thick neck & loose skin on her neck. I washed her neck real good with oatmeal shampoo when we got home. I checked & didn't see any open areas or red areas. Once I dried her neck...the smell was gone. Hope Theo's problem is resolved quickly.