There could be lots of reasons. I'm going to think in terms of what we do and the pets that we see coming in. There could be lots of reasons for itching, but I will break down the four primary causes. Seasonal allergies are the most common cause, and they will occur during certain times of the year because pollens from certain plants trigger an allergic reaction. These are the same types of plants that cause people to have allergies, but in people, we think of upper respiratory conditions, like runny eyes or runny nose, and sinus headaches. With dogs, we can get biting, scratching, licking, itching, chewing, and ear problems. The second most common cause we see are indoor or environmental allergens. That is primarily from house dust, dust mites, molds, and mildew.

Next is food allergies. Food allergies are primarily caused by chicken or beef. There are other potential causes, but chicken and beef are the two primary triggers for food allergies, which can also make your dog really itchy. The last one is flea allergies. Flea allergies, of all these I just mentioned, are typically the most intensely itchy for your pet. The good news is it's also the easiest to get rid of because it just takes appropriate and effective flea control. Pets with flea allergies, dogs and cats, are totally miserable.

Two things come to mind in every situation that every veterinarian has to be aware of because of the public health concern, especially when you have children around. The first one we're always going to give consideration to is ringworm. A ringworm is not a worm. The name is misleading, but a fungus actually causes it. Kids can pick up ringworm from another classmate at school. A lot of times, we'll commonly see ringworm in cats than in dogs. So if you find a kitten on the side of the road, you bring them home, and after a couple of days, you start getting little red rings on your skin; we start looking into ringworm. Usually, you'll see areas of hair loss on the kitten.

It could show up on the face or anywhere on the body, but a fungus causes it. Unfortunately, they can be a bit of a nuisance to manage or eliminate. That's the more common type of skin condition that can be transmitted. The other one is called Sarcoptic Mange. We don't see a lot of it, and fortunately, it's very easy to treat, unlike ringworm, which could be a real nuisance. Sarcoptic Mange is highly contagious. It's caused by tiny little mites or insects that live in the skin, but it can primarily spread from our pets, our dogs. We don't really see it so much in cats. Our dogs may get it, transmit it to us, and likewise, we can spread it to another family member. You need that close contact for it to be transmitted because it is a mite in the skin, but it is easy to treat. That's the good news. Those will always be the first two considerations: ringworm or Sarcoptic Mange.

We don't see contact allergy dermatitis as much as we do the other forms of allergies. Contact allergies are primarily from either some sort of material or a plant that can cause an adverse reaction to the skin. The primary causes in dogs are drinking water or eating out of plastic or a stainless steel bowl, in which case, we recommend using a ceramic bowl. We generally see dogs with a lot of irritation around the face, nose, or chin. Those are common areas where contact allergy dermatitis from feeding bowls show up. Plants can also be responsible for contact allergies. We think of something like poison ivy. Obviously, we see a bad rash in people. It's possible to see that on a dog, but we generally don't see it nearly as often as in people.

Flea allergy dermatitis is an adverse reaction or reaction to a flea bite, causing your dog to have excruciating biting, scratching, licking, itching, chewing, hair loss, and developing sores. I want to make this very clear. Just because the dog has fleas does not mean they have an allergic reaction to flea bites. Every dog's going to bite and scratch and chew because of the fleas. But when we see these dogs coming in with hair loss, sores, and red and raw skin, they have true flea allergy dermatitis. Understand that not every dog that has fleas will have that intensive reaction, but those dogs that do have that adverse reaction are suffering a lot of discomfort.

Food allergy dermatitis is the third most common type of allergy we see. It is a reaction or what we call an adverse food reaction, which is primarily caused by the main protein in the diet that leads to skin problems for your pet. The most common skin problems we see are biting, scratching, licking, itching, and chewing, primarily on the face and around the feet, the armpits, up around the ears, and, in many cases, around the back half of the body or the groin area. So, tail end. That is the more common presentation of a food allergy. Common causes of food allergies are chicken and beef.

Dermatitis is the inflammation or irritation of the skin. It's as simple as that. We have a term called dermatology, which is the study of skin conditions.

Not effectively. However, I mentioned using Greenies, which are sometimes shaped like chew toys. But no, no chew toy can be effective for that. I will suggest rawhides, which can be beneficial. The same company that makes Veggiedents make a rawhide that's also enzyme-coded. That can be very beneficial because it's that chewing action that will help remove that plaque on the teeth. But you want to get an enzymatic cleaner. Chew toys don't have that. It's just a chew toy. So it's not going to help with the teeth.

Let me make this clear. This is my opportunity to rant about milk bones and milk bone-type treats. They do not help clean the teeth. A milk bone is not that much different from giving your dog kibble, and dog kibble is not designed to clean your dog's teeth. It's hard, but the way it works is that it just crushes. Many dogs just swallow it and don't even chew the food. It crushes on when they bite into it, and there's no way that will clean the teeth at all. So please, do not give your dog milk bones. They do not help keep the teeth clean. They add a lot of unwanted calories, which can be a big contributor to some of the obesity issues we see in dogs. If you're going to use something for your dog's teeth, either use Veggiedents that we have or use C.E.T. chews, which can be really effective. One last word about rawhides. I don't have any problems with people trying rawhides. Just make sure they're from North America and not Asia. If you look in the bag, you can quickly see if it's made in North America, Asia, or overseas. If it's made overseas, put it back on the shelf because there is potential for toxins in those particular products.

They can. Although it's very uncommon, they can get cavities. It's more common in cats. Cats are much more likely to get cavities than dogs.

Honestly, I think of Greenies being more like a breath freshener than an actual dental cleaning product. There's no enzyme in there that's going to help remove the plaque that's building up on the teeth. I don't know if it still exists, but there used to be chlorophyll gum years ago. I don't know if it's still around or not, but chlorophyll is a breath freshener. That's where they get the color from; the chlorophyll. If you use Greenies, think of it as a breath freshener, not a teeth cleaner. We do have a product that's called Veggiedent, which are enzymatic cleaners. It's a chewable product, and that enzyme will help remove that plaque, which is the foundation of dental cleaning. The nice thing about Veggiedents is if your dog has a food allergy or an adverse food reaction when they eat chicken, beef, or dogs that have issues with lamb or pork, it won't be a problem because there's no meat in there that could create an adverse reaction.

Let's talk about some ways of trying to make it easier. In a perfect scenario, you'll always start when your dog is a puppy, preferably if you have a puppy, but you may not get a dog when it's a puppy. It would be ideal to start when they're young. You don't want to make it traumatic for them. You do want to do it so that you can make it a little more playful or fun. If you can, get some peanut butter or use canned cheese, which we use at our clinics, to give to dogs. If you can find something that you can try to reinforce, make it a positive experience for them, something they look forward to and enjoy, that's key number one. First, you want to make it an experience that they're not going to dread because if they dread it, you're also going to dread it. If you do it in a way where they're getting rewarded for participating, that will make it a better experience for you as well. That's key number one. The other consideration is that I always start with these little finger brushes. They're rubber, and they've got little rubber bristles on them. I'd consider them just for a starter purpose. That's not something you'll use on an ongoing basis because the bristles are too rubbery. You're not going to be able to effectively get the plaque off the teeth or remove it, which is the purpose of brushing in the first place. So consider it to be like little training wheels for a toothbrush.

Next, you also want to make sure you use pet toothpaste and not people toothpaste. People toothpaste has fluoride in it. When we brush our teeth, we brush our teeth, and we spit rinse. So we're getting all that material out of our mouths right after we brushed. With dogs, they're not going to rinse. We're not going to rinse their mouth typically, and they're not going to spit. So we don't want to use fluoride because fluoride, especially in a really small dog, if you did it regularly, could cause problems with fluoride toxicity. So you want to make sure you use dog toothpaste because it doesn't have fluoride in it. Again, find a time of day when you can do it consistently. Those are the key things. First, pick a rubber bristle finger brush, then get doggy toothpaste. They're typically flavored. You can find chicken flavor, and I'm sure you can find bacon, vanilla mint, and things like that. Get something that's palatable for them. Start there.