Why do Dogs Develop Scabs?
Hi Dr. B,
My Malamute or Husky mix (has one blue eye) has been dealing with some skin issues for the last six months. He gets scabs that he pulls with his teeth; the hair comes off in those spots.
We live in Florida and we kept the dog shaved. Last year we decided to not shave him anymore and it seems like his issues started when his coat was fully grown. Nobody seems to know what the problem is; we were given antibiotics and antihistamines. The spots went away under treatment but reappeared soon after finishing treatment. I clean his wounds with peroxide and apply an antibiotic cream on a regular basis, but new spots appear in new places.
If you know what this is and how we can fix it, please let me know; it breaks my heart not to be able to help him.
Thank you in advance,
Elsa
Inverness, FL
Your dog’s skin problems most likely are being caused by irregular activity of his immune system. In my experience, dogs with a blue eye (or two) suffer from immune-mediated skin problems at increased rates.
Dealing with immune-mediated skin disease can be frustrating. This sort of problem generally can be treated but not cured.
The simplest thing you can do to try to prevent ongoing outbreaks is to be very aggressive with flea control. Florida is big-time flea country, and even rare bites can activate the immune system to cause skin problems. It does not matter whether your dog “has fleas”–the parasites can cause severe skin problems even in the absence of a visible infestation.
Some of the blue-eyed dogs I’ve seen with skin problems respond to decreased sun exposure. Keeping him in the shade during the peak sun hours of 10:00 am – 4:00 pm may help with the problem.
Oral supplementation with vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) may have a slight impact on the problem.
If these tricks don’t help, then I’d recommend further testing for your dog. A skin biopsy can be performed and it almost certainly will lead to a diagnosis. Depending on the results, a highly effective treatment may–or may not–be available.
Photo: Kya shows off her blue eye.
You have questions. 
I had a full blood German shepherd puppy that I bought when he was 3 months old. The breeder told me the names of two brands of dog food that I should use. I chose the cheaper one because my grocery store carried it.
Within a few weeks of feeding him this food, he developed scabs on every part of his body: from the top of his head to his belly and legs. The vet gave him shots and said it was an allergy.
I could find nothing in the house or in the backyard that he might be getting into that would cause this kind of reaction. There was nothing else to explain it, so I switched his food.
Slowly but surely, the scabs disappeared and went away completely. But I still could not believe that a major brand of dog food could be the cause of this. I still thought it could be something else in his environment.
Until one day I ran out of his new brand of food. I still had some of the first brand, so I filled up his bowl and within an hour, he was dead. Anaphylactic shock – his lungs had filled up with foam and he couldn’t breathe. He died in my arms.
And I still couldn’t believe it was the food. Six months later, it was announced on the nightly news that products from this major brand of dog food were tainted from Chinese ingredients. And I finally figured it out.
Change your dog’s food.
Huskey’s are not supposed to be clipped (well any two-coated dog for that matter.) Their under coat that is shaved off protects them from heat and cold and bugs, mites, ticks, etc.
As for the spots of hair missing, get your dog dipped. The shaving of the dog lowered it’s natural defenses to parasites and other bad bugs.
There is no need to shave them in the summer. Even if you live in a warm area. You’re doing more harm than good for the dog. They dont sweat, they pant.. and the under-coat keeps them cool. This will just make them much warmer and uncomfortable.
CONT’D* My brother had the scab thing where the hair would fall out happen to his dog. It was caused by him taking the dog to all his different friends homes. Not exactly positive on what the parasite was.. but the vet made it sound like it was a mite or something from the carpet ot a garden… streys tend to have this a lot also. The vet then did a dip on the dog over the corse of 3 visits. This cured it.
I can honestly say though I thought it was like a small ring worm.. just because of the roundness of the scabby hairless patches. I guess i was wrong. Glad he’s ok though now.
CONT’D Also to make clear, my brothers dog is a single coat dog and doesnt have the thick down undercoat to help fight this problem like a husky has. That was a big factor in “Thor” having this happen to him.