Puppy biting himself until he bleeds

by Jennifer
(Dayton,Ohio)

We have an 11 week old Saint Bernard and the past 2 weeks, he has been biting near his tail area as it appears to be HOT Spots and we can't figure out why he keeps doing this? He is biting himself in different areas and making himself bleed. Why would he be doing this?

We took him to the vet and he had a cortisone shot. He is still biting !! We have not changed his food and he is eating large breed puppy eukanuba.



Hi Jennifer
It definitely sounds as though your pup is suffering from allergies of some sort, these are the most common reason for a dog to develop intense itching and hot spots.

The cortisone often helps, but it's a temporary fix and you need to get to the root of the problem. If you haven't already read my pages on canine allergies I'd recommend that you take a look. You'll find them here...

Dog Allergies

Dog Food Allergies

Dog Food Allergies

I'd also recommend that you check out the online interview that I did with Linda Arndt (aka 'The Great Dane Lady). You can find it here Interview With The Great Dane Lady. Linda is an expert on feeding large breed dogs, and many of the health issues associated with them. Her website is also very helpful and has information on how to treat/prevent yeast infections in dogs and how they're related to diet. Yeast infections can cause symptoms similar to allergies, and I think it would be helpful for you to read about that too.

Your vet can do allergy tests for you as well if you think that an allergy is the problem. I hope this helps and that you manage to find out what is causing your pups' discomfort. Best of luck.