Certain breeds of dogs are more prone to hot spots than others, but most any dog could get one at any time. A hot spot is just what is sounds like. It is a patch of skin where the hair falls out and the area becomes red, hot, and after much scratching by your dog, it gets infected and can bleed. They really do seem to pop up over night. There are many theories on what causes these hot and infected areas. They have been linked with allergies, both from the environment and food intake. Some vets link them to stressful times for your dog, such as separation anxiety. Most vets will tell you know one is exactly sure where they come from. Some dogs develop a small area of a hot spot, the size of a quarter, where others will have hot spots that can cover a large part of their body. Dogs will scratch them constantly causing the sores to open and bleed. This invites infection. The first sign of a hot spot can start off as liquid that appears to be weeping from an area of the dogs skin. Shortly after that the hair falls out almost completely from the area.
Many products are on the market for the treatment and care of hot spots. They range from liquids to powders and sprays. There are many home remedies that are suggested from breeders and vets. If a hot spot becomes infected, you will need to get an antibiotic from your vet to heal the infection.
One of the breeds that are very prone to hot spots are Golden Retrievers. I have raised them for 10 years and have tried almost all of the products on the market to treat the hot spots. None of them work very well. They might help cleanse the area, but healing time and remission are no different as if I kept the area clean with mild soap and water.
I now use a two prong approach to hot spots. First, I immediately change my dogs diet to ground hamburger cooked with rice and feed that to him through the duration of the episode. I then use hydrogen peroxide to clean the area often through out the day.
One of my dogs had hot spots constantly, we could never actually rid him of these. His hot spots would get so bad that 20% of his fur would fall out and the area was always weeping. I changed the dogs diet for good. He eats nothing but a special meat loaf that I prepare for him. I use ground hamburger, shredded carrots,eggs, and whole grain wheat bread. I mix all these ingredients in a bowl and form it into a meatloaf. I bake it as you would any other meatloaf. I also boil chicken and rice. Which ever is on sale at the meat department that week, is what I prepare, This is what my dog, Bear’s, diet consists of. After two weeks of nothing but the chicken and beef, he has never had a hot spot again. He went from being in agony with major hot spots, to none at all for the last 5 years. My vet now recommends this diet for dogs with extreme cases, such as Bear’s.
Dog food was introduced in mass quantity in the 1950’s. Up until then, dogs ate table scraps or scraps from the butcher. Most people who were around during that time will tell you the dogs seemed much healthier then. Canines are meat eaters. After reading what goes into much of commercial dog food, I am now very picky what I buy to feed my dogs, or I prepare their food myself. This can get costly, but if your dog suffers from chronic hot spots, this might be their only chance to heal.
