Biting herself all the time - Page 2

Sounds like an alergy of some kind or what Kalibeck said - a physical problem. I would start by changing her food to something which contains no wheat products of any kind since that is about the most common alergen found in lower quality foods - Most Iams products are loaded with it along with corn. Does the dog also bite its paws or scratch its ears? If so, it is VERY likely to be food related. If you change to a quality food and it persists, I would get an alergy test. Unfortunately, the tests are expensive so I would try eliminating the most common cause first.

She does not scratch her ears and does not bite her feet. What are some suggestions on foods. I have asked about taste of the wild but the vet said continue with puppy food.
Funny that you should talk bad about wheat, I have 80 acres planted in winter wheat right now!!

I had a terrier with  a bad allergy that showed up as skin itchiness - horrible itchiness - salmon and other fish based foods and antihistamines were the answer at the worst of times.  After  eliminations of environmental possibilities one by one, she proved to be allergic to freshly cut grass.   Something in the blades of grass itself - she was fine if it was intact blades, but freshly broken (mowed) blades caused her to go almost raw.  Bizarre. 

How often does she poo should have something to do with how often she eats.
Did you spray herbicide in the Wheat field?
If it was very serious I would think she would be raw but if she's just itchy it could be anything or nothing.
Mine never scratches his tail until he comes in the house, its odd but thats when he decides its time to scratch his tail..
Like a ritual..lol
Sometimes they are just funny about little things.

Dont let the vets take your money to do all kinds of test for food allergies and crap. give her a nice oatmeal bath and give her some ADV or Fontline. one flea bite can make a dog itch like crazy for days.

Having dealt with two allergic, itchy dogs, I can tell you the cause of the itchiness could be a number of things and it will likely take a while to figure it out, unless you are one of the lucky ones.   The list as to what could be causing the itchiness is endless- environmental or food allergies, discomfort or pain, stress, dry skin, vaccines, flea, tick & heartworm preventaitives, shampoos, laundrey detergent, cleaners, grass, dust, pollens, various scented candles or diffusers, fleas, ticks, mites, mange, preservatives in commercial food, chlorine in the drinking water. ..the list goes on.  It can be very frustrating and stressful, but don't give up!  Many times a dog can be allergic to a number of things as it can be an immune system issue. Whether the itchiness is due to food or not, I'd change to a better quality food that is grain free as Iams is not the best food.  What helped my dog was putting her on a homemade diet of various proteins (no chicken-she is allergic to it) and some cooked veggies, supplementing with a probiotic (Prozyme), goat kefir & Alaskan Salmon oil. I never use a soap based shampoo and I don't bathe her more than once a month. I use all "green" and/or natural products in my house and yard (no chemicals). I do know of quite a few people who had great success with just adding a probiotic, so that may be a start. I wish I would've been that lucky.  The best thing to do is check out the yahoo allerdog forum- that is where I got a lot of help, advice and support.   http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ALLERDOG/  I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you.
Char

I had a dog that started itching near her tail. I put some hot spot foam stuff on and she quit. She got into the habit of chewing on her self.

Now she scratches her ear in slow motion when she wants attention.....I let her, because this behavior isn't causing any damage.

We have been using vectra on her and I bought a new flea comb (she chewed the other one) and when I started I found about 10 fleas on her. Having a new puppy is harder than raising kids. My kids are 27 and 22 you would think I would have a clue. I had been combing her with the other flea comb and it was not getting them. This is the 2nd month on vectra and I think it is crap. It works for about 2 to 3 weeks and then nothing. Neither of my cats have any fleas but they use frontline. The scratching is getting better but has not stopped. I have combed her so much we are both sick of it. I think this has been the issue this month and last month. Last month I found the fleas so scratching was minimal.
I have one more tube of Vectra so I will use it and then get something better.
Thanks for everyones help!!!!!

The wheat is never sprayed! It is used for food and we are completely organic.

stools shouldn't be plentiful, they should be small and not too frequent.  how do her ears look?  I would switch her to a no grain food, or dive in and go raw.

don't start over supplementing either.  it's a common mistake, and sometimes causes more harm than good.

this is just a suggestion...i am not trying to start a 'what to feed' debate.


good luck!