Chocolate Lab Dermatology

Question
Hello.  We have a 2 year old female lab.  She is outside in our 1 acre yard when we are not home, but spends much of the day and all night inside.  I noticed a couple days ago that she has chewed most of the hair from the backs of her thighs and a spot on the base of her tail.  We noticed her biting herself a few weeks ago so we gave her a bath with flea shampoo just in case fleas were the problem (although we looked but found no fleas).  The bath didn't seem to help.  

We live in central Indiana so the weather is starting to get colder.  We do run humidifiers in the house, but could this problem just be dry skin?  What remedies can you suggest?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Shannon

Answer
In the area where she is scratching, it would likely be a flea allergy even though you are not seeing fleas on the dog.  Sometimes only a few fleas that can cause a severe allergic reaction.  Ask your vet if it could be flea allergy.  If it is, then a short course of steroids will help until it starts getting really cold and then the fleas go dormant for the winter. The steroids will take away the skin itching so the dog will not bite and chew the fur off of the skin.