poodle skin problems

Question
I know longer have a vet  My poodle has been scratching unstopable   itching and winning all night he got very little sleep Please HELP my heart breaks for him. Is there any thing I can BUY at a pet store THAT MIGHT HELP        Jean

Answer
Hello Jean,
You didn't say if you have checked your dog for fleas or not. If you supect that your dog has fleas, you can buy some Flea Shampoo and you might try the Flea product that you can get from PetCo or PetSmart.  Get either the Advantage (if you also have cats in the house) or you can try Advantix (DO NOT use if you have cats that will come in-contact with your dog).
Your Poodle could possibly have skin Allergies, as dogs can be just as allergic to things as people are.  You could try giving him a Benedryl tablet (one for a Standard or Miniature Poodle, 1/2 for a smaller Poodle) in the evening to see if this helps his itching.  You can even get the generic brand as it contains the same ingredients as the name brand.  
You may need to keep your dog on the benedryl for at least a week so it can get into your dogs system.  After this period if he hasn't stopped scratching, and its not flea or Allergy related, your dog may be affected by a Yeast infection.  Check for Fleas on his skin (look in his topknot, at the base of his tail, in his private area and around the area where he is scratching, you will see black sandy looking grit) and try the benedryl tablets first, and if they don't work after a week or so, please write me back as the treatment for a yeast infection is going to be harder to diagnose and will take some time to treat.  

I hope this has helped you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask me again.