skin issues

Question
My dog has developed some kind of skin problem on his one side . It started as a small dark spot and some hair loss
and now it looks like it is spreading under his hair.He is a puggle and has short hair. I took him to the vet 2 weeks ago they said they weren't sure what it was they gave me some medicated wipes to put on him twice a day. It hasn't help only gotten a bit worse. not sure what to do,it kind of looks like a small bruise but then spreads out under hair.

Answer
Dear Sheri,
First of all, I will NOT try to play doctor with your dog's health but I am going to make a few suggestions. And I am going to send you some cautions about what what your vet may suggest if he/she hasn't already. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT I AM ONLY OFFERING SUGGESTIONS AND NOT MANDATES HERE because my 'expertise' doesn't have degrees or certificates behind it ok? I am a student of nutrition and natural healing at the moment but I am not fantatical. I also believe (and use) the medical field when my dog is in an emergency situation. I just wanted you to have some background on me so you will understand the kind of advice I offer ok? And sometimes I cannot answer a question and I will say that upfront. Ok, having written all of that here is/are my thought(s) on your little pug.



Without being able to see your dog in person, it's pretty much impossible to tell you why he's looking the way he does or what could possibly be causing it. And I am not a vet so might not know what I am looking at anyway. But, the list of things it 'could be' is nearly endless: allergies, infestation of parasitic mites (mange), thyroid problems (How old is our pug, you didn't say)) are just a few.

You have already called your regular vet and had him examined. You might want to ask him/her about a skin scraping of the affected area (mild anesthesia needed- they use the edge of a scalpel blade to gently scrape off the top layer of skin, looking for any mites), and possibly run some blood work to see if there is a thyroid issue.  

You didn't say what you were feeding this cutie and that is critical. I need to know if you are using any natural supplements such as probiotics or digestive enzymes. I KNOW I can help you on the road to puggie health but I cannot cure him. But I am going to tell you and don't need to qualify this statement at all--your dog probably needs to change his diet (are you feeding him commercial food?) and ABSOLUTELY NEEDS his immune system built up. Please let me hear from you again with more details and please consider the above suggestions.

I hope this helps!! Sue aka DazzlinDaawg@aol.com (if you want to write me directly--if not this site is fine)