rubbing hair off nose

Question
i have a 2-yr old schnoodle. he rubs the side & top of his face into the carpet, to the point of making the top of his nose bald. this happened once before, in conjunction with him licking carpet fibers, when i began leaving him alone with run of the house. the vet suspected he had anxiety and suggested i keep him in a kennel while i'm away from the house so that he didn't jam his digestive tract with microscopic carpet fibers as he had done -- $600 worth of emergency vet bills there. i do now keep him kenneled when i'm not home -- no more puking and the hair on his nose grew back. now i notice him doing this rubbing against the carpet again in the last several months. the top of his nose has bald streak on it. now last night, i noticed this baldness extending up to between his eyes! the skin looks fine -- not red, flaky or irritated in anyway. is this some sort of behavioral thing? are poodles or schnauzers to prone to this? when i see him doing it, i try to distract him or throw a toy to get him to stop. but last night i fell asleep and woke up to my baby with a new balding spot. how can i get him to stop doing this?!?

any info would be helpful. thanks!


Answer
I don't think this is a behavorial problem; I think it is most likely a physical problem. Did your vet just assume this was anxiety, or did he run any tests? At the very least, he should have done some skin scrapings.

This could be mange, allergies, a bacterial infection, or maybe dander mites, and your dog requires further testing to determine the cause of his intense itching. Maybe it is time to look for a new vet.