two year -old yorkie

Question
At first I thought my two year-old yorkie was developing hot spots but now I don't know. He has tiny raised-scabbed over bumps primarily on his right side, two on the top of his neck. He is not itching and does not have fleas. He does not even seem to notice that they are there. He is been on Science Diet since he was a baby. My husband allow him only in our yard as we fear he is having an allergic reaction to fertilizer in our neighbor's yards, or he is allergic to some kind of weed. Our groomer did not offer any advice when she groomed him Sat, but she felt like they were hot spots. But he just does not itch at all. Please help.  

Answer
Hi Lisa and thank you for your question.

Firstly, I don't think they are hot spots, but it's hard to tell based on your description. If they are small (pimple sized) and not itchy, they could be an allergic reaction or sensitivity, but probably to food as opposed to environmental or contact. Enviromental and contact allergies are accompanied by itchiness. A dog can develop an allergy after being on a food for years, so it's not out of the question.

Another thing you may want to consider is it could be a fungus (which I wouldn't be convinced of) or bacterial (again, not probable). I'm am really leaning toward a food sensitivity. One of my little Chi's gets these types of bumps when he eats certain foods. They start like a bump, then they scab up, but are no larger than a pimple and he doesn't get a bunch of them (just a few). I have noticed this 2 or 3 times, but haven't pin-pointed which food ingredient is causing it. I do know the foods that DON"T cause it, so we stick with these and they also get some raw foods (meat, fruits and veggies) and some cooked foods.

If you could elaborate on his situation a bit more, I would love to help you figure this out :)