• I squeeze 4 caps per day of Salmon oil on his food per day and he does have a nice thick soft coat. It's a battle of trying to keep it clean because of the bacteria create by the saliva too. You can hear that snorting and I try to pull his head back and hold it and calm him down by just petting him for a minute but he'll just start right in when I release. Buddy is a licker anyway. When I sit on the couch he'll like to climb up behind me a lick my ears and head thoroughly. I'm going to put some COD liver oil as well in his food tonight to see if that helps.


  • Buddy drinks hardly any water. I do put a little water in his food to warm it up as it's cold from the frig. I put a small bowl of clean water everyday outside and at the end of the day it's still full.


  • jonny has a spot on his chest that he licks a ways below his collar/tags. it is not rubbing from his tags, he just has a habit. i just cover it with my hand or tell him to stop and he does.
    he does not drink much water….his foster family said he did not there either.
    hansel does not lick like that. they both CLEAN lick every evening, but jonny just does it out of nerves it seems. he is a much more nervous dog.
    hansel drinks a lot more. he is a bulkier dog than jonny. they weigh about the same but hansel is much more stout/thicker build. it does seem like a B thing... maybe a rescue B thing?


  • Is tea tree oil too strong to put on a dog? The flavor might discourage his licking and it is an excellent astringent.


  • so what happened to nobarkus stomach licking problem? my mango seems to have similar stomach licking issues


  • mango (3 yr old r&w) plays with his german short haired pups 7&9 month females. they beat his ass but he loves the visit. only concern id his redness in his stomach and genital areas. he does snort when he sleeps but thats not new…he snores....always has as far as i know. i am concerned about the extent of the red and rawness of mango's belly. he's been red before but not like this. he seems a little fat too...all of a sudden...but maybe i dont remember last year. his stats are in the calendar now. calling his doctor tomorrow.


  • Thursday Plantation makes a tea tree ointment with vitamin E. It has worked well for me to help heal wounds that I would normally use neosporin on and keep the dogs from licking the area. They do not like the smell of it so stay away.

    I have also had good luck dabbing my finger with tea tree oil and then mixing it with neosporin and using that to keep the dogs from licking it off.


  • @nobarkus:

    Anybody experience this? In the last few weeks Buddy has been obsessively licking his stomach and it's irritated and red. My last blk/wht did that but she was very old with a low thyroid. He makes a snorting sound from his nose as he's licking because he's so intense. I'm trying to isolate if it's something in the diet or a new blanket I got him that I think is polyester or maybe something going on emotionally or behaviorally. I try to clean it with pet wipes called Itch Wipes by Petkin. He'll wake up at like 3:30am and start licking. He'll stop after a while and go back to sleep.

    I have had experience with this and usually found that it turns out to be a yeast infection…. Vets recommend different treatments... but I have never found one that works without fail. I like lvoss suggestion of the tea tree oil with Vit E at least to try.


  • Ive used tea tree on my pups, but have heard it is toxic to cats. don't have cats, but i did have cats before i started using tea tree either, so i don't really know. just a heads up


  • @tanza:

    I have had experience with this and usually found that it turns out to be a yeast infection…. Vets recommend different treatments... but I have never found one that works without fail. I like lvoss suggestion of the tea tree oil with Vit E at least to try.

    Thanks Pat, I wouldn't have thought of a yeast infection. I'll have to bump up the acidophilus. I give him 1 cap so I'll throw 2-3 in there.


  • Oh boy, poor guy he was up in the middle of the night licking and chewing. It's a rash at this point.


  • I would still consider yeast infection and most likely a trip to the Vet is in order


  • @tanza:

    I would still consider yeast infection and most likely a trip to the Vet is in order

    OK, I made an appointment today at 5pm.


  • @nobarkus:

    OK, I made an appointment today at 5pm.

    Hope all goes well and you can get something to help with the licking…...


  • @tanza:

    Hope all goes well and you can get something to help with the licking…...

    On searching "yeast infections in dogs" that organic plain yogurt and apple cider vinegar really helped a number of dogs get rid of the problem. They were using 2 tbls of yogurt and 1 tbls of the apple cider vinegar. Then rinsing the infected area with 50/50 vinegar and distilled water. Also if any foods have potato to get them off since potatoes are sugar. Also don't use nonfat or low fat as they use modified food starch as a thickener which is like sugar. The yeast love and grow because of the sugar.


  • I took Buddy to the vet and it did end up being a yeast infection. He's on antibiotic for 1 month and got some antihistamine to calm it down. He responded rather quickly and slept really well. He's hardy licked the area since getting home last night from the visit. Also some antibacterial shampoo which I used on him last night (just shampooing that lower body area). I asked her why the antibiotic is prescribed for a month, seems a long time. She said so the skin can completely heal without a chance of it starting up again during healing. So I have him taking a strong probiotic and goat milk yogurt in between meals to replace the good bacteria. She did not mention giving any probiotic or yogurt so I don't know if she's knowledgeable about that.
    Also just a note here that Buddy's behavior was a bit odd too in that he seemed a little disoriented or afraid yesterday at the height of the infection. He was fine this morning. Thanks to Pat for mentioning that it might be a yeast infection as I was not even considering it. I am aware of people getting it but did not think about a dog getting it.


  • Glad to hear that Buddy is better!!! It is pretty common… have no idea why they get it. And it is one of the hardest things to clear up, so I can understand the 1 month of antibiotics.... It is always one of the first things that I consider with a belly rash or excessive licking...


  • @tanza:

    Glad to hear that Buddy is better!!! It is pretty common… have no idea why they get it. And it is one of the hardest things to clear up, so I can understand the 1 month of antibiotics.... It is always one of the first things that I consider with a belly rash or excessive licking...

    My last Basenji Nika had it as well but I did not even think about that and the vet we went to did not either. It cleared up on changing the diet and going on the thyroid med. Thanks Pat!


  • You can put tea tree oil on a dog - I have put it on Shaye's tail when she was going through a phase where she thought it was great fun to pull hair out of it. It stopped her, and although I haven't put any tea tree oil on it, she never went back to it. It's also a good healer, and works great on things like chair legs, etc. that puppies of all ages like to chew on.

  • Houston

    I am so glad to hear that Buddy is better already..good to know, for future reference..

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