Preventing Dog Hot Spots
Learn The Secrets

Preventing a dog hot spots can seem like an overwhelming task. If your dog has ever suffered from one of these extremely painful, hot, moist and inflamed sores, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

The sore usually begins either from the dog itself scratching and digging at a flea infestation or a pest problem or it could be an allergy. It can also start from a puncture wound in the skin. When bacteria enters the wound, it spreads very fast, which then forms the hot spot. The hot spot will appear quickly and become large and inflamed.

Often you will see hot spots in dog breeds that have longer and thicker coats. Short haired dogs generally do not suffer as frequently from hot spots. You will often see more dog hot spots occur after the initial hot spot presents itself, so learn to recognize the symptoms so that you can catch it early. The following is a list of dog hot spot symptoms to help you recognize the condition:

• Licking, scratching, biting at a particular area of the skin
• The hot spot grows in size within hours
• The hot spot causes hair loss in and around the area
• The spot can seep blood and be pussy and may have an odor
• Your dog may be grouchy and even growl or bite due to intense pain

1. Shave the area clean of any remaining fur around the hot spot so that the medication can properly reach and treat the wound. Be sure to be gentle. If the hot spot is well developed, I would recommend taking them to the vet so that they can use either use sedation or a topical pain reliever on your dog as this is an extremely painful condition and your dog may not be their usual sunny self.


2. Clean the hot spot and the area around it thoroughly with an antiseptic soap or Chlorhexidine and be sure to rinse this thoroughly. You can also use Iodine but the Chlorhexidine is said to work better and have longer lasting effects for up to several hours after it is applied.


3. If the hot spot started because of a flea infestation or other pest problem, be sure to have that problem treated so that you dog does not continue to scratch and dig at their skin. You can also use one of the big round plastic bite collars that keeps them from biting and scratching at the dog hot spot until it heals enough that it won't cause further damage.


4. These dog hot spots are extremely painful and will often require the use of antibiotics, steroids and some type of pain relief to assist with the healing process. I would recommend a visit to your vet if your dog has never had a dog hot spot before.

To prevent dog hot spots begin with the initial cause. If your dog is infected with pest, treat them for fleas and ticks and continue to do so on a regular basis. Regularly brush their coat to prevent matting and tangling. Sanitize their bedding and living area clean and of course make sure they are healthy. Keep your dog's skin and body healthy will help keep the dog hot spots away and that will make for a happy dog.

For about twenty years I raised Norwegian Elkhound dogs and unfortunately due to their coat type, sometimes they would develop a hot spot. I had one female named Sasha who was particularly susceptible and prone to developing hot spot. It didn't seem to matter how well groomed we kept her or how clean her living area was, she just kept getting them.

I was so frustrated because she was really suffering and I just couldn't stand that. Fortunately I had the benefit of working for a large veterinary clinic and supply company where company representatives would often come and give presentations on new products.

One day, in just such a presentation, I was introduced to a product called Prozyme. It was introduced as a nutritional enzyme product that would give a dog of any age increased nutritional absorption by up to 71%. This of course would have multiple positive health effects.

They specifically mentioned how good this would be for your dog's skin and coat and that if your dog had dry skin or suffered from hot spots that Prozyme would end that cycle.

I was surprised to find that my dog's actually seemed to like the taste and would actually wait for me to add it to their food bowl each day before starting to eat. So time went by and without even really thinking about it, I had used the whole bottle. So my husband and I started evaluated the dogs.

Sure enough, their coats were shiny and we noticed they weren't itching themselves all of the time anymore from dry skin problems. Although it had only been a few weeks, so far Sasha had not had another hot spot. So I purchased another bottle.

Again, time went by and the bottle ran out and still no hot spots and the dogs are looking and feeling great! I continued to purchase Prozyme and unbelievably, Sasha never had another hot spot – NEVER! So I can't say that Prozyme is the cure-all but it definitely has excellent nutritional benefits. I've included more information on Prozyme below:

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