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Hi there, greetings from Malaysia. My puppy is a 6 months old male Chow Chow puppy that is perpectually itching. He licks his tummy and private area all the time, chews at his tail and legs and scratches his chest, face and armpits. Using a blower, I can see that his chest is all red and he seems to have two bald spots at the hind legs.

Vet says it's quite normal for puppies to experience skin problem since their skin have yet to acquire the proper immunity (bleh) but the groomer that I sent him to says that his skin has to be treated straight away. So far, has gone through 5 skin treatment regimes (they use some sort of lanvender concoction) and it works pretty well. All the red spots are gone after the treatment and he seems to be itch-free.... for a week. After that the itch is back.

He is on Frontline, brushed every single day and his tummy get wiped clean everyday... especially when chew marks or "pimples" (btw are those small red bumps called hot-spots?) appear.

Since we're in a warm country, he drinks a lot, pees a lot and pants quite a lot whenever he is not resting. Even though he gets his water via a "licker" (something like Lixit dog waterer for crates) that is supposed to stop him from getting wet, he still manages to wet his chest and that may be the cause of the itchy chest. However, I have no idea why he licks his tummy so much or why his tail or legs are itchy too. So, I am suspecting it might be his food.

Currently he is fed 1 and a 1/2 cups of Orijen large breed puppy food, 2 pumps of Grizzly salmon oil, 200mg of vitamin E and a piece of INhancer Joint Supplements (http://www.inpetsupplements.com/joint_h ... ancer.aspx) a day. After reading through various skin problem threads on this site, I've decided to switch his food to Solid Gold. However, after checking the local pet stores, I've only managed to find 3 types of Solid Gold products:
(1) Holistique Blendz Adult Dog (fish) - too little protein
(2) Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) - the nutrional content seems to be ok, but it does not say how much Calcium and Phosporus it contains.
(3) Hundchen Flocken Puppy (lamb) - too much protein
I know that WolfCub Puppy (bison) would be the best choice but I can't find it here. Would Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) be ok for a 6 months old puppy? Should I be supplementing any other things if I were to feed him Hund-n-Flocken (other than the Grizzly, Vitamin E and INhancer)?

Sorry for the lengthy post

Hi there. I just wanted to say welcome and I am sorry I am not knowledgable enough to answere your questions. It has been a little quiet round here lately. Hopefully someone will be able to help you soon.

Thanks for your warm welcome Sirchow!

I would strongly recommend that where you can find the Solid Gold products, request the puppy formula kibble - If the store can get one brand of Solid Gold, they can get the other. Solid Gold is an excellent food. To me it definitely sounds like a food related allergy itching.

Hi kingalls, thanks for your reply. I've contacted a very helpful local store and they confirmed that the local distributor cannot get hold of WolfCub and WolfKing (something like the two products are not being exported out of US at the moment). Currently, my only options are either the Hundchen Flocken Puppy (lamb) or Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb). Which should I get?

yktan wrote:Currently, my only options are either the Hundchen Flocken Puppy (lamb) or Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb). Which should I get?

Hundchen Flocken Puppy until he is 12 months, afterwhich change to an adult kibble.

Welcome, I hope your pup gets some relief from the food change, but also check toys and bedding. We found out one of our dogs was actually allergic to something in his bed, I think it was that it had cedar chips in it.he seemed fine during the day but when he woke up in the morning he would be itching..
Hope you find a solution.. I have had some wonderful help here...
Nancy

Thanks for your reply Zhuyos mom, am I to assume that the nutrional content of Hundchen Flocken Puppy (lamb) is suitable for a Chow Chow puppy:
Protein, Min 28%
Fat, Min 14%
Fiber, Max 4%
Moisture, Max 10%
Calories per cup, 410
The protein and fat content seems a bit on the high side but the thing that I worry the most is the calcium and phosporus levels (which I am told should be in a ratio of 1.2/1 and max calcium content of 1.5%) which is not published for the kibble. Is the food alright?

Thanks for your well wishes Nancy. I'll take note about his toys and bedding too. Thanks for the heads-up

yktan wrote:Thanks for your reply Zhuyos mom, am I to assume that the nutrional content of Hundchen Flocken Puppy (lamb) is suitable for a Chow Chow puppy:

Yes. It is fine. My boy, Tigger, and my former foster, Bruin, did quite well with either of the Solid Gold Puppy line (Hundchen Flocken and/or WolfCub - both are nutritionally sound for a growing chowling). Just remember to keep them on the puppy line for the 12 months to achieve optimal results (mental and physical growth of your chowling).

Ok, thanks Zhuyos mom. I'll go grab a bag tomorrow!

yktan wrote:...but the thing that I worry the most is the calcium and phosporus levels (which I am told should be in a ratio of 1.2/1 and max calcium content of 1.5%) which is not published for the kibble. Is the food alright?

No, because the puppy Hundchen is formulated for small/medium faster rate of growth breeds and has 1.7% calcium, 1.4% phosphorus. The adult formula would be a better choice at 1.4% calcium, 1.2% phosphorus.

In comparison, the large-breed slow-growth WolfCub puppy has 1.5% calcium, 1.2% phosphorus. The WolfKing adult has 1.4% calcium, 1.1% phosphorus

Hi kiwani, thanks for posting the calcium and phosphorus content for the adult and puppy formula. With that information, I definitely agree that the adult formula would be a better choice.

Thanks again for providing the extra information kiwani, hopefully he will find Solid Gold platable (fingers crossed).

I would also be keeping an eye on the Frontline. My chow baby starts to itch very badly for about a week after we apply it. I am thinking she is allergic to the Frontine but the vet said there is no way to be sure. We might have to switch to something else if this continues.

Hello, I think is something related to the clime, I'm from Brazil and I also have a 6 months puppy and he already had a lot of hot spots, the treatment are steroids and antibiotics but the prevention is don't let him wet, you must avoid everything the makes him wet, and dry soon as possible if you couldn't avoid it.
Greetings from Brazil.

Looked at this due to a recent post, and realized the original post is actually years old...but in case the problem relates to other folks...

5 skin related treatments in a 6 month old pup is wayyyyy to much. perhaps there was an issue with the food quality or an alergy, but it seems to me that the pup was overgroomed and was stripped of any natural oils in the skin.