Red Doberman with skin problems

[taftongirl5]

My 7 month old Red Doberman is having horrible skin problems. He has little bumps all over his body, thining hair. More bumps come out when he takes a bath (which unless nessecary I only give him one. We brought him to the vet and he gave him a steroid shot, antibiotics and told me to get omega 3 & 6 vitamins for him. Which I did. I was feeding him Bil Jacs for a few months. Still nothing cleared up the little bumps with clearish liquid & thinning of hair was still present. I started giving him cod liveroil in his food per vet and changed food to Nutro lamb & rice mix. Still nothing cleared. Evertime we had to give him a bath...a few hours later he had the bumps all over his body and he would itch and bite at his skin all nite long and would cry like he was so uncomfortable. I brought him to another vet they did a skin scrap for demadectic mange & ringworm....all negative! They gave me antibiotics and a antihistamine (which never helped he still was itching).....I switch his food two days ago to Natural Balance (no grain) venision & sweet potato. I gave him a bath last nite and once again the bumps came out in full force (liquid filled) and he was itching and biting...please help! What should I do.

[karengulley]

My dog needed prednisone...just look up common problems in your type of dog :)

[TattooGurl]

This may sound unbelievably stupid but did you ever consider it's the water it's self making your dogs fur fall out? I know humans can be allergic to water of some type of metals in the water. Nickle and copper leach in to the water table all the time usually from older pipes and well's. I myself had to put a water filter pump on my water intake because when I moved here I always got this red bumpy rash full of clear fluid when ever I took a shower. Funny as is sounds water could just be the culprit in this mystery.

[kayhurt]

we recently moved to a neighborhood that has 26 horses. now my 4 year old red dobe is itching- scratching- biting all over. I noticed all types of dogs in same neighborhood are doing the same thing. Does it have anything to do with the horses?

[DDChas]

My red doberman that we rescued from an individual has had a couple major issues. I haved learned that when I give her 1-2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with some water & her food twice a day, it keeps her from getting bladder\urinary tract infections.I also found that giving her Solid Gold Seameal-nutritional supplement in her food allowed me to take her off the medication  Proin, for her weak bladder.
Good luck,
Danielle

[peekawho]

Dana--
We had to use a strong shampoo that was prescribed from the vet, I'm so sorry that I do not remember the name, it was something with sulpher in it, I think.  Weekly baths with that.

Our blue dove, with the horrible hair loss and follicullitis, was on Keflex, 1500 mg twice (might even have been 3 times) a day, for months at a time,  Which is a pretty high dose.  This was prescribed by a veterinary clinic, after our local vets did just what yours did...just prescribed 10 days worth here and there, which did nothing.  We were told by a veterinary dermatologist, that persistent folliculitis requires "higher doses for longer periods of time" than ordinary skin infections.  You might ask your vet to consider prescribing this way, or to at least ask him/her to consult a specialist, if its even available in Germany--I don't know if they have such specialists there?

Melatonin has been shown to be of some help to Dobermans with color dilution alopecia.  Our red dobe who had mild hair loss was on 3mg twice a day, and he was about 70 pounds.  It takes a long time, and you may not see much results.  I felt it helped  a little.  It is available over the counter, at least in the US.

Bladder infections:  Our black and tan Dobe has been plagued with them, too.  Is your dobe neutered?  If not, consider it.  Often intact males have problems with this.
Has the vet done a simple test of the urine ph?  Alkaline urine can lead to infections for often than acidic urine.  Here in the states, a simple diet with a special food that acidifies the urine will often help. Our dog is on this type of food, and hasn't had an infection since being on it.  

Good luck!

[dana_b]

Hello there-

I also have a red 2.5 yr old dobie who is suffering from terrible skin problems.  She has had bladder problems from the time she was a pup, (multiple UTIs) and since we moved to Germany in Jan, has been suffering from hair loss on her back with puss filled pustules occuring.  I am doing sone research on the folliculitis (sp?) that you mentioned- any ideas as to what else we can do to help her out?  German vets are just kicking her antibiotics for 10 day periods, then stopping.  She is on round  #4 of the antibiotics.  She also only eats Canidae lamb and rice dog food.  I am going crazy (and broke) trying to help this poor thing out.  Any suggestions would be WONDERFUL!   Thanks!  Dana B.

[Misfits4Me]

Could he be allergic to an ingredient in the shampoo your using? Just a thought.....Karla

[peekawho]

Red Dobes and Blue dobes can get something called color dilution alopecia, where the hair on their body thins, particularly the hair on their backs.

They are also very prone to folliculitis, or pimple like bumps on the skin.  Usually the bumps have a puss-like substance that comes out of them.  

If your vet feels your dog has folliculitis, he should be treated with antibiotics, which should be continued for a long time, much longer than they are usually used for.
To give you an example, our Blue dobe had to be on antibiotics for his folliculitis for 3 full months, at high dosages, before we saw a resolution from it.  
Your description though, of the bumps coming out after bathing is odd.  

If the thinning hair is due to color dilution alopecia, there is nothing you can do about it.  

[Teetee1210]

Nova pearls works great once a week and you can order it online in gallon size for cheaper than vet bills