Hello all! I'm new here and need some advice for my puppy please!

I have a 5 month old pitbull/lab puppy and she's a good girl. I'm home with her in the mornings and away for only 4 hours in the afternoons. But, when we're home on Saturdays & Sunday (I'm off today) I've noticed she cries more than usual. She'll be playing with a toy then start chewing on herself, then sit up and whine a little. Then start chewing on herself again and chasing her tail (like nervous behavior). But then she'll go back to playing....she's sleeping right now and sleeps as much as a normal puppy would, but I'm worried that she's uncomfortable.....

She might have mites. I don't think she has ticks. She went to the vet Saturday and had a "clean bill of health." However the vet noticed a few bare spots on her fur and said to watch for more and warned us of mites. She hasn't gotten any more bare spots but, like I've said, she just seems uncomfortable....she bites on herself and licks herself/cleans herself quite a bit, and like I said, will look at me and whine every now and then.

Any advice would be MUCH appreciated! Should I go to the pet store with her and see about a mite shampoo or something?

Thanks and look forward to meeting other dog-LOVERS!

-blondie

Poor puppy, she does sound as if something is irritating her and I am a little surprised that the vet did not investigate those bald patches further.

I honestly think that your best bet would be to go back to the vet and explain what your puppy is doing, so that a proper diagnosis can be made, rather than guessing and trying out different remedies from over the counter which could make matters worse if they are for the wrong condition.

You sound to be a caring owner, and good luck - I hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

could your puppy have a food allergy, its just exactly what happened to my pup years ago, i put him on a wheat free diet (hes now on acana} AND FINE

There are two sorts of mites (as I`m sure you will have googled by now ). One is contagious and should be treated with medication and the other is a mite that lives on all dogs but only becomes troublesome if the dogs is stressed or under the weather in some way.
Since your vet wasn`t that concerned, I assume (but maybe you should check!) that it is the non-contagious one?
If so, it needs to be treated from the inside, as it were, by looking at making the dog more healthy and by finding out what the `triggers` are that cause a flare-up. Often this is a food allergy.
Try feeding your pup boiled fish or chicken and see if it improves? If it does, add some other food - rice or potato. This way you can pinpoint what foods she is not sensitive to.
Be careful with kibble or processed foods as they can contain a lot of items that some dogs are allergic to.

Hi, I had a pyrenean mountaindog and 1 flea would make her do that, she was allergic to them... or yes, it could be a food allergy as well... hope you'll find out soon. x

Thanks everyone, guess I'll just wait and see, I think I'll call the vet tomorrow (Monday) and just ask them (they're pretty good about trying to help as much as possible over the phone).

Fleas don't cause bald patches of hair though, do they?

Good luck with the vet tomorrow, and yes........fleas can cause bald patches, especially if the dog has a flea allergy.

Yes, good luck at the vet...what about ringworm?? just maybe something else to ask !!! and where are the bald patches, near her tail and rear end???

More likely to be that third mite, you know the dust one!