We've an itchy dog here. It occurs seasonally, from July till end of September. He's been resting due to injury and itching much less this year, so we know for sure it's something he would be in contact with out and about on country walks.

A malseb bath every other night gives him a little relief and stops the skin getting infected. But if you can figure out what is causing the allergy you are half way there to having it sorted!

Have been to vets again, he has unknown allergies and now a skin infection from scratching, so he is having steroids,antibiotics and advantage to calm his skin down, also skin inflammations cause the anal glands to overfill, so they had to be emptied! another expensive visit! Good thing is the vet said if he has another flare up in the future we can give him 1 10mg of citirizine a day,( it only really works if you start this at first symptoms) which is the same dose as I take! seems a lot for a 18kg dog, think I will check that out if he ever gets itchy again.

That's good that you were able to find out the cause.

Regarding laundering dog bedding. I know my dog is tiny and doesn't get filthy but she does have a lot of bedding, blankets, cushions etc. and most of the time I don't put ANY detergent in the machine when I wash those. I just run them through a cycle to get the 'bits' off and freshen them NEVER use softener. My daughter is allergic to all fabric softener even the baby and hypo allergic ones they bring her out in blotches. I never use it on my bedding either but in this climate my bedding is washed about every three days.

The reason I don't use substances on dog bedding stuff is coz she sleeps with her NOSE right on it. Often licks it or licks herself when on it and all that.

I also find cheaper milder detergents far less likely to cause reactions in both dogs and humans.

I'd rather use a stain spot remover before washing than use some whizzy get rid of every stain on earth detergent.

how old is he?

He is nearly 12 years old

I also normally only wash his bedding in water, occasionly I use a gentle hypoallergenic detergent and then do a long wash in water only afterwards, it seems though that his allergies are probably related to fungi and mould spores and unfortunately we live in a wood!

Did James Wellbeloved change their recipe? Has he shown allergies in the past?

We had Ima tested in the end as her scratching drove her crazy, turned out she is allergic to dust mites, hay mites and Copra mites - so basically inside and outside - it might be worth finding out for sure if it carries on that way you will know what to change rather than doing it all hope the meds have calmed it all down by now

I had a dog with severe allergies and my vet had me give her benedryl. She was a 6 lb. Chihuahua and she got a 25mg. tablet once or twice a day. I also gave her oatmeal baths, just as you would a child, to sooth the skin and help with the itching. If it got really bad the vet would put her on prednisone for a few weeks. Her skin would get very warm when she was having an attack and it helped her a lot if I gave her a cool bath with just plain water. Good thing she liked to be bathed!

Basil - my itchy beagle is slowly getting better, not so itchy, but he is lethargic and today didn't want his food! very unusual for him especially as steroids increase appetite have looked on line and can't find anything about loss of appetite connected to prednidal(steroids) or therios(antibiotics), will phone vets if he doesn't improve. Has anyone else experienced this?

Afraid not my girl always has her appetite, maybe someone else will have some experience on that score. Glad to hear he is itching less