Hiya Ian Do you think it could be atopy that Benji is suffering from because we tried the Atopica tablets for a month but they had no effect whatsoever on him Where do you buy the spray and the washing powder from? I always wash his bed every week (he has about 3 of them ) and yes he does go on my daughters bed - I can't keep him off because it is one of those double bunk thingys and its quite low to the floor so he can easily jump on He did sleep in the kitchen for the first year or so but then started crying and scratching at the dog gate all night and getting very distressed so we decided to let him sleep in Lauras bedroom because he is meant to be her dog (not that you would know as she does nothing with him ) but he still scratched like mad when he was in the kitchen at nights and not allowed upstairs at all. He didn't start scratching till he was 16 weeks and that was just 2 weeks after his last injection at the vets - I will always wonder in the back of my mind whether these injections had anything to do with his condition at all because he didn't have the condition when we first got him

Is Bandit still having the injections?

Hi Foxy, i definately think it is Atopy that Benji is suffering from. Regards the atopica [ciclosporin] tablets they don't work for all dogs as it seems to be the case with Benji. Its the same with the de-sensitisation injections that we give Bandit. They only work in 65% of dogs on average.
The washing powder we get from Tescos and the spray i got off the internet. I cant remember who the spray was from but if you put a search in google it will come up [Total hygiene DM 1 spray by healthguard] It is the same as what a human would use to spray in the house if suffering from asthma.One of the commonest causes of allergic skin disease is the housedust mite so i would say this could be an attribute to Benji's skin problem. Without skin tests you can't be sure but to assume they are a cause can only be of help. I think it will be hard if he sleeps in Laura's bedroom and that is something you can't change but it could be worth trying a plastic dog bed and use vetbed as the bedding.
Regards the injections at the vets i would not like to say but you never know they could have affected his immune system so brought on the problem but what you do find is this condition is more than likely inherited. I have searched Bandits breeding lines as much as i can and have not found any other dogs suffering but who's to say that another dog out of the same bloodlines [ other littermate] does not have a problem. This is why i had Bandit castrated as i saw it the sensible thing to do especially with Dora in the house aswell as the last thing i woulkd have wanted would be an accidental mating if Emily left a door open by mistake and he got to her when she is in season.
Lets hope things get better and the scratching stops before you get in that viscious circle of a secondary infection then the need for anti-biotics....Cheers...Ian..