Open sores appearing randomly. Help

Hi, I have a Alaskan Malamute that since august frequently gets open sores on his skin. They usually are about the size of a quatre when they appear.

The first time they appeared was in July. I tried to keep them clean and used anti biotic anoitnment, but they became infected. So I took my dog to the vet and it was determinned to be a staff infection. He did not swab or test the sores. We both knew it was infected because of the smell and runny puss. So he gave him a injection of antbiotics. Sores went away in a week.

Then in september he got the same type of sore on his neck. A large open sore on his leg. Within a few days I knew it was infected because of the smell. So I went back to the same vet and told him he seems to have the same thing again. I did not bring the dog because I was positive it was the same type of sore. The vet gave me 3 weeks worth of antibiotic pills. It cleared up again in a week. But then a month and a half later he got another sore. This time it didn't seem do get infected or the dog faught it off. I keep cleaning the sore and it got better in a week.

Again today he has a open sore the size of a quatre on his leg. It was not there yesterday. Within 24 hours this quarte size sore just appeared. I am going to keep it clean and use the antibiotic cream and keep an eye on it. If it gets infected or doesn't get better I will take the dog to the Vet.

The dog is a 6 year old malamute. He is a big dog and weighed 230lbs last time we went to the vet. He is a bit over weight, but not overly fat. He's active and other than the sores he's healthy.

What is wrong with my dog??? Why do these sores appear? Should I get the sores tested? The vet insists he is getting the sores because he rubs himself raw on our deck outside. I know this is not true because we do not let the dog lay on the deck. And right now, theres snow on the deck so he couldn't have gotten the sores this way. I know he's not chewing on himself either.

I should also add, the first two times he got these sores we also had a german shepard that I took in from a resucue from a farm. I thought the shepard gave him something at first, but we got rid of the shepard in October. Please help!

Could potentially be hot spots....... or dermatitis of some kind. Do you have any photos?

Sounds like what they call hot spots to me too, one of my dogs suffers with this. You could try bathing the area with diluted Hibiscrub which kills off bacteria and then applying your ab cream. Hot spots are quite common in a lot of breeds, don't really know about staffie's, but Westie terriers are reknowned for it. Take a look at some pics on Google and info and see if it relates to what you're seeing?

Make sure you de-flea regularly too as that helps. Maybe that gsd brought some fleas into your house and you might need to de-flea the house perhaps?

Good that you're keeping on top of it. My dog could have one the size of a 1/4 and half an hour later it would be 6" diameter, because they like to gnaw at these which doesn't help. The cream does work wonders on them though, I use Fuciderm on his and it always stops them in their tracks, so keep a good supply in for future use. Good luck with him.

I think the OP means a staph [Staphylococcal] infection although he said that the vet did not did not swab or test the sores.

If it is a staph infection then it might need different antibiotic medications in order to see which one clears it up, as some strains are not responsive to regular anti-Bs [MRSA being one such strain of a staphylococcal infection].

This website is about lick granulomas, but does have a list of procedures your vet can do to rule in/out other causes of skin sores
http://www.lbah.com/canine/ald.htm

I assume your vet has ruled out the obvious causes?
Dogs that have a sore or itchy spot scratch or lick at it until the skin is broken. This allows a bacterial infection to set in, making an open sore.
The first thing, I suggest is to treat the infection, and prevent the dog scratching, then to find the cause or trigger.
Unfortunately this can be anything from food intolerance to fleas to joint pain. You have to be a bit of a detective to find the root cause.
Can you think of anything new (different food, new cat, change of cleaning product) since July?

Oh yeah, thanks grandma, but I had only just woken up!! xx

Have you seen your vet?

HAs he ruled out zinc responsive dermatosis which I am sure you are aware of owning this breed?