scooter1 Loc: Yacolt, Wa.

We just had the same problem with our husky. The vet shaved a small part just in front of the tail and gave us temeril-p, oral and we give him benadril once a day. The vet also gave him a steroid shot to help. If you can rub some bag balm on it it will help. Good luck

Flying Three Loc: Berthoud, CO

May I ask: Did your vet look for underlying causes such as, did she look down the dogs ears for grass awns or infection? Did he look for fleas or ticks? Did she check the dog's anal glands to see if they were full or infected? Did he discuss diet with you? Did she check for matted hair? Was bloodwork done to check for internal problems (liver, kidneys)? Did he/she palpate for bladder stones? If not, find a veterinarian that will and then go from there.

Flying Three Loc: Berthoud, CO

PS: Teeth checked? Arthritis present?

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Jerry I raised and had Doxies for over 30 years.
'Hot Spots' can be caused by a number of things. Long hairs have their own issues as their skin is sensitive.
Because of where you are and the time of year, we can rule out fleas.
Many times the spots are a symptom and not the cause. My first guess is a dry skin condition and the first thing I would question is diet.
The dogs need an amount of wet food to acquire the oils needed to maintain the proper balance.

Most medications will help the itching which causes them to chew at it which in turn makes it worse.
Sadly, the only cure for for that is the 'Cone Collar of Shame' to temporarily stop the biting..

I used a vitamin supplement for many years called Linatone. This stuff really helps to promote replacement of natural oils in the skin.
You will not believe how beautiful it will make their coat look and shine in a couple of months.
I gave about a tablespoon a day. Some dogs will lick it right off of the spoon, others needed it mixed in their food.
As you well know, doxies can be butt-head stubborn, I had one dog that I had to load it into a capsule and give it as a pill.

You may be able o find this locally in a smaller bottle to try out.
It worked so well for me thast I never tried to find anything else.
Hope it works for you too.

lmTrying Loc: WV Northern Panhandle

You did not say what time of the year the hot spots occure. I have a wildly long haired dachshund that gets her hot spots in the summer. This is what has worked the best for this one really long haired dog. She usually gets several haircuts, the first one in late spring to shorten and calm down the wild lion look. The next one usually comes about June and reduces the hair by half. July usually is almost a buzz cut. And sometimes another buzz cut in August. Each cut is followed by an oatmeal shampoo. It's not totally 100%, but it seems to work better than most of the other things mentioned in this thread, that we have tried over the years on the nine doxies that we have had.

Hope this helps. I know the dogs get really miserable from this.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Had it with two dogs. If its an allergy or other factors described above, then treat that. But what happens is that dogs and cats get into this 'spiral' of licking an area for self-stimulation. Much like hair pulling or skin picking in humans. It becomes a compulsion. In an animal there is no way to reason with them or get them to understand and so there seems to be no way to stop it. There are many promises to treat it with this or that, but nothing has ever worked that I have ever seen. Here is what I have learned (and decided) after dealing with this for many years with two dogs.
1. It won't stop. Ever. It is for life.
2. It won't get infected. The vet trips, and the inevitable (expensive!) antibiotics they push at you are not necessary. Never had an infection. Ever. This is also according to what i have read online as well. As nasty as they may look, they are kept clean and uninfected by licking.
3. Vets can still be helpful. There are drugs that can reduce the urge, and you can ask about that. But refuse the antibiotics.
4. If the site can be isolated by wrapping, then do that. It gives time to heal. Using a cone with or without wrapping the site is also helpful. Put an over the counter antibiotic cream on the site under the wrapping. We had come to favor using these thin stretchy bandages that self-adhere like soft velcro, then secure them (gently) with medical tape. Any drug store will have these. A site on the lower leg can be covered with a child's sock, also held on with medical tape. But be very careful that the wrappings do not get tight or result in scratches as the edges of the bandage rub into the skin. That will become a new target for them to lick.
5. Change the wrappings every week or so. If you leave them off, after the site has been completely healed, they will go right back to licking it.

clyde croskey

I had the same problem and changed my dog food to salmon and lentals. Problem was solved!

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

Get a cat.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Check the web-site for Dr. Mercola. He has a vet. connection that is very good.

hannaco Loc: People's Republic of California

This works on our dog. Manna Pro Horseman's Dream Veterinary Cream : https://www.mannapro.com/products/equine/wound-care/horsemans-dream-veterinary-cream

It also works well on horses.

davidv Loc: salt lake city utah

Try Benadryl,we use it every year and it works.

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Excellent advice. You stated more detail than I went into above. The neurotic habitual licking is a whole other chapter.
I found that once the area is clean applying Neosporin Powder helps to dry it out and crust over to form a scab and heal quicker.

Horseart Loc: Alabama

We've had many dogs and horses that have had the same issue over the years and the simplest things worked for us and it never came back on any of ours. For the Benadryl, we put some peanut butter on a small piece of bread, stuck the Benadryl to it and folded it over...the dogs gulped it down. (Works for horses too) That stops the itching. To heal it, we put a TINY bit of good old heal-all Vaseline on it. It healed fast and never came back. A couple of drops of corn oil on their food will do instead of the vaseline if you're worried about something getting on the furniture.
My husband once made up some stuff that grows hair back on a spot in 3 days but we cannot find his recipe, so that's useless info for sure! Sorry. If we find it, I'll post it.

GVC48507 Loc: Michigan

We have Bichons and they get hot spots. Here is what we found that helps: Feed them a quality (premium or super premium) dog food, when washing them use an oatmeal soap and an oatmeal conditioner, Benadryl and Linatone. Once they get a spot we found that swabbing the spot with a cotton ball soaked with
hydrogen peroxide helped the healing. To prevent our babies from continue to the licking the spot we wrapped an ace bandage around the affected area. Our little twelve pound female would get them on her shoulder and wrapping the ace bandage around her shoulders and over her chest gave her the Mexican Bandit look. We also used a Thunder Shirt but not in warm weather.

Unclehoss

Our dog did the same thing, Benadryl knocked the reaction back. The same thing repeated itself a couple of times before I got smart enough to locate the cause. Changed dog foods and have not had to do the Benadryl treatments again.