Hello everyone just wanted to stop by and ask a quick question. We just got back from Cancun Friday night, and when got to see Winston after being gone for a week, we noticed 2 sores/scabs on his back. He’s just over a year old and has never had these spots before, so being an overactive Berner father I took him to the vet (because they couldn’t give me any info over the telephone) and they said those scabs were called “hot spots”. They gave me some medications and stuff for him and shaved the hair off around the scabs. I guess what I am asking is:

1 – Does anyone know how they get these spots?
2 – Any other way to get them fixed up rather than making a vet appt every time?
3 – Is it something that I should worry about or is it pretty common with these types of dogs?

Thanks again!
Brian

Riley gets hot spots occasionally too. Rileys are usually from allergy. He will start licking or biting a spot, and wont stop until he has a "hot spot". For us it is more about not letting it get that far that he actually has a sore., or even more so that he doesn't get a sore that becomes infected. Usually when he starts to lick like that we give him benadryl for a few days and that seems to stop it. If he already has a spot started, we make sure we keep it clean and use some antibiotic ointment . Hope this helps???? Hope he feels better.

Growing up our family newf got these a lot. It turned out he was allergic to fleas and would continue to lick and bite where he had been bitten. We put him on medication (I think it was advantage at the time) for flea prevention and he was fine after that.
Could it have been that he was anxious with you gone?

I can offer that hotspots are quite common and fundamentally an immune system issue. They usually arise as a part of the overall allergy picture, or immune system reacting hyper-sensitively.

Berners, given how immune deficient they are, and emotionally sensitive, also can have these triggered by stress. So something to consider.

It requires bacteria to grow hotspots so keeping the skin clean and dry and the beneficial flora in the system in check can help. I can offer that none of my dogs have ever had a hotspot and I attribute this to a a wholesome raw food diet, no chemicals on or in them, and probiotics for life to maintain balance. Allergies can further be helped with Beta-thym, fish oils as anti-inflammatories, clean filtered water, and air purification.

Many I know who deal with hotspots report that green tea compresses help, and goldbond powder is cooling and prevents the itch/irritation to allow them to heal.