Any American Bulldog/Bully Breed Owners Here?

[shannonmac]

I have a 3 year old all white American Bulldog, we moved to AZ just about 2 years ago, and I've noticed that he has been having increasingly worse skin issues. He eats at his paws till they bleed, scratches till he is all red. It is awful!
He has been on a raw diet, Nutro, Canadae, Pedigree, now he is on Avoderm, which is supposed to be good for skin issues. He gets benedryl, fish oil, vitamin E & Solid Gold anit-allergy tabs.
I bathe him about 1x/week, he gets washed down with my $40/bottle shampoo about 3 times a week with a face cloth, b/c its the only thing that seems to make the reddness go down, and then i put cocoa butter lotion on him.
I am at my wits end! I come home to blood all over the carpets and the walls, I honestly don't know what else to do!
Has anyone else had similar problems?
Also, I have taken all corn & wheat out of his diet, he hardly ever gets treats, and the ones he gets are veggie cookies also..

thanks :(

[DsrtJeeper]

My late Shar-Pei had the same problems and seem to be prevalent in these short/thin haired breeds. We used oatmeal based shampoos with pretty good results. We also found out that our pet had valley fever. I suspect your dog has allergies, but I think you know that.

On several ocassions; we resorted to a halo to keep the dog from doing more self-induced damage to himself. We always cleaned and dressed the wounds until they healed.

Have you had a blood test performed? You might also check out Purina One as far as food. This stuff is excellent!

[BEETROOT]

Yikes.... have you been to the vet? Does he spend a lot of time outside? Is it just the paws that bleed, or all over?

I had a pit bull for a few years, new dog is pit/rhodesian mix, neither have had anything like that.

I agree with dsrtjeeper...sounds like some kind of allergies, definitely not typical of bully breeds.

[GLEN REAMS]

both of my pit's do the same thing shan, she chews her paws till they are raw always scratching her face till its raw i spray the bitter apple spray on her paws so she doesnt chew on them and put first aid cream on her neck and paws aswell i didnt change her diet or anything tho
-Glen

[BEETROOT]

^ do your dogs live outside?

[DsrtJeeper]

My dogs have never lived outside, but do go out to play or sun themselves. I have seen this before with all the breeds mentioned above. I currently have a Pit/Boxer mix with no such problems at 2 years of age. I received a different story from every vet I saw. :confused:

[Triple-XJ]

Had the same problem with my doberman. Like Eric, I got a different story every time I took him to a vet. Sorry to say that no matter what we did (special diet, shampoos, ointments, etc...) nothing helped and nothing made him stopped. I tend to think it's genetics and breeding (pure breds always have the most problems).

[GLEN REAMS]

^ do your dogs live outside?

no my dogs do not live out side they stay inside go out side when they want to but i have noticed they both have dry flakey skin so i have been looking for some sort of lotin or conditioner so there skin isnt so dry

[shannonmac]

nope he doesn't live outside
he only goes out to go to the bathroom
i've done the oatmeal shampoo and switched to my multi-vitamin bedhead shampoo b/c it was working better
buu likes the expensive stuff!
i will try the bitter apple on his paws
i have also fed the purina one, but i had heard to take all wheat and corn out of his diet, so we switched to the avoderm, supposed to be great for skin problems and has avocado oil in it
we put egg in his food, vitamin e, fish oil, benedryl and allergen-free pills in his food...he's a walking medicine cabinet!

[shannonmac]

no my dogs do not live out side they stay inside go out side when they want to but i have noticed they both have dry flakey skin so i have been looking for some sort of lotin or conditioner so there skin isnt so dry

i use cocoa butter lotion on a wash cloth, and rub it into buu's skin after a bath...

[PMFG!ItsaGP]

I bathe him about 1x/week,
That is WAY to often!! Every time you wash your dog you are stripping away protective oils in their skin and hair. Doing that is what causes redness, drying out and flaking. Once every 6 weeks is sufficient, unless your dogs vet prescribed the weekly washing.

The paw chewing could be one of a number of reasons from a fungal infection in his paws, to allergies, to plain ole boredom. If you havent already gone, I suggest taking your dog to a vet and having the pup checked out

[shannonmac]

he has been to the vet,
on the washing him, its not a full bath, its a spot wash with a face cloth, when he is caked with blood, i have to wash him off, and when i do wash him, i follow it up with a conditioner with vitamins and a lotion treatment, the redness goes down when i do wash him
i can't risk him getting an infection from dirt getting into his raw skin

[AZJeeps TJ&XJ]

My parents have a pit mix that has similar issues. They ended up having to take her to the vet about every 2 weeks for about 2 months then once a month, now not at all. But the vet has a special dip that they used on her, it is like a flee/tick dip, but it is for the dry/bad skin. But in the past year I think she has only had to go in once for a dip. The only issue now is the paws, but I am partly to blame for that as I like to go over and play ball with her until she passes out.

But I would check with your vet about options, and see if the can test to see what is causing it (allergies possibly?).

[shannonmac]

i will definitely call about the dip
thanks!

[FlexyXJ]

I believe that Ben (YGOHOME) raises/breeds bulldogs, but I am not positive about that. Maybe he will speak up. My Black lab has allergies, but Benadryl takes care of his problems. Hope ya get it figured out shan...


Joe

[shannonmac]

thanks joe!
i'll try shooting him a pm
:)

[jpotts]

I've had two Bullmastiffs that were unrelated and both suffered skin alergies. They would get hot spots that started as blisters and would turn into oozing, bleeding sores. It sucks. The key has always been to catch it early, keep it clean, and try to keep the dogs from messing with it. One dog got a staph infection while in one of the sores while I was out of the country. Terrible stuff. AZ is filled with allergens. I had a pitbull for about 10 years with no problems. I guess it just depends on the dog.

[shannonmac]

yeah i have a boxer too...and she is fine
i actually wasn't sure if it was b/c he was white and she was brindle, if that might have something to do with it...

thanks for all the good advice guys

[GLEN REAMS]

shan my one pit it black and white kinda looks like yours, and that is the one that has the skin problems i aslo have a brown pit that kinda has it every now and then but nowhere as bad

[YGOHOME]

Bulldogs are high maintenance, thats for sure. I have English Bulldogs myself but all types of bulldogs are notorious for skin irritation (pimples/acne/rashes... occurs in the crevices, toes, etc...

The skin between their fingers on top and under the feet (underneith tucked in behind the pads in the crevices) and the folds in his face (not as much an issue with American Bulldogs). It begins by them licking their paws because of the allergies... it goes downhill from there because their cow spit saliva they produce just irritates the skin more. If left unchecked for even a few days its can get pretty ugly like your describing.

I'm constanty telling Bullitt "No licking your paws" when I hear him doing it. He's doing it right now but he stopped after I reminded him of it. (took him awhile at first to actually obey it). But he'll still do it when I'm not around.

Keep these areas dry and clean. Sounds like youve been working very hard at doing this. But if you can just get your dog to stop doing it for a few days and then the severness of the irritation will go away... and then less chewing/licking... untill the redness, swelling and bleeding stops. THen they won't be licking and chewing their paws. I know I'm stating the obvious but thats all there is to it.

Here's the trick to get them on the road to recovery... make a visit to your vet doctor. And continually stay on top of keeping these areas clean(including their face incase they are scratching their faces too)... When it would get bad I would give my bulldogs little foot baths every couple of days with very mild soap (of course, be sure to rinse out all of the soap or it will drive them nuts too). I would follow that with gentle drying/dabbing of the trouble spots using tissue or a soft towel. Then I follow it up with a topical antibiotic cream (ANIMAX Antibiotic cream... ask you vet doctor). In your case your pet will most likely either need a shot of antibiotics (since the skin is too irritated and has open sores to apply a cream) or just a few antibitoic pills you can give your dog two or three times a day for a couple weeks.

But first thing to do is to probably get your dog to your vet to have professional take a look and since you'll need the antibiotics anyways.

after your initial visit to the doctor and a couple weeks later it will be soooo much easier... and your dog will be alot happier and less prone to licking/chewing. But it will still require alot of maintenance... it never ends. But they are worth it.

fyi... as part of my dogs regular maintenance, I use:

benedryl, desitine, animox, and stidex pads (yep, works on dogs too), and just a clean wet towel. I clean his face and paws with a wet towel at least 3 times a day.

Now, here's Bullitt... he doesn't have sore paws anymore and he sleeps all the time.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b179/ygohome/IM000213.jpg

[DsrtJeeper]

Bulldogs are high maintenance, thats for sure. I have English Bulldogs myself but all types of bulldogs are notorious for skin irritation (pimples/acne/rashes... occurs in the crevices, toes, etc...

The skin between their fingers on top and under the feet (underneith tucked in behind the pads in the crevices) and the folds in his face (not as much an issue with American Bulldogs). It begins by them licking their paws because of the allergies... it goes downhill from there because their cow spit saliva they produce just irritates the skin more. If left unchecked for even a few days its can get pretty ugly like your describing.

I'm constanty telling Bullitt "No licking your paws" when I hear him doing it. He's doing it right now but he stopped after I reminded him of it. (took him awhile at first to actually obey it). But he'll still do it when I'm not around.

Keep these areas dry and clean. Sounds like youve been working very hard at doing this. But if you can just get your dog to stop doing it for a few days and then the severness of the irritation will go away... and then less chewing/licking... untill the redness, swelling and bleeding stops. THen they won't be licking and chewing their paws. I know I'm stating the obvious but thats all there is to it.

Here's the trick to get them on the road to recovery... make a visit to your vet doctor. And continually stay on top of keeping these areas clean(including their face incase they are scratching their faces too)... When it would get bad I would give my bulldogs little foot baths every couple of days with very mild soap (of course, be sure to rinse out all of the soap or it will drive them nuts too). I would follow that with gentle drying/dabbing of the trouble spots using tissue or a soft towel. Then I follow it up with a topical antibiotic cream (ANIMAX Antibiotic cream... ask you vet doctor). In your case your pet will most likely either need a shot of antibiotics (since the skin is too irritated and has open sores to apply a cream) or just a few antibitoic pills you can give your dog two or three times a day for a couple weeks.

But first thing to do is to probably get your dog to your vet to have professional take a look and since you'll need the antibiotics anyways.

after your initial visit to the doctor and a couple weeks later it will be soooo much easier... and your dog will be alot happier and less prone to licking/chewing. But it will still require alot of maintenance... it never ends. But they are worth it.

fyi... as part of my dogs regular maintenance, I use:

benedryl, desitine, animox, and stidex pads (yep, works on dogs too), and just a clean wet towel. I clean his face and paws with a wet towel at least 3 times a day.

Now, here's Bullitt... he doesn't have sore paws anymore and he sleeps all the time.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b179/ygohome/IM000213.jpg

Haha! Great pic! :D You pretty much just desribed the life I enjoyed with my Shar-Pei. Jeeppeepin is a vetinary tech and I owe her thanks for her advice in the last stages of his life.

[YGOHOME]

an Elizebethan Collar (the cone shaped ones) can also be used until the paws heal. Be sure it can still drink its water of course.

[YGOHOME]

somthing else just occured to me. Its possible for a dog to sometimes get an infection through their toenails... if they've had their claws trimmed back too far or theyve somehow broken a toenail to the point where the vein is exposed, they can easily get dirt in there and cause a serious infection. The toes will swell and be very painful to the dog. Must be treated immediately.

Not to overly worry you but you should definately get your dog to a vet today... the open wounds your describing kept me awake last night :(

[YGOHOME]

sorry if I was too pushy... just wondering how that paw situation is going.

[GLEN REAMS]

i took my dog to the vet seems all the chewing of the paws the nails started to bleed and she likes to play in the mud and she got alot of dirt and crap in her nails making her bite more then go get more mud luckly she did not get a infection but now i was her paws daily and do not let her in the mud anymore and put a first aid cream on them
-Glen

[shannonmac]

i've been watching him closely, he's kind of left his paws alone for now, and he's back to licking his back thigh area!
i can't win!
he's neurotic!

[GLEN REAMS]

the vet gave me a cone for my dog but i wont use it you can have it shannon :D

[shortbuskids]

Another dog food you might want to try is Eukanuba adult larg breed lamb and rice. Helps prevent hip displatia(spell check) and is recomended for bullies. Great for there skin as well.