Brando is doing well in his foster home. He is about 25 lbs and still has some skin irritations. The vet thinks it might be allergies but we’re still not sure what he could be allergic to. He has tougher skin around his belly where the irritations are and the vet believes Brando may have had these allergic symptoms for a long time. He’s now on some meds to see if that helps clear up the irritations and we’ll keep everyone posted on how he does.
Brando still has some issues with trying to be the dominant member of the family. His foster family keeps reinforcing that they are the leaders, this especially comes into play on walks. In the house Brando is very affectionate and friendly. He is also playful and acts very young. People are surprised to learn he’s an older adult dog, he looks and acts young. He’s also quite happy.
His foster mom told us that Brando is sometimes a trash can digger. He likes plastic wrap and plastic bags. He only seems to dig in the trash if no one is looking or around. He knows that he’s not supposed to. We’re not sure what the attraction is to plastic bags and wrap. Brando is a silly dog, maybe he thinks they are krinkle toys or something.
Aside from his allergies, Brando is great and having fun with his foster family. He gets a lot of attention and pets. Keep checking back on Brando!
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Perhaps the skin allergies are due to the change of season from fall to winter? I know that my Shiba, Triton has very bad allergies during the transition from winter to spring. He requires daily doses of Benadryl during this time or he will dig his skin up. He is completely fine the rest of the year. My mom’s Shiba, Sadie has skin allergies during the season change from summer to fall. She requires a cortisone shot at the vet, her skin was a mess from scratching too but she is also completely fine the rest of the year.
What is Brando eating? Shibas are prone to corn & grain allergies. When I first adopted Yoshi, he had irritated skin, and areas of missing fur. The vet was going to have him on skin medications, but I learned about how the type of food can cause these kinds of problems. His previous owner had Yoshi on Purina Puppy Chow, which the main ingredient is corn. After switching Yoshi to a high-quality, corn-free food (Innova), his skin allergy cleared up within a couple of weeks! He is now on another good food without any corn or grain by Merrick called ‘B.G.- before grain’ that he is doing very well on.
Although he will still sometimes get a small allergic reaction on his leg if he gets into the cat food (which contains corn).
The vet I was going to at the time denied that food can cause allergies, but after research and switching vets it is apparently a big problem with a lot of dogs.
So it’s worth it to maybe simply try a corn and grain-free food and see if it starts to improve his skin and coat. It’d be cheaper and healthier than vet visits and medicines
It may not be the food, but I think it’s worth a try since I know of many people who have cleared up skin problems with better dog foods.
Hi Jessica and Tara,
Thank you for the suggestions. We are hoping his allergies clear up. I know some other breeds of dogs have sensitive skin allergies. Pit bulls in particular tend to get irritations. Fingers crossed!
We just adopted Nikita 4 months ago and we encountered the same symptom…he was scratching himself all the time, left some area of the skin kind of raw.
Our vet made us buy an allergy med for $200, and we thought that the shot was the answer but the progress really came from the change of food. He was given IAMS before and now he’s on Solid Gold and no-wheat treats, the coat around the chest area where he had much problem with is now growing back and he is looking really handsome!
I hope Brando gets well soon.