My dog is allergic to something either in the air or in the yard. Here in the past week or so she's constantly scratching, chewing and licking. It's definitely not fleas and her skin isn't at all dry. My guess is stuff in the air this time of year or perhaps the red oak pollen that started covering our back yard at around the same time.

In any case, I've been using an oatmeal based pet shampoo as recommended by the vet, but that doesn't seem to help. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt a cornmeal bath/soak to see if that makes a difference. Regarding tea tree and lavander oil, are they used spot treat hot spots or can either be applied to a more substantial area? Can either be diluted in order to be used as a spray? She's primarily focused on her legs, paws, chest, chin, tail.. you get the picture.

~Dave

You can buy tea tree shampoos at health food (and other type) stores. That would be easier than spot treating if you have a lot of area to cover.

Yeah, I've already tracked down some tea tree oil based shampoos and hot spot spray treatments. I've been told by many people that over bathing (more than once every few weeks at most) will cause Jack Russells' skin to become dry so I've gone with the hot spot spray. It's also a big no-no to use human shampoos on animals since their pH requirements are significantly different. Not sure what you'll find at health stores for dogs, but Petco had what I was looking for.

The brand I went with is Veterinarian's Best. They make all-natural pet products and so far I like the results. The spray's ingredients are tea tree oil, chamomile, and aloe vera. Seems to be alleviating her suffering fairly well as long as I spray about keep applying it throught the day. Looks like I'll need to get an aloe vera plant for the areas that she's chaffed already though. I'll be picking up their shampoo product this evening for a bit more relief as well.

~Dave

The food you feed you dog can make a huge difference in their coat and itching problems. I had this problem years ago and switching foods cured the problem. The current food I would suggest is Muenster or something similar in nutrition & natural preservatives. Good luck!

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The "soap" you use is normally chemicals, etc. Use real SOAP !!

Last spring when she first had this crop up it was right after we bought her and food was the first thing I started keying on since it was something I could control. Muenster, perscription brands, corn/no corn, fish oil additives, you name it - I tried it.

I really wanted to get her started on Muenster, but twice over the past year I've tried introducing it into her diet (each time over a period of 3 weeks) and she basically goes on a hunger strike. She'll pick around the Muenster kibble. Our little sit down about her health and all that didn't make much of an impression apparently..

~Dave

I know what you mean about the Muenster. My cats spit it out; talking to them didn't help. I tried a dog food years ago that had Avocado or Avocado oil in it. It seemed to help the skin problems. What about something like Missing Link?

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The "soap" you use is normally chemicals, etc. Use real SOAP !!

You might try the Comfrey Tea solution. Go to the Information Center link and hit "C" for comfrey.
Heard the recipe on Howard's show several years ago and some report good results.
I haven't needed to use it on my dogs but I have used it on myself. Like your terrier, I get itching fits from "something in the air" that isn't related to the usual bug bites. I walk from front door to the car and then pray for red lights so I can have a chance to scratch. Seems particularly bad during humid times.
I boiled up a pot of comfrey (with a few leafy branches from my rosemary bush as that has some good skin elements), then added a splash of cider vinegar (the acid adds some astringency) when I diluted it. Kept a jar in the fridge and whenever I was tempted to claw off a layer of skin, I would apply some to the affected area with a cotton ball. It definitely soothed and stopped the itching.
Don't know about rosemary and vinegar as far as dog skin, but the plain C. tea might help your Jack.

I started to use Dr.Broomer's liquid soap to shampoo my dog. This is made of pure castille soap, no chemical. It seems to be better than so-called doggy shampoos. I also liked Natural Ark's Neem Shampoo, that was very helpful for flea season. He started to get supplemental food of either Missing Link or Solid Gold's Sea Meal and they also seem to help a lot. As far as the dog food is concerned, I have been feeding him California Natural's Lamb & Rice. Your dog may be allergic to food (corn, wheat, etc.). They recommend Lamb & Rice for food allergic dogs and I'm very happy about it. Solid Gold's dog food (it's also made of lamb & rice but it has German name that I can't remember) was excellent with their supplement Sea Meal. I really think Lamb & Rice helped tremendously. I'm not sure where you live but a gloomer called "Glamour Paws" in Fort Worth carries both California Natural and Solid Gold.