Skin Treatments in Cocker Spaniels

If your cocker spaniel suffers the skin ailments common to its breed, you are tired of the dog's skin being scaly and flaky, fed up with it biting itself raw and sick of it clawing enough hair out to clog your vacuum. Your cocker's skin needs treatment.

  1. Grooming

    • Brush your cocker spaniel every day using a soft brush. This stimulates the hair follicles, causing them to release their naturals oils. Brushing also removes dead hair and dirt from your dog's coat, keeping your dog cleaner and reducing the need for baths. Baths strip the dog's hair of the natural oils it needs. Regular brushing also keeps a dog's coat from matting, which is necessary because a cocker spaniel can chew a matted area obsessively until it becomes a hot spot. In addition, keep the coat trimmed. Take the dog to a professional groomer every month or trim its coat yourself. Long hair is more easily matted and holds more dirt.

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    Environment

    • Treat your yard and house for fleas. Compared to many other breeds, cocker spaniels have sensitive skin that reacts harshly to flea bites. Your local hardware store will have pesticides for the lawn and flea-bombs for the house. Vacuuming the house daily also can help eliminate fleas by picking up flea eggs and larvae from spaces in the floor that brooms and mops can't reach. Get an air filter, too, in case the dog's skin ailments come from seasonal allergies, which are common for cocker spaniels much like humans.

    Diet

    • Change your cocker spaniel's diet. Cocker spaniels are especially good at developing yeast infections that affect their skin. This could be because the food is composed of too much grain. Buy a higher-quality dog food with a greater percentage of proteins and fatty acids. Most veterinarians carry high-quality food, as do most pet superstores. Cocker spaniels often can be allergic to the source of the protein. So if your dog food is beef-based, try a chicken-based diet instead.

    Medicine

    • Try a medicated shampoo that is antimicrobial, antiseborrheic and anti-itch. There also are plenty of over-the-counter pills and ointment for dogs. And, with the permission of your vet, the allergy medications you keep in your medicine cabinet could be given to your dog to ward off allergic itching. However, your dog might have a more serious problem that requires your vet's attention. The symptoms of worm and other parasitic infestations often manifest on the skin.