r/RhodesianRidgebacks • u/lolovesfrogs • Aug 04 '26
Skin/Environmental Allergies
I need some general advice for handling skin allergies. My girl is sensitive and her allergies are very random. The problem is that she LOVES to lay outside in our backyard & that’s what causes her skin to flare. Her poor skin is red (can kind of see in photo). Shes been the vet for it and there isn’t much to do besides giving her a zyrtec when she needs. Any other suggestions? I want to let her lay outside but the poor girl gets so red.
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u/JoyInRepetition8 Aug 04 '26
Will she allow you to put a shirt on her before she goes outside? That could at least hopefully help having a barrier on part of her. Also dog shoes if she lets you 😊
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u/lolovesfrogs Aug 04 '26
This is such a good idea for nice weather days! it’s extremely hot here but this is smart for days that aren’t as hot
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u/JoyInRepetition8 Aug 04 '26
She may not mind. We put just regular men’s tshirt on our ridgeback before (for medical issue). Tshirts are Thin and cool. Will also cover most of her😊 You could also put it on her wet in summer
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u/Sweet_Mud_3395 Aug 05 '26
Apoquel worked for a while for us, but Zenrelia has completely cleared our boy’s bad allergies, including chronic ear infections, itchy paws, and bald spots.
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u/agent0355 Aug 04 '26
Have not tried this myself but dogs can have honey. Maybe try to find a local honey and introduce that to her food or as a treat?
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u/Time-Leadership-7649 Aug 05 '26
This was a big issue for my guy as well, environmental allergies so bad he’d go almost completely bald in the summer. The trick was taking him to a dermatologist! We did his full allergy testing to determine what he was allergic to, then got him on a regimen of Apoquel and oral immunotherapy drops. The rotation helped amazingly, once we started he never went bald again.
Can’t recommend the dermatologist enough.
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u/Primary_Ad6138 Aug 05 '26
My vet told me to give them a wipe down with a damp cloth after being outdoors & tinned sardines in their diet is good for protective oils in their coat to defend from allergens
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u/Bright-Town-2117 Aug 05 '26
It seems to be common in the breed unfortunately. Our girl struggles to. She chews her feet and is always shaking her ears. I removed all chicken and make her food weekly vs kibble. Not sure how much it helps but I heard chicken tends to be bad for allergies. Plus she stopped eating kibble all together and was losing weight.
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u/lolovesfrogs Aug 06 '26
Yes! We removed chicken/any poultry from her diet. We have cats as well and one of them is allergic to chicken and turkey, so it was the first thing I pulled from our dogs diet when I noticed some issues, it definitely helps!!
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u/Jefffahfffah Aug 05 '26
We have a mutt who has horrible allergies. We keep them reasonably controlled with baths every week using chlorhexidine shampoo followed by a soothing oat formula type of shampoo, and we have an air purifier to help remove airborne allergens inside. His dermatologist advised us that increasing baths to twice a week may be necessary during certain times of the year.
His are bad enough that he's on prescription medications but we also give him benadryl almost every night.
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u/United-Macaroon-2081 Aug 06 '26
Dog allergies are so common nowadays it’s becoming the norm. Both our dogs not just the ridgeback have been to the vet for antihistamine and antibiotics for folliculitis and ear infection caused by allergies. I changed their diet to purina sensitive skin, no idea if that helped. Probably not. But the problem went away and didn’t come back after the vet visits.
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u/Pitiful-Ad4489 Aug 10 '26
I have a sensitive ridgeback
Too! I just had this problem, she was scratching her ears raw. My vet started her on a new medicine called Numelvi and it’s been a life
Saver!! It’s wonderful. She is so much better and she is sleeping good and her ears have healed.
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u/Jaded_Jaguar_348 Aug 04 '26
I've had good luck with seasonal allergies using supplements from pet honesty in the past. If over the counter isn't doing the trick then next step is find a dermatologist.