The Pekingese quite commonly gets allergic skin disease from food allergy or canine atopic dermatitis. This can lead to itching, scratching, chewing and licking which in turn can lead to secondary skin infection with bacteria or yeast. The common skin infection in the dog is caused by Staphylococcus intermedius. The common yeast infection in the dog is caused by Malassezia.
In a Pekingese dog less than six months of age, there are three primary considerations. Does your dog have fleas? This is the most common cause of itchy skin disease in dogs. Signs of fleas include flea dirt which looks like black flecks through the coat as you part the hair and fleas themselves. If your dog is scratching its back and the base of the tail, it is probably a flea allergy. Mange can cause your dog to be itchy. This is harder to diagnose and your vet would have to do a skin scrape to look for mites. Every itchy dog should have an elimination food trial but itchy rashes in dogs less than six months of age must raise the suspicion of food allergy.
In an itchy Pekingese with canine atopic dermatitis, you would expect the dog to be chewing the feet constantly. Dogs with canine atopic dermatitis also get itchy rashes on the abdomen, groin, arm pit (axilla) and on the inside surface of the ears. The dogs get rashes on the hairless parts of the body. This is where allergens such as pollen pass across the skin. Pekingese dogs with canine atopic dermatitis have a defective skin barrier that is missing a protein called sphingosine.
There are some very good natural treatments that can help with the itching, scratching dog.
