Guys, my lab has an issue. He scratches alot around his neck and front shoulders. He nipps and bites at his tail, rear legs and rump areas. He seems to do this more in the mornings and after he's been outside for a bit doing his business.
However, the minute I catch him biting, I look to see if he's got fleas. I push his hair opposite the way it lays and don't see anything. I look in the places where fleas are supposed to be and nothing. I tried Frontline, but nothing changed. We bathe him when we get a chance with oatmeal shampoo or a medicated shampoo and that doesn't seem to help much. I've started to wash him down after he's been in the pool cause I've been told that could dry out his skin. That doesn't seem to work.
Could it be his food? His eating well, not vomiting or anything. How would I know if it was his food.

Anyone deal with this before?

Thanks in advance for advice.

I had the same problem with one of my dogs. Vet told me it was dry skin due to lack of oils in food. I may be wrong but i think she told me to give him some kind of fish oil. Take him to the vet. This is not that uncommon of a problem. Happens more often with dogs that are given a bath on a regular basis

At his last visit at the beginning of the month I was told that it could be dry skin by the vet. But she never did mention anything about fish oil only a Oatmeal shampoo.
I have read that fish oils will work. Thanks for the info.

I talked to my wife it was fish oil
It worked but the only problem was the farts were aweful

try the fish oil or maybe change his food...I have heard alot about labs having allergies with certain dog foods

could be that your dog has developed allergies. it's not as uncommon as you think it may be, binadryl can take care of dog allergies.

My lab had the same problem. A lot of dogs have allergieas related to the sh!tty corn byproducts they put in a lot of the dog food. Switch him to something like blue buffalo brand or eagle pak and it should go away in about two weeks.

Wash with chlorhexiderm...... good $hit!!

notice the corn ingredient is one of the top ingredients. I used to feed my dog pro plan. he had the itching and scratching issues. Blue buffalo and some of the others don't have any corn byproduct at all. it will be nothing but pure food ingredients such as chicken, rice, oatmeal, salmon, etc. I never believed in feeding my dog that higher dollar "all natural" ingredient stuff till i had these issues and saw that it wasn't just a marketing gimic. its worth the extra $10

Thanks for the advice guys. I got about 15lbs of this food left. When I get down to about 5lbs, I'll start switching to something better to see if the food is the issue.

I have had this issue with my lab for years in the summer time. I have taken him to vets and spending money for treatment,and this is the first year his skin was good with no itching or sores. I have started using the generic of the missing link which is called be well from 1800- pet meds. This shit is working real good. Is a supplement with omega fatty in it. I also feed him Lamb and Rice without corn or wheat. If you go to the a website called drugstore.com you could find the Missing Link supplement for $13.00. That is cheap considering that petsmart is charging $28. 1800 pet meds is around $19. The company who makes the Missing Link makes Be Well for pet meds. I am just switching him because i found the original stuff for cheap. Be Well cost $16 at 1800 pet meds.

I been reading this thread. My thoughts the whole time were that the dogs needed more fatty acid. There is a brand called Omega. I've seen it at the feed stores and have heard good things about it. It makes the dogs coats kinda oily. Mine is indoors so I didn't like the idea. But it may be worth looking into for those with really dry skin...

If your's naturally has dry skin, it may not be that bad. Mine didn't have any skin issues and is fat enough already. I don't know anyone personally who uses it, but I was talking to the lady at the feed store. She said they had a bunch of people asking about it, so they started carrying it. Said they can't keep it in stock. They order more every time and keep selling out. Similar ingredients to diamond (what I feed mine) and similar pricing too. Said most of the people using it had working dogs. Beagles, hounds, retrievers...