I've got two mongrels, 10 & 15 years old who scratch themselves quite often and sometimes 'nibble' themselves. Not in a major way and not to the point where they make themselves sore, also if I tell them to stop they do!

It's not fleas, they did have fleas recently but they've been treated with Frontline and I've thoroughly cleaned and sprayed the entire flat with Acclaim to kill any possible eggs off. The youngest came from a farm as a pup and was raised with 5 other dogs - she had fleas when I got her so the others would of too, so that's making me think it could just be a habit thing and maybe the older one is just copying?

Has anyone got any ideas? I don't think it's worth a trip to the vets but I don't like the thought of them being uncomfortable.....!

hi maybe its an alergy, to the flea product, or have you changed their food, bathed them in something different,???? i dont think the older one is doing it just to copy the younger one, see what other members can sugguest,

Could be the food you are feeding them or maybe the shampoo you use to bath them??????

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I don't think it's the food - they used to have Nutro but I switched to Burns a few months ago which is very similar (I only changed because I couldn't get Nutro and stuck with the Burns as it's cheaper and made in the UK!) Plus the scratching isn't a new thing, but I haven't really worried about it as there are no physical signs of any discomfort.....

They've had Frontline before and I don't bathe them unless they roll in something!

It's a bit of a puzzler to me, but thanks for your reply and I look forward to seeing what other members think....

Have you washed their bedding in different detergent than you usually use? I have to use non bio to do the dogs beds else they scratch

it sounds like a reaction to me

Sounds feasible, I've been using Biological tablets but I need to go shopping tomorrow so I'll get a non bio one!

Thanks for all your replies people, I'll let you know how we get on.....

Hello again people.

I forgot to report back, the change of detergent seemed to do the trick!

How often is often, if it's not too often then it sounds quite normal behaviour?