Our Molly, a 6-year old Staffie girl, developed the itchies at around six months old and it took a long long time and lots of expensive visits to the vet before we found the probably cause and a solution that works most of the time.

We think Molly, who had been the "baby" of the litter, has a weak immune system and suffers from demodectic mange - that's where the dog's immune system can't keep in check little mites that naturally live in the dog's skin so they keep on multiplying which makes the dog itch. The dog scratches and maybe breaks the skin which can then become infected which causes more itching, scratching, itching etc etc. Molly also chews a feet which can be a sign of hayfever.

Our original vet prescribed no end of expensive things including a 12-month course of steroids (absolutely the WRONG and HARMFUL treatment for a dog with a weak immune system) and £300+ worth of allergy testing which showed up NOTHING!

Sorry - hit a rogue key and posted my message half-way thru - doh!

We changed vet and the new man diagnosed demodectic mange but said that the steroids would have weakened Molly's immune system so much that he probably couldn't cure her. She had several courses of nasty injections and had to be bathed once a week in even nastier stuff but she still itched and scratched and chewed her feet.

Then we discovered Burns food and EUREKA! On their advice we put Molly on an elimination diet for 12 weeks. We chose duck as Molly's novel protein (Burns Helpline will explain it all if you go down this route and will send you a couple of free samples) so we curbed her natural foraging tendencies and all she had was Burns Duck and Brown Rice. Also we got her some Dermacton Cream, Spray and Soap Bar (a google search will show you where to get it - it's not cheap but it's soooo worth the money). The difference within a few weeks was amazing!

Molly's coat had always been shiny but now it positively glowed with health and when we brushed her there were no more huge flakes of dead skin coming away. She'd had lumps and bumps and sore places that all disappeared and suddenly she was so full of energy she couldn't contain herself and would spend hours and hours running and jumping and generally enjoying herself. Her feet would still get sore when she was out and about and she'd chew them when she got home so we kitted her out with four dog boots (cost a small fortune from a place in Ireland where they'd developed them for working dogs) but they did the trick so were worth every penny.

Over time we've changed Molly to Burns Chicken and Brown Rice with no ill-effects as that's easier to get hold of and she continues to be a relatively itch-free girl for most of the year. We always have a hiccup in the spring when the tree pollen is out and, whatever the £300+ allergy tests results said, we're convinced Molly suffers from hayfever. So we have 6-8 weeks of itching, runny nose, snotty eyes and chewing of feet. Piriton works quite well along with a weekly bath in Dermacton soap and the cream or spray on any very sore places and walks/runs in her doggy boots if her feet are sore. Also if we can get away to the seaside the sea water really helps her.

It's been a long and expensive road with Molly but sooooo worth it. Her immune system may not be up to much and she's showing signs of age rather earlier than we would have hoped so we don't know how long she'll be with us for but her quality of life now is really very good. I think Burns and Dermacton made a huge difference and I'd recommend them to anyone with an itchy dog (and no - I'm not a rep for either company - just a very very satisfied customer!).

Good luck with finding a solution for your dog's itches. I hope your road is not as long and expensive as ours was with our beautiful Molly.