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Our toy poodle is about a year old and starting probably 4 or 5 months ago, he started this habit of chewing or licking himself at various parts of his body. He has numerous bald spots on his legs where he has either chewed or licked all the hair off and all that remains are these little acne or ant/mosquito bite like marks.

We are planning to take him to the vet anyways soon for his 1 year checkup/shots and were going to ask him if he knew what was going on.

We give him his flea meds once a month per the instructions (Frontline Plus) and we can't see any fleas on him. We're wondering if there may be something about the frontline that he doesn't like or something? I've got some Sentry Pro that we haven't opened up yet that we're going to start using at the end of the month to see if we'll have better luck with this type.

My sister in law also has a toy poodle who does this and she said her vet says it's them chewing at matted hair. Only problem with this theory is that we brush and de-matte Jack all the time and the hair we see him chew and lick isn't matted up.

Any ideas? The licking sound is driving me crazy as it goes on ALL NIGHT LONG and he cries if we put him in any other rooms of the house.

>>Our toy poodle is about a year old and starting probably 4 or 5 months ago, he started this habit of chewing or licking himself at various parts of his body. He has numerous bald spots on his legs where he has either chewed or licked all the hair off and all that remains are these little acne or ant/mosquito bite like marks.
>>
>>We are planning to take him to the vet anyways soon for his 1 year checkup/shots and were going to ask him if he knew what was going on.
>>
>>We give him his flea meds once a month per the instructions (Frontline Plus) and we can't see any fleas on him. We're wondering if there may be something about the frontline that he doesn't like or something? I've got some Sentry Pro that we haven't opened up yet that we're going to start using at the end of the month to see if we'll have better luck with this type.
>>
>>My sister in law also has a toy poodle who does this and she said her vet says it's them chewing at matted hair. Only problem with this theory is that we brush and de-matte Jack all the time and the hair we see him chew and lick isn't matted up.
>>
>>Any ideas? The licking sound is driving me crazy as it goes on ALL NIGHT LONG and he cries if we put him in any other rooms of the house.

>>>>>

Don't wait, take him to the vet now. These bare spots can turn into deep, internal infections.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

I'm not a vet and this does need vet attention, but it sounds like an allergy- to exactly what? well- that's not easy to say.

My mom's toy poodle lived with allergies his whole life and constantly got new ones each year. It's controllable for the most part, but you need to work with your vet on the best way to handle it. Good luck.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles