Monsoon skin problems in dogs, and how to get ahead of them

Every year from July the same cases fill the appointment book: itchy, smelly, infected skin. Monsoon does not create these problems so much as it removes everything that was keeping them in check. Humidity keeps the coat damp, standing water breeds insects, and the tick population goes up sharply.

What actually goes wrong

• Bacterial skin infection. Warm, damp skin under a coat that never fully dries. Starts as small red spots, becomes crusted and smelly.
• Yeast. Ears, armpits, between the toes, and the folds of a wrinkled breed. A distinctive sweet, musty smell, and skin that thickens and darkens where it has been going on a while.
• Hot spots. A patch the dog has licked raw in a matter of hours. Usually starts from something small - a tick bite, a fleabite - and the licking does the rest.
• Ticks and fleas. Peak season. Flea allergy in particular turns one bite into weeks of itching.

Getting ahead of it

1. Start parasite control before the rain, not after. A monthly spot-on or chew applied in June is doing its job when the population peaks. Applied in August it is catching up.
2. Dry the dog properly. Not a rub-down - properly, especially the armpits, the groin, between the toes and inside the ears. A dog that comes in wet from a walk and is still damp at the skin two hours later is the problem in miniature.
3. Check the ears weekly. Lift the flap and smell. A sour or yeasty smell is the earliest sign, days before the head-shaking starts.
4. Wash the bedding hot, weekly. Ninety-five per cent of a flea population is not on the dog; it is in the bedding as eggs and larvae.
5. Keep the coat shorter through the season for a thick-coated breed. Not shaved - that removes sun protection - but trimmed enough that the skin can dry.

When to stop managing it at home

Shampoos and drying help a mild case. Once the skin is broken, weeping, smelly, or the dog cannot stop at it, the infection is established and needs diagnosing rather than covering. Skin looks similar whatever the underlying cause, and treating a yeast problem with an antibacterial - or the reverse - wastes the fortnight that mattered.

Bring the dog in, or send photographs to a video consultation. Either way, a scrape or a swab is what turns guessing into treating.