Please Help! My Yellow lab has some serious skin issues

Question:
 My 3 year old, Waylon, has always had dry skin. First, If someone can recommend a shampoo or something that will help, let me know. Nothing seems to work for him.
Anyway, about a week ago, my wife and I noticed that Waylon had developed a rash around his hind legs/ private area as well as multiple small bumps on the top of his head and around his neck. These turned out to be small scabs. I believe that these scabs are a continuation of the rash that he has scratched at until it bled...
The vet has suggested Benadryl (didnt work). I am hoping someone on here can shed some light on this issue. Waylon doesnt seem to be in pain or more itchy than usual (but nothing seems to bother a 135 lb-er)
Thanks in advance for the help. hopefully these pictures can explain better.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a4...0/CIMG0793.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a4...0/CIMG0794.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a4...0/CIMG0795.jpg

Answer:
 What are you feeding him?
Wondering if he has a food allergy ...always had dry skin??
Many more know more than me, I am sure you will get some great advice. If you can post what he is being fed, it will help.

Answer:
 by any chance did you launder his blanket/bed or switch detergents recently? Perhaps he is having a reaction. whatever the case I hope you figure it out, poor guy.

Answer:
 I would wonder about food too. also if he has dry skin you can always give salmon oil pills to help with the dry skin.

Answer:
 My guess, and it's just a guess, is a flea allergy. Or it could be a reaction to some other kind of bite. When you go out into your yard, do you see a lot of bugs in the grass? If the grass is tall, mow it because bugs love tall grass. If it's already buggy, you might consider some kind of spray yard treatment for bugs. Ortho makes one that you just attach to your hose and it mixes it for you (Bug B Gone?). I'd also suggest putting some Frontline on your dog. I have a girl with flea allergies, and she gets Frontline every 3 weeks instead of 4 because it goes down to 75% effectiveness after week 3, which is not enough for a flea allergic dog. My girl has other allergies, too, but that really looks like a bug bite related thing and not something like a food allergy or an environmental allergy.
For chronic dry skin, I'd want to know what you're feeding. Some foods have plenty of oil in them, others don't and require an oil supplement, something like Lipiderm (made for pets in liquid and capsule form) or salmon oil. Other oils will work, and flax seed oil is another good one. I was using Lipderm for the dogs, but the dermatologist looked at my food (Solid Gold Wolf King) and said that I don't need to add any additional oils with that food. How frequently do you bathe your dog? Over bathing can cause dry skin, particularly if you are using a shampoo that isn't very mild. For baths, you want a mild or soap-free shampoo, and a soap-free formula like DVM HyLyt (most vets sell it) is actually safe enough to use it weekly, if you wanted. DVM also makes an oatmeal shampoo to soothe skin called Relief. We have used both of those.

Answer:
 I would also like to know what food you are feeding. THe other possibilities mentioned could be the cause as well.
You say your dog has always had dry skin. For that you can give 1 tbspn apple cider viniger in food daily with water added (you may have to start with less till he gets use to the taste).
You can also give biotin at 300mcg. You must give a b-complex along with this as the body will not absorb one b vitamin on its own. GNC or a vitamin store is the best place to get your supplements for good quality. Not the food store or a pharmacy.

Answer:
 I feed Waylon IAMS LArge Breed 1 year +.
Vet said that was a pretty good food, no?

Answer:
 We have not switched detergents on his bed and with this drought, we dont have any grass in the backyard :)
I use Hartz 2 in 1 Flea & Tick Shampoo with Oatmeal- supposed to soothe dry skin....:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Is the concensus that I need to supplement his diet with some sort of oil?

Answer:
 I feed Waylon IAMS LArge Breed 1 year +.
Vet said that was a pretty good food, no?
Iams is really not the best food...there are much healthier foods available for your dog.
I would start by switching foods...dogs can do very poorly when fed a lower quality diet.
Stay away from dog food sold in a grocery store and visit your local pet center for the premium brands.
I would also consider adding Salmon Oil to his food...it is very rich in Omega 3's. great for healthy skin and coat.
Some better brands of food:
Eagle Pack Holistic
Canidae
Nature's Variety
Innova
California Natural

Answer:
 I would start with switching his food. This is the ingredient list for Iams Large Breed:

Ingredients
Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal (Natural source of Glucosamine), Ground Whole Grain Barley, Fish Meal, Dried Beet Pulp (Sugar Removed), Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Flax Meal, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Dried Chicken Cartilage (Natural source of Glucosamine), DL-Methionine, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Fish Oil (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), L-Tryptophan, Rosemary Extract

It has corn meal as the second ingredient - very common allergen for dogs. Try to find something with no corn, wheat, or soy. Third ingredient is some type of grain (filler) as well, and the fourth is a meat by-product so mostly water. Fifth ingredient is also a grain. It appears your dog is getting more grains than meat.
My advice is look at the ingredient list, you want the first few items to be meats or meat by-product.

Answer:
 It looks like a possible Staph infection.

Answer:
 I feed Waylon IAMS LArge Breed 1 year +.
Vet said that was a pretty good food, no?
No. It's not a good food and it could be the cause of your dog's skin issues. Iams is a low quality food that uses fillers and low quality ingreds. I know your vet said it's good, but, in all honesty, vets really don't know much about canine nutrition. Sad, but true.

Answer:
 We have not switched detergents on his bed and with this drought, we dont have any grass in the backyard :)
I use Hartz 2 in 1 Flea & Tick Shampoo with Oatmeal- supposed to soothe dry skin....:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Is the concensus that I need to supplement his diet with some sort of oil?
dump the Hartz right along with the Iams...neither product is worth the money you're spending on it. How often are you bathing this dog? If it's more than once a yr you're over bathing. Labs do not need weekly baths, it will ruind their coat. Clear water baths however, are prefectly fine.
Get a better flea product. Adams is a good one..they also carry a whole line designed to treat the pet, the house and the yard. If fleas are your problem you need to treat the house the yard and the pet.

Answer:
 Definitely start by changing his food. Here is an excellent shampoo that I use on my dog who has bad allergies. It is sulfate free, hypoallergenic dog shampoo. I would look into getting that and washing him with that from now on. I have to give my dog a bath once a week because of his allergies and he never gets dry skin from it.
http://www.muttropolis.com/products2...Butter-Shampoo