Ithching becoming a serious problem

Because it worked for our Dane Ollie, I would suggest to take your dog to a skin specialist and have him tested for allergies. After spending tons of money at different vets for him, and medication from antibiotics to prednisone, benadryl and more,,,, he was blood tested and found to be allergic to dust and grass. Of course we can't do anything about either of those two things, but he was given allergen shots once a week and is now fine and not scratching anymore.  All of his problems started after vaccinations so we believe they are what caused him the problems, and therefore he gets no more vaccinations. He eats Eagle Pack dog food with raw egg and cooked meat...and gets a probiotic on his kibble each day.

 Welcome to idog the9ulaire;  Have you been taking her to the vet for this? The vet can recommend antihistamines that can help. Here are some shampoos that people here have tried with success; Nova Pearls; you should find it at Petco or PetsMart and NuSal-T; you may have to order it online but it is very good for soothing itchy dogs. PetsMart has a conditioner that also really helps; it is made by Tropiclean and is called OxyMed; there is a blue cross on the bottle. You may have to bathe her once or twice a week to keep her from itching.
      Here is a link to types of antihistamines to try for dogs and dosages according to weight;
                                   [linkhttp://www.utskinvet.org/pdf/antihists.pdf]http://www.utskinvet.org/pdf/antihists.pdf[/link]
 
It can take one to two weeks to know if an antihistamine is going to help; you should probably start with Benedryl or Tavist.
  If you give your dog a fatty acid supplement made from fish oil such as DermCaps or Lipederm it can help too; you should find them at Petco or PetsMart.
  If you have already tried these things then you should see a veterinary dermatologist( what Dyan calls a skin specialist). Jessie was like your dog and Dyan's dog Ollie; I took her to a veterinary dermatologist and she was tested for allergies and found to be very allergic to many pollens as well as dust mites. She is receiving allergy shots and is doing great. It is possible that your dog won't need allergy shots but a veterinary dermatologist can determine what is causing your dog's itching and how to treat it. Let us know if you have more questions and we'll be glad to help. I hope you find relief for your dog soon.
 
 

My father has even resorted, while humorous it is a good idea, putting duct tape on her fur where she scratches. She just scratches elsewhere then. It is not fleas...

Firstly, welcome to the forum. Secondly, I do not find applying Duct Tape on her fur to be humorous.
 
As others have suggested have her skin allergy tested. If that is not an option, please, please, try to figure out why she is so miserable. Is it a possiblity she is allergic to the flea treatment that you guys are putting on her? As an example, I have a dog that is allergic to Frontline and Frontline plus. Her skin breaks out and she will dig till her skin bleeds. It took us a while to figure out that she was allergic to this topical treatment and was switched to Advantage, which does not have that reaction to her.
For the time being, do give her Benedryl to help ease the intense itching.
Hope you find the cause soon.

Dogs itch for various reasons and we worked systematically for months to try to rule them out with our vet (through skin scrapings, diet, allergy tests). We tried topicals (like Gentocin), antibiotics for skin infections, shampoos, several different antihistamines, Prednisone, fish oil, invermectin injections, home prepared diet as well as IVD diets (all of the formulas), heaven knows what else but I have the records here somewhere.
I finally read a book called Pet Allergies by Dr. Alfred Plechner and had my dog tested with the Endocrine-Immune panel (tests hormones levels and immunoglobulin/antibody levels) and found that she had a hormonal imbalance that was effecting her immune system.
She had antibody 'deregulation' meaning her antibodies were not protecting her body and possibly even attacking it.
For us, the only thing to work was to correct her hormone levels (but still maintain the hypoallergenic diet). The book Pets At Risk is the new version of the old book and tells about Endocrine-Immune Imbalance.

I wish I could have solved her immune issues earlier had I known, but it seems that the thyroid and adrenals are not always the first thing that is looked at when dealing with immune dysfunction.

Other people have found other ways to help their dogs and it seems the answer is out there if you just keep searching. Each dog is different but this is what worked for ours.

I just read Forpaws post and what a great mention.
I know of a cat who was having a bad reaction to her flea and tick spot-on treatment. For over a year the vets, three of them, couldn't figure out what was wrong. All kinds of scrapes and meds and all it took was one month of the cat being off the flea treatment and she is growing her hair back and no longer obsessed with her skin. It must have been bothering her so much.
What a great mention Forpaws!

Other people have found other ways to help their dogs and it seems the answer is out there if you just keep searching

 
That's the key; not to give up until you find the answer. The information about having a dog tested with the Endocrine-Immune Panel is a good tip; most vets wouldn't think of doing this test.

Unfortunately this person hasn't been back -- I emailed her hoping she'll come back and check on her post.  Unfortunately, for some people the idea of a 'specialist' is just plain alien to them -- that doesn't make them bad, just not aware that it's even an option. 
 
Sometimes like in Sophia's case, the vet has tried all of the the obvious -- ivermectin in case it's sarcoptic mites, and topicals and low dose antibiotics.  But there comes a time when they throw up their hands and SO often ... particularly in rural situations or a situation where the parent (who never had a dog who had to go to the vet more than once every 8 years) is making the decisions the idea of a specialist is never even considered.  It may not be the cheap option, but getting a different opinion can ultimately be more cost-effective because if you get an answer you can quit throwing your money away on nothing.
 
Usually what works with allergies is a combination of stuff -- not one 'magic' thing.  For example for those of us with thyroid dogs getting the thyroid balanced doesn't mean an 'end' to allergies.  Far from it.  It just means what you DO try has a better chance of achieving some success if the body isn't hard-wired to HAVE skin problems.  I'd need to talk to this person and get more feedback on what HAS been tried and what hasn't. 
 
Unfortunately a lot of vets may run a T4 (cheap $10 test) and then proclaim no thryoid problem when it takes more than that to see.  Even a T3 and T4 on a normal blood panel are pretty worthless to truly discover a real thyroid problem that's not obvious but may be what's underlying everything.
 
I hope she stops back so we can help her.  Callie