Hind Leg Biting and Privates Licking

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Hind Leg Biting and Privates Licking

Posted : 7/3/2006 11:48:26 PM

Hi all, I'm very new to this forum and I have quite a weird situation/question reguarding my girlfriends poodle/maltees mix..
The dog is about 9 years old, not spayed. According to my gf, the dog was the result of accidental inbreeding (father/daughter). Has alot of signs of inbred animals: under bite, back leg joint deterioration, "bull dog" front legs, but Ami (the dog) is really quite sweet, and does not seem to be exhibiting any psychological/mental problems associated with inbred animals like aggression or weird reactions. (not that I know of anyway..)

So now recently (just a couple of days ago) Ami has been scratching alittle more than usual, and has gone into fits of... "own privates licking" (sorry don't know how to put it better) while she is doing that, she would occationally bite her own rear leg quite vigorously, as if the leg is interrupting her or distracting her. These fits would last about 2-3 minutes and would be quite loud as she breathes quite hard during it. I inspected the hind legs and they seem fine, but her privates seem to be swollan/red.
She pees regularly, and the pee doens't contain any blood or smell bad (ok, not bad for dog pee I guess.. [

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Now after reading around the archived threads and other web sites, it seems like it could be
a) allegies- somewhat bad, and fixable.
b) Urinary Tract Infection- really really bad, and quite dangerous.
c) something else?

but I have not found something that would explain both behaviors at once. We are planning to take her to the vet soon to find out whats wrong, but in the mean time, if anyone can give me some help, we would greatly appreciated and it would also give us a peace of mind.

Thank you so much.

mondayblues

Posted : 7/4/2006 1:06:51 AM

My dog has allergies and dry skin, and she exhibits tsome of the same symptoms as your girlfriend's dog, like licking her groin area and biting at her fur, leading to reddish skin. (The loud breathing is normal. I think my dog breathes a little louder because her muzzle gets smooshed when she's biting at her fur.) It could be allergies, but if they were, she would most likely also have symptoms like general body itchiness, rashes, sneezing and watery eyes. In the case of a UTI, she would be having difficulty or experience pain during urination. Have you checked for fleas? Some dogs are allergic to flea bites. Check for flaky skin and impacted anal glands, too.

Good luck!

spiritdogs

Posted : 7/4/2006 6:55:08 AM

Since this is sudden behavior, I would not suspect allergies as much, but since the vulva are swollen and reddened, it sounds like a trip to the vet is in order. Dogs will damage themselves if pain and irritation persist, and your bill will only get higher then :-)

) Make the appt. [

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