I have a Cocker about 7 years old that has always had allergies all of her life. Most of the time you could tell with eye drainage. For the past 3 years she has been having reoccurring skin sores that the vet has called it reoccurring skin staff infections. She has been on and off Predisone for the past three years for her allergies and her skin. For the past year she has been on Predisone daily. I know that can't be good for her. She has been gaining weight steadily even though buying her grainfree good food. I have tried all kinds thinking she may have food allergies. Nothing has helped her. Now she is growing what looks like skin tacks or flesh colored like loose warts. Each time I bathe her the skin sores are scabbed over and a lot of them come off as I brush her in the shower and she feels better, but in less than a week they are back and spreading. Vet just says that Cockers are prone to allergies and that is about it. We are using medicated shampoo from the vet also. Any ideas on what to try next? Food? Shampoo? Some kind of dip?

Never had that with my field bred cockers. I pray it all works out for you.

For dogs that are prone to skin (staph) infections I use Povidone-iodine. i mix it with warm water till its the color of tea. rinse the dog off with it, and then dry dog off 2x per day. i use it to keep the dog from getting infections. or if the dog has one, i use it in combination with a oral antibiotic.

sorry about the grammar, but im having to type with one hand.

My lab has a couple of these too. Vet was no help. Interested to hear if you end up with a solution.

my vet has said food allergies are generally irritation with "ears and rears." So, he believes skin irritations are normally environmental allergies. Grass/pollen/etc.

Not much help but trying to help you identify if it is a food or environmental allergy.

Update, got on the internet, everything is always true right, and changed some things. First I took her off of the Predisone, eyes and ears seemed to be fine just her skin. Predisone was also making her gain weight like crazy. Changed her diet to another type of grain free food. She is now eating half as much as she was so that is good. Next I tried , per the internet, bathing her in Black Tea every other day. Next I tried putting vitamin E oil on her sore spots. Well , she is much better now. Pretty well just have a few small scabs healing up but no new skin sores. So one or all of her changes helped in her recovery. She is much happier now just two weeks later.

Try ground flaxseed about a teaspoon per 10 lbs. I recommend the brand "Golden Omega fine ground flaxseed" sold at GNC or online. It is a non-GMO flax, cold-pressed, grown in North Dakota and finely ground. Just sprinkle it on her food every day. If it helps you should see some results within 45 to 60 days.

Here is a link for Amazon:

Amazon Premium Gold Flaxseed

BTW, this stuff is great for you too(heart, skin, digestive)! You can share the bag.

Our little one gets them (she looks a lot like your cocker but is a choc party) when it gets hot and her nose gets scabby on top too. We keep her grooming pretty short and that seems to help. I've noticed in the last week that she had a couple pop up on the top of her back. She has one in the inside of her rear leg that has been getting better but it's been there about 3 weeks.

I know it's not the food because this is something that only occurs in the heat of the summer. We don't like the Predisone either and that and a shot is normally what the vet does when it gets bad enough that she starts messing with them.

Apoquel has greatly helped one of our labs with allergies.

It is a much better alternative than steroids. It is expensive though.

This sounds like what my lab has as well, my vet gave me medicated shampoo and it didn't clear it up going back Monday to see what I need to do next.

Try the Vitamin E oil, it has been working pretty well. Just apply daily on the areas.