I totally understand the Chapstick analagy since it applies to me, I started using Chapstick way too frequently years ago and now I am practically dependent on it. lol

First off a little background on Dakota that may help. I don't know about his prior history but we adopted him when he was around 2 years old (the shelters best estimate). We used to live in Washington state and never had a problem with his skin, we had him for a year in WA. Then we moved to FL last September (2008) and still no problem. The issue started up about the time it started getting hot and humid in FL which starts around late March/early April and the skin issue has progressively gotten worse as the heat and humidity have worsened. I discussed this with the vet and she thinks he is reacting to the heat and humidity since everything, even his scooting, coincides perfectly with the environmental changes.

He started scooting a lot when the heat and humidity started up in the spring as well. I had the vet express his anal glands on Monday and they had very little so his scooting is not due to his anal glands bothering him. His fecal test came back negative so the scooting is also not due to parasites. She figures his skin issue and scooting is due to being itchy from the weather.

I don't bathe him on a set schedule of every six to eight weeks, I do it when necessary like if he gets dirty or has a smell but I don't bathe any more frequently than 6 weeks so as not to interfere with this skin and coat too much. If he gets really dirty in between baths I hose him down outside and blow him out with the hv dryer.

I just don't know if bathing him more frequently, even with a special shampoo, would be more helpful or harmful. Please keep the advise and opinions coming, I really appreciate it. There's nothing I can do about the weather but I do want to help him the best way I can with his skin issues. Even me and my chihuahua have been a little more itchy lately than usual. My skin is drier and itchier than usual too, I'm having to put lotion on more than I usually do. Neither of them has fleas just in case anyone's wondering, vet checked them over for that too.

No one?

Hi Val - now you know I am no expert but I vaguely remember reading somewhere in one of the forums that zinc deficiency can cause skin problems - have you heard of this?? I am probably completely missing the mark here as you mention you and Faith are also having similar problems - it could possibly be just down to the climate you live in.

Sorry val i didnt see this,
Try this
My recipe is for pets that have dry skin and itch a lot. In a spray bottle add 1/3 cup of baby oil, 1/3 cup of original listerine and 1/3 cup of warm water. Shake the bottle to mix and spray on pet. Works well especially on dogs with dandruff and real dry skin. Rub it in. The
pets fur will not be oily but sure makes him feel better. It is really good for dogs that get hot spots. Always shake mixture before spraying pet.
Trust me ...i know it sounds like a wierd mixture but boy will he feel instant relief with that mixture and it wont make the fur greasy.
Also a tablespoon or so of OLIVE OIL in his food 2 or 3 times a week.
It will help a treat with the scooting too

Thank you both! Really appreciate it. Cath, I know ZD can cause skin problems but I've never heard of it being like this.

Linzi, thanks for the 'recipe'. I will see if I can find some baby oil, if not I'll see about picking some up sometime this week when I go shopping. If you don't mind my asking, what does the Listerine do? I trust you but I'm just curious. lol Also, should I do the spray on his coat every so often until his skin gets better? Like once a week or something?

Thanks for the tip on the olive oil. I gave him just a little bit of olive oil mixed with his dinner three times this week. He's not scooted for over a week but I know his dry skin will take a little longer.

Despite my vet's advice, I am also going to try bathing him less unless he absolutely needs it. I think I will just try wetting his coat and blowing him out more often if I can instead. I do intend to pick up a different shampoo for dry, itchy skin for when I do bathe. I know my vet has good intentions but I don't think she's completely on top of the needs of sibes when it comes to bathing and skin/coat care.

Apparently on another husky forum someone is having the same issues I am having with their own recently rescued sibe. She shared what shampoo she is using to help his skin so we will plug through this together.

Val ..the listerine kills any germs that are on his skin as well as being soothing.
It really does work.
He is probably suffering from the hot dry air that florida has and the baby oil will replace that the moisture he is losing.
For the first week spray him every 2 days ...dont wet him with just a light spray on his skin ( seperate the fur )
Then once a week should be plenty xxxx

The other way you can do it is after brushing him ..spray the mixture onto a dog BRUSH not comb...and brush it through the fur.
Make sure the brush has no sharp bits on the bristles though as you dont want to irritate the skin any more than it already is.
The ingredients in listerine have great haling properties
The active ingredients listed on Listerine bottles are menthol, thymol, methyl salicylate, and eucalyptol. Ethanol is present in concentrations of 21.6% in the flavored product and 26.9% in the original gold Listerine Antiseptic. Thymol is an antiseptic, methyl salicylate is cleaning agent, and menthol is local anesthetic.
Eucalyptol from the eucalyptus plant has sooting properties in itself.

Try it with the brushing and see how yo go.
I have many other recipes but this is by far the best one IMO

Menthol is also a big reason that it soothes. Don't forget the alcohol factor. It's an antiseptic but it will also dry out the skin.

Thanks a million Linzi, you're a sweetheart and so incredibly helpful. What would I do without you?! Once I get all the ingredients to make my magic potion I will follow your instructions and we'll see how things go. Seems like everything just has to inconveniently happen all at the same time. I swear it's a madhouse over here. lol

Chad's right, FL is very humid but for some reason we do still get very dry skin as a result.

Personally I found florida air very dry which is why i said.
Everytime i go i get a dry heat rash ...not pleasant.
The alcohol in the listerine is used as a stable solution to hold the essential oils together.
Its miniscule and wont dry the skin.
In fact alcohol is present in most creams for eczema and they wouldnt put it in there if it dried the skin would they.

I'm so glad you don't have to bathe sibes that often. We just gave Jasper his first bath today and he was not too happy about it. He was practically screaming bloody murder. One of our neighbors even came out and jokingly asked what we were doing to our poor pup.

I should have updated this a long time ago I suppose. I tried Linzi's mixture and it didn't really work out very well. Not that the mixture itself was to blame but I just could not get it on my sibe's skin. His coat is so dense that spraying is not an option, I tried dipping a brush in the mix and brushing it in but even that didn't reach the skin. The only way to get the mix on his skin was to painstakingly pull his fur apart like you would when applying topical frea treatments and apply it directly to the skin over and over in different parts. That's not going to work unless I want to spend 8 hours fighting husky fur so that really didn't work for us.

What I ended up doing is just regularly (weekly) blowing out his coat which removed any loose undercoat, debris and removed the dry dead skin. Best method I have so far since there's not much I can do about the humidity. We experienced it again this summer and the problem goes away as soon as the weather gets cooler and humidity drops. My dryer is my lifeline.

WHen My SIbe is Dirty .. I wash her... When I Brought her oHome @9 Wks she was Sandy colored and Now she is Black .. I Swear I Bathed Her WHiteness away ~LOL

I DOnt Bath Her Unless ..
1.. Were Goin SOmewhere in My Civic
2.. Stopped @ Pond Or Streams or Anywhere Yucky .. I ODnt want That On Her ..

Someoen mentioned ABout The Magic Husky Hair... They HAVe IT~ .. Mira Is Nasty One day And Clean The next ~ LOL [b]

We are going for a bath on Sat. because we have family pictures on Sun. i think im going to pay to use on of those raised tubs at the daycare place. don't want the hair in our tub! i just gave them a bath early sept b4 my mom came out but i think this will be it till spring unless they get into something.

I live in Miami and Mya was born here so the heat/humidity really don't affect her. However, when she about 1yr old she started getting these nasty rashes on her leg and above her eyebrows. The vet would give her antibiotics and it would go away. Then 2 months later it would appear again. After 3 times of this happening it never came back. I'm sure it was because of the weather in Miami. The humidity is ridiculous!!!! It's cooling down now...for Miami that's the mid 60s (LOL).

Mya goes to the groomers probably ever 2-3 months or so. I thought I should take her more often, but it seems that huskies don't need that many baths. I feel better now =0) She looks so cute with her bandanas when she goes! She's going the day before Thanksgiving so that she looks cute for my family =)

so we took sierra and jack in for a bath on sat at the city bark near my office and it was nice to use the raised tub and all but i still got soaked even with a smock thing on. then we get home and sierra is all most dry and i look at her coat and she looks PINK!!! all her white fur on her side/ belly is PINK turns out ken used a RED towel to dry her off and all i can think of is that it rubbed off on her. i called the place back to tell them she was pink and they should think of not offering that towel to any white dogs. they offered a free wash on our next visit and i had to take her up stairs and give her another bath to get the pink off. it worked, she is white again and my back hurts now.