Pimples usually occur on younger dogs, however, bigger dogs such as Mastiffs tend to get them regularly throughout their adulthood. Pimples can appear at any part of the body but most commonly found around the the face area—chin, upper lips, and nose.

As to why dog have pimples, there are many reasons to it:

• Usually it is caused by a bacterial infection, which get trapped under the skin inside a blocked oil gland.
• It may occur when normal scatting irritates hair follicles and causes inflammation of the glands.
• Dogs with excess oil secretion have a genetic tendency to develop pimples.
• Just like humans, it can also be caused by allergies or hormones that are out of balance.

When dog pimples burst, the result is a lot worse than you can image. The contents can eat into the skin and cause a secondary infection. Hence, it is best to take a proactive approach when there are only one or three pimples found. If you notice several pimples bursting at once and causing your dog great pain and itch, do not delay, get to the vet as soon as possible.

What Are To Be Avoided:

To Squeeze or Not To: In most cases, it’s best to avoid squeezing. I know it can be very tempting to squeeze out the pus, avoid it if you don’t know how “ripe” the pus is. Furthermore, squeezing pimples can be a very painful experience for your dog. If the pus isn’t ripe and you intend to squeeze it (that if your dog doesn’t mind the pain for 2 seconds), you may cause infected material to spread beneath the skin and causing it a deeper infection.

Acne Cream: Although there are many drug store products formulated for human do help aid common canines aliments, however, in the case of acne or pimple creams this does not apply. These products use harsh chemical or medications hence it’s not advisable to use it on our dogs to control or eliminate pimples. It would probably worsen the situation.

Plastic: This is a very rare case, few dogs do get allergy reaction to plastic and will break out in pimples when their faces touch the bowls. You might want to change their food and water bowl to ceramic or metal. Honestly, I won’t put high hope on going this route but it’s worth a shot to root out all possibilities.

7 Natural Remedies To Zip Out Pimples on Dogs

Heat Pad: Similar to our facial regime—a facial stream before extracting blackheads—we apply heat to the affected area but without squeezing the pimple. Heat will help to open blocked pore and increase circulation making it easier to flush out the pus. Apply warmth cotton pad on the affected area for few minutes or until it turns cool. Do this twice daily preferably before bed and nap time.

Anti-bacterial Shampoos: Or hypoallergenic pet shampoos, by using these shampoos will help open blocked pores and allow pimples to heal more quickly. I won’t recommend using it on a daily basis if your dog has pimples all over the body; doing so will strip off his natural coat oil resulting more skin problems then you begin with. Unless it stated clearly on the label that daily use is okay otherwise avoid it. Having said, shampoo their face daily especially breeds with pendulous lips (e.g. Great Dane) or have flat face (e.g. Pekingese). These breeds often get food stuck in between their facial folds and these leftovers are prefect breeding ground for bacteria.

Aloe Vera: Aloe vera gel, be it from plant or formulated ones found in the drugstore, is not an ingredient that will eliminate pimple—far from it. However, aloe vera gel does help ease the discomfort caused by the painful pimple. After you wash the infected area with or without anti-bacterial shampoo, apply the area in gentle circular movement with your clean fingers.

Spayed/Neutered: If your dog tends to get pimple on a regular even if you clean your dog thoroughly after every meal, generally this is due to hormones imbalance. The best way out is to have your dog spayed or neutered. That said, it isn’t foolproof that your dog will never develop any pimple thereafter. Rather it’s a case to case basis, however, it will dramatically reduce the amount and frequency; and will any luck, zero pimple for good.

Echinacea: Echinacea is a perennial herb, commonly use in many herbal medicines to aid aliments such as reduce inflammation and infections in dogs and humans. It is given orally either in table or liquid form. You can find them in health food stores or at any holistic or some traditional veterinary clinics. Check with your vet for the proper dosage for your breed. Alternatively, you can try homoeopathy approach using Newton Homeopathics Skin Care to relief of itching and pain associated with eczema, pimples, hives, mange, and other skin eruptions.

Calendula: Like Echinacea, Calendula is a also a perennial herb commonly use as herbal remedy to quell skin infections and speed healing. Calendula is a concentrated tinture. The way to use it is to soak a cotton pad in the tincture mixture (tinture to water ratio is 1:1) and squeeze out the excess. Then apply it to the sore area and hold it for about 3 minutes twice daily. If this sounds too much work for you, try Animals’ Apawthecary FidoDerm Herbal Spray—an all-natural herbal remedy. Not only it rids the pimple away it also soothes the skin as it has aloe ingredients in it.

DermaIonX: DermaIonX is a proprietary of homeopathic complex. It isn’t a pimple or acne solution supplement per se, however, it does help to relief many types of skin irritation and also promote healthy and strong skin. From personal experience, this liquid supplement has solved my Kiki’s, a sprayed Silky Terrier, occasional pimple outbreak and skin rashes. Ever since I put her on DermaIonX, she has been pimple- and rashes-free for the past six months.

Whichever remedy you decided to employ, keep in mind that clean environment plays a great part to keep the outbreak at bay.

Its benefit is so great that manufacturers didn’t take long to come out a whole range of oatmeal toiletries for dogs, such as shampoo, conditioner, and skin moisturizer. Needless to say, they are a bit pricey than regular shampoo and conditioner. Charles, a buddy of mine who runs a pet boutique, gave me a bottle of each to try on my dogs. He wanted my review knowing how “brutally honest” I can be at times. It was difficult for me to decline especially I get the products for free.

After the two weeks trial, I saw some improvements on my dogs’ coat but wasn’t compelling enough for me to want to buy them. With the kind of price tag, I really have to think twice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s worth every penny however with my 6 dogs (4 Maltese and 2 Golden Retrievers), it will not be economical for me in a long run. After all I do know a thing or two on making my own home remedies.

Update: Just tested this oatmeal shampoo with conditioner on my boarding and grooming furry clients, and I’m impressed with its effectiveness. I can literally see the difference in one wash. Not only this veterinarian formulated oatmeal shampoo helps soothe and moisturize dry itchy skin, it’s super economical.

Check this out, $11.98 for three 16oz. bottles! $8.34 for three 16oz. (48oz.) bottles!

A Home Remedy for Treating your dog’s Dry Itchy Skin

Things you need:

• Oatmeal, colloidal oatmeal (Aveeno) will also work. The amount of oatmeal you need is largely depending on the affected area.
• Old clean tennis sock
• Aluminum foil
• Wash cloth

Methods:

1. Pour lukewarm water into a bowl of oatmeal.
2. The ratio of water to oatmeal should be 50:50.
3. Stir well to form starchy texture.

You have two options to treat the itchiness. Using the sock method is less effective than using the aluminum foil.

Using the sock method.

1. Pour the oatmeal mixture into the sock.
2. Rub the affected areas in circular motion for 10 minutes.
3. Finish it off by using a wet wash cloth to clean the areas.

Using the aluminum foil method.

1. Apply the oatmeal mixture thinly over the affected areas.
2. Wrap it up with aluminum foil and leave it for 10 minutes.
3. Get your dog to stay still or lie down on his unaffected side.
4. You might want to use a heating pad over the aluminum foil for extra comfort during colder months or those who suffer stiffness in joint areas.
5. Rinse your dog with lukewarm after the treatment.

You may not see any drastic improvement after one treatment but I can assure you that your dog will scratch far much lesser and sleep more soundly at night!

To manage dog ticks, ask your vet about dog ticks removal treatment designed to be applied monthly to an area your dog cannot reach by licking (usually around the skin between the shoulder blades). Such treatments kill dog ticks within hours of contact on the dog’s coat.

Because ticks also live and lay eggs in places such as field, under rocks and in crevices, treat surroundings, furniture and dog bedding occasionally with an insecticide control. After taking dogs on walks, check thoroughly to make sure no parasites have attached themselves.

Whenever you find a tick, regardless or its size, whether it is one of the small reddish-brown ones or a bloated grayish one, do not attempt to squeeze or crush it. This may release its eggs and any viruses it is carrying into the environment.

Most importantly, do not even attempt to kill the ticks using hot matches. Believe it or not, this is the most unsound and dangerous advise from one ignorant dog owner to another. For all you know, you may accidentally burn your dog instead, if not setting yourself on fire!

While some dog owners or professional dog groomers would advise removing attached dog ticks by killing them with a residual spray, then picking the dead ticks off with tweezers, or use Ticked Off Tick Remover (highly recommended; cheap and super easy to use), or just pulling them out with your bare fingers. However, the latter method often means that the tick’s mouth parts remain embedded in the dog’s skin, irritating it.

Whichever method you use, remember to clean the bite and apply anti-itch medicated spray or cream on the affected areas. Some readers wrote in and asked my opinions on flea and tick shampoo and collar. Here’s what I said to them and will always advocate.

Only use tick shampoo for dogs during hot seasons on badly infected dogs, otherwise regular dog shampoo is pretty sufficient to get rid of dog ticks provided you follow the above steps.

As for flea and tick collars, personally I never have any success with them. And I rarely hear any positive results from groomers, vets and show dog judges either. Again, if you use these items I listed below religiously, not only could you get rid on dog ticks efficiently but also keep them well under control. And should you ever have to leave your dear friend in a dog boarding kennel for a few days while you are on summer vacations, no problem.

Remember, your goal is to kill dog ticks not killing yourself with endless chores.

Secrets to keeping dog ticks under control

• Dog Ticks Removal Treatment: BioSPOT Flea & Tick Control. Kills and repels adult fleas, ticks and mosquitoes stops the development of immature fleas. One application prevents reinfestation up to 1 month.
• Insecticide Control: All in One Flea Remedy. A natural and odorless solution for your dogs and your home that is safe and effective.
• Residual Spray: Neem “Protect” Spray. Protects against flea and tick infestations through repellence, deterrence, and growth inhibition.
• Anti-itch Medicated Spray: Healthy Skin Itch Relief for Dogs by PNP. Developed to provide fast, effective, and safe relief of itching associated with insect bites, abrasions, hot spots, cuts and allergic dermatitis. Veterinarian formulated!
• Tick Shampoo for Dogs: Neem “Protect” Shampoo. Specially formulated for Ark Naturals by a team of chemists and herbal scientists using premium natural botanical extracts.