Putting a dog in a cone 24/7 to stop scratching is very cruel. Imagine having itches all over that you couldn't scratch! Miserable for the dog. I have an allergy dog and I could not this. :( I think you are really frustrated (understandably so) and it would be best to rehome because this will be a lifelong, expensive issue.

Update, for those who are interested:

Our little guy is doing WAY better. We had an odd setback a couple of weeks ago when he suddenly hurt his leg while out for a walk. Two vet visits and five x-rays later, and they couldn't find a thing wrong with him. The vet said it must be a pinched nerve. Poor baby was in SOOO much pain, and we felt so bad. He got a cortisone shot and some pain meds, and he was his old happy self two days later.

The results of his allergy testing came in. He isn't allergic to enough things to do immunotherapy (allergy shots), so that's off the table! Strangely, he was only reactive to two things: oak trees and storage mites. Apparently storage mites can live in big bags of dog food that's been open for a while or in a storage container. Funny, we had never even heard of this, and we had been getting him giant bags of food and keeping it in a large container. The solution to this is to get him small amounts of food, only enough to last for 30 days, and keeping all of it in the freezer. This, plus the meds (we took him off of most meds so that he's only on 2-3 now) and new shampoo has made him much better!

He's not 100% - we took off his clothes for a bit to see what would happen, and he went straight for that hot spot, making it raw and red in an instant. So, maybe he'll always need clothes. That's ok. He's not itchy anymore - we can run our hands over his back and he no longer shakes his leg like crazy. His skin isn't pink, his awful smell has almost entirely cleared up, and his fur looks much nicer.

I'm not super optimistic that this will last forever, as he has had periods where he takes meds, clears up for a while, and then relapses, but this is the best he's been in a long time. We also found a much lower cost vet that we can take him to when he develops infections and other problems.

So, we are no longer thinking about rehoming him. Thanks to everyone for their support and advice! If you don't see more posts from me here then be assured things are going well and our family has remained intact. :)

Terrific happy ending! I am glad that things are better and your were able to find some solutions.:)

Pup
 

Thanks for the update and great news that he is improving. So sad that he had the sore leg setback but he seems better from that now also. You all have been through so much and after all the care and testing it looks like your efforts are being rewarded. Praying he stays well and that you are able to keep him and live a happy life together.

Great news and I also sent you a pm!

Wonderful news!! Thank you so much for updating!! I hope he continues to do well. :)

dog
 

I am so glad he is staying home with the family he loves. Are you feeding him a high quality dog food? My poor poodle, Chips had a terrible skin problem. I fed her venison dog food and she cleared up. Sometimes the food we feed them has stuff in it that causes allergies.
Enjoy all the love that little dog has for you and God bless you for taking such good care of him!

This is such a heartwarming story - the way it's turned out. You all found it in your heart and wallet to help your baby and keep him home. I'm sure you're so happy to see him not suffering with the terrible itching - my Tibbe had that for a while and it was awful - I sat up two nights in a row to keep him from scratching so much as it took trips to the vet two days in a row to get him really helped - first treatment did nothing and so we were up all that night and then the second vet trip/treatment the next day took most of that day and night to kick in - but then the itching he calmed down and the itching has almost completely stopped other than a few scratches very occasionally after his breakfast only. He never had any hot spots or anything but did have some bumps on his back, though they dried up and went away after we started the special shampoo, thank goodness.

Good luck to your family and Pup!

I'm so glad he is better and love this update!

WooHoo! Yay! Praying for continued successes in managing this condition! WTG!

I can't tell you how happy I am for him and your family :love:!!!

Has he tried Apoquel yet? It's a new allergy med for dogs that does AMAZING for itchies. The only prob is, it's pretty much sold out at every vet's office....but you may want to get on a waiting list, if your vet has one.

Doing the Happy Dance here!:D
I'm so happy everything is working out for you all. I know with the changes made with the food, finding about the mites all will keep being good. PLEASE, keep in touch every now and then!

Do you use Glade Plug-ins?

Wonderful. I am thrilled for him and your whole family.