Accepted Answer

Thanks for the extra info!

This is a typical area for a hot spot from a flea bite reatcion. The dog chews at the area where the itch is bothring him and that breaks the skin allowing for bacteria or yeast to start growing and causing the kind of crusty outbreak you are seeing.

Flea prevention such as FrontlinePlus might be a good choice to tackle the underlying issue. You may only need to do that for a couple of months depending on the climate you live in.

For right now for the sore area you can clean it off with 3% hydrogen peroxide or betadine iodine solution. Then you can apply Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic ointment to the area covering all sore and crusty spots. This won't hurt him if he licks it but does work better on the sore than the tongue so you can also try a bit of peanut butter or NutriCal supplement on the roof of the mouth to keep his tongue busy while ointment soaks in to fight bacterial infection.

If this does not start improving over the next couple of days you may want to see your vet for oral meds and a check to make sure this isn't skin mites or a ringworm fungal infection. Most commonly though this area has a problem due to flea bites.

For immediate removal of any adult fleas on the dog you can use a product called Capstar available at many pet supply stores. Its a pill that you give the dog and all the fleas die within 24 hours. But as fleas can hop on outside, and can lay eggs inside to hatch out planning to use a flea prevention such as Frontline Plus is a good choice.

You can read about hot spots here

http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/hotspots.html

If the dog seems really sore in the area you can use a cold compress on it for about 5 minutes at a time to relieve pain and inflammation.

Hope this helps you!

Expert:	NancyH
Pos. Feedback:	99.5 %
Accepts:
Answered:	9/10/2009

Dog Expert:Rescue, Train,Breed,Care

30+ yrs dog home vet care & nursing, rescue, behavior&training, responsible show breeding, genetics