On a regular basis, your dog is likely to cross paths with any number of sticky situations. No, we are not talking about sticky foods, but a more serious conversation about skin problems, such as dangerous allergies or bacteria that may cause infections you were not anticipating. Where these infections localize are called dog hot spots.

Dog hot spots are some of the most uncontrollable areas of an infection that create discolored rashes on your dogs skin, creating a day of painful scratching and burning. The worst part is, a day of scratching for a dog is nothing out of the ordinary, not in the least, which means one needs to do more to care for their dog.

To be preventing the likeliness of these dog hot spots, as owners, you can do a couple of things, which are pretty basic seeming in scope, but can go a long way. The first is to bathe your dog on a more regular basis. If you can provide your dog with a specialized shampoo to help treat the skin, or toughen it, you really improve your pet's chances in fighting off these hot spots. The second is basic. Check! Just by moving around your dogs fur to see if any anomalies appear, you are saving yourself time and your dog a bad day of illness.

What you should try to avoid doing though, is writing off your dog's illness as just another case of fleas. While common, fleas are not always the case and you could end up prolonging treatment of the real case.

That said, when you think you have encountered a single hot spot, or a number of dog hot spots, it is extremely important to know exactly what it is you are dealing with.

Due to the significance of needing to know, we highly, highly recommend a good veterinarian. After all, who could possibly say a vet has not gone through proper training to know what the rash is? We certainly wouldn't, not when they have invested a great portion of their life's time, energy, and resources to attend medical school!

A vet will be able to tell you right off if you are dealing with fleas, or if the hives, rash, inflammation, what have you, is the result of a larger issue. If it is, they can usually prescribe you a special cream or medication to eradicate the infection and target the dog hot spots. While the cost of prescription drugs is never the most welcomed circumstance, it is often the most effective, and letting the condition go untreated could allow for a bigger medical expense to enter the door by way of your dog's infection.

In the end, it is all about caring for your pet. While dog hot spots can arise from any number of sensitive issues or reactions, they will only go away thanks to one, and that's you. So do not let your dog go through its day without at least taking the time to pet it down and really make sure it is in good health. You will thank yourself for it later, and so will your dog!