If you’ve never dealt with a hot spot on your dog, count yourself lucky. I still remember the first time my Golden Retriever, Bowie, developed one — a small red patch behind his ear that turned into a weeping, angry mess the size of my palm in less than six hours. I panicked. Called the vet at 9 PM. Spent the next week playing wound nurse.
Since then, I’ve treated more hot spots than I can count — on my own dogs and on friends’ dogs who call me before they call their vet. Here’s what I’ve learned: most hot spots look terrifying but are completely manageable at home if you catch them early and do the right things. The key phrase there is “the right things,” because there’s a lot of bad advice floating around online that can actually make hot spots worse.
This guide walks you through exactly how to treat hot spots on dogs at home, from identification to treatment to making sure they don’t keep coming back. Let’s get into it.
What Are Hot Spots (Acute Moist Dermatitis)
Hot spots — the clinical term is acute moist dermatitis — are localized areas of skin inflammation and bacterial infection. They’re red, moist, sometimes oozing, and often hot to the touch (hence the name). They can appear anywhere on your dog’s body but are most common on the head, hips, and chest area.
What makes hot spots particularly frustrating is their speed. A tiny irritated patch at breakfast can become a raw, weeping wound by dinner. The bacteria responsible — usually Staphylococcus species that already live on your dog’s skin — multiply rapidly in warm, moist conditions. Your dog licks or scratches the irritated spot, which damages the skin further, which creates more moisture and warmth, which lets more bacteria thrive. It’s a vicious cycle that feeds itself.
What Causes Hot Spots in Dogs
Hot spots always start with something that makes your dog scratch, lick, or chew at a specific area. The underlying trigger is important to identify because if you only treat the hot spot without addressing what started it, you’ll be dealing with another one in a few weeks.
The most common causes:
- Flea bites — Even a single flea can trigger a hot spot in a flea-allergic dog. This is the number one cause I see.
- Allergies — Environmental (pollen, dust mites) or food allergies cause itchy skin. Dog scratches. Hot spot follows.
- Moisture trapped in the coat — Swimming, baths without proper drying, or even humid weather. Bowie got his worst hot spots every summer after lake swims.
- Minor wounds or scratches — A small cut, a thorn prick, even a bug bite that the dog starts licking obsessively.
- Ear infections — Dogs with ear infections scratch at their ears and head, creating hot spots on the face and neck.
- Boredom or stress — Some dogs lick compulsively when anxious, and that repetitive licking can break down the skin barrier.
- Matted fur — Tangles trap moisture against the skin. Another reason regular grooming matters.
Breeds Most Prone to Hot Spots
Any dog can get a hot spot, but some breeds deal with them far more often. The common thread is thick, dense undercoats that trap moisture.
| Breed | Risk Level | Why They’re Prone |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Retriever | Very High | Dense double coat, love swimming, allergy-prone |
| Labrador Retriever | Very High | Water-loving, thick coat, skin allergy tendency |
| German Shepherd | High | Heavy undercoat, prone to skin allergies |
| St. Bernard | High | Massive, dense coat with skin folds |
| Rottweiler | Moderate-High | Dense coat, prone to allergies |
| Bernese Mountain Dog | High | Thick double coat, heavy drool around neck |
| English Bulldog | Moderate-High | Skin folds trap moisture |
I’ve owned Golden Retrievers for over a decade, and I can tell you — hot spots are practically a rite of passage with the breed. My friend’s Lab gets at least two or three every summer. If you have a thick-coated breed, you need to know how to handle these.
Short-coated breeds like Boxers, Dobermans, and Greyhounds rarely get hot spots. Not never, but rarely.
How to Identify a Hot Spot vs Other Skin Conditions
Before you start treating something as a hot spot, make sure that’s actually what you’re dealing with. I’ve seen people treat ringworm like a hot spot and wonder why it kept getting worse.
A classic hot spot looks like this: red, moist or oozing, well-defined edges, and your dog is obsessively licking or scratching at it. The fur around it may be matted with discharge. It appeared quickly — often within hours. And it’s painful. Your dog might flinch or whimper when you touch it.
Hot Spot vs Ringworm
Ringworm isn’t actually a worm — it’s a fungal infection. The key difference: ringworm creates circular patches of hair loss with crusty, scaly edges. It’s usually dry, not wet. Ringworm spreads slowly over days to weeks, while hot spots explode overnight. Ringworm is also contagious to humans and other pets. If you see a round, scaly, slowly-expanding patch — that’s not a hot spot, and you need antifungal treatment.
Hot Spot vs Mange
Mange (caused by mites) typically causes widespread hair loss, intense itching, and thickened or crusty skin. Demodectic mange creates patchy hair loss without much itching. Sarcoptic mange causes extreme itching — but it tends to spread across large areas of the body rather than staying in one defined spot. Hot spots are localized. If you’re seeing hair loss and irritation spreading across multiple body areas, think mange and get to the vet.
Hot Spot vs Allergic Reaction
This one’s tricky because allergies often cause hot spots. But a generalized allergic reaction looks different — you’ll see widespread redness, hives, face swelling, or itching all over the body, not just one focused area. If your dog suddenly has one angry, wet patch, that’s a hot spot. If your dog is itchy everywhere with red skin across the belly and paws, that’s more likely an allergic flare-up that needs different treatment.
Step-by-Step Home Treatment
Alright, this is the part you came for. Here’s the exact process I use for dog hot spot home treatment, and it works. I’ve done this dozens of times.
Before you start: Get everything ready. You’ll need pet clippers or blunt-tipped scissors, chlorhexidine solution (2-4%), gauze pads, a topical antiseptic spray, and an E-collar. Having it all ready means you only have to restrain your dog once. Trust me — they will not enjoy this process.
Step 1: Carefully Trim the Hair Around the Area
This is the most important step that people skip. You need air to reach the skin for healing to happen. Matted, wet fur over a hot spot is like putting a bandage over a wound that needs to breathe.
Use pet clippers if you have them — they’re safer and faster. If using scissors, use blunt-tipped ones and work carefully. Trim about an inch beyond the visible edges of the hot spot. You’ll often find the actual affected area is bigger than it first appeared once you get the fur out of the way.
Fair warning: your dog will not like this. The area is tender and painful. Have someone help hold your dog, speak calmly, and work as quickly as you can. If your dog is snapping or in too much pain, stop and let your vet handle it — they can sedate if needed.
Step 2: Clean with Chlorhexidine or Dilute Betadine
Once the area is trimmed and exposed, you need to clean it. Chlorhexidine solution at 2-4% concentration is the gold standard. You can buy it at any pet store or pharmacy. Dilute betadine (povidone-iodine diluted to the color of weak tea) works too.
Soak a gauze pad and gently clean the entire area. Remove any crusted discharge. Pat dry with a clean gauze pad — don’t rub.
What NOT to use:
– Hydrogen peroxide — damages healthy tissue and delays healing. I know everyone’s grandmother used it on everything. It’s still bad for wound healing.
– Rubbing alcohol — causes extreme pain on open skin and dries tissue excessively.
– Tea tree oil — toxic to dogs. Even diluted, it can cause tremors, weakness, and liver damage. I cannot stress this enough. I’ve seen people recommend it online and it makes me furious.
– Apple cider vinegar — stings badly on open wounds and isn’t antibacterial enough to do the job.
Step 3: Apply a Topical Spray or Cream
After cleaning, apply a topical treatment. Good options include:
- Veterinary antiseptic spray (chlorhexidine-based sprays like Douxo or similar) — my go-to choice
- Over-the-counter hydrocortisone spray (1%) — helps reduce itch and inflammation
- Veterinary-prescribed topical antibiotic — if you have one from a previous vet visit
Apply 2-3 times daily after cleaning. Let the spray dry before your dog can lick at it (the E-collar helps here). I usually do morning, afternoon, and before bed.
Step 4: Prevent Licking with an E-Collar
This is non-negotiable. I know the cone of shame is pathetic-looking. I know your dog hates it. Put it on anyway.
Dogs will lick a hot spot every chance they get. Their saliva introduces more bacteria, the moisture prevents healing, and the mechanical action of licking damages tissue further. One unsupervised licking session can undo days of progress. I learned this the hard way with Bowie — took the cone off because he seemed miserable, woke up the next morning to a hot spot that had doubled in size.
Keep the E-collar on for the entire healing period. That means wearing it even at night, even during meals (adjust the collar so they can reach their food bowl). Inflatable donut collars work for hot spots on the body but may not prevent access to head and neck hot spots — size and location matter. When in doubt, use the hard plastic cone.
Step 5: Keep the Area Clean and Dry
Repeat the cleaning process from Step 2 twice daily — morning and evening. Between cleanings, keep the area dry. No swimming. No baths (unless you can keep the area completely dry). If it’s humid out, consider keeping your dog in air conditioning.
You should see improvement within 48 hours if you’re doing everything right. The redness starts fading, the oozing stops, and a dry scab begins forming. By day 3-5, you’ll typically see new pink skin underneath. Full healing usually takes 5-7 days for small to moderate hot spots.
Don’t pick at scabs. Let them fall off naturally. And keep that E-collar on until the scab is gone and the skin looks healthy.
When a Hot Spot Needs Veterinary Treatment
Home treatment works for most hot spots. But some situations need professional help, and waiting too long can turn a simple problem into an expensive one.
See your vet if:
– The hot spot hasn’t improved after 48 hours of consistent home treatment
– It’s getting bigger despite treatment
– Your dog has a fever, seems lethargic, or has lost appetite
– You see multiple hot spots appearing simultaneously
– There’s a foul odor coming from the wound
– The hot spot is deep, with thick discharge or bleeding
Signs of Deep Infection
Surface-level hot spots are superficial — they affect the outer layer of skin. But sometimes the infection goes deeper. Signs of a deep pyoderma (deep skin infection) include: swelling that extends well beyond the hot spot edges, pain that seems disproportionate to the wound size, fever, thick pus rather than clear or slightly cloudy discharge, and hardened tissue around the wound.
Deep infections almost always require oral antibiotics. Your vet may prescribe a course of cephalexin or clavamox — typically 2-3 weeks. They may also need to culture the wound to make sure they’re using the right antibiotic, especially if the hot spot hasn’t responded to a first round of treatment.
Hot Spots Near the Eyes or Ears
I’m going to be direct here: don’t try to treat hot spots near your dog’s eyes at home. The risk of getting cleaning solution or topical medication in the eye is real, and the consequences can be serious.
Hot spots near or inside the ears are also tricky. Ear-adjacent hot spots are frequently connected to an underlying ear infection that needs treatment. Your vet can look inside the ear canal, identify any infection, and treat both issues together. Trying to treat the hot spot while ignoring the ear infection is a waste of time — it’ll just keep coming back.
Preventing Hot Spots from Coming Back
Treating hot spots is one thing. Preventing them from being a recurring nightmare is another. Once you’ve dealt with your first one, prevention becomes the priority.
Regular Grooming and Coat Maintenance
For thick-coated breeds, regular brushing isn’t optional — it’s medical prevention. Matted fur traps moisture and creates the perfect environment for hot spots. I brush Bowie every other day during summer and at least twice a week in winter.
Key grooming habits that prevent hot spots:
- Dry your dog thoroughly after swimming or baths. A towel isn’t enough for breeds with dense undercoats. Use a high-velocity pet dryer or a regular blow dryer on the cool setting. Get down to the skin, especially around the ears, hips, and chest.
- Remove undercoat buildup. An undercoat rake used weekly during shedding season makes a big difference.
- Keep problem areas trimmed. If your dog repeatedly gets hot spots in the same location, keep that area trimmed shorter during warm months.
- Check your dog’s skin regularly. Part the fur and look at the skin, especially after outdoor activities. Catching a tiny red patch before it becomes a full hot spot saves everyone grief.
Addressing Underlying Allergies
If your dog keeps getting hot spots despite good grooming, allergies are likely the root cause. This was the case with Bowie — he’s allergic to certain grasses, and every spring was hot spot season until we got it under control.
Talk to your vet about allergy testing. Options include intradermal skin testing or blood panels. Treatment might involve:
- Prescription allergy medication (Apoquel or Cytopoint are the current standards and they work incredibly well)
- A limited ingredient diet trial to rule out food allergies (takes 8-12 weeks to see results)
- Wiping your dog’s paws and belly after outdoor walks to remove allergens
- Regular bathing with a medicated or hypoallergenic shampoo — every 1-2 weeks during allergy season
Apoquel, specifically, was a game-changer for us. Bowie went from 4-5 hot spots per summer to zero since starting it. Not cheap — runs about $2-3 per pill depending on the dose — but worth every penny.
Flea Prevention as Hot Spot Prevention
I can’t say this strongly enough: year-round flea prevention is the single most effective thing you can do to prevent hot spots. Flea allergy dermatitis is the leading cause of hot spots, and it only takes one flea bite to set off a reaction in a sensitive dog.
Use a veterinarian-recommended flea preventative. The oral options (like NexGard or Simparica) tend to be more reliable than topical treatments because there’s nothing that can wash off or rub away. Apply it consistently — don’t skip months during winter. Fleas can survive indoors year-round.
And if you’re currently dealing with a flea problem alongside hot spots, you need to treat your home too. Wash all bedding in hot water, vacuum thoroughly (including furniture and car), and consider a premise spray. Treating the dog without treating the environment is like bailing water without plugging the hole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Neosporin on a dog’s hot spot?
You can use a thin layer of plain Neosporin (bacitracin/neomycin/polymyxin) on a small hot spot. Avoid the “pain relief” formulas that contain pramoxine or lidocaine — these can cause reactions in some dogs. But honestly, a chlorhexidine spray is a better option. It covers a larger area, dries faster, and you don’t have to worry about your dog licking off a cream. If you do use Neosporin, the E-collar is absolutely mandatory.
How long does it take for a hot spot to heal?
Small hot spots (quarter-sized or smaller) typically heal in 3-5 days with proper treatment. Moderate hot spots take 5-7 days. Larger or deeper hot spots can take 2-3 weeks, especially if oral antibiotics are needed. The biggest factor in healing time is whether you can keep your dog from licking the area. Consistent E-collar use can cut healing time nearly in half compared to dogs that get unsupervised licking sessions.
Are hot spots contagious to other dogs or humans?
No. Hot spots are caused by bacteria that already live on your dog’s skin — they’re not contagious. The infection happens because damaged skin allows normal skin bacteria to overgrow. Your other pets and your family are not at risk. That said, if you’re handling the wound, wash your hands afterward. It’s just good hygiene.
Can I use coconut oil on a hot spot?
I’d avoid it. Coconut oil is an occlusive — it seals moisture in. That’s the opposite of what a hot spot needs. Hot spots need to dry out and get air exposure. Coconut oil can actually make the warm, moist environment worse and slow healing. Stick with chlorhexidine-based products for hot spot treatment.
Why does my dog keep getting hot spots in the same spot?
Recurring hot spots in the same location usually point to an underlying issue specific to that area. Hot spots on the face and ears often trace back to chronic ear infections. Hot spots on the hips and base of the tail usually signal flea allergy or anal gland issues. Hot spots on the chest and legs may indicate environmental allergies or a habit of lying on damp ground. Identify and treat the underlying cause, and the hot spots will stop. A dog hot spot remedy is only a temporary fix if the root trigger keeps happening.
Should I let a hot spot air dry or bandage it?
Air dry. Always. Bandaging traps moisture and heat — exactly what hot spots thrive on. The only exception might be if the hot spot is in a location where it’s getting dirty (like on a paw that touches the ground), and even then, change the bandage frequently and remove it whenever your dog is resting indoors. Open air plus an E-collar to prevent licking is the winning combination.
Dealing with moist dermatitis in dogs is never fun, but it doesn’t have to be a crisis. Most hot spots respond well to the simple protocol outlined above: trim, clean, treat, protect, repeat. The whole process takes about ten minutes twice a day. Stay consistent, keep that cone on, and watch for signs that things aren’t improving. And once you’ve gotten through the acute treatment, shift your focus to prevention — because the best hot spot is the one that never forms in the first place.
Featured Image Source: Pexels
