Help with my RubyStar! Itchy raw face..

Help! I have a 1.5 year old shih-poo. She is a terrible scratcher. Year long. Trying the restricted diet but it is too early to tell. She scratchs her face to the point of hair loss & sores. Her ears smell a little funky. The hair on her lips and nose is almost gone and her lips are swollen and puffy. Vet thinks because it seems so localized, that it may be food allergies. What do you think?

I'd say you need to get a new vet if the one you have cannot confirm what it is.

Smelly ears usually means an infection - yeast or otherwise. The vet should take a swab of the ear and tell you what it is - and the vet should be taking a skin scraping of the itchy areas on the face to rule out mange. It does not sound to me at all like food allergies - food allergies are usually NOT localized. Goodluck!

Go to the vet, a second opinion if you will. What is a shitpoo?>

I agree....I'd definitely get a second opinion. The poor little thing is probably miserable from the itching!!!! Did the vet give you any meds to help with the itching???

Welcome to Chaz!!!

Agreed. You have an incompetent vet if he/she can't even take a sample.

Squirt.. you know what a shitpoo is. But I think what she means is that her dog is a mix between a Shih Tzu and a Poodle.