[Mom of 2 Beagles]

Anyone know what might be up with this? Sadie is a healthy 7 year old girl Beagle. She is very active and loves to snoop and sniff all over the back yard and loves to eat. She acts like she feels great, as usual. She does have allergies and itches a lot but we give her antihistimes for this. When we are cuddling her and we run our hands down her back or on her body petting her you can see and feel the muscles in her rib area ripple. Sometimes when we rub her like this she will take a back leg and try to scratch real fast. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Murphys Dad]

Its a skin twitch, actually its a sweet spot. Summer has them and Murphy used to as well. Just scratch it for them and watch them be happy.

 

[Mom of 2 Beagles]

Thanks Murphy's Dad! I was thinking of taking her to the vet. She has always had this twitch when we pet her back and sides just a little. It just seems more pronounced now and lately. She doesn't act like it hurts, but when she does that I draw back because I was thinking it might be hurting her or maybe she was getting arthritis bad or something like that.

thanks again!!

 

[BeagsMom]

It's like a tickle spot! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[jtward01]

It's completely normal. My border collie used to come over and lay on her back just so we could scratch her belly. Her tickle spots that caused her legs to go crazy were on either side of her stomach, just in front of her thighs. If you got just the right spot you could get both legs going at once.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Just keep giving her those back rubs -- my Maggie loves it when I give her massages and, when I find those sensitive/ticklish spots, her muscles start twitching. I love to find the spots that make her foot start thumping! No need for a vet visit -- Sadie is just enjoying herself.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I'm smiling reading your post. Jersey doesn't have a tickle spot (at least not that I've found), but my Amber did. If we scratched her belly in the right spot her back legs would just start going. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif If she was standing and you rubbed her side, she'd have to lay down because the back legs would both start twitching. :hi:

 

[cheerio]

Actually, if touching her makes her scratch, it is definitely that you reach her tickle spot. It is a reflex and nothing to do with an itch. There are actually studies that shows the number of scratch dogs will perform following this stimulation. Apparently, it is always about the same. (Yep, people do get grant money for this type of reasearch...it must be usefull somehow...)
Now if when you touches your girl the skin on her back makes a movement all along her back, this is something entirely different. It is due to a hypersensitivity of the skin, usually linked to a skin condition, such as skin diseases or allergies, etc. This should be discussed with your vet as it is proof that your girl is itching and not very comfortable in her skin.

 

[Mom of 2 Beagles]

Hmmmm Cherio, when I run my hand down her back bone her skin quivers and twitches. She has allergies and takes an antihistimine all her life. We just got new grass a month ago and she has been especially itchy. She was taking Tavist. I swtiched her over to Benydryl, 1 pill each night. This seemed to help some. But she is still pretty itchy. I think we should get her checked out any way. Is Benydryl ok to give for allergies?

 

[BookerMoose]

We don't have any experience with allergies/itching (yet - we seem to eventually experience most things somewhere within our pack...) but Booker definitely has a tickle-spot on her right back end which makes her rear leg start going just like Thumper in Bambi!

She also has a spot further up on her right side which, when we scratch it, causes her to turn her head to the side and curl her lip up in the corner showing her teeth - sort of like a snarling Elvis. At first we thought something was wrong so we showed it to the vet and were told it is just another kind of tickle spot - just one that affects her lip rather than her leg!

Popcorn and Moose don't seem to have any tickle spots, however.

 

[cheerio]

that is too funny! Any pics with that wonderfull ticklish lip?...

Yes, Benadryl is safe to give to dogs and is often used in veterinary medicine. However, it is a medicine and I would be cautious in using it on an on-going basis without veterinary control.
Itches due to alergies are usually relieved with an antihistaminic. If the Benedryl does not do the tric, I would question the vet regarding a possible autoimune problem.

Thinking of autoimune problems, improvment has been documented by the use of Thuja, a natural treatment, instead of steroid. So if you have a dog using steroid for this very purpose, you may want to try it. I can't promess that it will work in all cases, but some swear by it and there is at least some published researches that stand by it...

 

[angelaH]

Snoopy likes to be scratched just in front of his tail. He arches his back whilst I do it, and if I stop he asks for more. Pushing me with his nose until I start again.

 

[LuckyBeagle]

Lucky has his ticklish spot on his side by his rear leg. It's so funny to watch him thump his leg when you find the spot.

 

[cheerio]

This may be a little embarassing but Goss has the same scratchy spot as Snoopy, just on above his tail and, we actually got him one of these ivory hands made so people can scratch their back, you know the one... Well, he does go nuts whenever we approach the thing...
My husband told me that with this purchase, I have lost the right to ask where my Beagles get their ideas...

 

[Murphys Dad]

The Bagel like the same spot scratched as Snoopy and Goss. If I try to stop too soon, the Bagel uses his tail to bring the scratching hand back to the beagle butt. I really didn't know canine tails could be so prehensile until the Bagel did this.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Quote:Originally posted by cheerio:
we actually got him one of these ivory hands made so people can scratch their back, you know the one...

Cheerio -- no need to be embarassed all by yourself. You can tell your husband that you are not alone!! Mine is wooden and Maggie absolutely loves to be scratched with it. I actually had it for myself but thought of it using it on Maggie one day when the arthritis in my hands was bad. It really works good! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

[Laxmobster]

Those tickle spots are great. I hold Fin down and just gently scratch his "sweet spots", then his back legs go crazy trying to scratch it. It's the funniest thing I've seen. After he stands up and does the full body wiggle just to shake it off.