Hot spots in Dogs - how to treat them naturally (and chose the right remedy)

If you’ve ever had a dog with a hotspot…

you’ll know how quickly they appear.

One minute everything looks fine…

and the next you’ve got a red, angry, weeping patch that seems to come out of nowhere.

They lick it.

Scratch it.

Make it worse.

And suddenly you’re back in that cycle again…

trying to calm it down as quickly as possible.

⸻

🌿 What actually is a hotspot?

A hotspot is essentially:

👉 an inflamed, irritated patch of skin

👉 often red, moist, sore… sometimes oozing

They can come up quickly and spread fast if not supported early.

And while they look like a simple “skin problem”…

they’re often the body trying to push something out.

⸻

🌿 What to do straight away (before remedies)

When a hotspot appears, keep it really simple.

👉 keep it clean

👉 keep it dry

👉 stop the cycle of licking

The first thing I always suggest is:

gently trimming the hair around the hotspot

Even just a small area makes a big difference.

It allows:

• air to reach the skin

• you to actually see what’s going on

• and helps it dry rather than staying damp

Then, you can support it topically in a natural way.

A lovely option is:

👉 green clay (French green clay)

You can:

• mix it with a little water into a paste

• or dust it on dry

This helps to:

• draw out irritation

• dry the area

• soothe the skin

The key is to let the area breathe.

Hotspots tend to settle much faster when they’re not kept moist or covered.

And if your dog is very focused on licking…

you may need to gently distract them or use a cone for a short time,

just to give the skin space to heal.

⸻

🌿 Choosing the right homeopathic remedy

This is where it becomes really powerful.

You’re not just treating “a hotspot”…

you’re matching the remedy to how it looks and how your dog is behaving.

See which one feels most like your dog.

⸻

🐾 Hepar sulph — the sore, sensitive hotspot

• Very painful to touch

• Your dog may flinch, snap, or avoid you

• Skin looks moist, possibly with pus

• Worse with cold air

• Dog may seem irritable or reactive

👉 Think of this when it feels tender and sensitive

⸻

🐾 Sulphur — the hot, red, itchy hotspot

• Bright red, inflamed skin

• Feels hot to the touch

• Intense itching — they can’t leave it alone

• Scratching constantly

• Often worse with heat

👉 This is the classic angry, itchy hotspot

⸻

🐾 Graphites — the sticky, oozing hotspot

• Thick, sticky discharge (almost honey-like)

• Can form crusts or scabs

• Skin may crack slightly

• Slower to heal

👉 This is more of a weeping, sticky picture

⸻

🐾 Rhus tox — the restless, irritated hotspot

• Dog is unsettled, keeps moving

• Constant licking, shifting, can’t settle

• Skin irritated, sometimes bumpy

• Worse when lying still

👉 This is when the whole dog feels restless and uncomfortable

⸻

🐾 Arsenicum album — the anxious, unsettled hotspot

• Dog seems uneasy or anxious

• Keeps checking or licking the area

• Often worse at night

• Can’t quite relax

👉 This is more about the feeling of unease alongside the skin

⸻

🌿 How to give the remedies

I’ve written a simple guide to make this really easy (although this is written for humans the same principles apply) :

🌿 [How to take homeopathy — potency & dose]

⸻

🌿 A little real-life example

One of my cases, Toby, used to get recurrent hotspots.

They would:

• flare up quickly

• become sore and irritated

• then settle… only to return again

Using the right remedy helped calm each flare-up.

But the real shift came when we looked at:

👉 why his body kept producing them

Once we supported that deeper layer…

the cycle changed completely.

⸻

🌿 A gentle but important truth

You absolutely can support hotspots at home.

And once you know what to look for,

it becomes much simpler.

(It also tends to be far kinder on your wallet than repeat vet visits… 😉)

⸻

🌿 But if they keep coming back…

That’s your dog telling you something.

It’s not just about the skin.

It could be linked to:

• diet

• environment

• underlying sensitivity

• or something deeper going on

It’s always worth looking at what’s going in too.

🌿 [Raw feeding blog]

⸻

🌿 Bringing it back to the bigger picture

If you’ve read my blog on constitution… (click here)

you’ll start to see how this all connects.

Because we’re not just treating the hotspot…

we’re treating the dog who gets hotspots.

And that’s where things really start to shift.

⸻

🌿 If you’d like a bit of help

If you’re finding that:

• hotspots keep returning

• things improve but don’t fully resolve

• or you’re not quite sure which remedy fits

This is exactly what I help with.

In a short animal coaching session,

we can usually get very clear on:

• your dog’s constitutional picture

• which remedies will suit them best

• and what’s sitting underneath it all

🌿 Book an animal coaching session with Chloe here.