What to record about your dog’s skin

Six things to write down

Use the same six fields each time. Short, consistent notes are easier to compare than a long account written from memory.

1. 1The date — and the time of day, if what you are recording comes and goes.
2. 2Where on the body it is. Name the part, and use the same name every time.
3. 3What the skin and the coat looked like, in ordinary descriptive words rather than a conclusion.
4. 4How much scratching, licking, chewing or rubbing there was, expressed the same way each time.
5. 5What was done that day: a wash, a product applied, a longer walk, a change of food, anything given exactly as it was prescribed.
6. 6What changed recently — anything new in the last few weeks, even if it seems unrelated.

Use descriptions you can compare

Use words you can compare later. “Pink, about the size of a coin, inside the left back leg, flat rather than raised” gives more detail than “bad again”. Describe colour, size, whether the area is flat or raised, any thinning coat and any new smell. For background, read about the skin layers.

If your veterinarian gives you an itch scale, use that same scale as instructed. Otherwise describe the scratching, licking, chewing or rubbing you noticed and when it happened, without turning the note into a diagnosis or severity score.

Keep your description separate from a possible explanation: record what you saw, rather than write “allergy” as a fact. For background on instrument readings, see the guide to skin measurements. Notes and instrument readings both need appropriate interpretation by your veterinarian.

Take photographs you can compare

Use consistent light, distance and framing, and part the coat in the same way. Take a wider image showing the body part and a close-up with something of known size for scale. Keep images in focus and use no filters or beauty mode. Consistent photographs help compare appearance over time; they do not establish a cause.

Name the products and recent changes

Record what was given and when, using the name on the packaging and the instructions supplied. Do not change treatment because of a note; treatment decisions belong to your veterinarian. Include recent changes such as a shampoo, food, home, bed or walking route. Naming the product makes the everyday routine an entry describes easier to compare; what its label can and cannot tell you is a separate question.

Taking it to the appointment

Bring the record in a form somebody else can read in a minute, and bring the things it refers to.

1. 1A single page with the dates down one side, and a note of which photograph belongs to which day.
2. 2The products themselves where you can, or photographs of their labels where you cannot.
3. 3Names copied from the packaging, and the dates when each medicine or other product was given.
4. 4The photographs, on a device you can hand over rather than describe.
5. 5Your questions, written down before you arrived rather than remembered in the room.

Write down the veterinarian’s instructions

Take notes during the visit, or ask permission to record the conversation. Keep the written instructions with your history. If something is unclear, ask the practice to explain it before you act on it.

When to contact a veterinarian

Persistent itch, hair loss, odour, open lesions, ear involvement or a sudden change are each a reason to contact your veterinarian and arrange an appointment. Do not delay the call to finish your notes or try another bath.

For difficulty breathing, collapse or unresponsiveness, uncontrolled bleeding, seizures, or suspected poisoning, contact emergency veterinary care now.

Painful, open or worsening skin also needs veterinary attention. Your notes cannot tell you whether it is safe to wait.

Keep notes when things are unchanged too

Note days when nothing has changed, and keep the entries when things improve. That helps distinguish a quiet period from missing notes. If a change has come and gone before, include the earlier dates you know. You do not need a complete timeline before contacting your veterinarian.

Keeping it in one place

A notebook or a note on your phone works. Keep entries dated, match photographs to their dates and choose a format you can bring to the appointment. Keeping them in one place saves searching through messages and the camera roll.

What your notes can help with

The record gives your veterinarian the history only you can supply: what you noticed, when it happened and what was done. It cannot identify a cause or tell you how serious a change is. For help describing appearance, see the observation guide.