My 8 1/2 year old German Shepherd has allergies that result in horrible "hot spots" that irritate him like mad - he used to get antibiotics and steroids, but they only worked for a short period, weren't very good for him long term, and cost a fortune of course at the vet. I somewhat sceptically bought a trial pack for £14.99 of a product that was originally sold for horses who get "sweet itch - an allergy to midge bites that leaves them raw and broken skinned.) It's called Stinky Stuff and consists of a shampoo - which I haven't yet tried - a carrier oil and gunky stuff to mix with it. It cleared his hot spot in 24 hours. I kid thee not. And the bonus was, after I'd given him an hour with a muzzle on so he couldn't lick it off til it had sunk in, when I removed the muzzle he showed no signs of feeling any irritation. I'm now converted to the point that my ponies are all going to be covered in the stuff this summer too!