Understanding canine atopic dermatitis, one of the most common and welfare-impacting chronic skin conditions in dogs, and evidence-based management approaches.
Canine atopic dermatitis is a profoundly welfare-impacting chronic disease — constant pruritus prevents normal sleep, disrupts social behavior, causes secondary skin infections that add pain to itch, and results in behavioral changes including irritability and reduced enjoyment of activities. Many affected dogs live for years with inadequately controlled itch because owners do not realize that effective treatments exist beyond steroids with their side effect burden. Modern targeted therapies including JAK inhibitors and anti-IL-31 antibodies provide excellent itch control with minimal systemic effects, dramatically improving quality of life for affected dogs. Comprehensive management includes allergen identification and avoidance, skin barrier support with appropriate shampooing and fatty acid supplementation, and immunotherapy for long-term disease modification.