Your dog can get hives just from getting stung by insects like bees and wasps, however that is not the only way your dog can get hives. Hives usually appear on your dogs skin as small circular bumps that are the result of an allergic reaction.
You can see your dogs fur begin to raise in areas where the hives are breaking through the skin. Your dogs immune system is reacting to something that is irritating it and when the systems overreact it causes a hypersensitive state. These hives are very uncomfortable for your dog, and he will bite and scratch at them until they bleed. The hives will normally go away in as little as a day, but that is if they are left to heal on there own.
If you are not familiar with hives and you see swelling or red bumps on your dogs skin, contact your veterinarian immediately to ensure that he is not having a severe attack. You might think he was stung by a wasp or bee, but the truth is a dog can contract hives in the backyard in a number of ways in addition to an insect stinging him.
If you have your lawn treated by a professional lawn service, the pesticides they use to control bugs and the chemicals they use to grow your healthy lawn all come in contact with your dogs skin when he is lying in the backyard. Many times these chemicals are harmful to dogs and the skin may show immediate signs of hives. If your dog begins licking himself he may even ingest the chemicals, which again will result in his skin breaking out in hives. If you do not closely monitor your dog, it will be hard to tell if it is a bee sting or the lawn chemicals. Your dogs doctor will better understand.
Similarly your dog loves to eat everything. He may simply have an allergic reaction to something he finds in your yard, the neighbors yard, the woods or near the trash cans. Once he eats the food he may begin to have an allergic reaction to it. Some dogs break out in hives from certain types of ingested fish.
Giving your dog a big bubble bath in the backyard sounds like fun for everyone. That night you see him breaking out in hives. Was it an insect bite, was it the chemicals in the lawn, was it something he ate, or was it a skin reaction to something in the shampoo you used to wash the dog? Can you see how this can get confusing, and how you might not want to go at it alone when trying to diagnose your dogs hives. Can dogs get hives from insect stings, yes, and from a lot more places. If this is new to you let your veterinarian give you a better understanding. It is better to get a quick answer than to allow your dog to suffer while you try to find the source.
