Hot Spots🔥on Bulldogs - Skin Treatment

Name: Hot Spots in Bulldogs and French Bulldogs
Creator: Dr. Roy Kraemer
Published: 2024-08-01T16:15:59-07:00

Last updated 10 October 2026 by Roy Kraemer, DVM

Bulldog portrait beside Dr Kraemer in a branded hot spots educational image.

Last night he was fine. This morning there is a raw, weeping patch the size of a coin on his neck, the hair around it is stuck down, and he will not let you look at it. Owners almost always assume they missed something building for days. They did not. A hot spot really can go from nothing to an open sore in a few hours, because the dog makes it himself: something itches, he chews, the chewing makes a wound, the wound itches more, and the loop runs all night. This page covers what sets it off, what we do about it, and the part most owners get wrong, which is stopping the dog from getting back at it.

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Dear Dr. Kraemer,! My 2-year-old Frenchie, Lizzy, has developed a huge hot spot🔥on her neck, and it looks quite deep and painful. 😢 It seems to be infected, could you please advise on what might have caused this and how I should go about treating it? Thank you so much for your help! ❤️ Brendon & Lizzy #FrenchieCare #HotSpotHelp #BulldogHealth #PetFirstAid

A question for Dr. Kraemer

“I woke up to a raw weeping patch on the side of Daisy’s neck the size of a coin. Yesterday there was nothing there. She will not let me near it and she has not stopped licking and scratching at that side. Do I need to get her in today, or can I clean it up at home and watch it?”

An example of a question a Bulldog owner might ask.

Dr. Kraemer’s reply

Get her in. I will give you the reasoning, because it is not about the patch itself.
A hot spot is the only skin problem I know of that a dog can create overnight, and it is self inflicted in the literal sense. The licking and scratching does the damage, moisture and bacteria do the rest, and because it is sore the dog goes at it more, which makes it sorer. That loop runs faster than anything you can do with a cloth at the kitchen sink, and breaking it usually needs the hair clipped away, a proper clean, something for the inflammation and something to stop her reaching it. That last part is why the cone is not negotiable for a few days.
The more important reason to go in is the one owners skip. The patch is what she did. It is not why she did it. A dog does not start at a particular spot for no reason, and on the side of the neck I want her ears looked at before anything else. Over the rump I would be thinking about fleas and about the anal glands. Over a fold, about the skin underneath it. Treat the patch without finding the reason and you will be back with the same patch in the same place.
For the longer term, our antiseptic topicals belong alongside whatever your veterinarian prescribes rather than in place of it, and keeping her coat and skin dry after baths and swims takes away the conditions these things need. Supplements that support the skin barrier may help over a good few weeks. None of that is for today. Today is the appointment.

Dr. Roy Kraemer, DVM

Hot Spot Skin Infection in Bulldogs and French Bulldog Introduction

Hot Spots also referred to as “bulldog moist dermatitis” or “bulldog moist eczema,” is a condition that can arise from various factors. Bulldog hot spots are localized skin infections that can appear suddenly and become inflamed and painful.

What is Bulldog hot-spot infection?

They are characterized as painful, itchy moist red, swelling, and oozing. Hot spots are often caused by allergies, insect bites, or skin infections and require prompt treatment to prevent further irritation and infection.

Bulldog Hot Spot Skin Infection 5 Must Know

A hot spot is a self-reflecting itchy acute onset, focal infected moist wound.
The triggers are often an insect bite, irritating topical product, and allergies.
Treatment requires itch control, antiseptic wound cleaning, and pain relief.
Bully therapeutics include topical antiseptics and oral supplements
Prevention and care include Dr. Kraemer’s Bulldog Hot Spot Bundles.

Welcome to Our “Prevention Over RX” Bulldog Community

From Dr. Kraemer’s exam room

A bulldog specialist, 20 years breed specific clinical experience

The cone is not optional

A hot spot is one of the few things on this site that genuinely appears overnight. Owners apologize to me for letting it get that bad, and there is nothing to apologize for. The dog did this to himself between bedtime and breakfast.

What decides how the next week goes is whether you can break the loop. Itch, chew, wound, more itch. Every part of the treatment below is aimed at that loop rather than at the patch itself, and the least glamorous part is the one that matters most. The best antiseptic in the world does nothing if it is licked off ten minutes after it goes on. If he is going to get back at it, put the cone on and leave it on.

The other thing worth saying out loud: a hot spot is nearly always a symptom of something else. Fleas, an allergy, or a damp skin fold that never quite dries. Treat the patch and it heals. Leave the reason alone and I will be seeing you again in a month with a hot spot somewhere else on the same dog.

Dr. Roy Kraemer, DVM

Hot Spots in Bulldogs and French Bulldogs / Presentation

A bulldog hotspot typically presents as a focal area on your bulldog’s skin that appears

Sticky moist hair
Ulcertively inflamed oozing wound
Dark red, discolored skin.
Infected, purulent wound
Intense itch focal area
Painful self-made injury

Common areas are the neck top/bottom, forehead, and airbase

What Causes Bulldog and French Bulldog Hot Spots:

Bulldog hotspots are triggered by an acute intensely itchy skin irritant. Examples include:

FLEAS: Bulldog flea bite allergy
INSECT BITE: Arthropods like spider bites, ant bites, etc.
ALLERGIC REACTION: an allergic reaction often to plants, trees, grass, or food.
SKIN FOLD DERMATITIS: dampness and moisture provide an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and yeast, such as bulldog skin fold dermatitis.

Hot spots start as an inflamed, itchy, and painful area on the skin, which triggers a relentless cycle of biting and scratching. This self-trauma exacerbates the initial inflammation, increasing the discomfort and itchiness. As the condition progresses, it can lead to a secondary infection known as pyoderma, further compounding the problem.

Hot Spots in Bulldogs / Location

Hot spots can occur all over the body, but one of the most common areas is under the flap of the ear and neck. Bulldogs are predisposed to hot spots due to the abundance of moist skin folds around the face and head, which is a breeding ground for bacteria and yeast.

Are French Bulldogs Hot Spot Infection Painful?

Bulldog hot spots result from persistent biting and scratching at a specific area of the skin. Your bulldog may show signs of sensitivity to touch. It’s crucial to inspect the area carefully for redness, bleeding, pus, and signs of infection. Given the intense pain associated with hot spots, approach and handle the area with great care during medical treatment.

Hot spots are painful!

From Dr. Kraemer’s exam room

A bulldog specialist, 20 years breed specific clinical experience

A hot spot in the same place twice is a message

When an owner tells me the hot spot is back, my first question is not what they used on it. It is where it was last time.

A hot spot is the dog’s own work. Something made that patch of skin worth attacking, and the dog kept going until the skin gave way. So the location is a map. Behind or below an ear, and I want to look inside that ear before I do anything else. Over the tail base, and I am thinking about fleas and about the anal glands. Along a fold or under a collar that stays damp, and the answer is usually moisture and friction rather than anything exotic.

This matters because the patch itself is the easy part. Clipped, cleaned and treated properly, most settle quickly. If nobody asks what started it, the dog gets better, the cone comes off, and three weeks later you are looking at the same raw circle in the same place, usually with a second course of antibiotics attached to it.

It is the smoke alarm problem. You can take the battery out and the noise stops, but that was never what you were being told.

So when you go in, say where it is, say whether it has happened there before, and mention anything about the ears, the back end or the swimming and bathing routine. That is the part that stops it being an annual event.

Dr. Roy Kraemer, DVM

Hot Spots in Bulldogs / Treatment

Topical treatment can be challenging due to the intense pain, at times some form of sedation is required. Pain medication and anti-inflammatories should be initiated.

1. Bulldog hot spot clip & clean

We usually try to clip away the fur surrounding the area of irritation, it might not be possible without sedation or anesthesia.

2. Bulldog hot spot scrub & rinse

Carefully and thoroughly clean the area with a topical antiseptic rinse to help eliminate bacteria and ease the infection. If the area is to painful to direct contact use antiseptic spray and lotion. For your protection try to place a buster collar, it will also prevent your bully from pawing, licking and biting the area.

3. Bulldog and French Bulldog hot spot therapeutics

Bully Skin Fold Antiseptic Rinse
Bully Antiseptic Wipe
Bully Antiseptic Gel
Bully Hot Spot Spray
V4B Yeasty Bully Antiseptic Medicated Shampoo

4. Hot spot cortisone treatment

We often inject some form of cortisone (topical, oral, or injectable) to help reduce the pain, itch, and inflammation.

5. Bulldog hot spot antibiotics medicine

We often prescribe topical, oral, or inject an antibiotic to combat bacterial infection (pyoderma).

6. Bulldog hot spot e-cone

Hot spots in Bulldogs and French Bulldogs can lead to severe itching. To prevent further self-trauma and irritation of the affected area, an Elizabethan collar (cone) can be highly beneficial, aiding in the healing process.

7. Bulldog and French Bulldog hot spot supplements

Include bully therapeutic supplements to help:

Relive pain
- Bully Comfort & AchLess
Reduce inflammation
- Bully Fish Oil EFA
Repair Skin Barrier and Heal Microbiome
- Skin & Coat DermaVet
- Bully Probiotic EZ
Sooth itch
- Bully ItchLess Chews

🐾 An honest word about products

The part you can do at home, and the part you cannot

I will be straight about this one, because it is not a case where a product is the answer on its own. A fresh, sore, weeping hot spot that your dog will not let you near is a visit. Clipping and cleaning it properly often needs sedation, and the itch and the inflammation usually need prescription help before anything else works. Nothing on a shelf replaces that part.

What our antiseptic range is for is either side of that visit. Keeping the area clean while it closes over, and then keeping the damp folds and the itchy skin that started it from starting the next one. These are topicals, so they sit where the rest of our topicals sit: alongside whatever your veterinarian has prescribed rather than instead of it, with the treatment decision theirs. The Yeasty Bully Must Have Bundle puts the rinse, the shampoo and the spray together for owners who are dealing with this more than once a year, and the supplements on this page may help support the skin barrier from the inside over a good few weeks.

See the antiseptic hot spot spray

To be clear: supplements or topicals are not substitutes for prescribed treatment. If your dog is unwell, is being treated for a condition, or is already on medication, review any supplement or topical with your veterinarian so it fits the plan you are already following. This page is educational and is not a diagnosis or a treatment plan for your own dog.

Hot Spot Infection Must-Know, Must-Do:

Fleas: Does your bulldog have fleas?
- 🩺Keep your bulldog on a flea-prevention
Is your bulldog and/or French bulldog allergic to a particular plant growing outside your home?
- 🩺Remove the allergic plant
Do you need to clean your bulldog skin folds more often?
- 🩺Use the Bully Antiseptic Skin Folds Wipe and lotion to keep the wrinkles clean
Does your bulldog know to have allergies?
- 🩺Control and prevent allergies and itch
Is his neck leash too tight and rubbing his neck?
- 🩺Remove or replace with a harness.

Asked by Bulldog owners

Hot spots: quick answers

It was not there last night. How did it get that bad in a few hours?

That is the normal story, and it is worth hearing because owners often arrive feeling guilty. A hot spot is self inflicted. Something starts the itch, usually a flea bite, an insect bite, a reaction to a plant or a fold of skin that stayed damp, and the dog chews at one spot in a way he would never chew at an ordinary itch. Within a few hours the surface is broken and weeping, and a broken surface itches far more than intact skin did, so he keeps going. The speed is not a sign that something terrible is happening. It is just the loop running without anyone there to stop it.

Can I clip the hair away and clean it myself?

Clipping the hair back is genuinely part of the treatment, because hair holds moisture against the wound and moisture is what the bacteria want. The problem is rarely the idea and nearly always the dog. These are sore, and a Bulldog who is sore about his neck will tell you so. If he will sit for it and you have clippers rather than scissors, clipping and gently cleaning is reasonable. If he flinches, turns, or you find yourself needing a second person to hold him, stop. That is the point at which we sedate, and there is no prize for doing it the hard way at the kitchen table.

He will not let me touch it at all. What now?

Then do not. A dog who will not let his owner near a patch of skin is telling you how sore it is, and pushing through that teaches him that hands near his neck mean pain, which makes every future examination worse. Use a spray or a lotion rather than anything that needs rubbing in, keep him from getting back at it, and get him seen. Relief for the soreness and the inflammation is usually the first thing we give, precisely because nothing else can be done properly until he will tolerate being handled.

Does he really need the cone? He hates it and so do I.

Yes, and this is the single most common reason a hot spot that should have been gone in a week is still there a month later. Everything you put on the skin is working on a surface the dog can reach with his tongue in under a second. A cone for a few days is not a punishment, it is what makes the rest of the treatment count. If he genuinely cannot manage a rigid cone, there are softer collars and recovery suits, so ask about those rather than going without. What does not work is taking it off while you watch him, because the moment anyone looks away is the moment he gets back at it.

Is it contagious? I have another dog and small children.

No. A hot spot is your own dog’s skin reacting and then your own dog damaging it, so there is nothing to catch and nothing to pass on, to another dog or to a person. The one thing that can be shared is the cause rather than the sore. If fleas set this off, the fleas are a household problem and not a Bulldog problem, so every animal in the house needs covering, not just the one with the patch.

It healed and now there is a new one somewhere else. Why?

Because the hot spot was the symptom and something else is the cause. Repeat hot spots in a Bulldog almost always point at one of a small number of things: fleas that are not fully controlled across the whole household, an allergy that flares seasonally, or skin folds that stay damp. A dog who gets one hot spot a year has had bad luck. A dog who gets three has an underlying problem that is worth identifying properly, because treating each patch as it appears is both more expensive and more miserable than dealing with the reason.

Can I use hydrogen peroxide, surgical spirit or a human antiseptic cream?

Please do not use peroxide or spirit. Both sting badly on an open wound, which matters when the dog is already associating that part of his body with pain, and both damage the new tissue that is trying to close the surface. Human creams are a different problem: most are greasy, which traps moisture against exactly the kind of wound that needs to dry, and all of them are licked off and swallowed. Use something formulated for this job on a dog, and ask your veterinarian which one fits what they have already prescribed.

More Help from Dr. Kraemer

A hot spot is usually a symptom of something else. These pages cover what tends to start one:

References

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