[FullCircle]

It sounds like a staph infection. Sometimes it’s a matter of just being young and out-growing it. Sometimes it can be a troublesome chronic issue, which must be managed for a lifetime. I had a pit mix once where bathing him actually brought it on! Found that bathing with a medicated shampoo with chlorhexidine gluconate helped AND using gentle hand motions. Rubbing and scrubbing apparently irritate the skin and inflame and spread them. Also, let the shampoo sit on them a while before you rinse. And don’t bathe too often, not more than once every 7-10 days.

 

[mofam1998]

Dog food advisor rates that ok. So, I'd change protein, go fish or beef ( if you're using chicken). You don't need to use puppy food. The premium foods are "all life stages", as animals don't feed their young different food than they eat 😁
If you can, look into other brands that offer a wide variety (Stella and Chewys is a good one). You can go with grain free or ancient grains. Once you figure out if there is a food allergy or not, it's good to rotate protein sources.

You should also look into raw feeding and see if that would work for you. There are many good commercial diets that really aren't too much more expensive. Everything else aside, raw feeding does wonders on the poop issue.

So we switched to the Purina Pro Plan Puppy sensitive skin and stomach a week ago and have seen improvements. Her coat went from corse and light colored spots showing all over to spots pretty much gone and coat nice and shiny and soft. The protein in the Pure Balance was chicken and the protein in the Purina is Salmon. Crazy difference in the price, but also the results. Been using dogfoodadvisor.com, it is very helpful. Thanks