I have a 3 year old lab that gets hot spots about 1-2 times a year and was just wondering what to do about them. I took him to the vet the first time and they gave him some steroids, which I am not very fond of, and some antibiotic pills to give him for a week, it dried up and went away. The second time I just gave him Penicillin shots for 4 days in a row and it dried up. Usually they are about the size of a quarter but the last time he got one it was about 4 times that size. I took him to the vet this time and they gave him the same thing as the first time and it dried up in a week as usual.
Has anyone found anything that will work on them for good?

Unfortunately, no, not for good. My Engish setter comes down with a hot spot on his cheek EVERY fall. My vet gave me some sulfa powder to pat on the spot as soon as it emerges and it does go away. But, I know it will come back.

Our work dogs in Darwin would sometimes get these. High humidity can be the cause (in my area) Keep the dog dry, groom it,shave around the hot spot and apply cetrigen (purple stuff in a can) that will dry them out.

Can also be from a scratch and if the dog has a low immune system it may flare up (add high humidity to the mix and you will get them all the time)

A hot spot is bacterial dermatitis, having said that, antibiotics are indicated. The cause is dampness dirt and possibly trauma.Cut the hair off around the lesion as well as off the sore (these are painful). Topical steroid/antibiotics with 2-3 times a week cleaning with Betadyne soap will usually get the spot well w/o systemic antibiotic and steroids. Dr.C

Out of curiosity, what kind of food are you feeding your lab? I have two labs; one black one chocolate. They used to get hot spots quite a bit. We consulted the vet and the first thing he asked us was what type of food we fed them. At the time we fed them Old Roy (Wal Mart brand). The vet said that the bulk of the cheaper dog foods are made mostly of corn. He said dogs do not digest and process corn very well and that the unprocessed portion that gets in their blood stream as nutrients is not absorbed by the body and seeps out their pores creating hot spots.
OK...Maybe I didnt say all that right, and some vets on the board can correct me if I am wrong, but, bottom line, we switched to Iams for our dogs and haven't had a hot spot since.