Dog losing hair. Normal or not?

[Ratpuke]

We adopted Maggie from the SPCA in December. She's a 10 month old Redbone Coonhound/Rhodesian Ridgeback cross. She was spayed in November, escaped from her PO and found her way to the pound. The owner came to retrieve her when he got back from holidays after leaving her chained up in the backyard for a week with temps dropping as low as -30C. Needless to say, the SPCA wouldn't give her back to him.

Anyway, when we adopted her her coat looked normal - short, smooth and shiny. Over the past couple of weeks her hair has been falling out and she's become really blotchy. She looks like our horses do when they start to lose their winter coat in Spring. However, I'm not sure if this is normal as I've never seen a dog lose hair in patches. Prado, the other dog in the house is a Ridgeback/Shepherd and so far her coat is normal but I don't want her catching anything, that is, if there is anything to catch. Both are inside 85% of the time these days (it's still frigid here). Also, Maggie was shaved for her spay and the hair hasn't grown back whatsoever which seems to be taking an extremely long time compared to other dogs I've seen.

Anyone have any ideas? Is it possible that she grew a slight winter coat while chained up at her old house? Or, perhaps it's normal for her to be changing coat texture/colour at this age? Or, does she have mange or a thyroid or some other medical problem? I'm thinking of taking her into the vet tomorrow or the next if possible.

Just thought I'd ask here first as I'm familiar with Ridgebacks but not Coonhounds.

Thanks in advance.

Maggie as she was before she started 'molting' and pictures showing the shorter darker hair beneath:

 

[Ratpuke]

More pics...

 

[lowenbrau]

Geez, she's remarkably cute looking when she's not flying over the end table, knocking over the lamp, faking me with a left hook while stealing a slurp of my beer.

As good as they are, the pics don't really show it very well. I'm guessing she's losing her puppy fur but hopefully somebody will know better.

 

[78-FJ40]

Mange?

 

[NaterGator]

Any bruising? What color is the skin under her ears? Isn't hair loss also a potential sign of liver problems?

 

[Ratpuke]

No bruising. Skin under ears is pale pink - normal looking.

 

[monniepoo]

Could be hot spots... Maybe the diet is too rich or shes eating something in the yard or maybe its table food. I have a golden retriever who will get hot spots from eating way too many avacados from our tree.

 

[Hot_Eighty_Chick]

Could be hot spots... Maybe the diet is too rich or shes eating something in the yard or maybe its table food. I have a golden retriever who will get hot spots from eating way too many avacados from our tree.

And chew on them too, huh.

one of my dogs does that too, he chews the spots until they're sometimes bleeding even.

Also, that same dog loses hair in CLUMPS every spring.
You can literally pull it out.

 

[Ratpuke]

So, off we went to the vet this morning. The vet suspects it is simply seasonal shedding but also may be a food allergy as she's also got a minor ear infection in one of her ears. We're to see how she looks in a month or two and then change the diet if it's simply not seasonal.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Jetboy]

Another thing to look at if you do blood work is thyroid. One of my boxers is hypothyroid and her hair at about 1yr began to get both coarse and thin. She was loosing hair around her rear end and it was thin all over. She was also intolerant to cold weather (shivered alot outside when it wasn't really that cold like 40*) and didn't have much energy on runs. It's hard to tell when a puppy doesn't have as much energy as they are supposed to until you get the full energy level back. Went to two vets who told us, wait a couple weeks and come back it it dosen't get better. I hate that. If I thought it would get better and hadn't waited a few weeks I wouldn't be here. There probably right most of the time, but it seems like they just want another office visit fee.

Anyway, third vet petted her about three times and said "I think she has a thyroid problem." Blood tests confirmed it. So now its a pill twice a day for the rest of her life. Good news is that its not expensive ($100/yr or so if I order in bulk) and within about a month she had grown all the hair back and has a soft coat again.

 

[cruiser88]

nervous/bored,mine do the same thing this time of year

 

[Ratpuke]

Yeah, I hear you about the "wait and see" advice. Up here we're nickel and dimed for everything. If I was in Calgary I'd take her into my old vet who was so helpful and didn't bill for quick visits for minor things.

At least the new hair looks similar to that on her legs...

 

[Zimm]

my second wienerdogs chest went bald and had thinning hair elsewhere.

 

[apeterson]

My GF is a vet.... she is still at the office I will show her the pics with she gets home...

 

[Ratpuke]

My GF is a vet.... she is still at the office I will show her the pics with she gets home...

Thanks! Greatly appreciated.

 

[cruisermedic]

i rescued a english bulldog from a abusive home and shortly after i got her she started losing hair to. she had these completely bald spots that got as big as quarters. i just took it as hot spots even though i didnt see her chewing. well they didnt grow back and i finally took her to the vet and they did a skin scraping and under a microscope they saw mites. it was demadex or demodex or whatever the spelling is. the things live in the hair follicles, this is a normal mite but when dogs are sick or stressed like from abuse or a move or whatever their immune system aparently goes down a bit and these things get out of control. any way the high faluting vet wasnted 125 dollars for the medicated dip and they said it could take upto 3 dips to cure it. no way was i ready to spend that. i was telling a coworker of mine who told me that when some.....uh....well financially challenged peoples dogs get mange the give them motor oil baths. well i decided i was financially challenged myself. made sense to me the oils plugs the follicles let it sit and wash really well. i did this in a tubso i could collect contaminated water and skim off oil for disposal. did it 2 times a week for 2 weeks and let her go and the hair grew back.

best thing to do is take her to the vet and see what they say and go from there.

just my .02

steve

 

[sirenmoses]

x2 on thyroid. 3rd major surgery for my girl resulted in poor hair regrowth: she wasn't getting the right dose of her med. fixed that and Boom, hair grew in.

another thought considering the cold exposure might be consequences of frostbite?

 

[apeterson]

Thanks! Greatly appreciated.

sorry she worked late and I forgot... I will do it... if I forget again just post back on this thread and I will remember.. I will not see her tonight however..

 

[baldboy]

3 CRITICAL things have a MAJOR effect on most dogs' skin and often their behavior (neurotic or otherwise):


1. DIET

2. DIET

3. DIET





Many dogs are allergic to dyes in cheap or even less cheap dog food. Some dogs are also VERY sensitive to poultry, fillers, and other additives that are not found in better quality dog food.

I fed my dogs "middle of the road" quality food for years and they had hot spots, ear infections, shedding, and Huxley was very anxious.....

On a whim I changed to a dog food with no fillers and is specially made for sensitive and allergic dogs and voila!.... Like magic their coats are healthier, shinier, softer, and they shed MUCH less. They haven't had a hot spot since, and they seem MUCH happier. They have much less waste too.


For a long time I overlooked the importance of choosing the right food for them but now I know what a DRASTIC difference it makes.

Good luck and good job on saving her from the animals that previously had her. When it gets really cold here I sometimes wonder how many dogs get left outside with no shelter.

 

[Ratpuke]

I agree, diet is important. She's been on Nutro Puppy food for large breed dogs. From all that I've read and heard from others it's supposed to be a fairly good kibble.