africandreams Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Ok so my red male dobe who is 1 shed a lot of hair earlier this week, to the point of minor balding. Its hard to explain, but from a distance you can't really tell, but up close you can see thinning of the hair. It is not all over his body, just mostly behind his shoulders (over the rib cage) and his belly his a bit thin of hair. I took him to the vet yesterday, thinking maybe it was hypothyroidism. He is a bit lethargic, but over in Perth we've had really hot weather, so thats probably contributing. He is not overweight, nor does he lie in the sun to try and stay warm. I asked the vet about running a T4 blood test to test his thyroid, she did not recommend it all, saying that T4 isn't always accurate- dog could by hypothyroid but you could get a normal reading. (Which I already knew) She proceeded to do a skin scrape for demodex (Seen demodex before and this doesn't look like it) and it came up negative. Her conclusion was, he has crappy dry skin, and to do some research on the internet for remedies. He is fed a raw diet, and gets omega 3/6 etc. I use seabreeze oil on his coat, which helps with the drying out. Any idea of what I can do? Anyone else had this situation before? I have looked after several red dobes before and none have dropped so much coat to the point of balding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gempaws Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 what about stopping the seabreeze oil? it might stop the coat drying out but it mgiht also be doing something else. is he rolling excessivly,? just some ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Does Seabreeze oil have any alcohol in it? I probably would be stopping it as well to see if it makes a difference. I know Perth has been really hot for the last few weeks, does the weather correspond to his hairloss or was it occuring before it warmed up over there? Is he itchie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 i prob wasnt clear bout the seabreeze oil. Over the last couple of wks i didnt use it as much, the hairloss started then. So i started using again this week and ive noticed not as much hair loss. No alcohol in seabreeze oil- made from essential plant oils. Its a calming for skin. No itching-scratching-rolling around. Ive had the dogs mostly inside these past couple of wks, he lies on the tiles. Im realy baffled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gempaws Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 He's allergic to tiles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taters Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Could it be seasonal hair loss? One of mine dogs has it, it started with thinning then went to a big bald patch, on his rib cage and a bit of thinning on his back Had skin scrapings done, all clear Put him on Megaderm (omega oils) which didn't seem to do alot, then I changed his dry food to a sensitive skin Tuna and rice The sensitive skin food helped alot and hair has just about finished growing back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roxyporsha Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) I used to have a blue dobe who had thining hair all year round it is genitic in alot of the blues and the dobe club recommended alfa kari oil (Not sure if thats the right spelling) but you get it from the chemist worked great he never had a full great coat, but the improvement was there. Edited January 10, 2009 by roxyporha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I asked the vet about running a T4 blood test to test his thyroid, she did not recommend it all, saying that T4 isn't always accurate- dog could by hypothyroid but you could get a normal reading. Wow! What a great Vet! Many that I have spoken to rely heavily upon and believe in the testing facilities and analysis charts we have here and won't hear of much else. I'm not saying that hypothyroidism is your dog's issue and one way or the other I hope you are easily able to sort it out, however if you want to run a FULL blood panel test for thyroid function you can do so via Dr. Jean Dodds in the USA. You'll need the help of your own Vet for drawing of the blood, but other than that it is just a matter of shipping the blood to her via an international courier service such as FedEx. PM me if you decide you want to go down that track and need more info on it. Given your Vet's understanding of thyroid and our blood panel testing facilities, your Vet might be interested in this too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hopefully a Dobe Breeder will come on because not long ago I came across an article about pattern baldness on certain breeds and from memory I'm sure Dobes were one of them! If you don't have any other skin issues could it just be a seasonal coat drop? This product might be suitable for you? http://www.petsonthepark.com.au/prod1120.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I don't know if there's any link, but I've had similar problems with two Labradors in Perth SOR. Severe itchyness as well. The bald spots appear where they scratch (either by chewing or scratching with hind feet). I think there's something particularly nasty in the saliva of the fleas we've got this year or something. I hope I can get a handle on it by giving flea treatment more frequently, but Murphy previals: My bulk order (jeez that stuff is expensive when you've got a lot of dogs) has gotten delayed by Xmas postal mess. Aloe vera (fresh from the plant) seems to ease the itching. Prednisolone seems to help, but it's not something you want to use regularly or long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I don't know if there's any link, but I've had similar problems with two Labradors in Perth SOR. Severe itchyness as well. The bald spots appear where they scratch (either by chewing or scratching with hind feet). That sounds normal...i.e. blad patches coming from scratching and chewing alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I don't know if there's any link, but I've had similar problems with two Labradors in Perth SOR. Severe itchyness as well. The bald spots appear where they scratch (either by chewing or scratching with hind feet). That sounds normal...i.e. blad patches coming from scratching and chewing alot. But you need to wonder why the dog is chewing on himself a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 thanks for all the replies. Erny- the vet is looking into getting a whole heap of dobes tested at once and sending it over to michigan for thyroid testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 thanks for all the replies. Erny- the vet is looking into getting a whole heap of dobes tested at once and sending it over to michigan for thyroid testing. I love the open-mindedness of your Vet. I'd also be very interested in what the result of the testings are, if your Vet does go ahead with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bisart Dobes Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Generally with Dobes this kind of issue is attributed to Thyroid or Auto Immune Disease - ask his breeder if they know or test for problems within the lines they use. Topical solutions will not fix the problem - skin / coat is the first visual people ususally get when there is a deeper problem with the animals system - you need to find out what that is and fix that - this could be a long term issue. Interesting that he is so young with this problem, to me that points to genetics. Bernadette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I don't know if there's any link, but I've had similar problems with two Labradors in Perth SOR. Severe itchyness as well. The bald spots appear where they scratch (either by chewing or scratching with hind feet). That sounds normal...i.e. blad patches coming from scratching and chewing alot. But you need to wonder why the dog is chewing on himself a lot. Yeah well that's a given LOL But getting bald patches is pretty typical from scratching and chewing and the OP seemed to think that was unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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