# lab losing hair?



## InertiaDriven71 (Mar 20, 2009)

My dog's coat is getting awfully thin in some spots-- particularly underneath and even losing hair on one side. Upon further inspection, in some spots it looks like the skin is slightly flaky, and even some slight pink discoloration. It is hot (SE Arkansas), but not hot enough to lose its hair like this. Her pen is in the shade and it has been unseasonably cool here in what is her first summer. 

Any idea what is going on here? I am taking her in to get her spayed in the next month.... might have her checked out then...?


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## gdgnyc (May 4, 2009)

When I see similar symptoms I add some oil or fat to the diet and increase the frequency of brushing the dog. This almost always makes the coat and skin better. The one time I had to deal with a lot of hair loss I had to treat for fleas and some form of mange. It was along time ago. Treatment was to fumigate the house and flea dip my dog. It worked. Treatments had to be repeated 2 or 3 times.


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## mlp (Feb 20, 2009)

One of my dogs did this a while back. Took him to the vet and the vet gave me some shampoo to use. I also decided to switch dog food. I'm not sure which done the trick but the hair came back and looks great.


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## JKL (Oct 19, 2007)

Food allergies


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## Wtrfwl with Ruff (Jul 13, 2009)

My lab did this last summer while i was feeding Pro Plan i switched to Eukanuba and it was amazing how good his coat looked after about a month. Chris Atkinsons wife Moira suggested i switch foods because she had a yellow lab who had similar hair loss.. I tried bathing with medicated shampoo and medication for staph infections before switching foods with no results. hope you have the same luck


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## Gwen Jones (Jun 19, 2004)

How old is your lab and does it scratch a lot?


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## JKL (Oct 19, 2007)

Wtrfwl with Ruff said:


> My lab did this last summer while i was feeding Pro Plan i switched to Eukanuba and it was amazing how good his coat looked after about a month. Chris Atkinsons wife Moira suggested i switch foods because she had a yellow lab who had similar hair loss.. I tried bathing with medicated shampoo and medication for staph infections before switching foods with no results. hope you have the same luck


Same here. Switch from Pro Plan to Euk and all his hair came back.


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## Billie (Sep 19, 2004)

Hair loss is a very broad subject.
Could be anything from contact allergies,to food allergies, to parasites(ringworm/sarcoptic mange,etc).
Just had a dog come into the kennel- looked "motheaten". I had him vet her first and get a skin scraping to make sure no bugs- She was fine. 
I've put her on Fish Oil caps, and changed her food-she looks better after only three weeks-shiny coat and no more hair loss- growth is slow but coming in nicely.
I'd vet her to be sure all is aok- just to be sure-
( incidentally- I think she was eating Pro Plan too before coming in----)


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## latechwildlifer (Nov 3, 2007)

Mine had the same issues and ended up being a low thyroid problem. Have your vet test thyroid level. My Dog now is on thyroxine and coat looks great!


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## afdahl (Jul 5, 2004)

InertiaDriven71 said:


> Any idea what is going on here? I am taking her in to get her spayed in the next month.... might have her checked out then...?


It is definitely a good idea to get her checked out by your vet. Best case is that it may be like a dog I had once. In the end I concluded it was just a bad shed his first summer. He lost just about all his coat except for a few guard hairs. There was some flaking and minor irritation of his skin, but I think that was just because it was exposed.

My vet couldn't find anything. The dog's new coat grew in nice and thick, and after that his sheds were more normal, the old coat hanging on until *after* the new coat started. I have known of a couple of other dogs that did this.

Amy Dahl


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## traklover (Mar 10, 2008)

afdahl said:


> It is definitely a good idea to get her checked out by your vet. Best case is that it may be like a dog I had once. In the end I concluded it was just a bad shed his first summer. He lost just about all his coat except for a few guard hairs. There was some flaking and minor irritation of his skin, but I think that was just because it was exposed.
> 
> My vet couldn't find anything. The dog's new coat grew in nice and thick, and after that his sheds were more normal, the old coat hanging on until *after* the new coat started. I have known of a couple of other dogs that did this.
> 
> Amy Dahl


That sounds like what I an dealing with at the moment with my young curly coat (single coated breed). Vet has seen the dog several times, nothing wrong that they can tell. Dog is 17 mnths, and has half bald spot on top of her back (butt). She had her first heat at 13 mths, was somewhat shedding then, and in the next two months got a lot worse. Thanks for the encouragement Amy!


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## mchjville (Mar 24, 2008)

I have a 19 month old chocolate female that started with this problem, same symptoms; alot of shedding with flaking skin and a few spots here and there that looked irritated. My vet gave her some steroids and told me to add fish oil or pork fat to her diet. I finished the steroids and have been giving her fish oil with her food for nearly three weeks and havent seen any resolution. I am at a loss. I guess I will try and switch her food and see if that helps. My only reservations with the food change is that she just recently, within the last month and a half, started having this skin issue. she has been on pro plan performance for over a year without any issues??? What eukanuba formula is comparable to pro plan performance???


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## Wtrfwl with Ruff (Jul 13, 2009)

My boy was on ProPlan for 7 months before he strted losing hair. I now feed the Premiun 20\30 fat protien. I thought there was no way it was the food also because he had been on it for a while but it definately helped.... Just coincidence?? dont know because i will not be switching again


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## hdlabs (Nov 1, 2006)

Could be a number of things from food allergies to a skin infection to parasites. definitiely need vet to check out. Could be simple fix but if its some sort of infection you don't want it to get out of control......


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## DrCharlesBortellPhD (Sep 27, 2008)

Check for possible Endocrine disorder.

Possibly hypothyroidism...

Have vet run a FULL THYROID PANEL, not just a T4 level.

Another possibility is Derminex (sp) - a mite infection that created dandruff
Antibiotics are the only cure...

Charlie


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## InertiaDriven71 (Mar 20, 2009)

Benn a while since I have looked at the replies-- to answer a previous question-- she is almost 7 months old.

Man, I would hate to switch foods, as I am feeding her the Arkat VF Complete Large Breed Puppy, and I still have over 100 lbs of it left. Also, I get it considerably cheaper than Purina Pro Plan and MUCH cheaper than the flippin' Eukanuba. What is it about Eukanuba that makes such a difference? I thought the Arkat VFC is about as premium as it gets (better than their 'Enhance' line).... is there an ingredient that Euk has that VFC doesn't? 

I hope to take her to the vet Wednesday (?)


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