Dog Hair Loss Explained

There are literally 100s of reasons your dog might lose hair. Diagnosing the cause of the lost hair can be simple (for instance in the case of parasites), or drawn out and complicated (for instance of Alopecia). Clues can be taken by the location and severity of the loss of hair, as well as by examining the behavior of your dog.

Dog Hair Loss Defined

Dog hair loss is an atypical thinning or complete loss of hair in one or several areas of the dogs body. The medical term for hair loss is Alopecia, of which there are many forms.

There are many things that can cause Dog Hair Loss, including:

The most common are skin parasites and infections (view our dog skin parasites guide). Some other causes would be nutrition, orgran function, allergies, nutrition, hormone imbalances, blood flow, stress, and medication.

Diagnosing Dog Hair Loss

Since there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of reasons why your dog may experience hair loss, it is well beyond the scope of this article to cover each and every one. I will cover some of the most common reasons here, but if you do not find what you are looking for, please take a moment to sign up for our dog health news letter. I cover many more causes of hair loss, as well as many other health issues your dog may have. There is a sign up form at the bottom of this article

Common Reasons For Hair Loss (alopecia)

Fleas

By far the most common reason for dog hair loss (alopecia) , is Flea Allergy Dermatitis. Here is a picture of flea allergy dermatitis; it's somewhat graffic so if you are sensative please be ready.

I have already written an extensive article on fleas and other Dog Skin Parasites which covers the identification of fleas and how to treat them.

Folliculitis, which is usually the result of a staph bacterial infection, is characterized by a red ring of scaled skin with yellow or green crusty centers. Here's a picture:

Canine Staph Infection Characterized by red rings, and
hair loss around "pustules"

With staph infections, alopecia usually occurs around the lesions, usually in large tufts. If you see pinky width tufts of hair that "stick out" take a look closely and see if you see something similar to what you see above.

The causes of staph infections are are very complicated and difficult to diagnose. The staph bacteria live on the skin of all dogs, but lies there dormant because the dogs immune system is able to fight of infection. This means that if your dog is suffering from a staph infection, its immune system has been comprimised in some way. Things like Inhalant and food allergies, hormonal imbalance, stress, and improper diet can lead to a deficient immune system leading to staph infection.

Treating Folliculitis

Since the cause of staph infections can be difficult to isolate, most veterinarians are forced to treat the symptoms of the infection while actively searching for the underlying cause. Antibiotics such as Cephalaxin are given 2x's per day until at least 10 days After the infection clears up. Unfortunately, this doesn't treat the underlying cause of the infection, and it usually returns.

Non-verterinary treatments include adding a good fish oil supplement to your dogs diet, along with reducing carbohydrate intake, and frequent bathing with medicated shampoos and conditioners.

If you can afford it, your vet wil likely try several different tests to figure out the cause of the staph infection. Here are the 4 most common reasons that I have found for staph infections:

  1. Thyroid Disease, which your vet can test for with a blood test. If your dog has a thyroid condition, there are very effective treatments using levothyroxine , levothyroxine and triiodothyronine. Here's a great article on canine thyroid disease
     
  2. Allergies, typically seasonal inhalant (the type they breathe in) allergies. The test for this is very costly, and while it will conclusively identify what your dog is allergic to, it doesn't mean that allergy is causing your dogs staph problems. The treatment for allergies is also somewhat iffy. Your dogs dermatologist will create an allergy vaccine which must be adminstered in an increasing dosage every couple of days via an under the skin injection. Some dogs respond very well to this treatment, and at the very least, it makes their allergies subside even if it does not solve the staph problem. Your vet might also decide to perform a food allergy test. These test can be very labor intensive as you will have to cook 0 allergen proteins for your dog. This typically means a diet of stricly rabbit, which can be expensive and difficult to find.
     
    Orijen 6 Fresh Fish
    Orijen 6 Fresh Fish Dog Food
    The Best Dog Food for treating
    inflammamtory diseases.
  3. Diet - A good percentage of dog owners simply don't know that the food they're feeding their dog is NOT good for them. In my experience, brands such as Purina, Iams, and other "grocery store" pet foods are absolutely toxic for your animal. A diet in high protein and essential fatty acids (EFA's), while containing no inflamatory grains is best for reducing inflamation and can help fight against staph infections.  Orijen, made by Champion Pet Foods makes dog food with 0 grains, and high quality fish proteins. The very best food for this purpose is Orijen 6 Fresh Fish With Sea Vegetables. This link contains a review of the ingredients in the food as well as a 10% off coupon.
     
  4. Medications - Many of the drugs, including antibiotics, that we give to dogs can impact their immune system and lead to staph infections and folliculitis. In fact, with my English Bulldog, his first bout with a staph infection occured a couple of months after knee surgery, in which he was given antibiotics to prevent infection in the wound. This may have been purely coincidental, but it is also the first time he ever had taking antibiotics. I recommend supplementing your dogs diet with a good probiotic and digestive enzyme formula anytime you have to give him antibiotics.

If I didn't cover your dogs symptoms in this article, it is highly likely that we cover it in our Doggie Health Newsletter. In the newsletter, I cover things such as breed specific issues like mutant alopecia which is a hereditary condition effecting dogs with blue or fawn colored coats, and hyperestrogenism which is a female specifc alopecia which may be a sign of ovarian cancer.

Of course, I'll be recommending some products (advertising), but I promise that every email you get will contain useful information presented similarly to what you see in this article.

 

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