DOG LOSING HAIR

[MILLER TIME]

I have a 11 month old black lab and for a couple weeks now i have notice that he has 2 spots that have kind of bald spots. 1 on the back of his neck and 1 on his back side near his hind end. I havnt notice him getting caught in anything, he is in the kennel during the day when I'm at work so it could be from that but was just wondering if there may be anything i should be aware of such as disease or fleas but he does have frontline on. And how fast should the hair grow back?

[Dave S]

Have you recently changed his food? I had a black lab that went almost completely bald because my wife wanted to get him the "cheap food". It took a few months before he grew all of his hair back, but at least he was ready for hunting season.

Otherwise, it could be from his kennel. I can't think of the term people use for this, but they will rub areas off from laying in their kennel or on concrete. Neither of my dogs would keep anything in their kennel to lay on. But on the back of the neck like you stated sounds like it may be an amino acid deficiency brought on by a change of food. At 11 months, he should be ready to move off a puppy formula.

[BFT]

We had spent many dollars to find a problem with ours , and after one and a half years of trying to fix it , our vet told us it was best for our dog not to suffer anymore , so we let her go , not wanting to may I add !! They told us that a dog can actually become allergic to its skin , and will rub till they bleed , cause of being itchy ! I hope this isn't your problem , but thought I would let you know of a another situation , hope it goes well.

P.S>> It happened when she was 3 yrs old , and we changed foods , shampoo , and everything else we could think of ! Also we have a lab and have'nt had one problem with him !!

BFT

[MILLER TIME]

I have actually changed his food to nutri source(sp). Could this actually be the cause? Theres about a 3x3 spot towards the rearend of the back thats balding and a smaller more definate spot by the neck. He doesnt seemed to be over itching or itching at all.

[vetobe]

See your vet! This could be multiple things - mites, fungal infection, bacterial infection, food allergy. Typically a skin scraping would be recommended to rule out mites as well as a fungal culture. With no itching, juvenile demodex comes to mind. Allergies, mange, bacterial infections and fungal infections typically cause significant itching. Let me know what you find out.

[Dragonfisherman]

This could possibly be mange. Ask yourself if the dog has been around other animals. Have the vet check him out.

[slotlimit]

My buddies dog started losing his hair in the spot he put on his frontline last year. He took it to the vet and the dog ended up being allergic to those types of medicine.