[Brandysmom]

My 9 mo. old female boxer has started losing hair in small patches on the right side of her face. I bathe her with a very mild puppy shampoo and she does not have fleas. There doesn't appear to be any kind of rash and she isn't scratching. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be and how to fix it?:dog-cry:

 

[Frenchy]

My 9 mo. old female boxer has started losing hair in small patches on the right side of her face. I bathe her with a very mild puppy shampoo and she does not have fleas. There doesn't appear to be any kind of rash and she isn't scratching. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be and how to fix it?:dog-cry:

You might be going through the "Ugly puppy stages" where the puppy becomes an adult and loses all his puppy hair for the new adult hair to grow in..

Have you asked a Vet about it yet? Some times a call is all you need.

 

[sonnywimps]

sounds like a food allergy. What are you feeding her?

 

[sonnywimps]

also wanted to add, along with a possible food allergy it could be ringworm.

 

[dch]

I grew up with Boxers and showed and bred a few litters and had several champions.

Anyhow, you may want to take her to the vet and get a skin scrapping done. She could have a type of mange or Seasonal Alapacia. (sp?) I've seen some bloodlines of Boxers with seasonal alapacia that would affect them with loosing hair in patches before, during or after their heat cycles. And those females would have it when they had a litter of puppies too.

If she had any type of mange you may be affected. So I doubt it's that.
It's just something to watch for.

The right dog food is very important too. As I've posted before, Grain free diets are the best (and only!) way to go.

A few things to think about when trying to figure out what she may have:
does she have deep wrinkles on her face? How are her eyes? Does she have smelly ears with any brown stuff or puss in them? Does she rub her face? Any excess tearing? Or dry eyes? Could she have injured her eye(s)? (My Boxers would play so hard or jump around and would scratch a cornea.) I would look at her teeth and gums too. Look for any type of abscess in her mouth.

Has she had her first heat yet? Or is she spayed? (I've seen spayed females have the seasonal alapacia too.)

She could be allergic to the shampoo that your using. A great shampoo to use (You should dilute any and all shampoos you use on her) is Micro tek. It's made by Equiss. It's great for any kind of skin problems.

I miss my Boxers! I'm waiting to find that right puppy to buy!

Good luck!

 

[Sivaro]

Yes, I was thinking along the lines of dch. I find many dogs that this happens to do have mange. If it is, its best to get onto it quickly. It travels awefully quick.

 

[sonnywimps]

As I've posted before, Grain free diets are the best (and only!) way to go.

Going to correct you here as well. Not all dogs do well on grain-free diets. The majorty does, but not all. Some dogs needs the grain or else out it comes the same way it came in.
There are many good, quality dog foods with rice in (a grain). All are human quality and excellent foods.

 

[dch]

"Going to correct you here as well. Not all dogs do well on grain-free diets. The majorty does, but not all. Some dogs needs the grain or else out it comes the same way it came in.
There are many good, quality dog foods with rice in (a grain). All are human quality and excellent foods."


In my 46 plus years of lots of doggy experience, I have seen just a few dogs that were fed raw food only, have it go out the same way it went in. And that was dogs fed Turkey. Oh was that gross!

I love grain free diets much better whether it be kibble or raw as the dogs do so much better. Cleared up lots of skin problems, yeasty ears, dull eyes and coats, just to mention a few. Many years ago when i was a vet tech, this one vet I worked for taught me all about this. He was great!

Brandysmom, did you find out what your Boxer girl has?

 

[sonnywimps]

Grain-Free is definately the better way to go, but it does not work for all dogs. I have seen (well literally not seen, but been told be costumers) that their dog got sick on grain-free foods.
If my dogs could be on grain-free food, they would be...but all the grain-free foods that I tried (Evo, Orijen, Nat Var. Instinct, and Solid Gold's grain-free) made them sick.

 

[dch]

Have you tried Taste of the Wild? The High Prairie formula. It was the easiest kibble I put my dogs on. My mini Schnauzer friend put her dogs on that one and has had no problems with it at all.

They have a couple of different ones, and their fish based one is pretty good too. Although I use that one as treats.

Natures Variety has Montmorillonite clay in it. And a lot of dogs have gotten sick from the foods that this clay is in. It's terrible! Plus they put way too much of it in the dog foods that it's in.

Hey Brandysmom, how is your Boxer girl doing?

 

[sonnywimps]

I tried all the grain-free dog foods that the store that I work at carries..all made my dog sick...but some worse than others. Evo Orijen by far had the worst effect on my dog...I think TOTW wasn't too bad of reaction, but I think he was still throwing up quite a bit. He's on Chicken Soup for a Dog's Soul at the moment, but will be switched to Country Natural's for I don't like the Diamond company (Chicken Soup is made by Diamond)

 

[dch]

Your dog must be allergic to something that is in common in the grain free foods that you've tried. I've never heard of a dog throwing up from the foods that you tried. Huummm.... Although there was one brand of food that put in a ton of garlic that made all my dogs drink gallons of water, they all threw up on that one. So I've learned to keep my dogs away from garlic.

I've fed the food that your dog is on now. It's the same ingredients as what is in the Kirkland dog food made by Diamond for Costco. Costco sells it for much less though.

Yeah, I've never been a big fan of Diamond either.

 

[sonnywimps]

They just tend to have extremely sensitive stomachs. Rice, though a grain, is great for diahrea (yeah I probably spelt that wrong) and normally helps.
I know my one dog is allergic to wheat...he gets soooo sick when he gets a treat with wheat in.
I put my pups on Country Natural's because it's cheaper for better quality food..so hopefully they'll be fine on that hehe

 

[4bobo]

If you put a black light on it you will know right away if it's ringworm.. it will glow. =)

 

[pawzaddict]

I had a boxer who had skin mites that were treated and he continued to occasionally have patches of hair that would go missing. We had a thyroid test done and that actually turned out to be the problem. Just two suggestions. GL with your pup

 

[PhilK]

This isn't the nutrition forum guys.

Small, non itchy areas of hair loss could very well be demodectic mange (localised form) caused by the parasite Demodex canis. Get your vet to do a skin scraping.

 

[Criosphynx]

This isn't the nutrition forum guys.

Small, non itchy areas of hair loss could very well be demodectic mange (localised form) caused by the parasite Demodex canis. Get your vet to do a skin scraping.

Demodex its largely related to immune system and stress. A good grain free diet would certainly help the immune system, not hurt, in a demodex case.

But yes, it could be demo...time for a scrape. Idoubt the OP returned to read any of this anyway...in that case the dog should be painted purple.



Dog | Forum | Rocks!

 

[PhilK]

Demodex its largely related to immune system and stress.

Not true in this case I'm afraid. The localised form of demodicosis occurs in dogs usually around 6 months of age (this dog is very close to that). Most will clear up spontaneously but around 10% will progress to the generalised form (more than 5 localised lesions or involvement of an entire body region = generalised)

In juvenile onset generalised demodicosis dogs are around 3-18 months of age. It is adult onset that is associated with immunosuppressive disease.

This issue sounds like the localised form, and so should spontaneously regress. Make sure to keep a sharp eye on it to watch it isn't progressing to the generalised form. Best to get a skin scrape done to rule in/out though.

Cheers
Phil

 

[Criosphynx]

Not true in this case I'm afraid. The localised form of demodicosis occurs in dogs usually around 6 months of age (this dog is very close to that). Most will clear up spontaneously but around 10% will progress to the generalised form (more than 5 localised lesions or involvement of an entire body region = generalised)

In juvenile onset generalised demodicosis dogs are around 3-18 months of age. It is adult onset that is associated with immunosuppressive disease.

This issue sounds like the localised form, and so should spontaneously regress. Make sure to keep a sharp eye on it to watch it isn't progressing to the generalised form. Best to get a skin scrape done to rule in/out though.

Cheers
Phil

Notice I didn't say Immunosuppressive disease I said linked to stress and immune system. I never sugested that the dog was immuno compromised on a genetic level. You can have a cold and not have an immuno disease, but reducing stress and eating right will certainly not hurt you in getting over it. I think its fair to say that anything that boosts the immune system, including diet, should not be discarded when you look at the full picture.

separate question.
If its not related to stress why do you see generalized in puppies and not just localized? What is it that pushes demo to become so bad that 90% of the hair falls out on a puppy if not stress and immune function? Why is it an immuno disease after a certain age and never before like you claim?



Dog | Forum | Rocks!

 

[PhilK]

I worded my previous response badly Sphynx, sorry. I didn't mean it's caused by a dog being genetically immunocompromised (though that is one example of how it could occur). I just meant that in adult onset demodicosis little alarm bells go off telling you there is something underlying the problem. eg a disease that is reducing the immune system (note that doesn't have to be an actual immunodeficiency disease, if you get me?). In puppies however those alarm bells don't go off.

To answer your second question, I'm not sure to be honest. I will have a look back over my parasitology notes and text book for you in a little while. All I know is that localised demodicosis is common in young dogs, and usually spontaneously regresses, but can continue on to the generalised form.

I will post another reply after I read that for you.