Baldy Blue

I imagine this gets brought up alot. read somewhere that blues are subject to skin probs. My boy is pretty baldy in his front and back arm/leg pits ( you know what i mean) his necks a bit patchy to and he's got a bit on the top of his head that looks and feels like its been shaved. Also just in front of his ears the coats a bit......thin. I only have a nylon puppy collar on him when he's on a lead but did have a prob with a fancy collar he had rubbing his neck red raw. Vet doesnt seem to bothered and ive been using doggie tea tree cream on his baldy bits when they get a bit red. Is this a blue thing, staffy thing or just a puppy thing?

A bit of both, I should think, together with a breed thing. Staffs are known to have incredibly short coats & areas such as their temples, belly & armpits often look nearly bald!

If the areas aren't red or itchy & aren't getting any bigger I wouldn't worry about it. If they start to increase or look sore, though, I'd contact the vet again to see if it could be demodex.

has he been scratching a lot? or is it just happening at random?, first could indicate possible flea's or mange, second is that yes blue's are more prone to skin disorders. i'll try to find some links to help

Cheers caryll. Just being a paranoid android. First time staffy owner you see just want to make sure everythings as it should be.

Sudocrem's quite good if he scratches & makes himself a bit sore.

steve76 wrote:has he been scratching a lot? or is it just happening at random?, first could indicate possible flea's or mange, second is that yes blue's are more prone to skin disorders. i'll try to find some links to help

He's always scratching and scratching with his teeth in randomn places. its the bald spot on his head that confuses me it looks and feels like i said that its been shaved its right in the middle between his ears. wondering if its got anything to do with his skull growing.

It certainly could be mange, If your vets is writing it off I would get another opinion, it kinda sounds like it.

panicking now.........

http://www.dogmangehelp.com/dog-mange-symptoms.php
i found this helpful, but your pup is a blue so if none of the symptoms fit then it's either fleas or a skin problem. if your still unsure let the vet take alook

Our Girl Bella Had this problem on her Elbow and hind leg .. she lost lots of fur. She had been to Puppy school and laying in grass. We rang the Breeder and she recommended Colloidal Silver Spray ( from Health food store) and Aloe-Vera Gel... Both of which were safe if she licked it and boy she loved having the spray put on.
We also now use Advocate on her monthy to control mites, fleas, heartworm, worms and mange. Its all worked beautifully and her fur is all back took about 4 weeks

memphis has the same patch on his head which was wet dermex when he was a pup which has never grown back alsao he bald behing his ears and very thin on hair on his chest but its never bothered him in the slightest.

My boy jasper has had Dermodex. Lots of bald patches red and itchy. It would be worth getting another opinion.

We use advocate on him once a month.

Ty has a completley bald tummy and inside of legs and almost bald on his chest and bottom of ears....he's always been like it and is never iching...

blaze wrote:Ty has a completley bald tummy and inside of legs and almost bald on his chest and bottom of ears....he's always been like it and is never iching...

Our girl is exactly the same. She is white and her coat is very short so with the spotty pigmentation her coat looks almost transparent, even where she does have hair. When we first got her as a rescue dog I put it down to stress but more than two years later with daily cod liver oil and kelp it hasn't really made a blind bit of difference and I think it's just the way she is. It definitely doesn't bother her and the vet has never said anything so I really don't think it's anything to worry about. I just have to explain to people sometimes that she has a naturally thin coat.

One point though worth adding is that in the winter she gets cold if you stand around for too long but more importantly we put sun tan lotion on her nose, ears and all underneath if she goes out on a sunny day for more than a short period otherwise she will burn badly, particularly inside the one white ear. Somebody from the RSPCA suggested we do this because apparently there are too many cases where white dogs in particular end up having ears cropped because of skin cancer that has developed due to sun exposure.

Now that I think about it I remember a long time owner of staffs once suggesting that her spots were an indicator of blue staff ancestry, so perhaps there is a link of some kind there. The blue staffs owe this colour to breeding with the now extinct Blue Paul dog I understand.

I have 2 blues Skye has trouble with her skin due to a collar irritating her neck but thick fur everywhere else my boy also has lovely thick fur
It might be the fancy collar has started an irritation I use sudocream on my girl and stop her scratching for too long as it seems to start the irritation off again we also give her cod liver oil and never leave her collar on when not out we also used a harness to walk her so she didn't rub her neck she now has a collar that she walks on

My boy is the same, he has always itched (luckily he has no bald patches from it) But he is scratching constantly latley!! I cant stand to see like it as it must be driving him MAD! He's also always teething his paws.

The Vet told us to change food, so we swapped from Royal Canin to James Wellbeloved Lamb and Rice.. he also has oily fish, NO treats execpt James Wellbeloved ones and his itching and coat improved alot, it stopped for a couple of months. But now its started again.

He's just got rid of ear mites, could his itching be linked to this?

I've read up on advocate and will be buyin that to use on him monthly, hopefully will make a difference. Is there anything else I can do?
Just Hope he grows out of it.

Also, is Frontline any good? Does it do the same job as Advocate?

It's not advised to use frontline, it doesnt work very well and some dogs have an allergic reaction to it. But thats what i was told, ill let others who have a more informed point of view answer.

Elwood has a little heart shaped spot on his head that looked like it had been shaved, He is also losing his fur on the sides of his neck, the front of his neck, behind his ears, belly,under arms, and on his hind legs. He`s been to the vet and has had skin scrapes to see if it was mange but it came back clear. He does itch a bit now and then and I use sudocreme on any sore bit such as his neck where his collar could rub. His hair is growing back very slowly, but like the vet said because he`s blue he is more prone to skin probs. The vet wants to see him again in a couple of weeks to give him a check up. As long as he`s eating, drinking, playing etc I wont worry too much. But like others have said on here I would get a second opinion if your not happy.

Guys ask you vet if you can use a anti hist-mean tablet it worked wonders on my dog when he was smaller and his belly hair was growing and driving him mad