My dog has hair loss, itching, flaky skin around lower back. what could be causing this?

mange! some is contagious, some is not. **there are different types of mange**





it NEEDS treatment. take your dog to the vet and have a skin scraping done, they will tell you what kind of mange it is, and what needs to be done to treat it.

My dog has hair loss, itching, flaky skin around lower back. what could be causing this?
It could be a variety of things. It could be an allergy to something, it could be hormonal, or it could be stress.





Is your dog grooming that area excessively? It might be licking the fur out
Reply:I would take your dog to the Vet and have some tests done to find out the source. I know with my pup, diet was an issue. Make sure you are feeding a high quality food, and verify with your vet that you are doing so. Also, environmental factors can cause itching and flaking of the skin, too frequent bathing, certain shampoos, detergants you are using on his/her bedding, etc. See your vet to try and rule these things out.
Reply:It could be anything from a simple skin irritation, to scabies or mange. I would take the dog to the vet asap to get it checked out. Scabies can be transferred to humans in some cases.
Reply:Corn, wheat, soy, cellulose, beet pulp, by-products~ all of these are allergens found in food. You describe classic food allergy in a dog. Get him a food with non of these in it and it will go away in about 6-8 weeks. good brands are solid gold, timberwolf, Merrick, azmira, wellness etc. just read your labels and you should be able to find a good food. If you need help finding a good food in your area send me an email with the breed type or mix and your state included and I will look around.
Reply:Probably allergies or dry skin. The hair loss and flaky skin is probably from excessive scratching due to the irritation. Take him to the vet for some meds or lotions.
Reply:It is difficult to tell without actually seeing the dog's skin. Often times, this kind of thing is an allergy. In humans, allergies manifest themselves as sneezing, runny nose, etc., while in dogs, allergies often manifest themselves as skin problems. Allergies are very common in dogs. My own dogs have allergies and we see dogs in the vet's office all the time with allergies. It could be a food allergy or an allergy to something in the air, etc. Is he licking his feet also? That is another common sign of allergies in dogs. But skin problems can also be caused by other things, such as low thyroid hormone levels (usually in older dogs) or by stress and anxiety. What you need to do is let your veterinarian see the dog and he will be able to help find the cause. If it's an allergy, the vet will help you work out a plan to figure out what the dog is allergic to. If it is something else, he may do a blood test to check out other possible problems.
Reply:Sounds like allergies to either something in its environment or something it is eating. Please make sure to cut all unnecessary foods out of its diet (like your potato chips) and verify that it is on a high quality dog food. If you make dietary changes, it may take a few weeks to see any improvement. If it does not get better or gets worse, please seek a vet's expertise.
Reply:Sounds like a hotspot, but could be something more serious, like an allergy. My dog had the same problem at the base of her tail (hotspot) and I had read that putting extra virgin olive oil in your dog's food could help with it. So, I started putting 1 tablespoon, sometimes 2 (she is about 45 lbs.) mixed in with her food. I did this for a week and a half and noticed a big difference. She doesn't have flaky skin at all anymore and her hotspot is gone, I also noticed that it helped decrease her shedding. I did that for 2 weeks and now I put it in her food about once a week. I would go to the vet to have it checked out, though.
Reply:mange.or fleas........take it to the vet......................TOP MAN
Reply:Talk to a vet because it could be mange.
Reply:You've just described my sheltie's symptoms exactly. With her, it turned out to be severe allergies. Apparently she's allergic to everything except air- I expect that one to develop within a few years.





It's not a horrific disaster for your dog though. We can control Lily's allergies with benadryl and a steroid shot every three or four months (She can normally get through the winter months with only one shot from September until about February. March through August she has to get about three.) We bathe her regularly in a special shampoo, she's on a special prescription diet, she only eats carrots as treats instead of packaged treats, and she wears clothes that cover up her worst itchy spots. She's an inside dog, so the clothes issue doesn't really present a problem in terms of overheating, but if you've got an outside dog or one that doesn't enjoy prancing around in a t-shirt, I'd skip this step. Maybe one of those cone collars?





I'd take your dog to the vet just to be sure, though.
Reply:Sounds like he has an allergy. My Pom was itching like crazy and we started her on Omega formula one day and mixing fish oil made for dogs with her food the next and she stopped itching pretty fast. You could try that. Both are available on Ebay from Pet products.