HAIR LOSS, ITCHING IN 2 MONTH SHEPHERD PUPPY

by Kel
(Manteca CA)

I JUST RESCUED A SHEPERD PUPPY TWO WEEKS AGO AT THE APPROX. AGE OF 6 WEEKS. SHE WAS ABANDONED AT A CAMPGROUND.


SHE WAS ITCHING WHEN WE GOT HER I TOOK HER TO THE VET THE FOLLOWING DAY TO BE CHECKED OUT. THE VET TOLD ME SHE HAD DRY SKIN AND GAVE ME SOME STUFF TO PUT ON HER FOOD.

SHE STILL HAS THE PROBLEM OF SCRATCHING AND ITCHING. I HAVE TAKEN HER BACK TO THE VET 3 TIMES SINCE. THEY HAVE TESTED FOR MANGE AND IT WAS NEGITIVE.

I HAVE CHANGED HER FOOD TWICE AND NOW SHE IS ON SOME FOOD THE VET SENT HOME FOR HER. SHE HAS LOST OVER HALF OF HER HAIR.

SHE HAS BEEN TREATED FOR FLEAS EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO SIGN OF FLEAS. THE VET DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER AND HAS TOLD ME TO FIND A VET THAT SPECIALIZES IN ALLERGYS.

ANYONE EXPERIANCE ON THIS YOUNG OF A DOG WOULD BE HELPUL.





Total German Shepherd: First of all, congratulations on rescuing your new German Shepherd puppy. You've done an incredibly sweet thing by doing that.

And continuing to try to help a dog in need is really a job well done in my book. Please hang in there just a bit longer until you can get this GSD puppies problem taken care of completely.

German Shepherds are well known for having itchy issues such as this but if you've already tested your German Shepherd puppy for fleas and for mange you've deleted 2 areas I would have told you to check into already.

Allergies are another issue all together and will require some time to figure out because there are so many different types that dogs can get - just like us. Food allergies, flea allergies, etc. But in the meantime....

You also mentioned changing the food several times. I wouldn't encourage you to do that much more at this time. If I were you I would add some supplements to the puppies diet - such as probiotics especially - which are really good for the stomach and digestive tract but also for the coat.

And your puppy is still small enough to bathe relatively easily so I would also get some shampoo made specifically for this issue such as
Oatmeal & Honey Shampoo and bathe your puppy on a fairly regular basis or as the instructions on the bottle suggest as your puppies skin has a chance to heal.

Good luck!

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Oct 19, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Food Allergies
by: black and silver shepherd

It sounds to me like your beloved pup has food allergies. I know you said you have changed foods, but sometimes it takes many different kinds of foods with different ingredients, to get it right. Try not to change too many ingredients at once. That makes it easier to determine what your pup is actually allergic too. My german shepherd puppy was having the same problem. Itching non stop, biting her feet, losing hair etc. Vet told me it was dry skin. I knew that wasn't right, so that's when I started narrowing down food ingredients. Wheat, soy, beef, dairy and corn, are huge culprits. Especially for german shepherds.Even chicken and eggs can be. My pups allergy was "good grains" barley,oatmeal etc. I dont mean corn, soy and those crap foods that should not be allowed in pet foods. I couldn't figure out which one being their is usually always more than one "good grain" in the food, unless its 100% grain free. She was being fed Hollistic Select large breed lamb and rice. So I tried Fromm Duck thinking maybe it was the lamb she was allergic to. She still was itching like crazy. After really researching, I decided on Natural Balance limited ingredient. There's only 5 ingredients in the food. 100% no grains. Ended up being the perfect fit. She's doing wonderfully now at 5 months of age. I know how you must feel seeing your pup like this. Hope this can be of some help to you, and best of luck.
Jan 20, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Food
by: Anonymous

Hello I do not know if you have been able to figure out what the problem was or not, but we had a Rottweiler that had the same thing dry itchy skin with hair loss we figured out that she was allergic to corn which is in virtually every dog food. We used Eukanuba I believe lamb and rice it either had very little corn or none not sure it's been a long time now. I hope that you figure out what's wrong with your fur buddy.
Nov 19, 2010
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Hair Loss, Itching in 2 mo GSD puppy
by: Anonymous

I too experienced similar symptoms with my 6 mos old dog. The vet ruled out fleas, mange and told me it was allergies. I was to bring my dog in for extensive allergy testing. In the meantime, my dog was losing weight and losing interest in his food.

I brought him in to another vet who did a biopsy of his small intestine. He has Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. That vet saved my dog's life. He is now on Pancreved and is doing fine. If your dog does not improve, or gets worse, possibly you might want to get him tested by a vet knowledgeable in this area.


German Shepherd Training
Jul 18, 2010
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Grain Free Turkey and Chicken Food
by: Rich

Debbie gave some great advice as usual. I would just like to add that as far as food allergies, grains are a common ingredient that dogs are allergic too. Chicken and turkey seems to be pretty safe for the majority of dogs. Generally a grain free chicken and or turkey based food is good to try in an allergy situation. You may have tried this already but thought I would put it out there.

Good luck with your new puppy.


Jul 17, 2010
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Itching and hair loss
by: Deborah

I have had many GSD in my life (best dogs in the world!!) I had 2 with a similar problem. One vet finally narrowed it down to allergic reaction to flea saliva. Even though I used a flea spray and treated the yard etc, he told me that if the dog had been bitten by even one flea, the allergy to the saliva could cause this drastic reaction. He also suggested shampooing with an oatmeal shampoo, and putting Johnson's baby oil in the rinse water. He said the baby oil would help the dry skin, and would also help in avoiding more dryness as the dog healed from the severe allergic reaction. He also suggested finding one good food and adding supplements to the diet, but not to change food if possible. It took us a couple of months, but we got the dogs hair loss stopped, and using the baby oil made him stop itching so much, which in turn allowed the regrowth of his hair. Hang in there, your dog is well worth it!! You will get repaid triple fold in love and loyalty.

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