I could use a little guidance if any of you have had a similar problem to the one I am having. My chessie is a year and a half old female. In the last couple months she has started to loose some hair on the sides of her mid section on both sides. (you can see it on my picture). She has been tested for thyroid and her results came back normal. I am having her spay shortly and my vet seems to think that might clear it up. Just wondering if anyone has had a problem that sounds that same and if you had any luck resolving it.

Thanks,
George

Hi George,
I was just going to say that it might be hormonal and spaying may fix the problem. My female will loose tons of hair and end up with a thin hair coat during and after her heat. It could be a seasonal hairloss also. Good luck.

did your vet just give your dog the T4 test or did they do a full thyroid panel on her. I did go through the same thing and kept hammering away until I got a full panel and it showed up in other parts of the test. some vets are reluctant ti do the full panel. mine is now going on 13 and has the best coat that she has ever had. mine started at the same age as yours.
she never got her full panel finally till she was 7 and what a difference that it made
ron

JoAnne and Ron, thanks for your reply. I will check with my vet about the testing method. He is a pretty sharp guy and I know that the blood work had to go to the University of Michigan to be processed so I would think it was pretty conclusive but you never know unless you ask. At least it does not seem to be bothering her so there is no itching or hot spots. Thanks again for your reply and I will repost when we get this resolved.

For whatever it's worth, even some of the 'best' vets won't/don't run a full thyroid panel, and when you finally back them against a wall, they will admit they didn't, but rather ran what they thought would be low. In this breed it's of optimum importance to run a full panel, and going without treatment over a prolonged period of time can bring on other health problems besides skin or poor coat. Hypothyroidism is a problem in chessies, so please make sure your vet ran the full panel.

Kathy Miller
Sandy Oak Chesapeakes

Thanks to all for the posts. Turns out it was a FULL test and not just a T4. We will keep looking for the answer.

George

A friend of mine has a Chessie that had this same hair loss down each side. She was tested for hypothyroidism, etc., but nothing was resolved. The vet thought it could be hormonal. If anyone asked, my friend just called them her 'Go Faster Stripes'. The bitch is now 11 years old, and no longer has the bald patches.
Sue

I dealt with the same problem with my last chessie and was fortuante to live near the Colorado State University vet school. Since no vet had been able to diagnose the problem the vet school took him on as a project. They eventually discovered that he was allergic to some Colorado specific molds.

We moved to California for a year and the problem cleared up but when work required we head back to CO it got bad again.

I will check this out. Nothing points to a allergy but we will take a look if she does not clear up after her spay. If you take a look at my post under Congenital Hypotrichosis and follow the link it matches up pretty well to what she seems to have. The good news is it does not bother her, no scratching or picking. It's just odd looking, but then she is a odd dog.
thanks for the info

George

Well, it's been a couple months since she was spayed and the hair seems to be filling in slowly. My vet spoke to another doctor and they mentioned to try melatonin. We are giving that a try also. Hopefully in another couple months she will be filled in.

George

Melatonin works on some dogs and not on others. Doesn't hurt to try. Glad to hear that the hair in coming back even if it is slowly.

quote:

Originally posted by George N:
Well, it's been a couple months since she was spayed and the hair seems to be filling in slowly. My vet spoke to another doctor and they mentioned to try melatonin. We are giving that a try also. Hopefully in another couple months she will be filled in.

George

Dogs express SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in their coats rather than emotional as humans do. Melatonin may help but it can up to a year depending on the coat growth cycle. Also, you need to give the dog more sunshine light through the winter. Go to this web site for more info. http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=53802
Or do a search for canine SAD. Your dog's coat is showing classic symptoms.

Dyane

Dyane, thanks for the info and the link. Getting info like yours and some of the others that have posted on my question is why I joined this board.
Sofia continues to do well, I will see about getting her more natural sunlight and continue with the Melatonin. Her coat seems to improve weekly.

George