I purchased a pup from a CBR breeder in 2002 and around age 16 mos it developed significant hair loss. It was symmetrical on both flanks and is now significanlty worse. Felt duped - breeder did not want to accept any responsibility - is that normal on a breeder's part? It was my first dog - so i was definitely disappointed and paid around $1000. Wanted to get involved with field trials ...
Has anyone else had chessies with significant hair loss? I found a vet that can treat it - but it is experimental and could have side effects. From what i remember it takes 6 injections 1 month apart at roughly $100 per injection.

jdswarrior,

I am very sorry for your pup's hair loss issue. It certainly seems like Murphy's Law at work!

I had a pup (my first chessie also) that had juvenile cataracts @ 24 mo of age...she was guaranteed against any kind of genetic issue with her eyes or hips that would prevent her from getting her cerf or ofa (and therefore from being bred)....long story short - I did not get anything from the breeder because she had to be returned for the guarantee to be fullfilled; an expensive proposition which left me with no control of what happened to her...I had her spayed and sold her to a great family home for the price I paid for her. That way I would at least be able to KNOW she went to the kind of home she deserved.

I think (hope!) many 'ethical' breeders would at least work with you on getting a replacement pup at a reduced price or a partial refund....but a breeder just can't guarantee against everything - it's impossible - even with all the research etc, breeding is still just a crap shoot - no breeding will ever be perfect and no dog will ever be perfect either.....

good luck with your girl and I commend you for keeping the breeder's name witheld (I wasn't able to!)

Juli

The hair loss could be from allergies.
Make a food change and add vitamins at meal time.

Have your vet do a thyroid test, and a skin test.

If you are to do a thyroid test then specify a full thyroid panel; a t4 test alone will not tell you what you want to know; some vets will not want to do a full panel and poo poo you but be adamant about it. I went through years of this with vets not wanting to do a full panel and I finally said do it and they sent it of to Wisconsin ( there is no place to get the test done in Canada)and put her on synthroid and you can just watch the changes in 3-4 weeks. my old girl had sloweed down quite a bit also and the meds just brought her right back. she turned 11 in Oct. and is still hanging in there. the full panel will also tell you of autoimmune issues.
LVL has a couple of good articles on it at the top of the health board at cbrs4me.com
Ron

Have a full thyroid workup done, maybe even a punch biopsy. Google this up:

canine alopecia

or this:

canine seasonal flank alopecia


stick with the sites that are either veterinary or have an .edu suffix.

There is also a report called "ADULT-ONSET HAIR LOSS IN CHESAPEAKE BAY RETRIEVERS: A clinical and histological study." that was sponsered by the ACC. The full report cost $40 but a synopsis can be found by doing a search for it by name.

I went through this myself a couple of years ago. It can be frustrating.

Good luck.

Elbert

jds,
I have a copy of the study that was done on hair loss in CBRs in pdf form I can email you. Email me at reardonjlee @ hotmail.com and I'll forward it to you.
I share your frustration--one of mine has a hair loss problem that sounds similar--thin hair on flanks and rump. I've done quite a bit of research on the problem and tried quite a few different things--some have helped, some haven't. My dog's seems to be seasonal and worse in winter.

thanks for the feedback. Here's what I got back from the Vet.
The results of the blood test showed that Princess has abnormal values of some of the hormones produced by the adrenal glands. This is a common finding in Chesapeake Bay retrievers with this type of hair loss.

The histology of the skin biopsy show hair follicles which are abnormal, again this is a common finding in CBR with this syndrome. Vet is Dr Rosario Cerundolo (cerundol@vet.upenn.edu) at University of Penn - he is studying this syndrome
Just wanted to pass this info along to others.

jds - what treatment are they recommending for your dog?

My dog got flea allergy dermatitis in Sept and her coat really thinned out - RIGHT before hunting season. The vet gave her a steroid shot and she seems to have gotten most of her hair back but her coat is thinner than normal. fortunately it has been a warm winter.

The drug, trilostane is routinely used by many veterinarians all over the country to treat adrenal gland disorders. This is the path I am considering - although one of the treated CBR's developed Addisons disease and treatment was stopped - not sure if trilostane caused it or not. Other have had complete recovery of hair in about 6 months