Red/bald/dry Tummy

[Guest Jakestheman]

Hi everyone -

 

This is my first posting here on greytalk. I am 25, my wife is 26, and we have our first greyhound, Jake, whom we adopted in June last summer. He has come a long way so far, and we are looking forward to more progress in his personality. We adopted him when he was almost 5 years old, so we know older grey's come around a little more slowly.

 

My question in the health forum is about bald spots. He has a couple of the more common bald spots about the size of a half dollar on each side of his rump. The spot that concerns me is just above his belly. One might call it his chest, but it's not really the front of his chest near his neck, more like the underside of his chest that faces the ground when he's standing.

 

 

It has become bald, and over the past couple of months, red. Some times it is more red than other times. The skin is sometimes dry as well. Is this due to the cold, dry winter air? Is there anything I can give him that is safe and natural for improving the moisture of his skin? He currently eats a Wellness dog food, and I occasionally give him a fish oil broken open on his food.

 

Also, a couple of the pads on his paws are very hard and calloused, and cracking in a couple places. No bleeding or anything, just very dry and hard. We have some shoes for him, should I be having him wear these more frequently so he doesn't have to walk in the snow and salt around sidewalks and roads? Is this uncomfortable for him? Is there anything to make it better?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Rick, Kathy, and Jake

[Magdalyn58]

First, welcome to GT from NEPA!

 

Our Daisy came to us with lots of bald patches. Her tummy was totally bald, as was her rump and much of her neck. Many of the folks here use melatonin tablets with much success for bald spots on their greyhounds. I started Daisy on one 3 mg tablet a day (that's the dose I happened to have at home) and have been giving it to her for about two months now. Her rump is now covered with hair, as well as her tummy area. Her bald spots have mostly filled in with new hair as well. And her coat is now silky and shiny. It was very dull and dry when she moved in. The difference in her coat is amazing.

 

So give the melatonin a try. You can probably search under 'melatonin' on the search feature here and find out much more information as far as dosage, etc.

 

 

Lynn

[TheFullHouse]

Fish oil capsules will help a lot. You can give him up to 4 1,000 mg. capsules a day but start out slow or he might get the runs. If his skin improves on just two capsules a day then you can stop there. I give 1 with the morning meal and 1 with the evening meal.

 

Some people use Melatonin to promote hair growth, but if you wanting to moisturize his skin, I'd try the fish oil.

Edited January 18, 2011 by JillysFullHouse

[PrairieProf]

Bag Balm is highly recommended for dry winter pads (in the green tin, you can get it at some drugstores or a feed store). And yes, stay off the salt if you can. I use Pawz dog boots (little rubber disposable booties) when it's salty, and have also used Musher's Secret paw wax.

 

Welcome to GT!

[Guest KsFrets]

Magnus is another Melatonin success story. It took patience. Peach fuzz in a month, 3 months for real noticable hair. Now it's more than a year later, and nice fluffly hair on his butt and chest and inner legs filled in. We break a 3mg tablet in half, and give him 1.5mg on his breakfast, and 1.5mg on his supper. He got so soft, that we decided to try it on Maggie (who had a full yet corse coat) and she has become baby soft with more hair than cousin it. However, our cow-dog Lisa has small bald spots on her butt... and the Melatonin hasen't worked on her at all... nothing. So we have living proof that it works really good on some dogs, but not necessarily on all dogs.

[greyhead]

Is there anything unusual in his behavior? It would be helpful to know if there's a bigger picture. You seem to be saying that it has been an ongoing process to get him settled in. It can take a while for some pups, but what has it been like specifically? (One of my dogs had redness to his belly that came and went at different times of day, most often in the evening, due to a type of inflammation. He also, btw, came to us at almost 5 years old, but the redness didn't happen until lhe was 8.)

 

We've had good results with bag balm on the pads for dryness and cracking. But we have to use it at least twice a week because we live in a really wet place! Other than the pads, is your dog's dry skin limited to the place below the chest that gets red, or is it elsewhere too?

 

Welcome to GT!

[cleptogrey]

it can take at least 6 weeks for suppliments to work, so if you decide to go w/ fish oil, be patient. lakse cronche is excellent, cold pressed salmon oil and maybe a different food. does wellness have a fish variety? one of either the fish based foods can do wonders, that is if his stomach can tolerate it. i know many individuals who had excellent results w/ hollistic select anchovie and fish kibble, but there are other brands out there that are just as good.

 

as to bald spots, they don't sound really bad, some dogs do have naked butts and wear the fur off their chests just lying on them. i currently own 2 red fawns, one as hairy as can be and the other...well during the summer it looks like someone shaved his chest and the back of the thighs. his skin is moist, i suppliment so i don't worry.

 

cracking pads...what surfaces is he walking on? lots of salt out there w/ the winter/snow season. if you use musher's secret when he goes for walkies that will protect and moisturize his pads. it's an excellent product and a little goes a long way.

[Guest Jakestheman]

Is there anything unusual in his behavior? It would be helpful to know if there's a bigger picture. You seem to be saying that it has been an ongoing process to get him settled in. It can take a while for some pups, but what has it been like specifically? (One of my dogs had redness to his belly that came and went at different times of day, most often in the evening, due to a type of inflammation. He also, btw, came to us at almost 5 years old, but the redness didn't happen until lhe was 8.)

 

We've had good results with bag balm on the pads for dryness and cracking. But we have to use it at least twice a week because we live in a really wet place! Other than the pads, is your dog's dry skin limited to the place below the chest that gets red, or is it elsewhere too?

 

Welcome to GT!

 

 

He has some dander here and there depending on how frequently we bathe him - he's only had 2 baths since June for this reason. Other than that I think he has fairly typical grey behavior. He sleeps and lays around a lot, but will often get up independently and play with squeaky toys for a few minutes before plunking down on his bed again. He goes out several times a day - in nicer weather goes for about a 1 mile walk, but other times and in all this snow, goes much less distance.

 

He eats twice a day, and seems to never have issues when eating other than needing to chew better and slow down (we're working on that). He has regular bowel movements and they are rarely loose. His treats have always been the same - a milk bone a couple times a day, and once in a blue moon he gets a couple licks of soft serve vanilla ice cream. He will occasionally have a weird dry hack like he is getting a hairball out of his throat - this happens a few times a month.

 

Mostly the process we are hoping will happen for his settling in is his level of affection. He'll take pats, scratches, and rubs, but rarely seeks them out. He also tends to be pretty avoidant of eye contact or gazing at one of us - it just seems that it is taking forever for him to come to trust us and be affectionate.

 

Bag Balm is highly recommended for dry winter pads (in the green tin, you can get it at some drugstores or a feed store). And yes, stay off the salt if you can. I use Pawz dog boots (little rubber disposable booties) when it's salty, and have also used Musher's Secret paw wax.

 

Welcome to GT!

 

How do you keep them from eating it or licking it off once it's rubbed on?

[greyhead]

Well, Bag Balm is not something they seem to want to ingest a lot of, fortunately. And the little bit they may lick off doesn't seem to hurt them.

 

At the risk of igniting a firestorm, I'd suggest you have his thyroid tested. The gakking could be from stomach acid and/or from a thyroid gland that swells and makes him feel like something foreign is in his throat. Since his poops and digestion sound fine, I'll hazard that it's not a digestion problem. Not all hypothyroid dogs or people have GERD-like symptoms, but some do. I did personally and one of my hypothyroid dogs did too.

[cleptogrey]

the dry hack could be post nasal drip. for years i have used a spoonful of lemon juice to cut the phelgym(sp?). i fill a plastic medicine dropper w/ the lemon juice(store bought- always have a bottle in the fridge) and squirt it down the hatch. it clears the mucous in no time what so ever.

 

have you ever considered an introductory obedience class? it will teach your pup to focus and connect to you. he will learn to focus and connect to you. one of the local greys and her owner was having a really hard time. she just didn't respond to anything in the house, they had her over a year. on walks she was on her own agenda(high prey drive) as well. one session(6 weeks) of basic obedience did the trick. both learned how to connect to each other, to look...respond to simple verbal commands and were able to really bond. it's a new dog, a happy dog, eager to please. the pup does her couple of things- sit and look, and now interacts and responds her family. what a difference!it was all positive reinforcement, food driven work and the light bulb went on.

 

if i wasn't as persisitant giving her the info ,(i met the owner at lots of meet and greets), the two would still be at opposite ends of the leash. but the owner wanted to develop a relationship similar to the one that i have w/ my pups. and obedience opened the path for a meaningful communication.

[Guest Jakestheman]

thanks hooked, the obedience classes sound like a pretty good idea. We will look into that for this spring.