Hair Loss in Healthy Young Dog

[Cindy]

Thanks for the update and I've never heard of this in dogs. Hope the supplements continue to help.

[gagesbarb]

thanks sooo much for taking the time to let us know what happened...I'm also glad that the supplements are helping...
also-you're right...your experience may help someone else...as I've said, I've learned so much from this forum...and the search function at the upper right of the forum
unlocks so much!

[Teresa]

My Brittany is loosing hair in the same spots. What is the dosage of the biotin and melatonin that helped your Britt?

[sclazar]

Hi Teresa,

I guess I should have really posted another update to this thread. As it turns out, I've now come to the conclusion that the biotin and melatonin actually had no effect at all. I stopped giving them after a few months. And here's what I discovered in the intervening year and a half: this is a seasonal condition. I really don't think there's anything that can be done to affect it. Bentley begins losing hair in those spots in the early fall (it has just begun again), and then in early spring it starts growing back. He's a bit patchy throughout the winter, and then his coat is lush and full during the summer. His hair regrowth/shedding is basically the reverse of what it should be! Fortunately the only really negative effect of it is that he often needs to wear coats in the winter (we live in New Hampshire). But the hair WILL come back in the spring, and he is completely healthy in every other way!

One other brittany owner contacted me after finding this thread, and we've had a long email correspondence. Her dog is also in the exact same situation, and its hair grew back with the same seasonal shift. (Our dogs are also the exact same age and from the same state... we suspect they might actually be littermates!)

So, I'm sorry but I don't actually remember the biotin and melatonin dosages since I haven't given them in so long. I originally gave them in the spring, which in retrospect coincided with when his fur grows back anyway. I bet if you gave them now you'd see no effect, and the hair loss would continue to progress until mid-March/early April.

Let me know if you want to talk about this any more -- you can email me at sclazar [at] gmail.com