# Thin spots in coat



## bjameson (Feb 14, 2014)

We noticed our 11 month old started to develop some thin spots in his coat about 3-4 weeks ago. And he seems to be developing more areas like this. Have any of you seen this before? His coat in general is still very soft compared to our other 2.5 year old. Is he just shedding or something we should get him checked out for?


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## BFrancs (Aug 8, 2013)

About a year ago, the same thing happen to Hunter (at time he was 3yo). His patchy spots were isolated to the top of his head, both cheeks and the side of this left thigh. We thought he might have a ringworm or caught something outside in the backyard. We took him to vet – they did tests – everything was normal. They referred him to a dermatologist. (I never knew they had dermatologist for dogs). They ran about six different skin tests on him. The biopsy indicated it was “follicular dysplasia” which is a benign patterned baldness. They recommend giving him 3-5mg melatonin (the same kind humans use to go to sleep), they said it would take 3-4 months to see new growth. We were happy nothing was wrong with our handsome Hunter but funny after spending almost $700 on vet visits and derm visits, all we need to do was buy an over the counter med for $8.99. ugh!! 

Here are few pictures of his face. I tried to look for better ones but this is all I have of the patchy spots. The real nice picture was taken in December 2012, and you can see the one spot on his cheek starting to thin out. The other one were taken about July 2013 - the spot had really thin out by then. We took him to vet in August 2013, thats when we notice more patchy spot on his thigh and top his head. 

Hunter is taking a mid-day nap now but I’ll get a more recent picture of him. His hair has grown back. 

Hope this helps you with your puppy. Good Luck!


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