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1123378 tn?1261267761

Any idea why my dog is doing this?

I have a 3 year old rottweiler.The other night i noticed him pulling his hair out on his leg so i thought maybe fleas well i gave him a bath  and didnt see many.Later that night i noticed him doing  it again..pulling his hair out.Well this morning i looked at his leg and i noticed he has done to his other leg.I have no clue why he is pulling his hair out.Hes a inside dog..i have no other pets.I give him a bath once a week so i know its not fleas.Hes only doing it to his to front legs no where else.Any idea why he is doing? Now he has spots of missing hair on both his legs.
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Your dog is bored, try giving him lower energy dog food, put some kibble in a Kong toy, and stop washing him.Mange is probably not the problem as it affects all body parts, the affected areas will be raised, red and sore. Rotties are very intelligent dogs and need stimulating or work, and you said it yourself you have a very busy life, find mind games for him, hide a toy, tell him to find it , put a treat under one of three bowls. are your 2 walks a day just for toileting, or does he get off the lead for some free running?
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441382 tn?1452810569
Mange usually isn't bilateral, meaning it doesn't show up equally on both sides of the body.  Mange will show up as random patches of thinning hair, and will then progress to bald patches as the mite infestation increases.  I really doubt that it's mange, although I suppose anything is possible.

If you have SEEN him sitting or  laying there, chewing on his legs, then chances are very good that the hair loss is due to him pulling it out and not because it's falling out on its own.  In fact, the more I think about it, if you've actually seen him pulling the hair out, then I'd be willing to put my money more on OCD than on an allergy of some type.  With allergies, they will lick and lick and lick, but you'd also see him scratching other parts of his body.  Allergies wouldn't be confined to just his legs or paws.  However, if it's OCD, if they're going to chew on themselves, the paws are the first to suffer, because they're so easy for the dog to reach.  When we were kids my aunt had a standard poodle that had OCD so badly that every time they would get his hair cut in the typical poodle cut with the pom poms on the bottoms of the legs, he'd chew all the pom pom hair off!  He would start chewing when they got home from the groomer's and he wouldn't stop until every pom pom on his body that he could reach (four paws and the end of the tail) was laying in shreds on the floor in the hall!  It wasn't until many years later when I was in vet school that I realized that the poor thing more than likely was just a psychological wreck, and that's why he'd chew on himself so badly.

If you want to rule out mange just to put your mind at ease, it would be easy enough to make an appointment at the vet to have a skin scraping done, but the vet will more than likely be able to make an educated guess as to whether or not it's mange simply by looking at the bare spots.  Mange has a look all its own, completely unlike hair loss from other causes.

Please keep us up to date on how things go with him.

Ghilly
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1123378 tn?1261267761
Thank you!!With my busy life i guess i dont pay as much attention to him as i should.With 10 hour work weeks my 2 year old and school takes alot out of me.I walk him twice a day and play with him everyday( hes my best-friend lol) but i was thinking maybe mage?(Sp)Someone told me that today but i wasn't sure.I guess i will make a apt.with the vet and see whats going on with him.
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441382 tn?1452810569
Allergies can be responsible for this type of behavior.  It can also have a psychiatric basis.  Some dogs suffer from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) just as people do, and it can manifest itself as licking of the paws, chewing hair, snapping at the air (as if catching unseen flies), and sometimes detrimental things like eating rocks and other non-food items (a condition known as pica).  They'll engage in the behavior in front of their owners but sometimes, if the owner reprimands them enough for doing it, they'll appear to stop it, but the physical manifestations will remain because the dog, unable to stop the behavior, continues to engage in the behavior out of the owner's field of vision.  

Sometimes, giving the dog some extra attention (extra walks, grooming, playing with them) occupies their mind and helps them to be able to stop the behavior.  

If it turns out to be an allerfy, then that can be a lot more difficult to isolate and treat, especially if it turns out to be a food allergy.  Good luck and keep us posted!

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
1123378 tn?1261267761
okay..i only started to bath him more when i saw him pulling out his hair because i thought it was fleas but its not.Thank you for your answer tho:) i guess i will call the vet and see what they say.
Helpful - 0
741741 tn?1294284010
I dont know much about rotties but I know that with my dogs that I cant bath them to often. Asher my male has very sensitive skin.... He was kind of doing the same, pulling his hair out.
Try bathing him less? Or I would just see your vet. Some vets will help you over the phone. If vet wont try calling another place, just to ask about it.
Helpful - 0
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