i am really concerned about my dog polar when we got him (we had him from a breeder who had him returned to her) the breeder said he had ear mite and had given us a treatment of stronghold i noticed when my husband got him home that the fur on his ear had gone but the breeder had told my husband he had been in a serious fight with a st bernard he had also chipped his tooth . over the last few weeks we have noticed his fur loss and put it down to him being indoors now but tonight its coming out by the hanful under his belly and you can see like black bits definitely not fleas with a smell we are worried it could be mange or a form of mite can anyone offer advice as we are very worried about him :)

did phone the breeder we got him from and she said he has had a test for mange and it was negative she thought it may be him shedding his winter coat because he is now living indoors or it could be that if he wasnt completely dry after his bath it would cause a bacterial infection under the skin which would cause the fur to drop out but we do use the hairdryer and make sure he is totally dry i just cant stop worrying though! guess its cause im a virgo :D :D we will be taking him to the vets just to be on the safe side. is it normal for a pyrenean to lose alot of coat like this? :)

It could be various things... living indoors can make them shed loads. Our Troy also shed loads which we initially put down to living indoors after being in kennels for a couple of month. However, we found out that it was actually his diet. Although it was a hypo-allergenic diet (without artificial additives), he must have been allergic to something in it and reacted by losing his coat.

Once the diet was changed he was fine. Many months later, I thought I'd try him again on that diet just in case it was coincidence, and he started to shed loads again.

He is now on CSJ CP18 and his coat is absolutely fine.

I would probably take him to the vet to make sure it is not a skin problem. Does he show any other signs like loss of appetite or anything?

Vera

when we first had him he was fussy now he eats well but we do give him leftovers occasionally but his main diet is fresh meat and royal canin. he drinks lots of water and is generally well except for the loss of fur im almost worried about brushing it out incase he has none left!! although im probably being silly :)