Hi guys, I have a question about my dog's skin and fur. He is just turned 11 months old, male neutered, Catahoula dog. He is a single-coated breed like a Weimeraner or boxer.

He is a rescue that has been through a LOT in the past 3 months. He came from a neglect situation and has been boarded and moved numerous times before ending up at my home as a foster.

When I got him, he had 3 small barely noticeable bald spots, one on his side on his ribs just before his shoulder, one on the back of his neck near the shoulders and one on the top of his head. When they didn't get better (actually the hair fell out more, making them more noticeable), I had the vet examine him. They found he was negative for demodex.

Then recently I noticed that the fur along his spine, about 2 or 3 inches wide, is starting to get really thin. The fur is more sparse and in the right light you can see the skin showing through.

THEN yesterday, the dog was stretching out and rolling on the grass outside and I was shocked to notice that his inner thighs, groin area, and armpits are almost completely bald! The skin is showing through. It looks smooth, with no rash or bumps. And the fur on his belly is thinning too.

He does not appear to be itchy.

What could cause this? We have ruled out mange. The skin looks normal. I had a dog with food allergies and her fur came out in clumps and her skin looked red. That does not happen in this case. Could it still be food allergies? He eats Nutrience Supreme dry dog food.

Could it be due to stress and if so, how can I help this? Thank you.

Anela, sounds like it could be CDA (color dilution alopecia) a condition common to breeds that carry the dd gene for blue (and to a lesser degree, fawn) coats -- I have a great article on it somewhere, so I'll post it here for you soon as I have time to find it!

Thank you for replying. I neglected to mention that the dog is a "solid" catahoula - he's black with brindle trim. He is not a merle coloured dog. Does this matter? I think he is MM (because Mm is merle and mm is excessive white).

http://www.seattle-attorney.com/storm/sup.html

Angela, don't be put off by the legal disclaimers (LOL, Storm's owner is a lawyer, that's all) -- Be sure to read everything about having your Vet run a thyroid panel, because it could just be that & not even be CDA...

But also check out what kind of feeding & skin-care regimen he suggests, just in case it does turn out to be "blue dog syndrome" anyway -- My son recently adopted a blue Doberman rescue & we're monitoring him closely for any signs of CDA development.

Has the vet ruled out staph?

Well, CDA occasionally crops up even in non-dilute Dobies who have a few dilute dogs in their pedigree somewhere, but I don't know about LCLD's -- You can do a web-search for CDA/blue dog syndrome in Catahoulas too...