Hello! I recently noticed some hair loss on my German Shepherd. It's only on the top of his snout. I have searched and couldn't find any information on it. The skin seems to be dry and I felt a small bump or two. I'm not sure if that was just a tiny patch of dry skin or what.

I had been feeding 100% raw, then stopped feeding him raw ground turkey and substituted that with Honest Kitchen Force formula. The rest of his diet has remained unchanged (yogurt, chicken, fish, hard cooked eggs, livers, vitamin E, salmon oil and his usual vitamin/join support powder).

He had something similar before when I was occasionally feeding him broccoli/green beans/other veggies, so I quit feeding him veggies and this seemed to clear up. However right now it seems much more pronounced than in the past.

He is not scratching or rubbing the area. He seems perfectly normal, great appetite, etc.

I am switching him over to the Honest Kitchen "Thrive" formula now since it has less veggies, fruits, etc. just in case this is the cause. However if it were some kind of allergy, I would expect to see some scratching/rubbing on the area.

I was wondering if I should be putting vitamin E on it to see if that helps? I was also wondering if his diet might be deficient in some area, however from everything I have read and advice I have gotten, I think his nutrition is pretty well covered.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of situation? Thank you!

I tend to doubt that it's food-related. True food allergies are much rarer than people tend to think.

Dogs are much more likely to show an allergic reaction to something environmental (an inhaled pollen or mold), or to flea bites.

But top of the snout isn't a normal spot to show that either, allergic dermatitis usually shows up on the belly and underarms, base of tail, ears, paws--not top of muzzle.

My best guess is that he has rubbed his muzzle on something and rubbed fur off. My GSD has done this in the past---once when crated at an all day training event he got antsy and rubbed his nose against the bars. When we got home I noticed a pinkish patch with thinner hair. It grew back in a couple of weeks.

Another possibility could be demodex mange--a pretty common occurance in young dogs that shows up as a small bald spot, often on the face. Your vet can do a scraping of the area and see if there are any mites present.

Yes. And I also think of food as being at the bottom of the suspects list here.

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/hair-loss-in-dogs-causes-diseases

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1593&aid=421

Thanks! This certainly sounds similar to what is going on:

 Quote:

Nasal solar dermatitis (Collie nose):Loss of hair at junction of nose and muzzle. Can lead to severe ulceration. Affects dogs with lightly pigmented noses. May be part of an autoimmune problem.

However he is all black with a black nose. There is no discoloration of his nose, either. However, he does have an autoimmune condition in his eyes (Chronic Superficial Keratitis) that he gets eye drops for every day.

You didn't switch to a plastic bowl, did you? I know it's an oldie, but it's actually real.

Plastic dish nasal dermatitis is depigmentation, though, I think. Not sure if it can cause hair loss.

He's been using stainless steel food and water bowls ever since he was a pup and he's 8.5 now. I soak then rinse them in scalding hot water before every meal.

Can you take a picture?

Diseases of the snout/nose can be really horrible...I worked myself all up with my youngster thinking he had this or that. Turns out he seems to have a sensitive snout/nose and the skin is easily irritated.

He was losing hair on his snout because he kept trying to get a toy that was stuffed down in the couch cushions! Even when I took the toy out he was convinced it was there. Stinker!

Toy-in-couch snout syndrome!

Sad, and not rare.

I would like to see a picture too. (I don't know anything, but I know others here have seen some nose issues.)

I'd probably want a derm vet referral if it didn't resolve. I'm not positive that this is the correct discipline (for example, if it was immune-related), but I betcha a derm vet would have a good chance of quick recognition.

JMO, of course.

Thanks! I'll try to get a picture tonight when I go home. It's basically thinning/lost hair on the very top of his snout starting directly after his nose and is about the size of a silver dollar.