My 4 year old female GSD has been blowing her coat for the past couple weeks. Just this week though, she is shedding her guard hairs on her backside, pretty heavily. I can give a gentle tug on her back fur and the guard hairs come out very easily, by the handful.

Is this anything I should be worried about?
It seems a bit abnormal. I am used to the undercoat coming out, but not the excessive guard hairs.
A little background;
She is raw fed, on therapeutic doses of either salmon or high quality sardine oil, for her allergies.
Recently, she has been struggling a bit with. I give hydroxyzine to help with the allergies, intermittently when needed.

This kind of shedding is worrisome to me, am I being paranoid, is this normal?
I can't find any sort of info on the net, any input from anyone is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Joyce, both my bitches went through a heavy shed, bordering on alopecia about a year after they were spayed; don't know if this is relevant to your girl??

Also my breeder's first whelping bitch went virtually bald after her first litter - with the second bitch she bred, I gave her some vital coat and she had a beautiful glossy coat all through and after, could it be hormonal?? probably not much of a helpful suggestion, just something I have experienced.

Thanks Tracy, but unfortunately she was spayed a long while ago.
The only thing that has really changed in her diet, is Nature's Logic Sardine oil.
Otherwise nothing has changed, except for the season, fall/winter.

I am going to keep an eye on her coat and see how things go.
Hopefully this is just a purge of her summer coat getting ready for her winter coat.
She has always had a really dense coat, and even with the heavy shedding, still looks normal. I just have never seen so many guard hairs come from her all at once before.

I do notice my 4 seem to scratch a lot during the season changes, almost like they get dry skin with the cold winds, plus if they get wet their bellies get almost chapped, I usually use aloe vera gel when it looks sore, it is alarming when the hair falls out, I hope your girl improves soon.

Tracey

Joyce, I just saw this and went and did a little check with Vince and Echo. Vince, the shepherd, was shedding pretty good last month and a pull of his butt hairs today included a few guard hairs. Echo, the northern pup, has extremely long guard hairs this year. Nothing came out.

I know the feeling you are going through. With the hairy breeds I've had throughout the years, and a dog with Cushing's now, it's something I pay a fair amount of attention to as well.

I think it's pretty normal to shed some of the old, shorter, summer guard hairs to make way for the longer ones in the breeds that have an ability to grow the longer coats. And I also think the weather patterns, of different years, has a lot to do with it. Colder year - longer, thicker coat type of thing.

Ultimately, you know your dogs best. If I was at all concerned, I would have the simple gland tests done – thyroid (hypo and hyper) and the adrenal/pituitary glands. They do have an impact on their metabolism and ultimately skin and coat conditions - hair loss.

I would be doing just what you're doing. Keep an eye on it for the next month and if it continued with any volume increase, I would be taking her in.

I hope it's just a simple shedding thing, she's such a beautiful animal with an amazing coat.

Thanks CJ, I think I will continue to watch her, and thanks for the great suggestion to get the glands tested if she continues to shed like she is.

My current vet is retiring and I just found a new vet that I am excited to check out, he is very pro-raw feeding and pretty close by. I may get there sooner than later if she continues this shedding. It is amazing to me she isn't bald yet with all the hair that has come out!