The American Beagler Forum

I have a 7 week old pup that has been loosing it's hair. I thought It was the mange and called the vet about it. He said it could also be fleas or something and recommended useing the advantage medicine. I put it on her but It is still getting worse. At this rate It's going to be a hairless dog in another month. Taking her to the vet next week but in the meantime, does anyone have any ideal what it could be?

Sounds like demodectic(sp) mange. Not fatal, but can cause pups to loose their hair. Immune system is down and the mites that all dogs have will cause this. Usually a genetic factor pasted on from the dam. Use the shampoo and scratch off the scaley patches and the hair will grow back. But suggest you do not breed this pup if this is the problem because it passes the characteristic down to its pups. Also stress, heat, and other health problems trigger this. Usually the pup acts normal and eats fine, just a little scratching. Usually gets over it in a couple of weeks and the hair will finally grow back and you may have a dandy rabbit dog.
There is alot of info on the web about this.

Good luck.

Sally

well you hit the nail on the head. I took her to the vet today and got some med and dog dip. He said it should get better in a few weeks. Thanks for the reply.
Alan

Plenty of pups don't have the immune system to fight-off mange. It could be a sign that this dog will have a weak immune system, but it could be just that it's not developed yet. Now if you've got an adult that can't fight-off mange, that's another story.