Bald spots on puppy's head

I have a chi that gets flaky alot on her tummy. I just put lotion on it and she is fine.

Olivia's hair is very thin in the areas you describe. I think it's a smooth coat thing. I think a little lotion or hydocortizone would be fine if you think the scratching is from dry skin. I use an oatmeal-based doggy shampoo on Olivia and use people hair conditioner twice a week. That seems to control dry skin very nicely. :laughing9:

How often to bathe?

Really, you use conditioner on her 2x a week? I heard that chis are supposed to be washed once a month or once every two months. Is the oatmeal bath itself moisturized?

I'm going to get some tips from the vet on Saturday, so I should have more information. Keep you posted! :wave:

Re: How often to bathe?

meemster said:

Really, you use conditioner on her 2x a week? I heard that chis are supposed to be washed once a month or once every two months. Is the oatmeal bath itself moisturized?

I'm going to get some tips from the vet on Saturday, so I should have more information. Keep you posted! :wave:

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Yes, I really do, she is washed twice a week. The conditioner is slicked on and immediately rinsed off. The oatmeal wash is moisterizing and it is also a flea treatment. Until recently, she has been too little to use flea spray, so the vet recommended I bathe her twice a week. I found it helps with our allergies and she doesn't get a doggy smell. I don't like using powders and colognes on her--she sneezes. But baths seem to do the trick all around. I suppose Chi's are like babies, what works well for some might not work so well for others By all means, do whatever your vet suggests. That is always the way to go.

No answer yet...

Well I took Scooter to the vet and he did a skin scraping on her for mites. That came out negative. Then they took a hair sample to see if it is ringworm, but that will take 2 weeks for the results to come back. He said he doesn't think it's ringworm b/c of the symmetrical thinning of the hair. What would be left is seasonal allergies and food allergies (which are very rare). So he said that her itching and hair loss could be during spring and summer. Great, so I have a bald-headed dog for half the year in California. Great!
:roll:

Well, glad to hear there is nothing major amiss so far. Perhaps it will stay that way with the return of the last tests. Now, you know, bald is rather sexy and very fashionable these days. Look at Patrick Stewart and Vin Diesel (sp?) Tres chic. :happy3:

The itching could be allergy. But the bald spots are probably genetic. Tucker has peach fuzz from halfway down his ears till you get to his head. It almost looks bald, but on close inspection you can see very fine hair. It's always been this way. (He's 6 months old now). Our vet said it's just genetic and is common in Chi's.