My dog is 13 Lab/Chow and is going bald but no shedding?

Our black male 13 yr old Lab/Chow is going bald but no shedding. When Groucho was younger we fought allergies, hot spots and some pretty mega shedding sometimes in clumps. This week we saw that he has huge bigger than my hand size bald places. I brush him and not much hair, mostly a little undercoat comes out. The hair is no where around and he's not chewing as usual. His poor back hips grow more stiff every day. He's never out of my site and eats Naturals Pet store dog food and has all his life. He only gets Milk Bones for large dogs once a day when we come in from outside. There is no redness and no wet hair. It isn't allergies as usual, there is no hair shedding. He has about four of these all over his body. Totally bald with no rashes, the skin looks normal and smooth. What is your advice

My dog is 13 Lab/Chow and is going bald but no shedding?
When my dog got to be about 15 yrs. old, she had similar troubles. We started shaving her. I think the body had so much other stuff going on that it stopped regrowing the hair. She enjoyed being cooler with the shave.
Reply:Take your dog to the vet


Good Luck
Reply:your pet is nearing the end... you should ask the vet if you are that concerned.. but as long as no irritation, scratching, oozing etc. i would not worry about it
Reply:My advice is to take him to the vet to diagnose this. It's possible he has alopecia, possible hypothyroidism, or some other hormone-related problem, or it could be something totally different. He needs to see a vet anyway for some help with his hips. There's no need for him to be in pain when your vet can prescribe meds for this poor old guy.
Reply:It could be a thyroid problem. I've seen it in dogs before.


Take it to the vet and check the thyroid function.
Reply:Ask the vet to run a thyroid blood panel it might even explain alot of the skin problems/allergies your dog had, hypothyroidism is a common problem in labs





Treatment is thyroid supplements given twice a day, and not expensive but dog would have to remain on for the rest of their life, if this is what is it, you dog will even become perkier and less tired, other sign of is lameness as it affects neurological function