[Vjkuri]

I have a sweet male standard poodle named Mowgli. He is about 80lbs strong, energetic, and sweet!

In late 2019, he developed some strange symptoms of hair loss, pus filled pimples, and burnt red/brown hairs on his low back and flanks. when at its worst it went from his tail to his occiput. There is notable dandruff whenever his coat was shaved down. This symptoms did not seem to cause him any pain or excessive scratching. The hair that is red or noticeably brittle thing can be pulled out while his curly hair on his head and legs are standard.

I took him to multiple vets where they suspected a bacterial infection or sebaceous adenitis. None which were confirmed. He received multiple tests (skin cytology, skin scrape, bloodwork) and treatments (prolonged use of simplicef/bathing shampoos) for the past year with mild improvements. I actually think he did better now that i'm no longer using medications and doing the 2x weekly medicated showers.

Any other poodle owners experienced this? Any insight is helpful!

first couple pictures are the early presentation and last 5 are what he looks like present day.

 

[Michigan Gal]

This can be seen on dogs with a poor quality diet. www.dogfoodanalysis.com rates commercial dog food. Check yours out. To help the problem heal, you can get Thompson's crystal Vitamin C at a health store, or buy it online. 1/2 teaspoon per day in his food should be enough. It will help with inflammation and healing, regardless of the reason why.

 

[lily cd re]

I agree with Michigan Gal that nutrition improvement may go a long way towards improving the appearance and quality of his skin. While I was reading your post I was thinking SA, but have had no experience with it myself. It looks really sad and upsetting. I hope you can find good answers. Have you been to a veterinary dermatologist?

 

[Poodlesandbeagles]

I'm sure it is very frustrating not knowing what is causing this skin condition. It looks like it would be uncomfortable for Mowgli. Has your vet biopsied the area? One of our beagles had a skin condition on her back the didn't get better after trying multiple medications and prescription shampoos. The vet even did a biopsy to rule out cancer. Then my other beagle started to have the same type of skin condition on her back also. We were eventually referred to a veterinary dermatologist. We tried a prescription diet and more meds. She suggested another skin biopsy to rule out sebaceous adenitis. In my dogs' case, the cause was never identified. It eventually cleared up on its own and never returned. I hope you are able to determine the cause and the skin condition clears up.

 

[Mfmst]

My default answer is to see a veterinary dermatologist. Get an expert opinion - one and (hopefully) done. Best wishes for a quick resolution.

 

[Gr8d'noodle]

I know this is a few months after this post , and you may have found the answer by now but I battled the exact same thing you are going through for the first year of my dog's life. He was a little itchy, but other than that the hair loss was tragic. I went to several vets, all offering up advice about allergies with expensive time consuming remedies, food changes, shots and meds, antibiotics, etc that did nothing. I eventually took him to an animal dermatologist and she started down the same costly road of "let's try this, let's see if this helps before you spend 600 on an allergy test" until I said No! I've already spent thousands. I did enough research to know it was one of 3 things. (Allergy, infection, auto immune).(not fungal, viral, genetic) I told her what tests to do, and what to look for. she didn't like it but She did them. Within 30 minutes I had my answer. A scraping and microscope slide revealed a common bacteria found on almost all dogs similar to common staph. Every bump had lots of it. Poodles don't have the same kind of skin oil and bio film that most dogs have (no hound dog stink) and the bacteria was able to colonize small areas (bumps) and the waste was causing an allergic reaction. This is fairly common with dark hair poodles. I started washing him twice a week with phytovet C 4%. It took a couple months but eventually he was all better. Had to keep on it and I have to was him after he goes to day care or plays in the rain during the hot summer months.
Long story short.. don't waste time and money with buying bags of expensive specialty food , or make your dog tired and possibly sick from pumping him full of drugs that may or may not help. Do your research, go to a dermatologist, and direct their course of action. They won't like it. But he's your dog. The vet doesn't care the same way you do