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Why does my dog have a dry, peeling nose, skin growths, and hair loss?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Staffordshire Terrier | Female | spayed | 5 years and 7 months old | 90 lbs

My dog has extremely dry, scaly, and peeling nose. The pictures do not show how bad it truly is. She has what looks like white heads growing from her whiskers, the white part cannot be removed. She has a growth from her bottom eyelid, is losing patches of hair, and has very dry patches on the bends of her arms. Can someone please help me? How do I fix what is going on with her? She is about 6 years old. She is a Staffordshire Terrier.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on November 16th, 2018

It looks like you are concerned about several problems with Roxie, and they are probably not all related to each other. The nose could just be dry, or it could be an autoimmune disease called lupus, or it could be cancerous. I would recommend that you have your vet check this out to see what will be the best treatment. If it gets worse it could crack and bleed and be very painful.

I am not sure what is coming from her whisker area, it could be a skin tag.

There are several masses that can occur on the edges of the eyelid. Often they are benign, but they can get bigger and start to rub on the cornea and cause ulceration and chronic irritation. Many times a vet can remove these easily with either surgery or cryotherapy.

Dry or thickened skin on the elbows is common in short-haired dogs as they age. There is nothing that needs to be done. Make sure that Roxie has a soft place to lay down, which will help prevent excess pressure over her bony areas.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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