My black lab puppy is losing hair. Is it normal or should I see a vet?

Hello. Hair loss in dogs can be normal (shedding) if it is being replaced by new hair growth. This is normal and will occur, and clean up can be controlled by brushing your dog's hair every day. If patches are being lost and the skin is showing, you should check for fleas/mites. A skin scraping may be necessary. If that is not the cause it could be due to infection, allergies, or other causes.

Pets can experience hair loss for many reasons. If you are noticing bald areas, redness to the skin, scabs or flaky skin, Joy could have a skin infection, need a different diet or an omega 3 supplement for pets. If you don't see any signs of pathology, this may be normal shedding. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Ghost's skin definitely doesn't look normal. I would suspect an external parasite is the most likely cause. Fleas, scabies and demodex are all possibilities despite a negative skin scrape (sometimes you just don't get a diagnostic sample). I would recommend to put him on a product called NexGard for the next three months. This medication will take care of all three parasites. If Ghost does not respond to the treatment, then I would recommend a food trial with a hydrolyzed protein diet. It appears by the pictures that he may also have a secondary skin infection, take him into the veterinarian's office and to see if antibiotics and/or a medicated shampoo is warranted.

You might try changing the diet to see if this helps. I recommend the brand Royal Canin. This diet can help a lot with hair issues. Otherwise things like parasites and thyroid issues can also affect the hair coat. I recommend having Daisy seen by a veterinarian to look for an underlying medical condition. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any further questions.

No, this hair loss does not sound normal and it does not look normal in the picture. Reggie could have a skin infection, fungal infection, or mange among other things causing his hair loss. Without seeing him in person, I can't say for certain what is going on. He does need to see a vet to have this diagnose and treated. I recommend giving his vet a call now to make him an appointment. Best of luck.

Shedding large amounts of hair at one time in a puppy at any age between 4-8 months is going to be normal. There are estimates to when a pet should shed, but again you have to take into account that there is a bell curve with any estimate, so some dogs fall to the left or right of this. Dogs can also shed at multiple intervals, because the entire shedding process can be broken up into phases. You know you are dealing with an actual skin issue when you see patches of bald areas on the skin. As long as she doesn't have alopecia areas then this is considered to be a normal shedding process. Good luck with your new pup!

He may be losing hair due to a mite called demodex. This mite is a normal mite in the hair follicle. When dogs are stressed or they are growing the mite can over grow causing hairloss. I would have your veterinarian skin scrape Rico for that mite. The stool in the pictures may be from intestinal parasites and I would recommend having your vet check his stool for a parasites. I would also recommend having them give Rico a general dewormer. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.