Why does my dog have white spots or patches of hair loss on his leg?

I am sorry to hear of your concern for Chelsea! I would recommend having Chelsea examined by your regular veterinarian. Without seeing her in person it is difficult to determine the nature of the hairless patches. However, in a young dog hairless patches on the legs and body would make me concerned about a parasite like demodex. Your veterinarian can do a thorough physical exam and will likely recommend some diagnostics such as a skin scrape, to help them determine the nature of these lesions. Your vet May prescribe medications such as a topical or oral parasite treatment, medicated shampoo and antibiotics.

Even though a better picture would help to understand better the underlying cause, this presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). A check up, appropriate disinfection and eventually antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection can eventually be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid licking. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

The first picture of the brown legs looks very suspicious of possibly mites to me, especially if he is itchy. The other 2 pictures looks ok like they might just be an elbow callous and I am less worried about that. Regardless, I would encourage you to have him evaluated by your veterinarian soon. A skin scrape may be recommended to look for mites. A bacterial or fungal infection is possible as well. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

A mild allergy, mites, bacterial infection or even ringworm can cause hair loss with that appearance. It looks like a pretty small area with mild inflammation to me so I'm not overly concerned. You could use a gentle oatmeal based dog shampoo to clean the area. You can also use an e-collar if it seems like Nova wants to lick at the area. I don't think avoiding grass will be helpful. If the area does not start to regrow hair or the redness gets worse I would see your veterinarian. Your veterinarian can obtain skin samples to see if an infection is present. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

I would recommend that you have Cooper examined by a vet. Areas of hair loss like this can be caused by demodex mites. Other possible causes include bacterial or fungal infection or other parasites. The vet will likely do a skin scraping to look for the mites under a microscope. Then they can get Cooper started on an appropriate treatment plan.

This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths (be careful that the eye does not get in contact with it). Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking/scratching. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Hi there. Many things could be causing it. It could have been a good scratch, or it could be early signs of a mite infection called demodex. If it spreads or doesn’t seem to be improving then I would recommend having him examined by your veterinarian. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon.