my 8 month old puppy is losing hair round one of her eyes.It started as  a slightly thin patch  and is now an area of about 1/2  inch square with very little hair  on. The skin looks fine, it isa not red or inflamed and doesn't bother her. it is not  itchy and I have n ever seen her rubbing it. It  is such a small area that I don't want to bother the vet  as I am sure they thin k I am neurotic about my  dogs as it is. Just wondered if anyone had any ideas what might cause  it?

Watching with interest for replies to your post.  One of my dogs has the same.  If it was mange, I'm guessing that at least one other member of the gang would get it.  But it's only my boy.  Hope someone can shed some light,

> If it was mange, I'm guessing that at least one other member of the gang would get it.

If it were sarcoptic, then yes, the others would get it and you too most probably - it's very contagious.
Demodectic mange ( Demodex) is an already present organism which is dormant in many affected animals, auto-immune in it's nature and often only shows it's self in puppies, youngsters, pregnant bitches and others under stress.

A skin scrape is needed to identify in puppies but it is notoriously difficult in adults because it's often deep in the follicles of the skin.

A visit to the vet will ease your mind.

Yesn none of my others have any missing hair so what ever it is it is not catching, it is not spreading very fast but also not  getting any better.

My 5 month pup has just had her last (hopefully) Aludex bath for Demodex. That started around her eyes with a bald area that made it look as though she was wearing glasses. One eye was worse than the other. It tends not to be catching as the pup gets it from the mum at birth. I must admit my pup did not have symptoms until about 3 months, and the vet did scrapes and never found any mites, although she obviously had them. It spread rapidly across her body from the eyes.

My then seven month pup had very similar symptoms. Vet did biopsy from around the eyes, nose and armpits for mites and results were negative. She has since been on a food trial for 8 weeks and the problem is no better. She rubs her face and scratches a bit but not manic. Next step, I'm told is the York Test or skin punches for broad range of allergies. The vet gave me the stats on success and I must say I am not confident they can sort her problems. We decided to remove our living room carpet and have a cleaning splurge around the house in case of house dust mites allergy. Any one have any info on reducing dust mite would be appreciated. She will be one this week.

As has been already mentioned, demodex mites are very tricky to locate in some animals despite being the cause of bald patches.

Many people detect a 'mousey' smell from a dog with Demodectic mange. The same smell as a mouse cage before it's cleaned out !

www.karenruggles.co.uk