Had a very worried phone call this morning from the owner of a bitch with a litter by one of my boys.  The pups are now 3 weeks old and Mum has been doing beautifully for a member of a breed not known for being very maternal.  Yesterday her owner noticed 2 bald patches on the neck and back, and rushed her to the vet.  Vet has said no idea what it is, but may be a fungal infection and if so could pass to pups, in which case nothing can be done.  Obviously the bitch's  owner is frantic.  She has been given a wash to bathe her in daily, with instructions to rinse thoroughly and wipe her under carriage so the pups don't get any of the treatment accidentally.  Also told to change and wash bedding twice dails, and possibly gone on to shredded paper rather than vet bed.  I visited last week and the pups and Mum are all in excellent condition everything immaculately clean, so dirt is not the problem.

I have no experience of anything like this and wondered if anyone else had?  This morning the bitch has lost some more hair from her chest this time, and is itchy.

This is a breed which usually loses a lot of hair whilst nursing a litter, and often as the pups are about 8 weeks old the Mum either looks almost bald or a bit like a hedgehog (under coat goes but top coat stays in).  I hoped this might be what was happening in this instance, but the fact bald patches areappearing rather than general hair loss, plus itch is not typical.  Any suggestions much appreciated.

Sounds to me like the vet may think ringworm? Didn't he take a hair sample to test, that would surely be the most logical thing to do so they know what they're trying to treat. :)

I wonder if its some sort of staphylococcus Pyoderma caused by bacteria build up? I think this can occur when animals are run down too or their immune systems are low.  Its not caused by uncleanliness though.  I think the pets need a skin scrape to make sure though.

Malasel shampoo kills fungus, if washed off thoroughly should not harm the puppies but will kill the fungii. The itching should stop once the Malaseb has been used though? I t could also be mange, Stronghold is OK for use on pregnant bitches but not sure about lactating ones . . . .  have to cover the spot on area anyway so the pups don't get exposed to it. If the pups get mange they can be treated once they are older.  Good Luck I hope she gets it sortd it must be worrying

Should read : MALASEB  (not Malasel)

I am going to ring her in the morning to get more details and see how she is doing.  Positive not mange - i saw her on Thursday last week and she had a sleek, glossy coat, and has not been in contact with other dogs since well before whelping 3 weeks ago.  I will find out what the wash she was given is, and if a scrape was taken.  I think I was so shocked when she called that I did not take in all the info I should have done to be able to be more helpful.  Thinking back, jsut after she whelped (about 2 days) she had a slightly swollen, itchy ear which was discharging a bit, this was treated and cleared up within 2 days - apparently it had occurred during pregnancy but the vet had not been able to treat while carrying the pups.  Wonder if this may be related?

Itchy ears can be indicative of mange. Even if scrapes are taken they often do not show the sarcoptic mite as they are difficult to find. If there are foxes in the area it is quite likely that mange could take hold on a pregnant or lactating bitch as her immune system will be overloaded and not able to fight the mites. We have foxes all around here and they carry mange but my dogs never catch it except a) very old girl and b) very young puppy  - both at the time had compromised immune systems due to age. There are very littel symptoms to start with just  small itchy areas which can go unnoticed. Advocate and  / or Stronghold kill the mites. 

Thanks for all the helpful replies, I have an update from the bitches owner.   She is still losing lots of coat, is only itchy on one of her bald patches, but apart from that is fine and so far no sign of the pups having a problem (they are 4 weeks yesterday).  The vet did a skin scrape and also looked at her under a UV light.  No sign of any mite or other organism.  So we still have no idea what it is.  I am now inclinging towards it is jsut an extreme example of the breeds ususal post whelping coat shed, with an extra itch thrown in!

We had a girl with dermadex abd 4 week old puppies. Despite it being not licensed my vet suggested advocate. we used it and the pups were fine and mum cleared up very quickly. Apparently the stressof being a mum had started it off.

She started with bald patches which got worse over 4-5 days.