Any experienced wire haired dachshund owners / breeders please?

I have a 12 week old black and tan boy, who for the last 3 weeks or so has been biting his back like crazy. Nowhere else, and not a sign of it before then (I've been seeing him regularly since he was 4 weeks old) Now, he is starting to go bald from the middle of his back down.

It started just after his first vaccination at 8 weeks.

The vet has seen him the other day, and we have treated all our pets (3 cats 2 other dachsies) for fleas. (No sign of any, but he wanted to rule it out first)

My other wire haired dog - male, 10 yrs old, used to have skin problems. He got a very itchy tummy 4 months out of every year, but seemed to grow out of it. However - he has bald patches. For no reason at all, hair on his lower back falls out and regrows randomly. He doesn't bite or scratch it - it just goes. The vets have told us they can test him for all sorts and still potentially not find what causes it, or even then they wouldn't treat it as it doesn't bother him.

Do all wire haired dachsies go bald?!? (I can't blieve that) Is it common? What on earth can be causing it, what can I do?

I'd be so grateful for any and all advice, or even common experiences, thank you in advance.

Helen

Hi, what do you feed him on??? Also, has the Vet ruled out Mange?? If she/he has ruled that out then maybe it's diet or environment related?? I feed Nutro, a complete Lamb meat kibble, which is totally natural, no additives or nasties. Beef can cause problems with skin. Also, think about checking everything he uses, such as bedding etc, he may be allergic to a biological type washing powder/liquid? If I think if anything else I'll re-post, but there are lots of knowledgeable peeps on here! All the best, Dawn.

No one has mentioned mange - I've heard of it but I have no idea what it is really.

His breeders fed him on about 6 different things (not necessary in my opinion but there you go) We have put him on Baker's Complete dry food as he won't touch wet.

Thanks for your reply, do you think I should change what he eats?

Well, personally I would!! I'm not sure about Bakers, I think ALL the processed food I looked at in the doggy supermarket last week had BEEF in them, or as they call it MEAT MEAL!!! which means it's all the rubbish and mechanically re-claimed meat. Mange is a parasite that burrows into the skin...it can possibly be seen under the microscope. There are different types of Mange, but the Vet should/would have checked??? I'm sure there are other feeds that are of equal quality to Nutro, which others will suggest, but I swear by Nutro. Don't forget though if you change feeding regimes, do it slowly and gradually ok? Ohh and the adage, you get what you pay for, applies to dog food too! Nutro is over £30 for a 15Kg bag, you can get smaller bags obviously, but I buy 60kgs at a time!!! They have a website http://www.nutro.co.uk/ hope you work things out and ring the Vet to check about the Mange thing!! regards, Dawn

Have you contacted the breeder for advice?

Thanks fourpaws - no. Necause they were just breeding as a one-off from their pet. however, I could contact where they got the stud from as they are very well respected Dachshund breeders. I hadn't thought of that, thanks!

Also - thanks to the advice I contaced Nutro about their food, and without my even asking they're sending me samples. I think very caredully about what I feed my family, and admit I never really applied the same ethics to pet food. I am going to change my 3 cats and 3 dogs over to Nutro, assuming the samples pan out OK. Many thanks for pointing them out to me!

Proof of what a quality food Nutro is rests here...! Storm's Daddy was Multi International Champion 'And I'm Great to be Back' He won the Working Group at Crufts in 2003. His daddy(human) works for Nutro and they have a very, very successful Nutro fed International championship Kennel! Go to the Our Dogs site...look under Newfoundland Breeders and there's a picture of my Storm there (Yamchamol affix) All the best, Dawn X