I wondered if anyone on here could shed some light for me, I have been to the vets with both dogs as they have a skin problem on their ears. (only the ears too not surrounding areas) mainly along the edges and on the under side is only what i can desribe as cradle cap but drier, if that makes sense. on the bad patches it is raised and when rubbed will come off with fresh skin underneath (but hair will come off too) now it's not really bad as the ears do still have hair on them. The vet wasn't sure what it was so has treated with advocate for mange and mites although the ear canals are clear so wouldn't have thought it to be mites?? they have both had one treatment. now my boys ears are nearly cleared but can still see it and the bitches have improved slightly (not as much as I had hoped) do you think that this could be mange as I woud have thought being mange it would have spread to other parts of the body?? I wasn't sure if it had been caused by them cleaning each others ears?? they do this an awful lot. Any help on this would be great.

If they are licking each others ears then it could be a bacterial/fungal infection as they are helping to cause a moist warm environment, or of course it could be they are spreading ear mite infection, which the advocate has cleared.

I too would have thought mange to be more generalised than the ears.

What is the general quality of their skin and coat.  What are you feeding them and what percentage of Oils does the diet contain.

Do they have thin coat on flanks?  Seek warmth, is it hard to keep their weight down and do they seem lethargic or less active than you would expect for their age and breed?

The above are some of the signs of under active thyroid.  Another sign in bitches is irregular seasons.

How long have they had it for?

According to this link regarding sarcoptic mange:

"Mites prefer hairless skin thus leaving the ear flaps, elbows and abdomen at highest risk for the red, scaley itchy skin that characterizes sarcoptic mange.....As the infection progresses, eventually most of the dog's body will be involved. Classically, though, the picture begins on the ears (especially the ear margins), the elbows, and abdomen."

Are they itching much? I was always lead to believe that sarcoptic mange caused intense itching. There is a member here called Anna whose dog was diagnosed with sarcoptic mange through a simple blood test, after a long time of steroids as the itching was originally thought to be allergies. Might be worth getting one of them blood tested? Saying that, if your boys ears have cleared a lot after just one treatment I'd probably continue with the same treatment as it would seem to point to mange possibly being the answer..?

They don't appear to have been itching no more than usual and the coat on the rest of their body is fine shiny and healthy. I feed them pro plan as this seems to be one of the only foods that suits the boys tummy, it is the lamb and rice one so has 26% protein and 16% fat but they do get extras such as chicken wings, lamb breasts etc as I do struggle to keep blades weight on. now he is no different energy wise so wouldn't say he has thyroid problem, I just don't know, will go have a look at that link from Zarah

I am sat here itching now after reading that !! Thanks Zarah lol will maybe suggest this to the vet when I go back as I will need to get some more drops next week. Thanks anyway.

ive got this problem with one of my girls. it set off as dry skin then it turned into scabby bits on the edges and underneath it was like cradle cap and little lumps. the vet said that she was producing too many anti bodies and this is the result.i now clean her ears with antibacterial soap and then use a moisturiser on the edges and pick the dry skin off the edges!!! i dont think her ears will ever be the same as this has been going on a year now.

Yeah that sounds very similar Jo, will give that a go over the weekend and see what happens. i do have some anti microbial shampoo, so may give that a go and see what happens. To look across the room though it's not even noticable, just when you get close or feel the ears!!

my girl had is so bad her ears look serated round the edges! it dosent seem to bother her though.

My mother in laws dobe had exactly the same thing, but his just cleared up on it's own, so I'm inclined to think that it wouldn't be mange as that would surely need treatment??

my vet said that he had only ever seen 2 cases of what my girl had and that it isnt very common and is sometimes miss diagnosed. i wonder if it more common in dobes than other breeds? although my other two dobes are unaffected.