My bitch lost the hair on her stomach whilst in whelp so that her whole stomach is completely bald. A few days ago she whelped and since then her hair loss is getting worse her armpits have gone and then it seems to be spreading from her stomach up towards her shoulders. Her legs and hindquarters are normal at present.
I know this is probably hormones BUT anybody got any ideas cos the way its going when people visit the pups at 4 weeks I'm gonna have a hairless dog.
The skin is perfectly normal and healthy so nothing else there.

It can take a while -my Malinois bitch was pretty bald until her pups were about 10-12 weeks old.

With mine the falling out of all the coat starts at about 6 weeks after whelping so that by the time pups go Mum looks a fright!!!  Takes until they are about five months before Mum looks showable again.  that is why it is god to have other relatives to show people how they should look, LOL :D

Have seen it happen during raising the pups before but never like this.
Unfortunately she is the one bitch here that has been brought in from another breeder so guess I will be getting the pictures out for puppy buyers!!!

I have that problem too... two of my girls were literally bald... no hair on legs or chest... and looked dreadful... another couple of girls lost hair, normal after whelping... and never looked as bad as my other two... it didnt take long for Tia's new coat to come in.. and 6months after whelping went back into ring and took BOB.. but it was so embarrassing when introducing her to prospective owners.. some had been to visit before whelping.. or had seen her in the ring.. but those who hadnt seen her, really did get quite a shock.. again.. like you.. out came the photos :-)

Yep!! It is dead embarrassing, that beautiful bitch, that looks like it has been neglected.
Nearly bold. I would just explain that bitches loose there hair after welphing, it is quite normal.
But! I know how you feel. I just feed mine complete with pilchards, tuna lots of oily fish.
As Barbrara said it is better if you have others to show them as they are normally.
If not a nice photo.

Denese

My puppies are 9 weeks old and so far we mostly have a scraggly tail and a pink chest area. I can see some pink showing through on her back in strong light.

I had never seen or heard about it before seeing my friends Gordon Setter bitch a couple of years ago ;-) She had almost no hair on her back, which was very unusual for this bitch. She always seemed a very hairy bitch (at least the hair always seemed to come off onto me :-D ) My own bitch did the same last year. Her pups are now 9 months old (today!!!!) and she still could do with more hair on her back, but she is in season :-)

My fawn bitch went very patchy after her last litter, it started just before whelping and by the time the pups were four weeks she looked very moth-eaten! After being examined by the vet she was given the all clear for anything frightening and it was just put down to hormones.
I must admit I personally lost more hair then usual after having my daughter, as do many other women. So its a problem for humans and canines alike(with thankfully less dramatic loss for humans!)

This time round my bitch is on calcium and vitamin powder to give her a bit of a boost in her time of need, fingers crossed for not so much hairloss this time!

During pregnancy the normal hair loss stops and most bitches will have a more luxuriant coat,a nd in humans women stop loosing the usual hair too, so after pregnancy the loss seems more.  In bitches i think it is so they can grow a nice new coat after the bashing it got. :D