I have had a young dog returned to me just before Xmas who seemed to be very lacking in socialisation and very timid.  It took a few days to intergrate him with my mob including his now best friend Merry the Rottie, his first new home allowed him to follow mum for reassurance rather than learn to cope on his own so after a week he came back.  The 2nd rehome lasted only 3 days and has caused me no end of problems via an ex member of our club but that's by the by, the dog was returned with a skin problem that he'd not had before he left.

I've spent a considerable amount of money on testing and treatments for this animal as I have his litter sister and father so wanted to be sure of his health and any possible genetic problems causing this crusty balding skin problem which was extremely itchy.  Well today I've got his skin biopsy results back from East Anglia ----- he has a zinc deficiency which had not been a problem with me as I feed BARF and add Nupro to their diet, but because he was given a complete in his new home he errupted in a dermatitis type rash poor chap.  I had left him on the diet he'd come back with and feel terrible now because the poor dog has suffered because of it, antibiotics for wks along with malaseb baths every other day just making his problems worse.  I changed him back to BARF when the complete ran out and within days his skin has improved no end and his hair is growing back where once he looked like a burns victim he's now looking like  a schip again.

The vet is sending him some Zinc supplements for a week or so to get his levels up quicker and then he's going for another check up but if the improvement I've seen now is anything to go by he'll be fantastic by then lol.

Hi,
One of ours started at 9 months with bald patches, mostly on legs - happened a couple of times, but managed to clear it using Quistel.  Other problem was eyes, kept going bald around them, then started itching under nose and chin, which went pink and bald as well!  For a while controlled it using eyedrops and antibiotic cream, then I read on here that balding eyes is a classic symptom of zinc deficiency. So went to Boots, bought zinc capsules and he has had one a day now for over 2 months, and no more problems. Still not sure if it's just co-incidence, I'll probably have to give it a bit longer!
  Hilda

That is very interesting.  I'd be interested to know what the complete diet was, or at least, was it one of the cheaper brands.

Another good reason to feed BARF.

Wendy

I was interested to hear from the vet tonight that males around the time of puberty need more zinc for sperm production as they have found there is a lot in their sperm - which would be about right with this young male as he was 14 mths old when he came back with no signs of skin problems and 16mths when he left for the 3 days.  The vet said his diet prior to returning to me must have been barely adequate on the zinc front for him at least so he showed no clincal signs, I won't name the food on an open forum simply because it is probably excellent for most dogs just a few who need more than the average, it is a well known brand and I have used it for my puppies for a long time but not anymore.

I was told by a sibe breeder years ago that one particular brand of food that was one of the erlay museli types caused zinc dficiency in sibes who seem to need a good and easily available supply of zinc.