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My dog has hair loss on his rear, no itch or redness. What's wrong?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | neutered | 9 years old

My dog has hair loss on his butt and top of his tail. Theres no redness, he doesn’t bite it or itch, and it doesn’t appear to be a ringworm. It’s been like this for a few months now and my other dog hasn’t been affected by it. I’ve also treated it as a hotspot and nothing changed. If anything the skin just looks a bit dry. Should I be worried? Is there anything I can do to help him? (He just recently turned 9)

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

Published on March 19th, 2019

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on February 11th, 2017

    This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites.

First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment (advocate or advantage), then get him to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation.

 If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy.

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    Answered By Oneal Bogan, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 15th, 2017

    Hello. There are a few things that could be causing the hair loss on Rusty's tail. Common causes of hair loss are allergies, parasitic mites, self trauma, bacterial infection and endocrine disease. Your vet can test for these things and get to the bottom of the cause. I would start with them doing a physical exam and then going from there. Best to you and Rusty.

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    2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 3rd, 2020

    Rocky's hair loss could be several things including allergies, endocrine disease, parasites, hormonal changes, poor diet or the normal twice yearly shedding of the coat. The only way to figure out the cause is to have Rocky examined by your veterinarian. You can rule out parasites by using an oral medication like Simparica. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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