Dilution Alopecia

[jessiepbg]

A while back I met a blue Doberman. He would have been beautiful, but he was missing patches of fur. I was told it was called Blue Dilution Alopecia. Later I saw a blue merle Dachshund, but whereever she should have been blue, there was no fur. I have never seen an APBT with this condition though. I have a few questions. Is dilution alopecia just a general term or is it a specific illness? Has anyone ever seen an APBT with this condition? Would this be part of the problem people have with blue APBTs or is that just because of the fad breeders?

Please, do not make this a blue dog attack thread, as fun as those are, it's not the point. It's something I've been wondering about for quite some time now and I thought someone here might be able to help me out.

[chinasmom]

Why don't you google it... See if this helps.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&<WBR>db=PubMed&list_uids=16131833&dopt=Abstract (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=16131833&dopt=Abstract)

I saw no referance to pits on any of the sites. Amstaffs get whats's called Seasonal Alopecia though. It comes and goes with the seasons, hence the name. LOL

[Zane-insane]

Im not sure exactly....but i do know that when i was surfing the internet, i found a website that bred "blues".They said most blue animals, meaning not just dogs cats aswell, get skin irritations.Which may lead to loosing hair.They also stated that you could bring your animal to the vet and get these pills that will stop it.They also went on to say that most breeders of these blue dogs keep the skin info. to themselves, just for the fact they dont want to defer people from buying their dogs.

[bahamutt99]

I don't really know about Dobermans, but I've heard of the Alopecia thing before, so its likely something I've heard from my experience with this breed. I know there are some blue breeders who have disclaimers on their websites that they wont guarantee their dogs against skin problems, seemingly because they're too common?

ETA: I saved this one. Don't remember where I got it:

Blue dog warning, direct from a blue bully dog breeder's site: "THE BLUE COAT COLORING IN MOST BREEDS IS ASSOCIATED WITH SKIN PROBLEMS . BLUE COATED DOGS OF ALL BREEDS ARE MORE PRONE TO BACTERIAL, VIRAL, STAPH AND FUNGAL INFECTIONS AS WELL AS VARIOUS FORMS OF DERMATITIS, ALLERGIES, DEMODEX AND COLOR MUTANT ALOPECIA. WHILE SOME OF THESE CONDITIONS ARE HEREDITARY MANY OF THEM ARE SIMPLY THE RESULT OF THE BLUE COAT COLORING. WE AND OUR PARTNER KENNELS HAVE DONE COUNTLESS HOURS OF RESEARCH AND HAD LENGTHY CONVERSATIONS WITH OUT VETS. AS A RESULT OF OUR FINDINGS AND THE OPINIONS OF OUR VETS WE DO NOT GUARANTEE AGAINST ANY SKIN OR COAT PROBLEMS. NOR WILL WE BE RESPONSIBLE FOR SKIN AND COAT PROBLEMS THAT ARE COMMON FOR DOGS WITH THE BLUE COLORING. MOST OF THESE COAT PROBLEMS ARE EASILY AND INEXPENSIVLEY TREATED FOR AROUND $50.00. MOST BREEDERS WILL NOT TELL YOU ABOUT THESE COMMON PROBLEMS BUT WE FEEL IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW. WE HAVE SEEN IT PRODUCED IN ALL BLOODLINES AND COLORS BUT MOST COMMONLY IN BLUES OF ALL BLOODLINES AND MANY OTHER BLUE COATED BREEDS. NOT ALL BLUE DOGS WILL BE EFFECTED BY A SKIN PROBLEM BUT YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO TREAT YOUR DOG IN THE EVENT THAT HE DOES. WE WILL NOT KNOWINGLY BREED ANY DOG THAT IS A PRODUCER OF A SKIN DISEASE. THERE IS NO TEST AVAILABLE FOR THESE PROBLEMS PRIOR TO SIGNS OF INFECTION. ADULT DOGS CAN BE CARRIERS AND NOT EVER SHOW SIGNS OF INFECTION. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS, PLEASE DISCUSS THIS WITH YOUR VET AND RESEARCH IT ONLINE OR ELSEWHERE AS WE HAVE, BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BUY A BLUE DOG OR ONE WITH PARENTS WHO ARE BLUE! WE WILL NOT REPLACE A DOG OR REFUND MONEY ON A DOG PURCHASED FROM US THAT BECOMES EFFECTED BY DEMODECTIC MANGE."

[mikelia]

50 bucks to magically cure inherent skin problems? Ha. Either pay good money for good food or a lifetime of meds from the vet, certainly more than fifty bucks.
I think the dilute gene causes problems in most species. I bred fancy rats for a while and the blues are definately more prone to skin problems and protein intolerances. And most breeds that are bred for blue colouring seem to have skin problems too. With the rats it was definately a colour thing. Didn't matter if it was a blue throwback out of 5 generations of no skin problems, there was a good possibility it was going to have some sort of a skin issue.

[miakoda]

Jessie, this condition can occur in any breed of dog. We have seen it just as often in blue 'pit bulls' (typically occurs in blue to blue to blue to blue breedings, etc.) as we have the blue Dobermans. We have also diagnosed this condition in blue merle Great Danes & in some blue/blue tri Chihuahuas.

[jessiepbg]

Thanks for all the info.