Poor Gracie, and poor you - you sure didn't deserve to be treated like that. if you were really a horrible dog owner, you would never even have called her in the first place trying to figure out what Gracie's problem is, now would you? It's obvious by your posts that you & your whole family love dogs!
Anyway, I'm glad I read Glacier's post - I just noticed Star has a spot on her groin that is reddish & the fur is thin, too, so now I have an idea what it may be- she's a purebred siberian. We'll get it checked. Good luck with Gracie.