Doberman Skin Problems

[LorraineO]

I have 2 questions.....

If you and your son have such terrible allergies,, why did you choose dogs that you cant have in your house?? There are breeds that are allergy friendly....??

and secondly,,,, You show me a site where it says dobies are good outdoor dogs ..... and I will eat my hat!

[dragondawg]

and end with another.

red blister like bumps that will actually get large enough to erupt like a volcano; his hair is extremly thin from his shoulder blades to about his hip bones; it's so thin that during all this cold weather had to make him a fortress out of blankets, he does live outside 24/7/365 with his other two buddies (an Aust. Shephard and a Siberian Huskey-which neither have this same trouble). His skin looks dry and flakey, but I rarely catch him scratching. Everytime I take him to the vet they do the same thing; medicated bath (two of them before they let me pick him up) and they give him a antibotic; none of this really helps much, maybe a little but nothing major. They tell me to try and keep him out of the dirt, like that's a simple task when we live on a farm

First your Vet needs to give you a referral to a doggy dermatologist. The chances are your dog has almost a chronic skin infection, and antibiotics help, but you are not getting at the root cause of the problem. Although one can not rule out an allergy, it sounds like something more serious is occuring. Dobermans are genetically prone to an increased incidence of hypothyroidism, and a auto-immune skin disease called Pemphigus foliaceus.

Hypothyroidism typically occurs in geriatric dogs, and as just noted Dobermans have an increased incidence of hypothroidism. Low thyroid levels would make the dog less tolerant towards temperature extremes both hot and cold. This could also account for the thinning skin, and flakey scaley appearance. Suspectability to infections can also occur with hypothroidism.

Pemphigus foliaceus. The following description is given by Rosenkrantz (Journal of Veternary Dematology 2004, 15:90-98)

Clinical lesions are variable and include pustules, crusts, erosions, ulcers and alopecia. However, clinical presentations may vary depending on the breed, triggering factors and the cyclical nature of the disease itself. Lesions include pustules, crusts, erosions, ulcers and alopecia. Some cases may remain localized to the head, face and pinnae, while others may generalize and develop additional systemic symptoms.

The treatment for this disease is to suppress the immune system. Sometimes large doses of Prednisone can control it. Other cases may require powerful immuno-suppressant drugs such as Cytoxin, or even Azathioprine.

One can also not rule out Demodex mange, which is also a sign of a suppressed immune system, and possible cancer lurking in an old dog.

Not to inflame the fire, but indeed IF it turns out to be thyroid or Pemphigus the best place for this dog will be inside - as much as possible. The reason being the more controlled climate inside, and a cleaner one. Else trying to control skin infections is going to be very difficult. IF Pemphigus, the treatment for the condition will leave puppy wide open to infection.

Once upon a time with my previous Daisy dog, I had started her outside at night. Every morning I would let her in, and then go off to work putting her outside again. Then when I came home I let her out of the pen. She actually didn't seem to mind the routine. At about 7 months I was due to take a trip up North to Indiana in the middle of winter. So I decided one night to try letting her sleep inside. It came the usual time when I would have put her out. Instead I invited her upstairs, it was though her eyes lighted up. She ran upstairs to the bedroom, and 15 minutes later was sound asleep. Thereafter she was inside at night. What I had going for me in this was that an outside dog will consider the house, especially if they are invited in regularly as the inner most part of their territory. In another words the house becomes just a huge den to them. Housebreaking is automatic.

You should consider letting them in at night. Try to make sure they did their doggy duties first. And you need to consider making sure the dog's contact with fecal dust or other animal excretement outside is minimal. I just quickly scanned through this thread, but somewhere you must have mentioned allergies as a problem. Get a good air filter such as the product from Sharper Image. That will help keep some of the dander down, although your sick puppy will probably produce a lot of it initially. For the other dogs a good brushing once per day will help.

Of course the choice is yours, but if the skin condition is more serious than an allergy, then it's going to be very difficult to bring under control in a barn. Young to middle age dogs are low maintenance. Geriatric dogs are high maintenance. Most important - get a referral to a dermatology, else things will get worse.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

The fawn coat colour in the Doberman is a dilute colour, dogs with either fawn or blue coats often have skin/coat problems like you're describing. I know that there is something you can do to help him but I jsut can't think of it right now lol. I'll see if I can remember and then I'll be back to this thread to try and help you and Kane

[MsMini]

I have to reply to this thread as a loving and devoted Doberman owner myself. I do not want to attack anyone for their personal decisions with their pets.
I am not one to have my dogs live outside full -time but for some dogs like Siberian Huskies and full-coated breeds , they do well outside. But when it comes to a Dobe, they do not. To anyone that has replied that they are supposed to be "guard dogs", they are.But if you have done any research, they were developed to accompany a tax-collector on his rounds .Therefore their personality makes them bond very strong with their owners and they want to live and work close with their Master. To the "guard dog" attitude , that is probably the reason why Dobes have the reputation they keep, as vicious attack dogs.
Being an outdoor dog with a single coat AND skin problems probably isn't helping him any.
There could be many reasons for his skin/coat condition, allergies, vitamin deficiencies, or disease.
I hope you can take something out of all of this and help Kane get better.Good luck .And don't forget to post a photo. I don't get to see too many fawns.