My dogs hair loss.

Question
Hi,

I have an 11 year old cocker spaniel. I had her clipped a few months ago and since then the hair on her back has not grown back. Her legs, ears, belly etc are all back to normal but her back has a very sparse layer of thin hair. She has not lost weight, the rest of her coat is healthy, she does not appear to be itchy and she receieves regular flea/tick treatments and bath with an oatmeal shampoo once a month. I am just wondering if this is something I should be concerned about and if I should take her to the vet for a checkup?

Answer
Sometimes in older dogs their thyroid glands are not putting out enough thyroxine.  That can cause the hair growth to become very slow.   That is easy to check with a blood test.  As long as the dog is comfortable and the skin is not irritated, I would just wait a few months to see if the hair regrows.  If not, then have it checked.