canine skin ulcer

Question
My 14-year old smooth dachshund has a patch of skin and fur the size of a quarter that "came off" this morning,leaving exposed skin/tissue.  This patch of skin and fur is very hard and looks as though it was there for some time. This patch is on his back, near his spine, about 2 inches from his tail.

Could this be an ulcer?  I never saw or felt anything unusual in this area until the patch of skin came off this morning.

I have wracked my brain trying to think of logical possibilities for the skin coming off... like scraping his back on something (under a car) and he was never exposed to anything like that.

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Diana Smith  

Answer
That area of skin obviously lost its blood supply and died.  It could be from a crushing type or pinching  injury, it could be from a blocked blood vessel, or it could be from some type of other trauma or disease.  Your veterinarian would need to look att he lesion to be sure.  If it is localized to only one place, then keep it cleaned off with warm water and soap and it should heal in a few weeks.