hair loss

Question
My wife's one year old Bichon is losing hair.  He had a thick coat until recently, when it began thinning.  We can see skin in some spots. I know that they get their adult hair at about one year but is it normal for the coat to thin?

Answer
Without seeing the dog its very hard to suggest the problem, however this is quite common with dogs that are experiencing stress. If the dog isnt itchng then I would suggest stop washing with commercial products, use simple baby shampoo, check for fleas, mange and also alter the diet to a raw food diet with green beans, oatmel, goats milk, cheese, white fish, and start using fatty acids such as those seen in high fat fish, like salmon, mackeral, sardines on a daily basis.
Supplement using flax seed oil, evening primrose oil or starflower oil.
Give lutein and cranberry tablets and also fibre diet tablets all available from Holland nd barratt to aid this dogs immunity.

This can be a sign of other genetic problems, but firstly let us rule out the dietary and environmental problems first.

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Thanks N GOOD LUCK