Why is my boxer lossing his hair?

Question
Hello,
My Boxer started losing his hair in two spots on his hips around January. We took him to the vet and they did a scrape and said there was no problems and sent us home with fish oil pills. Now the baldness is spreading up across his back. Max is possibly 5 years old. We adopted him from a shelter 2 years ago. He was a sack of skin and bones and was heartworm +. We had him treated and he now has a clean bill of health. I am getting worried that my dog will have no fur soon. Thank-you for your time. Hannah

Answer
Hi Hannah,

Hair loss can be the result of a number of issues, although a clean skin scraping rules out parasites. A common issue in Boxers is called seasonal flank alopecia; the location and timing of your dog's hair loss is consistent with this benign condition. Some owners feel giving canned pumpkin, kelp, or melatonin can help with hair regrowth; the condition self-resolves, so it's uncertain whether the supplements contribute to the resolution or if they were coincidental.

Another common cause of hair loss is hypothyroidism, though it's usually general hair loss rather than in specific areas. Still, if you're concerned this might be the problem, you can have a full thyroid panel run (ask for an OFA panel) to determine his thyroid status.

These articles on seasonal flank alopecia might be helpful to you:

http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=53802
http://www.dermatologyforanimals.com/faq-08/

Good luck!