Partly brittle coat and tear stains

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Partly brittle coat and tear stains

Posted : 1/24/2007 5:39:20 PM

My golden has really curly coat, and it's mostly really soft and healthy looking. But for some reason, the hair on the bottom of his back (just forward of the base of his tail) is really coarse and somewhat brittle feeling. Also, he's starting to get "eye boogers". Does anyone know what could possibly be the causes of this?

When I'm training with him, I use small cut up hot dog pieces. After a little bit, he may cough or sort of hack. Could it be that he is allergic to something in them, which in turn is causing the brittle hair and "eye boogers"?

jessies_mom

Posted : 1/24/2007 7:52:24 PM

Your avatar is sooo cute.[

] Do Goldens have an undercoat; Jessie has one and this time of year it's very thick, especially in the area you describe. Her hair gets so thick in that area that it feels like lumps and when I comb it, a lot of loose hair comes out. It always feels softer after it's combed; maybe you could try brushing and combing the area to see if that helps. Eye boogers are usually caused by allergies; before starting allergy shots, Jessie used to get a lot of them. Allergies can cause a dog to cough, although the usual symptoms are watery eyes, itchy ears, licking or chewing on the feet, and scratching. If you started noticing the eye boogers after he had been eating the hot dogs for awhile ( it usually takes at least 3 months for a dog to develop an allergy to a food), they may be the cause.

nGoldenm

Posted : 1/24/2007 9:40:46 PM

Yeah, they do have an undercoat. I do brush him pretty frequently, but I never really get a lot of hair. Most of it does tend to come from the area I was talking about.... Maybe I need to get a better brush.

As for the hot dogs, I've only had him for about a week. So I guess thats out. I guess I'll just have to wait a while and see if they go away or get worse. Thanks for the post.

Anyone else got any suggestions?