missing fur above her eye?

How old is she? Is the area dry and flakey?  If she's a pup it could be demodex.  IF IT IS demodex, don't get shots.  It will make it worse.  Get titers done instead -- I've got lots of info on demodectic mange -- holler at me and I'll send it to you if you'd like.

Thanks,
 
it is dry and looks flaky, i haven't touched it much incase it bothers her. it looks like she has one white eyebrow now.
 
i just hope it isn't uncomfortabel for her....
 
what are titers?
 
felicity

i nearly forgot, she's 18 months old.

Sounds like demodex which my Bailey has at the moment... the vet can do a scrape for you and find out...

Please take your puppy to the vet for a skin scrape.  If it is demodectic mange, (not contagious - also known as "red mange") the pup needs medication, perhaps mitaban dipping, which only the vet can do.  If it isn't demodex, it could be a fungi or other infection. 
I've got 6 puppies suffering from a similar thing... alas, it ISN'T demodectic mange, for us, it MAY be fungi (ringworm), which is contagious. The fungi test takes almost 2 wks to get the results back.
 
Children are more likely to get "ringworm" it from the dog, adults with a good immune system and no skin breakage (cuts, etc) are not as likely to get it from the pup...
here is a picture of Benny, one of our rescues, when he had demodectic mange as a pup.
[linkhttp://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h249/AllDogsHeaven/bencute.jpg]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h249/AllDogsHeaven/bencute.jpg[/link]
[linkhttp://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h249/AllDogsHeaven/BenPuppy.jpg]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h249/AllDogsHeaven/BenPuppy.jpg[/link]
 
You can see on the second pic his elbow, and the first pic shows a patch over his eye... Ben  had "generalized dem. mange", which meant he needed 6 weekly dip treatments at the vet.  We had another pup who had some on his nose, which was "localized", and he was treated with ivermectin liquid, daily for one month.
 
Bottom line... my advice is to go to the vet asap, have the skin scraped, and the advice to hold off on the vaccinations is good advice... the pup suffering from demodex is most likely having some type of immuno problem, and the vacc will be at least ineffective, and at worst, the pup may end up contracting the disease you're attempting to prevent with the vacc.  A simple blood test, if you're wanting to investigate this status, can be done (cbc) to tell what state the puppy's immunity is in.
Good Luck!!   ~ Julia

here are some sites that contains info about "red mange" & "sarcoptic mange"
[linkhttp://www.dr-dan.com/red.htm]http://www.dr-dan.com/red.htm[/link]
[linkhttp://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_demodectic_mange.html]http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_demodectic_mange.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_sarcoptic_mange.html]http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_sarcoptic_mange.html[/link]
 
A "titer" is a blood test that measures the antibodies of certain vaccinations in your pet's blood.  It's a way to tell if the pup has certain immunities.  It is NOT meant to replace the need for Rabies vacc, though.  Here is an article, exerpt is pasted here describing the current stance of Rabies titer.
[linkhttp://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5403a1.htm]http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5403a1.htm[/link]
 
Rabies Serology. Some "rabies-free" jurisdictions may require evidence of vaccination and rabies antibodies for importation purposes. Rabies antibody titers are indicative of an animal's response to vaccine or infection. Titers do not directly correlate with protection because other immunologic factors also play a role in preventing rabies, and our abilities to measure and interpret those other factors are not well developed. Therefore, evidence of circulating rabies virus antibodies should not be used as a substitute for current vaccination in managing rabies exposures or determining the need for booster vaccinations in animals
 
 
 

and finally (sorry to write so much)... here's some info on "ringworm"
[linkhttp://www.thepetprofessor.com/articles/article.aspx?id=211]http://www.thepetprofessor.com/articles/article.aspx?id=211[/link]
 
 

For Bailey we are using Goodwinol ointment, an Amitraz flea collar and 3V liquid to see if we can get rid of this without using Ivermectin or a dip as those chemicals and antibiotics have side effects and if you dont need to use them its better... I hope we can.

Thankyou for all the helpful advice,
 
it does seem as if she has that mange thing...poor girl, i'll take her to the vet and see what they can do, i don't really want them to use anything that has side effects.
 
i'll let you all know what they say and i'll post a pic of her eye tomorrow.
 
 
 
felicity

The only thing vets CAN do for demodex is either Goodwinol ointment (which really doesn't work), or ivermectin (you can NOT do that on any herding dog -- just don't -- it can be fatal), or the old mitaban (amitraz) dips which are incredibly toxic and again they don't work well.
 
See demodex is immune-related.  If you JUST kill the mites you don't get far.  They try to give the body a 'rest' from them so the immune system will somehow magically get better -- it doesn't.  I'm not a vet but I've consulted with MANY on this issue.  The stuff I suggest in my article is all logical stuff (no I sell NOTHING ... this is all stuff you can get at stores locally) -- but you must boost the immune system, and build it long term, or the demodex will be back again and again.
 
Spay/neuter a.s.a.p.  It is critical.  Sexual maturation is probably THE **biggest** trigger of all -- and if you don't spay/neuter a.s.a.p. then the body just keeps working against itself.  Often I hear vets say 'well let's wait until the mange is gone before we spay/neuter' and that's just dumb -- because it IS the sexual maturation that is whacking out the immune system. 
 
If the dog has infected skin you *must* treat with antibiotics -- that's important (infected skin won't heal).  But as soon as any infection is gone, then spay/neuter a.s.a.p.  Yes, it is a 'stressor' but a far less critical trigger than the whole sexual maturation thing.
 
I know a lot of folks want to wait to spay/neuter -- and in other situations you can.  But with demodex it is so critical to do it absolutely as early as possible.  It gives the dog a better chance.
 
You can get these pups immune systems online -- truly you can.  But you always have to be careful of the immune system -- these are dogs you do NOT want to vaccinate every year.  Titers only once the dog has had one set of modified live parvo/distemper (never EVER give them the combo shot -- it is just plain too much for them EVER).  But after one round of the modified live parvo and distemper then you can titer and only vaccinate when absolutely necessary. 
 
In some dogs the demodex never returns - in others it does.  But helping to make their immune system as good as it can possibly be, you help stack the deck in the dog's favor.
 
Please email me if you want that article.  I can't PM you -- the article is long and I need your actual email in order to attach the document.  my email is easy --
 
callie at critturs dot com (leave out the spaces and put in the punctuation). 
 
this is just something I happen to have dealt with TONS.   Literally I've been able to help probably 2000 dogs over the past 7 years.  (yeah, THAT many).  And the article I'll send you -- I'm glad for you to take it to your vet and show them.  It works.  It's a lot of work for you but it WILL work.