miranadobe
Posted : 2/6/2008 1:57:46 PM
The Color Dilution Alopecia affects 50-80% of all of the dilute Dobes (fawn is a dilute of red, and blue is a dilute of black) Sometimes reds develop alopecia, too, but more often you'll find it to be a correlation with Hypothyroidism. The secondary effect of the hair loss is some pustules or pimples in the skin exposed -it feels more oily and you will see blackheads to pustules. You can rub Oxy pads (and I've heard some folks try witch hazel, too) to minimize the pimples.
Generally, I've found that if a blue Dobe makes it to 2 or 3 and still has a nice coat, then they will keep it. I've only met 2 blue Dobes with nice coats. Depending on your climate, you'll need to protect the exposed skin from sun damage and cold exposure.
Aside from the hair loss, I've never experienced any difference in temperament or whatnot. As stated above, same health concerns as any Dobe - hypothyroidism, dialated cardio myopathy, von Willebrand's disease, cervical vertebral instability (most commonly known as Wobblers) - check out genetic disease info in Dobes here - http://www.dpca.org/gendisease.html
Good luck and enjoy your Dobes!!!!