Strange Hair Growing In On 3 Yr Old GD Back

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I don't know where to post this discussion...either here or in the Grooming Group.  Gracie Doodle is a 3 yr. old Goldendoodle (F1) and has
never had a skin issue at all.  She is a very soft wavy fleece but not
thick.  If you push back her hair it is very easy to view her skin.  She
has just finished having two surgeries for fox tail removal and was on
an antibiotic for 12 days.  That is the only change in her life.  No
food changes...nothing.  Within the last week these two areas on her
back right on her spin have showed up.  It is almost like she is trying
to become a Rhodesian Ridgeback!!  The hair is very course, tight,
laying very flat and short.  One is larger than the other.  They are 2/3
back on her back.  Any clues or ideas as to what this is and what I can
expect to have happen? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm pretty sure that's what they call "kemp", but I don't know anything else about it.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think areas like this can show up where there is an injury. The fact that it's short would fit with that. I had read that kemp was only the coarse white hairs that show up, generally dispersed on the back most often. Some others seem to indicate that areas like you are showing are kemp. Guess by now I'm just confused. Luca has one clump that's darker on one of his flanks. Not sure about the texture, though .

[Lynne B]

Beck is a curly chocolate labradoodle and he has a clump like that on his side where he had surgery to repair a puncture wound, it's about 3" long and an inch wide and it's completely straight, slightly wiry almost black fur.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned has red, coarse hairs down his back. It seems to be a part of his adult coat and not in spots.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

That's strange because Gracie has had no injury. I know she was at the Dog Ranch for 9 days and that is where she got the fox tails in her paws but when we brought her home and washed her I went over her completely with a find tooth comb. I always look for scrapes or any type of injury. Only a few little sores under her arm which the antibiotic for the fox tails took care of. Since she is out in brush and bushes during the day she sometimes get poked by a branch. Nothing anywhere near her back. Could a bruise cause it? I would have no way of knowing if something hit her back and caused trauma.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I would think, if the theory is true, that the skin would have to be broken and that a bruise wouldn't do it.

[Ginny Nightingale]

So, bear with me while I take a complete guess here--When I had Lakeland terriers that were in dog shows, you would "pluck" the coat so that it would grow in as darker, more wiry hair. You plucked by using a dull blade against the hair and pulling it out--I know, it sounds awful but the dog never really showed any discomfort. I stopped it after he was done in the show ring, which was at the age of 2. I got totally turned off by the AKC world.
ANYWAY, this looks like something that would happen to my Wheaten also, who was never plucked, but would sometimes chew an area or have a spot where he was injured and the hair grew in as wiry dark hair for a while. This really looks the same, but I couldn't tell you why. My 2 year old cream colored doodle has started to get red wiry hairs, but they are all over her back, not in dense spots like this.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

This is where I get totally baffled as to why this is happening. She is not a chewer or scratcher, Never had any hot spots or dry flaky spots...nothing. No injuries, sores or broken skin. I do all her grooming and I haven't plucked her anywhere but inside her ears! It is like this just popped up overnight. I rub her back every day and run my fingers through her hair. It truly was like overnight!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Strange.

[Vicky & Cassidy]

This looks like what is called "wound hair", and usually appears at the site of a wound or incision. I have seen it on my dogs over the years and the hair will come in darker and coarser than the surrounding hair. I think you said that her foxtails were in her pads, however, so this may be from hot spots(?) I wouldn't worry about it ~ it may just be a form of defense for the body.