Need Advise! Non-shedding doodle has increasing clump-like sparsity on her coat.

[TYoung]

Hello everyone...

My 14 week old Australian Labradoodle is supposed to be a non-shedding baby.  She's been with us since 8 weeks and really never did shed.  for the last 2 weeks, I have gradually seen increasing sparsity all over her back coat.  It looks like clumps of hair have fallen out, yet I haven't found any clumps anywhere.  But, I have noticed A LOT of fur on my black pants and on her brush.  I contacted the breeder s few days ago with a photo, and she has not gotten back to me (grrr).  I was doing a little research and it could be an allergy.  She's on Taste of The Wild Pacific Prairie puppy food.  She was on the same food but the adult version from her breeder.  I made the gradual switch to the puppy formula on the recommendation of the vet, which went seemlesly .  I put about 1 tablespoon of cooked grass-fed ground beef or cooked wild caught salmon on her food to kill the monotony...but not on every meal.  I ran both those by the vet which said those would be fine.  Other than that, she has her grain-free treats, peanut butter, occasional pieces of cheese, and coconut oil.  She is not scratching, or complaining in anyway.  Her stools have been normal.  She's other wise her doodly self.  If anyone has some light to shed on this I would be so grateful.  I'm worried about my baby Hadley :(  Thank you in advance.

[TYoung]

[TYoung]

[TYoung]

Ill be uploading photo in a few minutes..I just took  a few with my phone.

[TYoung]

Just FYI:  Hadley is a Multigen Labradoodle.  Neither of her parents are shedders.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

But some of her grandparents or great grandparents on both sides are. :)

When you have a shedding ancestor on both sides, two non-shedding dogs can and do produce shedding offspring. Just like two brown-eyed people can have a blue-eyed child if each of them carries a recessive gene for blue eyes. Genetics are complicated. 

In mixed breed dogs, you can get very different types of puppies in the same litter. It just depends what genes each individual gets from each parents. 

[TYoung]

I have to admit, it would be a true heartbreak if she turns out to be a shedder.  It was a top priority for me in choosing a dog.  I made that very clear to the breeder (I know she ultimately doesn't have control over nature...but) she assured me that she trusted she would not be a shedder.  She explained that of course they all loose fur, but it would not be a noticeable thing.  This is extremely noticeable, and quite unsightly.  The photos make it hard to see rely.  Bu that's the best I could do with one hand on the phone and the others giving her treats to keep her somewhat still.  It is far more visible form some angles than others.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think the photos do show it pretty well. It looks like a type of focal alopecia. (It also looks like a genetic condition called canine follicular dysplasia, but let's not go there, it's rare.) Normal shedding doesn't usually involve symmetrical patches of hair loss. It possible that it may even be demodectic mange, which is pretty common in puppies; I've been doing a little research on your behalf and apparently demodectic mange doesn't always cause noticeable itching. You might consider having the vet do a skin scraping sooner rather than later; just don't let him/her tell you it's the food, because it's absolutely not. 

[TYoung]

Thank you so much for doing the research...Im VERY grateful.  Ive been trying for days and had not come up with anything.  This DK community is amazing!!!  I will look up both those ailments, and hope to get her to the vet.  Please do let me know if you think of anything else. Again, thank you!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There's a disorder in poodles called Alopecia X, too. But that's unlikely if your pup was spayed/neutered by the breeder prior to coming home, which is common with ALDs.

I'd definitely have the vet check for demodectic mange, that's the most likely and most benign possibility of those I've mentioned.

[Joan Bollaert]

Indeed... genetics is complicated.   I have a beautiful dark fudgy chocolate ALD and all of a sudden after one year she has shaded streak of white going down her back.  Not what I wanted or expected.  No one in her line had this nor has the breeder seen it.  ???   Oh well.  She's a sweetie and I'll be able to pick her out in a crowd. lol

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

But that said, shedding generally happens all over the body and not just in a couple of places. So this might be something else.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

A few things...

Did she get injured along her back?  That could cause temporary hair loss in those areas.

I did have a doodle who shed profusely around 16 -20 weeks.   Huge chunks. But she was ill and very stressed after being in several homes.   Her shedding stopped down the road.

And yes, doodles do shed!  Many of our doodles Shed.  Some just occasionally for some reason, some shed all the time.

Even my non-shedding, thick poodle coat doodle, will leave 'hair', just like you and I, on the furniture.