# Black spots on Golden



## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

Is it his fur, or his skin? 

Edit: Sorry, you did say skin.  Do you have any photos?


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

No, I havent heard of black on skin except for a yeast infection. Does he smell even if he has been given a bath.

PS Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy your time here and will tell us more about your golden oldie.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

My 11 year old Whippet has more pigment spots coming in as years go by, and is the picture of health. However, he is a fawn and white spotted dog, so ticking/spots in his "pink" areas of skin is perfectly normal. I'd probably have a vet check him out to be sure.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

my 11 year old male has tons of them, and they're pigment spots. The vet says as long as they're flat don't worry about them.
He gets shaved 3 times a year, and then you can really see them. He has them all over, but especially on his belly. 
Hope that puts your mind at ease a bit!


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## AngieB (May 25, 2012)

Thanks for the replies. The blackness is on the skin, and they are also losing hair where the black skin is, or at least the hair is thinning. If I didn't know better, I would think this was some kind of "cradle-cap" that babies get. It looks like they haven't had a bath, but the groomer said it wasn't dirt.
I have had bloodwork done and it shows nothing, no thyroid issue or any other metabolic diseases. They have had a skin scraping with a look under a microscope and nothing....no yeast, no smell, no parasites or mites. The vet & I are at a loss. I can't believe no one has ever figured out what this is?
Any suggestions for soaps with a lot of moisturizer? The vet suggested vitamin E tabs & I will try that too. For my doggies sake I hope someone out there has any suggestion! I will try to post a pic if I can figure this out.
Thanks again Everyone


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

AngieB said:


> Thanks for the replies. The blackness is on the skin, and they are also losing hair where the black skin is, or at least the hair is thinning. If I didn't know better, I would think this was some kind of "cradle-cap" that babies get. It looks like they haven't had a bath, but the groomer said it wasn't dirt.
> I have had bloodwork done and it shows nothing, no thyroid issue or any other metabolic diseases. They have had a skin scraping with a look under a microscope and nothing....no yeast, no smell, no parasites or mites. The vet & I are at a loss. I can't believe no one has ever figured out what this is?
> Any suggestions for soaps with a lot of moisturizer? The vet suggested vitamin E tabs & I will try that too. For my doggies sake I hope someone out there has any suggestion! I will try to post a pic if I can figure this out.
> Thanks again Everyone


Sounds exactly like the staph infection a previous dog of mine had, they can be tough to treat. As a matter of fact, I thought it was just dry skin, and my vet discovered it while I was boarding him while on vacation. Did the vet mention staph?


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

My golden had something like that and turned out to be a staph infection. With the proper shampoo it cleared up. It was a shampoo that has salycic acid, peroxide and Sulfur..called dermabenss I would ask your vet if you could try that. Sometimes you need antibiotics. My dog didn't respond that great to the meds, just the shampoo.


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## canine_mommy (Dec 27, 2010)

Could it be the skin darkening that Hypothyroidism causes? Do you have a picture you could share?


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## AngieB (May 25, 2012)

not hypothyroidism. Had bloodwork done & thyroid function good. But, thanks for posting!


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## AngieB (May 25, 2012)

I am going to try to find the soap today. Vet said didn't think it was any kind of staph infection. Did a pretty deep scrape and viewed with microscope. I am a bit suprised that he, or none of the collegues in the office, have never seen this before when so many of us here have seen it. Thanks so much and I will post & let you know any results


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## AngieB (May 25, 2012)

Do you have the actual name for the shampoo? I went to Petco & they weren't sure what it was without an official name. Or, can you only get it thru the Vet?


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## momof2boys and one dog (Jan 20, 2012)

Our little toy poodle whom we adopted many years ago had black spots all over his skin on the underside of his belly and legs and his back. He was very old when we got him and he also had thyroid condition that required medication. The vet never seemed to wonder about them and we never really had any concerns about them, I assumed they were from old age.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

AngieB said:


> Do you have the actual name for the shampoo? I went to Petco & they weren't sure what it was without an official name. Or, can you only get it thru the Vet?


It may be something you have to get from the vet, to treat staph or fungal infection on the skin. I doubt it would be over the counter.

However, you could try MicroTek shampoo by Eqyss. It's really good for skin infection, irritation. You can find it usually at feed stores, it was originally for horses, but is now marketed for dogs too.


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

I got my shampoo through the vet that I work for but I did find it online, not sure if it requires an rx because it is a shampoo. The one I use is called dermapets dermabenss.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...-dark-skin-extreme-hair-loss.html#post7371226 for a simple 'how peroxide works'... this is not good science in any stretch. Carlos has made 6 posts in his member history and all are 'selling' this H2O2.
*edit: there were posts here that were selling a very dangerous product- removed due to the spam link in them. But ya'll all brush up on your witchdoctor meds today lol!


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## Jnoel21 (Sep 20, 2017)

My dog has had some issues with her skin, mainly yeast. I have had a lot of luck with the zymmox shampoo stuff - it has enzymatic compounds in it that help treat itching, fungal, yeast on the skin. You can get it on Amazon. I always try their products first before going to the vet. Good luck!


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## Red Dogs (Jul 11, 2013)

My 11 year old girl Tessa had them all under her tummy, I used to shave that area in the summer to keep her cooler, that's when I noticed it They came on with age and the vet said it was just pigmented skin.


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