# Hair loss after pregnancy!??



## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Don't know about dogs, but my hair thinned out after each pregnancy.
I'm sure you'll get some good advice. The Forum's full of it.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

It is quite normal. KNow that doesn;t make her look better but it is. How long it grows back is a question of quality of food and time of year. Being spring with summer coming it mike take a little longer.


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## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

Yes, that is very normal (and very sad  ) You will see her coat coming back by her next heat cycle in all probability. It may take a year to return to normal.


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## Katiesmommy (Sep 10, 2006)

Yes its called "blowing her coat" My breeder has said. Its very normal.


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## historicprim (Nov 24, 2007)

lucysmomma said:


> Hello,
> just wondering if it's normal for my lady to have lost her long hair after her 1st pregnancy? She looks like a lab right now, she had a very full & fluffy coat before she had her pups! I know they took alot out of her, but when does it start growing back? It worries me, just doesn't look like herself, almost sickly?! Thanks alot!


Yup, I agree with the rest! Before my poor girl had her final litter I hacked off all of her feathering, to keep her cleaner and so I wasnt worried about puppies getting caught in it.


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## Dogrunner (Feb 24, 2008)

They all do it. If you're lucky though, the mountain of hair won't get sucked into your a/c condenser ($83 to have it cleaned out). It does grow back; how quickly depends on the dog, but Shake took about 9 months to get all of her fluff back.


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

It's normal for a female to blow coat after the puppies are weaned. I adopted my Golden as a young adult after she was bred by our breeder. I brought her home shortly after her pups were weaned and her coat was coming out in handfuls. I could fill a shopping bag each day. 

About two months later we had some issues with her being very lethargic and moody and two months post weaning, her coat was still very sparse and not growing. Turns out my girl had a low thyroid. It's very normal for them to lose their coat but keep an eye over the coming months for things that may not be normal. Sometimes it takes the dog a while to recover from the pups. My dog had a very hard time and lost A LOT of weight. She is currently 11 pounds heavier than when I brought her home and she was done feeding her pups. It took months to get her to gain weight. 

Here's a before and after picture (i.e., 2 months post weaning pups after blowing coat (AUG. 07) and then March 08)


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## arcane (Sep 18, 2007)

It is a totally normal occurrance. Even Adi has blown out her coat and looks like she was indeed pregnant/whelped, just by coming into milk...it is hormonally based, her coat should come back in just fine.


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## JSeraphin (Jan 15, 2011)

*Hair loss after pregnancy*

You've heard of "phantom pregnancy"?. After an older bitch had a litter, my _younger_ bitch who was a year away from being bred, lost_ her_ hair. She is very sensitive but that blew my mind.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

I've been a lurker on this forum for a while, but felt compelled to join so I could respond to this thread (albeit it is old...I hope someone reads it!!). We acquired our first golden in 2011, and at our breeder's request, kept her intact. She is my first intact female and has had two heat cycles so far. Her first cycle was went from Dec. 24, 2011 - Jan. 17, 2012. Her next one went from mid-August 2012 - mid-September 2012. This coincided with me becoming pregnant myself in late August. Then, I had a miscarriage in October at 11 weeks and noticed in December that Kea was having some vaginal discharge and was also leaking colostrum from her nipples. I consulted our breeder's reproductive vet who agreed with my hunch that she could be going through a false pregnancy (would make sense as the timing should have been right near the end of her diestrus). Call me crazy, but I think somehow my own hormone cycle interacted with hers. And now she's blowing her coat in the dead of Colorado winter. I guess we'll work on her performance titles over the next few months and then it'll be back to the show ring when she looks a bit better.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Welcome to the forum! My intact girls blow coat twice yearly. Pseudocyesis (false pregnancy) has nothing to do with what is going on with our own hormonal cycles. In my dog family, it looks like their seems to be some familial predisposition to the false pregnancies.... And currently, two of my neutered dogs are blowing their coats in Maine.....


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## Spycsweet73 (10 mo ago)

Goldilocks said:


> It's normal for a female to blow coat after the puppies are weaned. I adopted my Golden as a young adult after she was bred by our breeder. I brought her home shortly after her pups were weaned and her coat was coming out in handfuls. I could fill a shopping bag each day.
> 
> About two months later we had some issues with her being very lethargic and moody and two months post weaning, her coat was still very sparse and not growing. Turns out my girl had a low thyroid. It's very normal for them to lose their coat but keep an eye over the coming months for things that may not be normal. Sometimes it takes the dog a while to recover from the pups. My dog had a very hard time and lost A LOT of weight. She is currently 11 pounds heavier than when I brought her home and she was done feeding her pups. It took months to get her to gain weight.
> 
> Here's a before and after picture (i.e., 2 months post weaning pups after blowing coat (AUG. 07) and then March 08)


My golden has the same issue ! Did yours have to stay on the medications?


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

If your girl had a litter, yes, she will blow her coat probably more than you have seen before she had a litter. If she was on thyroid meds, she should be retested and evaluated after her litter, since the need for supplementing changes without the strain of a litter.


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## Spycsweet73 (10 mo ago)

Goldilocks said:


> It's normal for a female to blow coat after the puppies are weaned. I adopted my Golden as a young adult after she was bred by our breeder. I brought her home shortly after her pups were weaned and her coat was coming out in handfuls. I could fill a shopping bag each day.
> 
> About two months later we had some issues with her being very lethargic and moody and two months post weaning, her coat was still very sparse and not growing. Turns out my girl had a low thyroid. It's very normal for them to lose their coat but keep an eye over the coming months for things that may not be normal. Sometimes it takes the dog a while to recover from the pups. My dog had a very hard time and lost A LOT of weight. She is currently 11 pounds heavier than when I brought her home and she was done feeding her pups. It took months to get her to gain weight.
> 
> Here's a before and after picture (i.e., 2 months post weaning pups after blowing coat (AUG. 07) and then March 08)





Prism Goldens said:


> If your girl had a litter, yes, she will blow her coat probably more than you have seen before she had a litter. If she was on thyroid meds, she should be retested and evaluated after her litter, since the need for supplementing changes without the strain of a litter.


hi she had a litter back in July blew her coat in October , November . Diagnosid with low thyroid …. Put on medication . Just wondering if she will have to stay on the meds


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Yes most likely she will have to be on some thyroid support forever- thankfully, it is inexpensive and easy enough to dose. 
Just be sure to have a free T and T4 done at least once a year to be sure she's getting the correct dose.


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## nanytik2 (10 mo ago)

this is the norm for people. and for animals? perhaps it is worth adding vitamins for hair to the diet


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