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Permalink Reply by Sam on March 23, 2008 at 8:01am

Much depends on the length of time the dog was effected with skin problems. Often times mange is not the only issue a dog suffered. Dogs often have had secondary infections when they have mange due to the open areas of skin. Many dogs have been medically neglected and have had many years of flea bite dermatitis which will leave the skin thickened. Some have yeast infections of staph infections. With a good diet, good parasite prevention and good grooming I suspect in another year you will find a much nicer coat then you see today. Bless your heart for taking on a rescue.

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Permalink Reply by Court on March 23, 2008 at 10:54am

Sam, Do you know what the treatments generally are for yeast infections?
my rescue has a patch on his right ear, where no hair grows...at least
yeast is what the vet thought...is there a way to tell the different
infections by sight?, or can you refer me further?
Thanks!
Court and Leila

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Permalink Reply by Sam on March 23, 2008 at 2:54pm

Yeast infections are usually active, itchy and have a foul smell. I think they are usually secondary to other issues. They are more likely to occur when the moisture balance is there such as may occur in ears or open sores on the body. I would think your vet could do a skin scraping and investigate a bit further. Ringworm also will cause a bare patch. I would encourage your vet to check it out further if you think it is a cause for problems.

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Permalink Reply by nwcorgifan on March 23, 2008 at 3:14pm

Thanks for your response. I don't know much about what happened to her before I got her. I think the rescue lady didn't want to give me a lot of details because she didn't want to scare me off. She didn't mention until I had flown back to Seattle that Tuck hadn't even finished her mange treatments. I hadn't actually gone to look at Tuck, but saw a picture of one of her pups on PetFinder. As it turned out, the pup was too long-backed for me. I was still grieving for my last corgi, who for her last 3 years was in a wheelchair. I was worn out from Coyote's special needs, and the really long back made me very nervous. Additionally, Tuck's personality won me over. She was the sweetest dog, which was amazing after all she'd been through. The rescue lady was pretty surprised I passed over the more attractive corgi for the admittedly homlier-looking one; but I was smitten.
Anyway, to get back to the subject, Tuck did little more than scratch for the first entire week I had her. I was panicked that she was going to scratch herself raw and open herself up to infections; but, thankfully, that didn't happen. I had some salve from Coyote's medicine cabinet, which seemed to slow the scratching down somewhat.
So, I don't know how much damage her skin has sustained. And, she's my girl now, whether or not she ever gets the "corgi coat;" still, I'm hopeful that she'll eventually have a nice, healthy coat. I'm just unsure at what point she's got what she's going to end up with.

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Permalink Reply by Renee Wagner on March 23, 2008 at 3:39pm

when was her last litter. Her poor coat cold be related to that. My bitches blow coat like crazy and look like science experimants gome wrong. Its a hormone thing. The hair on her face my not ever come back however the rest should as long as there is not extreme damage to her skin, Was her thyroid checked it could be part of the hair regrowth problem and the time of year will help it com bach they are growing their summer coat now. If none of these work I have asecret corgis hair recipe that has cut my shedding in half and bettter plusher coats all the better for sniggling with.

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Permalink Reply by nwcorgifan on March 23, 2008 at 6:18pm

The pup I originally went to look at was 8 months old. I've never bred dogs, so I don't know how often you can breed them; but I would think that would have been her last litter.
Oooh, a secret corgi hair recipe. I could so use that. My last corgi was a fur factory. Tuck hasn't shed much yet; but I think that's because she's been so busy growing it in. Once that undercoat starts shedding, it's going to be a mess. Anything you can suggest to keep her shedding down and result in a plusher coat would be a godsend!

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Permalink Reply by Kristen on March 24, 2008 at 3:55pm

Renee, you are going to have to share this. You could becomme a goddess amoung the Corgi crowd if your secret recipe works!

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