Alright, I've heard it's possible for a corgi's ears to go floppy again while teething. Eddie's did this. His ears were beautifully erect for a long time, and then as soon as his teeth started falling out, his ears dropped. I know it's possible to tape his ears up, but there aren't very many informative sites on how to tape a Pembroke's ears and I'm a little afraid of messing up his ears (What if they don't stand up the right way afterwards?) from doing it wrong. Additionally, I can't tape his ears up right now (they're scabbed up at the moment) because of another problem he's currently going through:

Eddie's been having skin problems for a couple months. It started around his mouth, then under his eyes like war paint, then on and in his ears, a bit on top of his head, and now his elbows. It gets a flakey, crusty build up, his skin turns blackish underneath and the fur falls out, and then he scratches the crust off until he ends up wounding himself and creating scabs. The weirdest thing is, this patchiness is almost symmetrical and only located on his head and elbows. I've been taking him to the vet since the start of it, and it's starting to get expensive with all the tests and medications.

 

Here's how the vet checkups have gone:

They suspected it was ringworm at first, thanks to the scabs glowing green under a blacklight. They gave him an oral antifungal medication (which ended up doing no good) and told us to keep him secluded from the other pets for a whole month. We did as the vet instructed, and I ended up washing my hands every time I touched him. None of the other dogs caught the so called "ringworm" (even after being exposed to him for a long time before secluding him), and neither did any of the people who were exposed to him! Eddie hated being locked away and was glad when we finally declared his imprisonment over.

The next vet check was with a different vet in the same clinic, who looked him over and declared that it probably wasn't ringworm. He felt it was something bacterial, or perhaps caused from a weak immune system. He looked at the hair follicles under a microscope and sent a scraping of his skin into the labs for a fungal culture to completely rule out ringworm (which I need to call in to find out the results for). He gave me a round of antibiotics for him this time, which seemed to work very well. Eddie's fur started coming back in around his mouth and under his eyes, but now that the prescription is over, it looks like it's going back to how it was before.

He's due for another vet check now, but I'd like to know if anyone has any opinions on what this skin condition could be. I found something called canine zinc-responsive dermatosis, which sounds very close to what Eddie has, although I haven't noticed any lethargy and I can't seem to find any good pictures of the condition online to compare him to. Eddie was on Purina ONE puppy chow, but (due to being unable to find that kind for a week and being out of dog food) he's now on Iams puppy chow. Both claim to be premium and balanced food, and both have zinc sulfate in the ingredients. What do you think?

I would also like opinions concerning Eddie's ears. Has this happened to your corgi? Did they go up on their own? Did you end up taping them up?
Eddie is currently about 5 months old. His ears are not overly large, and they are fairly thick, but it's been several weeks, his teeth are all in, and his ears still haven't come back up. When should I be concerned about his ears and consider taping (given that they're healed)?

Below are some pictures of the areas of his face where his fur has fallen out.

Edit: Oh, and just while I'm at it, I've noticed Eddie tripping over his right paw a lot lately. I intend to bring this up too at the next vet visit, but if anyone has any opinions on this issue as well I'm all ears.

Edit 2, 4-12: Gosh, will this ever end? He was licking his dewclaw today, and when I finally called him over to take a look, the base of the claw was scabbed and bloody. I'm guessing this is related to the skin condition... Oh Ed, please get better soon.

 

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It kind of looks like demodectic mange to me.  That starts around the eyes and sometimes the paws.  It's caused by a mite that usually lives in the dog's skin with no harm to the dog (we have our own type who live in our eyelashes and eyebrows).  However, if the dog has a weakened or suppressed immune system, the mites take advantage and overgrow.  If the problem is really localized (just around the eyes, say), then it usually takes care of itself.  But if it spreads, then you need to treat aggressively, usually with a dip and antibiotics for the secondary skin infections that usually result.   The vet should pick this up with a scraping, but maybe they aren't really looking for it.  Ways to control it from coming back, or without going with dips (which are neurotoxins and you have to be careful with the dog then--no vaccines or flea/tick treatments while on treatment) are to go with raw feeding or at least grain free.  Wet food is superior to kibble.  Add probiotics as the idea is to boost the immune system as much as possible.  Good bacteria in the gut will help that.  Add essential fatty acids to help the skin heal. No treats that contain grains and cereals.  Dairy should be limited because it promotes blood sugar spikes, but kefir is really good to add to the food once the dog is recovered---it has a lot more good bacteria than yogurt does.  Lots of rest and stress free living :).  Actually that's all good advice no matter what, now that I think about it.
Thanks for the info! The vet said the scraping was all clear, which I assumed was ruling out mange as the culprit. It doesn't seem to be spreading to his body at all. It's just a few small areas, and it's pretty uniform in distribution.

What was the result from the scraping? i think that should help ruling out stuff, although it is interesting that the abx helped and now that hes off, everything is coming back.

 

Switching food for a month or two( no grains) would be a good way to gauge if it is caused by allergies.

The scraping was "all clear." I also got a call back from them last month and they informed me that the fungal culture was also negative for ringworm.

 

The antibiotics seemed to help, but the short treatment was unable to cure it fully... It seems to have stabilized since then. It hasn't gone away, but it hasn't worsened by any dramatic means. I've seen just a few tiny spots on his paws, about the size of a pea, but that's as far as it's progressed. There also hasn't been any more significant scabbing, just the strange black pigmentation and scaley skin.

When I figure out a way to try switching his diet around, I'll keep this updated! @_@

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