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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'>My 11.5 year old, Johnny, was experiencing hair loss on his sternum, “arm pits”, lower abdomen (left side only) and inner part of both rear legs. Having had bassets for 46 years, this was a new one. His arm pits were a bit red, so we did Gold Bond to no avail. I tried a variety of other remedies … also to no avail. He had to go to the vet to get a blood draw for an NSAID panel because he has been on prednisone for a couple months but that is another story. The vet checked him over and then did a skin scraping … I was mortified when she said he had demodectic mange. Then, when I started breathing again, she explained that the mites are part of the normal skin flora but since he had been on a steroid, his immune system was suppressed and it allowed the mites to take over … kind of like antibiotics and a yeast infection. It is not contagious and can be cured but it takes quite a while. Johnny has been getting twice a week bathing and daily Ivermectin (injectable Ivermectic given orally by weight). His hair is growing back and he just had a recheck skin scraping and was negative for mites. He continue with the Ivermectin for 4 more weeks and have a final skin scraping. So … unexplained hair loss might be explained by this … ask your vet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'>Crate training … I cannot stress enough how important it is in my opinion. I think that it gives a dog security and a “safe” place to go when things get too crazy in a household. Mine all sleep in the crates at night (well almost all … Johnny and Hoagie have been sleeping with me) … they eat in their crates (with 9 dogs I need to know who ate what, give meds etc) and are frequently found lounging in their open crates during the day. When we leave the house, everyone goes to their crates for their own safety. That way, no one chews an electrical cord, knocks a table over and clunks themselves on the head, or decides to de-stuff the couch. Also, in case of a fire, they are all in the same room (with a prominent sign on the window of said room) and can easily be taken out safely. Frightened dogs tend to hide behind furniture and that is when firefighters cannot find them. Also, being crate trained makes travel so much safer. Mine all travel in metal/wire crates. When we had an accident pulling a trailer, all six dogs who were crated were unhurt, even though the van and the trailer rolled over and were totaled. When we were working, my dogs were crated from 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM with no problems. Now, some of the older boys need more frequent potty breaks, so we don’t leave them more than 4 or 5 hours. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'>We NEVER leave a dog outside when we are not home. It is simply not safe … because of heat, other animals, neighbors, kids, creeps and thieves. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#4F81BD'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#4F81BD'>Sandi Wittenberg<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#4F81BD'>Red Bay Bassets<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>