Hair Loss in a Postpartum Yellow Lab
Pregnancy causes many physiological and hormonal changes in dogs, including yellow labs. In a postpartum yellow lab, hair loss is a common occurrence and not a cause for concern. Pregnant and nursing labs are affected by stress and hormones that alter the normal hair growth patterns.
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Hair Growth
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Normally, hair grows in three stages. The first stage is when the hair is actively growing, called anagen. The second stage, called telogen, is a transitionary phase when the hair is renewing itself for growth activity. The third stage is catagen, when the hair is detaching itself from the follicle.
Hair Loss
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When a yellow lab's hair follicles enter the telogen phase, the coat sheds more easily. Telogen is the beginning of new hair growth under the old coat. The new hairs growing push out the old coat hairs. When a dog loses a significant portion of its hair, it is often referred to as "blowing the coat." The technical term for this is telogen effluvium. The dog might even lose large clumps of hair, according to the Pet Education website.
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Postpartum Influences
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Stress on the body caused by both pregnancy and nursing can cause more of the yellow lab's hair follicles to enter the telogen growth phase than is normal. According to the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, hormonal changes associated with pregnancy and nursing can also affect the hair growth stages in the same way.
Care
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If your yellow lab is going through significant hair loss, brush it daily to decrease the amount of loose dog hair in the home. Take care to ensure that a postpartum dog is receiving adequate nutrition, especially if the dog is nursing puppies.
Considerations
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Even though the postpartum dog is losing a considerable amount of hair all at once, the hair loss is only temporary. New hairs are growing in underneath the top coat as it is being pushed out and shed. Once the puppies are weaned, the dog's regular hair growth cycles should resume.
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References
- Photo Credit proud retriever stand image by Slobodan Djajic from Fotolia.com
