Hair loss/rough skin

Today while I was brushing him I noticed a really rough patch of skin on his hind leg that was almost hairless! Ripley normally has very soft, supple skin and very soft hair but the skin on this patch is dry and almost crusty, and the hair is VERY brittle. I can break it if I try to bend it. The rest of his body is perfectly normal, no other bald, dry spots. It doesn't seem to itch, he hasn't licked or scratched at it once. It doesn't seem to hurt, either, I touched it and he didn't do anything. It's slightly reddish compared to the rest of his skin.

What gives? If it worsens in the next day or two he's going to the vet, but I'm curious as to what your opinions are too. I've never had this happen to any of my dogs.

I will get a picture of it when he wakes up, he's asleep now and that's such a rare thing that I don't really want to bother him.

Sounds like what Tips got when he was 3 months. We never found what it was, and the vet couldn't help. We tried shampoo, meds, some spray thing, and eventually it just healed by itself (it took a bit over 2 months). Definitely post a picture though, and you might want to get it checked just in case to make sure it's not roundworms or mange.

Fran, thanks. He's had some skin issues before, but they just went away within a week or so and he was fine. It wasn't surprising like this, though, his skin was just a little pink and dry before. I know this isn't an injury, he hasn't been out of my sight long enough to hurt himself.

Here's a picture of it.. Not the greatest but it was the best I could get inside. It looks like he's still got a good deal of hair there but he really doesn't. In comparison you can't even see the skin on the other leg, his hair is so thick.

And a close-up of it, harder to tell how bald it is like this.

when Hammie had ringworm, what I noticed first was a patch of hair gone. the skin seemed dry, but had a bit of pinkish rash here & there. he never scratched, or licked it...never seemed to bother him a bit. I had to apply a topical ointment for a month. now his hair has grown back to normal...that also took a month. it was on his belly. just a thought.

Dog missing hair

I am not sure about your dog...
but my cat has hair loss behind both legs and thining above his eyebrows.
I took to the vet about 1 and 1/2 months ago and they said it was a hormone difficiany. Nothing to do with mange.
So they put him on hormone pills and he grew his hair back.
Just in the past 2 weeks we noticed the hair is thinning again. When I had our dog to the vet this week getting her spayed, I asked him about it and he said that if it does not get better in a few weeks bring the cat back in and they will check for Thyroid problems.
Just thought you might be interested.