If your dog sheds a lot it does not necessarily denote ill health. Dogs that spend a lot of their time indoors are exposed to electric lights and central heat and air which can throw off their normal shedding schedule that nature built in. However, profuse shedding may have other causes like an unbalanced diet, a kidney or bladder infection or a parasitic ailment.

If your dogs shedding leads to bald spots you should seek help from your veterinarian as soon as possible. All severe shedding conditions are either parasitic or non-parasitic. Parasitic means caused by parasites such as mites or fleas. Non-parasitic means conditions created by a hormonal imbalance and or poor diet, which can easily be treated with vitamins and a more controlled diet.

Eczema is a symptom of an underlying disorder, usually dietary, rather than a disease. In older animals and altered ones, it may be caused by a hormonal imbalance due to a change of body chemistry. The skin becomes scaly and the hair falls out in patches. You must correct the cause by hormone injections or a change in diet, usually by adding fat supplements of Vitamin A and E.

Eczema can also be caused by fleabite allergy, or a parasitic condition. However, these bald spots usually appear suddenly and resemble lesions, or burns. To treat these, after veterinarian diagnosis, you must eliminate the fleas and use a local application of antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory medicines.

Bald spots can also be caused by mange. There are two types of mange, ot mange, Sarcoptic mange or