Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 7/12/2005

Question
Good morning Dr. Gotthelf,

 My girlfriend an I are picking up a Yellow Labrador puppy this week. She's about five weeks old and has been living with her with her mother and siblings on a farm, spending nights only inside the house. She's got some small patches on her head, hind, and feet where there is no/not much hair. Some of the patches have small, wart-like welts about the size of a pea in diameter. One patch on her foot has no welts, but the skin is a dark pink.
  Any ideas what these may be? Are they treatable/ something we should worry about?

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
 Chris S., Lawrence,KS.

Answer
I would be concerned about mange, bacterial infection, or ringworm. You should take the puppy to the vet right away to see just what this is and to get a vaccine schedule set up for the pup. When you get the pup and you also get some kind of assurance from the breeder that if it is something difficult to treat like mange, that they will give you a refund.