Expert: Kaza - 5/17/2008

Question
I have a 15 week old male Bichon. The day I "met" him I immediately noticed that he had a band of short hair (about 2" wide, right below his shoulders) It is very noticeable! The breeder told me that his brothers would nip at each other and pull out hair. However, to me..thats not what it looks like! It looks like he had tape wrapped around him and then pulled off! There are no lesions, no pigment discolorations. He does not have fleas and doesn't seem to scratch much. FYI, I don't believe he was abused...I used the tape example to try and describe the coat better! I have 2 questions.....1st, should this area grow back and match the rest of his coat? Also, the coat around his back legs, up to this shorter area is curly..the band is short and lays down with a few fuzzies sticking up and then past this band he is all fuzz. Should he lose this fuzz and get all curls? I am assuming that the fuzz is his puppy coat. Is that correct?

Answer
THis is quite normal and will settle, its genetic and you will find the two parents have very different coats, one silky , one not.
For a better coat give fish (oily) daily in the diet, give flaxseed oil and omega 3,6,9, oatmeal and meat.
All of these promote excellent coats and pigment.

For more information on diet and coats please log into our health ste
www.eurobichons.com

Good luck