Our Golden retriever has been losing her overcoat for the past week. It originally started by her shoulder blades like in the photo but has been spreading. Her short brown undercoat is all that seen in those spots. In general her overcoat seems dry? Any information on this would be amazing. Should I be worried/go to the vet? We've only had her for half a year so I'm not sure if this is something that should be happening. Thank you all! (EDIT: I'm not sure if the image is viewable so here is the link. http://imgur.com/bSSaI )

im not a vet or expert but it does not look normal to me. it does look very dry and thin. i would take her to the vet and do a skin scrape or something of the sort to rule out anything. or maybe she needs more oils in her diet?

We've been giving fish oil supplements recently so I'm not sure if that's what it is. Thank you for the input though. Much appreciated.

Has she had a full thyroid panel accomplished through Dr Dodds in California or the University of Michigan. When my girl became hypothyroid, her coat thinned out considerably to the point having nearly bald patches.

She has not had a thyroid pannel to my understanding. When a Retriever sheds twice a year, is it the undercoat or the over?

Should be the undercoat, if you're seeing the guard hairs falling out as well, I'd definitely run a thyroid panel (full, not just the T4 at the vets office). Hypothyroidism and goldens go hand in hand--2 of my 3 rescue goldens are hypothyroid.

I would have a full thyroid test done (not just the t4) as SheetsSM said above.

Looking at your picture above I don't really see too much out of the ordinary considering she blew her coat back in July after the pregnancy/spaying. Her coat DOES look dry and dull though.

If thyroid is OK, check the quality of food and talk to your vet about supplements to boost skin/coat health.

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Thank you very much. It doesnt seem to bother her at all but another patch has appeared by her tail. I'll be out of town for a week and am debating on whether its worth trying to cram in a visit to the vet before it. Not really sure why her coat is so dry.

Helo's coat looks just like that and he has been shedding a LOT the past month. I took him to the vet because I was worried about it. His coat looks dry and thin. She checked his thyroid and said it was lower than it should be (he's already on thyroid meds) so she upped his dose a bit and I'm giving him fish oil pills. Hope it helps. He is shedding the most on his back area by his tail and over his hips. The fur seems really thin there. I'm worried but not overly worried because my other dog, a lab mix, is shedding a lot now too. Her fur doesn't look thin and it's still shiny though.

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Marilyn and Helo