# Brown outline around eyes? Growing too fast



## marcink31 (Aug 26, 2011)

Hi all, been reading this forum for a while now, lots of good info.

We have a 4month old shepherd, his father was all black mother was sable.

I have a quick question that I have tried researching but have not found anything on this.

Our dog trainer who has german shepherds herself said that our pup is growing fast that you can tell because around his eyes he has an outline with no fur, she says its normal but a sign he is growing fast.

Now its a brown outline you can see in the photos here

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/members/55616-marcink31-albums1851-reef-4-months.html

is this normal? 

Is it just his coloring or is it indeed a sign he is growing quickly. He was on Origen puppy, but now at 4 months we will start switching him to Origen adult with some extra vitamins added. Iv been told it is good food, and that Origen has high quality proteins(I know there is a divide on proteins for puppies of large breed) in it so it should be great food for german shepherd puppies. Anyone disagree?

If anyone has any input or knowledge to share I would greatly appreciate it!


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Sorry I cannot be any help to you with your question, but I do think that you have a very handsome puppy. Someone who is more knowledgeable will come along later and maybe have an answer for you. From the pictures I cannot see anything wrong with your puppy.


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

I think all dark faced pups have that same look around the eyes, I know mine did. As for the food question someone else will need to comment on that.


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## marcink31 (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks for the replies, anyone else have any input?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

It looks like demodex to me. 

Demodex mites are not contagious. Pretty much all dogs have them, pups get them from their mother, but they do not pass them beyond nursing mothers to puppies. They generally cause no problems unless there is a problem with the immune system and they reproduce quickly and attack the skin and hair. Hair falls out, and it can be just a small patch on the leg or face, or it can become generalized over the whole body. 

Puppies sometimes have a problem with these because their immune system is immature and unable to fight the population. It can catch up and take care of the problem with no treatment whatsoever. However, if it becomes generalized a more aggressive treatment makes sense. 

So, you can leave it alone and it may clear up all on its own. 

Usually, when they do treat this it takes 6 weeks with or without treatment. They give the dog mitaban baths, while you are trying to pump fish oil and vitamin E to help the dogs coat which will be dried out by the baths. It looks worse before better with the treatment, so if I suspect it, I wait to see what will happen, if it gets worse I go to step two. 

Also, Advantage Multi is certified against demodex mites in Europe, but not here in the US. Formula is the same, just the studies have not been done in the US, I think. Not sure. But if you have a dog prone to Demodex, and you use a flea treatment, look into Advantage Multi. 

Of course I am not a vet, and it is possible that I am all wet anyway.

http://drbarchas.com/demodex


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## marcink31 (Aug 26, 2011)

Ok thats a bit more serious, we are already going to the vet so I will bring it up thank you.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

If it is, it does not look serious at this point. 

To be confident, the vet would have to scrape the skin -- hard spot to do that in. Then they still might not see anything. My guess is they will tell you to just keep an eye on it, and if it starts to get worse, come back. 

You will want to look into the mitaban bath -- that might be pretty harsh for such a little guy, there may be healthier alternatives, and at that point boosting the immune system makes sense. And how well could they get that up by the eyes? If anything at all, I would use just a little of the bottle properly diluted and then wipe it on with a cloth. But I wouldn't even do that without running it by the vet. 

Good luck. Hoping, like pano, just wait and watch and let the pup literally grow out of it. Once the immune system is mature, it should be able to put the buggers in place on its own.


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## PiedPiperInKC (May 1, 2011)

How much does your boy weigh?

My girl will be 19 weeks old tomorrow (born 4/20) and she weighs 33-34 lbs. My vet says this is a perfect weight for her age - not too big - not too small.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Your pup reminds me of Onyx! Same ears, and the bi-color...
I've never heard of pups loosing color at the eye area because the grow too fast.
I agree with Selzer, mange in pups happens. I would start with some vitamin C(natural human grade citrus bioflavonoids) to help support the immune system. 
Onyx was big for a female, she was much larger than most pups month/weight-wise. She never had any coat issues. At maturity she is 26" and 90#....big for a girly girl!! Oh, she has a very deep bark too, I think she should have been a male!


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## marcink31 (Aug 26, 2011)

Hes going to the Vets tomorrow, Il let you know about the weight then


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)




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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

I don't see anything wrong , and I've never heard about growing too fast so his eye rims are bare. I would think about the person giving this advice. Are they going to give good advice for training ?

nice dog !

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


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## JagersMommy (Aug 31, 2011)

PiedPiperInKC said:


> How much does your boy weigh?
> 
> My girl will be 19 weeks old tomorrow (born 4/20) and she weighs 33-34 lbs. My vet says this is a perfect weight for her age - not too big - not too small.


My boy just turned 15 weeks, he's about 26-28ibs. We won't know for sure till his last vet visit this weekend. I can't wait till he's full grown.


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## marcink31 (Aug 26, 2011)

Hes just over 4 months old and hes 52.5 lbs Apparently hes going to be a big boy : ) The vet said hes completely fine and not to worry about his eyes, she said it happens to puppies and itl work itself out as his imune system streghtens thanks for all the input everyone!


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## VegasResident (Oct 4, 2006)

Mine had the same when he was a pup. A few weeks later another spot appeared on his muzzle and we were able to do a scrape. Demodex mite overpopulation. 

I say it that way because really all dogs have them but they can overpopulate and cause fur lose if a pups immune system is still growing. etc. Fur lose is first seen around eye rims. Ours was caused because we had put him on a low residue diet for some stomach issues and he took some antibiotics. That caused his immune system to dip.

We gave my boy some supplements and ensured the food he had also was big on Omegas to boost his immune system and it grew back. No problems since. 

Whatever you do, if you ever do run into demodex mite problems, do not dip or harshly medicate your pup. Generally all cases resolve on their own as the pup ages or with a mild ointment.


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## marcink31 (Aug 26, 2011)

Great thank you for sharing your experience, so far it has not really progressed so hopefully he will fight it off on his own...By the way he is better and better behaved now 90% perfect 10%nightmare lol land shark


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