Naked butt!

Does your hound have a naked butt, belly and/or neck? Our blue boy Dax has been the most naked hound I have ever seen since we brought him home. A combination of his hairless-ness and skittish behaviors,  we believed he had a thyroid problem. He was tested by our vet and we consulted the best of the best in the greyhound community with the results. No problem. Dax was perfectly healthy, except we still had a super squirrely dog with lots of baldness. Things stayed the same for about 2 years. We just kind of accepted the fact that he was never going to have much hair in those places and that we would always have trouble taking him on walks or out in public, as he was "afraid" and startled by so many things.

Then, one day I stumbled upon a post on greytalk where someone had before and after photos of their dog's butt after just a few weeks of melatonin. The results were amazing. I started doing a little research and began to wonder if maybe this would work for Dax, not only for the hair growth, but to calm some of his behavior issues as well. I spoke to both Lesley and our Vet about it, and both agreed it was worth a shot.

Dax has now been taking 3mg of melatonin twice a day for a few months now and we are very pleased! Not only does he have fur all over the place where he did not before and is very "fluffy", but it has also made him better in social situations. He is a lot calmer in public. He still walks away from small bouncy children, but he will let MANY more people pet him than ever before. He also does not dart away from inanimate objects too close to the sidewalk on our walks. He also tends to be less snappy with our other greyhounds and the fosters.

This is not a magic bullet for everyone. We have seen results from different people who have tried it with their dogs. It does not work quickly and you have to be consistent. It took about 6 weeks before we started seeing any hair-growth. It started on his neck. He still has moments when the other dogs agitate him, but they are much fewer than before. Overall, it has been a good thing for Dax. So if your hound has a naked butt, you might give it a shot. It's just a few bucks in the vitamin section of your local big box store, and for us, it's money well-spent!

Here are some before an after pictures of Dax:
Dax before:

Dax after a few months: