Hi everyone I’m new to the group and I wanted to introduce myself and my cookie she’s a terrier mix

Doo is traveling to Hagerstown, MD today! #ratterrier #oldmandog #dogswhorideshotgun

Mr. Conky loves rainy days and his blankie.

What do you guys feed your ratties? Im new to being a ratty owner. My female is almost 10 weeks @ 8.6 lbs.

We recently adopted a rat terrier and quickly noticed that his black fur is way shorter and thinner than his white fur. It's almost bare skin in some spots. The black fur on his head and face seem normal but the black spots on his back and tail are much thinner. (It's not super visible on photos.)

Has anyone seen this before or have any pointers? I saw some others talking about balding dogs and changing food proteins, which we will try as we transition him to a new food, but it seems odd that this is specifically on his black spots and his white fur seems completely normal.

FWIW, our vet guessed that it was some sort of trauma. We don't have much details on his history... but he's a very sweet dog.

Let go of my boy jimothy to my ex about 3 years ago, I wasn't mentally or financially or physically fit to take care of him and she's the best dog mom I could've asked for him. Miss him everyday, his love picks me up daily and inspires me to be better. Cheers to Jimbo and all the wonderful rats who provide us with the companionship to see the light in the sun every morning. I miss you everyday bud and I hope we get to spend some time together soon <3

ETA: I mentioned in the original post that the itching occurs despite his allergy medications/injections but wanted to give full history for clarification. He was in horrific condition when he was rescued as a ~7 year old; I adopted him 2 weeks after his rescue and continued to rehab him medically and behaviorally. He had severe GI and allergy symptoms and after many vet and ER visits, none of their suggestions worked out. I ended up going out on a limb and completely restricting his diet to only a hypoallergenic novel protein (rabbit) freeze-dried raw kibble, then slowly reintroducing other limited-ingredient plant-based treats/supplements and less novel proteins. He is finally on a beef-based, poultry-free diet that is still pretty restricted and hypoallergenic, so the vet thinks that food allergies can be ruled out.

For seasonal allergies, he is on daily Zyrtec, bee pollen, and periodic cytopoint injections, none of which have been enough to completely get rid of the allergies. Cytopoint worked initially to reduce his licking but recently just hasn’t been cutting it. When I spoke with my vet about it at our last visit for a suspected glaucoma, he said allergies are simply bad this time of year so he suggested supportive care, given the current anti-allergy regimen he is already on. 

My ratchi has very fine, thin hair (as you can see in the below photos of him being a doofus, his skin shows through in some areas). I only bathe him if he rolls in something funky, and otherwise use wipes or waterless shampoo to spot clean when necessary. However, he tends to be very itchy despite his allergy meds/injections - he paws frantically at his face while sneezing and licks/bites his legs and paws all the time, poor buddy. I got the Wahl's oatmeal shampoo concentrate to see if it helps with itch relief but just wondering how often you bathe your rattie and if you've dealt with itchy skin on them before? How often can I bathe him if I want to see whether this shampoo can make a difference? I know that it can be bad for their coat if you bathe them too frequently.

https://preview.redd.it/llisle1mzjxd1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65939ca57df0a397ad21a7b5ab3f349f3c00f5ce

https://preview.redd.it/s1uc3q2bxjxd1.jpg?width=1202&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3d9f9a185d0fba3253675bb21bdd219e3b3449d