Our puppy started losing the hair on his shoulder/neck area a few months ago & we took him to the vet to see if it was mange because his brother had mange. He just looked at his thin spots, they weren't quite bare yet but you could tell the hair was thinning, and said that it wasn't mange. I thought you had to perform some sort of skin test to actually determine if it was mange or not??

Either way, it kept getting worse & worse. He actually went almost completely bald from his collar to his tail, it was even on the base of his tail & the top of his legs. I was really worried about him, because it's been getting pretty cold at night lately & he's an outside dog. He doesn't like being inside. I was about to call one of the other vets in town, there are only like 5 or 6 vet clinics, and schedule him an appt to see what the other vet said when my daughter came in & said that his hair was growing back... I went and checked him out, and unbelieveably, his hair has completely grown back.

I'm just wondering if the original vet was right & it wasn't mange, just an allergic reaction to flea bites (we kept treating him for fleas with drops) and now that it's gotten cold, all the fleas are dead & not bothering him anymore. Or maybe it's natural for him to lose his hair in the summer because of his breed, we're not 100% sure what he is, we found him on the side of the road next to his momma who'd been hit by a car & was dead. He does look a little bit like a Chinese Shar-Pei & I know they are notorious for skin problems, but I've never seen any that had it as bad as Courage this summer. Any comments or thoughts would be nice...

I am surprised the vet didn't take skin scrappings. It's not always conclusive but it usually shows that the vet is being thorough. Anyway, as long as the hair has grown back and the dog is not furiously scratching anymore, that's the important thing. See below for a posting i put on this site today concerning Saracoptic Manage and my 6 month old Wheaton Terrier. It's painful to watch him.

I have a 6 month Whaeton Terrier who was boarded at a kennel for 2 weeks while we were on vacation. Before Bailey went into the kennel I had him completely checked out to make sure all was OK. When I picked him up from the kennel, he was completely covered in open wounds and scabs. I took him immediately to the vet and he thinks it is probably a massive infestation of mites so he is now being treated for sarcoptic mange. Its a really pitiful site to watch him as he constantly scratches himself.
Bailey is now on AdvantageMulti 55 to kill the mites, Cephalexin (an antibotic) at a dose of 375 mg in the morning and the same at night as well as Prednisine at a dosage of 10 mg in the morning and the same again at night.
The kennel says they never saw any indication that anything was wrong, however, to my point of view, this further convinces me that they were completely negligent in Bailey's care. If they had paid any attention at all, they would have had to see him practically mutilating himself.
He also spent 2 full days and evengings in the clinic by the way. At he moment he is still scratching furiously around his face only (earlier it was his entire body) and he is wearing a cone to prevent any further scratching. He's about 50% better but its still very uncomfortable for him.
My point is this: now matter how good or clean a kennel looks there are still serious risks in placing your furry family member in a kennel. [b]The next time we have to go away, you can be sure I'll hire a live in sitter to stay with Bailey, full time. My hope is that this clears up soon and doesn't become a recurring theme for Bailey. Wheatons are know to have skin issues but this is ridiculous. Once his biopsy results come in next Tuesday, if it does turn out that the root cause was the kennel, they and I will have a serious discussion. In the meantime, I still hold them responsible. If they had been paying attention to Bailey as they should have, they could have called their vet or mine and nipped this in the bud when Bailey first started showing signs of discomfort. I guess I just had to get this off my chest. I am so guilt ridden and angry at the kennel at the same time.

Thank you for saying what I was thinking. You are right, hair does not SUDDENLY grow back. How well is this dog being cared for is my question. Although, the owner DID pay for vet bills, hospital care etc.
My smooth collie had Demodex (Mange) when he was about 6 monhts old. He did not go bald by any means, but I caught it very quickly. In younger dogs (pups) this is often a sign of 'stress' and often happens in show dogs (as was mine). This was taken care of quickly with antibiotics. So, I'm thinking that mange was probably not the cause, unless it was allowed to fester for weeks!
Fleas would be more likely.