I have a neighbor with a 5month old lab pup acquired from no matter how many times you tell them not to from a pet shop or BYB,which has been diagnosed with demodectic mange.She comes by once and a while and the pup plays with my two labs.I don't know whether or not I am comfortable about this.Was wondering what thoughts you here had on this subject.Thanks

Our first Lab, whom we got from a very responsible breeder had it. It is not contagious.

Every puppy has demodex mites. Sometimes their little immune systems are compromised and then you will see some hair loss, so demodex is caused by the immune system not by catching mites from other dogs.

The reading I did seemed to imply a genetic link to demodetic mange.Which would indicate that the pups get it from the mother.Also that females with it shouldn't bred.At least I feel more comfortable with the fact that it won't be transmitted to my two pals.It just made me a little nervous.Unfortunately in this case I don't think responsible breeder is indicated.Hopefully as the pup grows maybe its immune system will improve.I hope everything works out for her.Thanks everyone for your help with this.bob

While I respect the fact that others have disagreed, my vet has always maintained that a dog with demodectic mange should not be bred, as it is the immune system weakness that gets passed on, and I have seen it in certain lines, so I tend to concur with him.

I had a minpin with it, and it never spread to my other minpins or to my Labs. Now I once had a dog come home from a handler's place with Sarcoptic mange and THAT was another story. It spread to the others and required painful injections, if my memory serves me it was Ivermectin injectible. I also know of a breeder whose kids brought in a friend's dog with Sarcoptic Mange and it spread to her pregnant female. That was heartbreaking to see, and it of course, spread to the pups, despite her taking the pups off her early.

I had a young dog get it once and the vet said to give it 400 iu of vit E every day. You might suggest this to your neighbor.

The pup is being treated by their vet so I am going to stay out of it.I didn't have any experience with it so it made me real nervous to have her around my two.Actually I'm still am a little.She doesn't come by very often anyway.But I quess that anything that boosts the immune system like vitamin E couldn't hurt.

When our girl got it our vet told us it was from mom. When I contacted her breeder I was told other pups from that litter had gotten it too and some from the last litter she had had gotten it too. So yeah maybe there is a genetic link.

I have been told and read in books that a high percent of pups get it. the stress of growing to fast, vaccines.... the immune system can't keep up. Wether right or wrong, I know that someone told me once that if a pup gets it once then call it stress, if they get it again then there is an immune problem and it and / or the parents should not be bred.

I had a bitch that had 2 litters and several pups out of each litter had it. It was heartbreaking, but I retired the bitch feeling it was the responsible decision. This was made after much research and discussions with not only my vet, but some specialists out there who all agreed there is a genetic link.

The pups did end up fine, there were no other problems. Thank God. Was truly heart breaking, but the right thing for my personal experience.

A very good idea, let their vet treat it Bob. Vitamin E is great but not water soluble so dosage must be accurate. Let the vet handle it as you said.

If it were me I wouldn't want the pup near my dogs as you don't know what else it may carry. I would wait some time until all is clear. You can tell the owner that you are fearful given the fact the pup isn't in the best of health at this time. I would think she will understand. You are attempting to keep your 2 healthy, nothing wrong with that. You're responsible.

I understand your nervousness, I would be also and have never had a dog with any time of mange.

Sometimes it must be heartbreaking to be a breeder.That's why I am not one.Just love my labs.Hopefully everything will turn out fine with this pup too.Hopefully she'll be spayed eventually.I quess if more people had standards like the people who breed on this site there would be fewer health problems with these dogs.I always recommend my breeder to everyone who asks about my dogs but unfortunately the price tag here in NY is out of their ability to pay and so they end up the BYB route but pay later anyway.Thanks again.

I had a dog with terrible demodectic mange after being in rabies quarantine kennel for 6 months going back to the UK.
He had it for 2 years and he was on the strongest steroids and treatment, like sheep-dip, that made him really sick and it would not cure it, it just made his immune system worse.
In the end as a last resort I took him to a homeopathic vet who took him off all his meds and gave him tiny little pills. In three weeks he started growing baby hair and in three months you would never know he had it, after two years of almost completely bald.
Just a suggestion but if the conventional treatments don't work for your friend, the homeopathic works very well for this condition.

Good Luck

My rescue had generalized demodectic mange when I got her, it took us about 5 months of treatment to cure her but she is fine now. My other girl did not get it because this type is non-contagious. But it is hereditary, found this quote:

"Females should be spayed as soon as the disease is controlled. Coming into heat, hormone fluxes, and pregnancy are very stressful. Also, predisposition to demodicosis is hereditary and should not be passed on."

I had a bitch of another breed that developed this right after her first heat, just around one eye.
In that breed it is apparently common. I was told, including by vets that if it was localized and didn't reoccur not to worry about it. If reoccurred/became generalized then I should spay her and not breed her. It never reoccured (treated first with ivermectin and then I used "colloidal silver" spray which is what worked), she was bred, it did not reoccur, pups did not have it.

I think you have to consider the age at onset (juvenile or adult), and is it localized or generalized. Remember a puppy has an immature immune system until at least 6 months old.

I have a bitch that had this as a puppy. It cleared up easily. She was bred 4 times. She never had it again and none of her pups ever got it.