Solakan Dandies

Usually first symptoms of JP appear between the age of 4 weeks and four months. But sometimes the first symptoms may appear a little later also. Sometimes only one puppy of the litter becomes ill, sometimes several.

Typical symptoms are painful swelling on the lips, on muzzle, round the eyes and on ears. The puppy may scratch itself or else shake its head and the skin often feels sore on swollen places. So the puppy does not necessarily want to be touched on those parts of the body. There are often to be seen pustules and blisters on the skin as well. They appear especially to the lips, jaw, around nose, to ears and to the eyelids. Some puppies also suffer from the aching joints and they may even limp. Enlarged lymph glands are very typical also. The puppy may be bad-tempered because of pain and it may have fever as well. The variety of symptoms is large and to get the right diagnosis vet must take a tissue sample by scratching the skin. That kind of sample is a must.

JP is not caused by any bacterial infection even though it may look like this but JP is more like some kind of allergic reaction or else a disorder in the puppy´s immune system. It is probably some kind of immunological desease where for some unknown reason the body´s own white cells attack against the own body tissue. But what this is all about is still mainly unknown.

There is no research done on the heredity of JP but it looks like it is more common in some breeds than others. And also within the breeds it looks like being more common in some dog families than others. So it may be inheritable.

JP is often mentioned on Golden Retrievers, golden coloured Labrador Retrievers and Dachshunds but it may come to a puppy from just any breed.

JP is a serious desease and it must always be treated. If left untreated it is fatal. Usually it is treated by antibiotics and cortisone. Cortisone calms the body system down and stops the reaction which is caused by a disorder in the body´s own defencive mechanism. Antibiotics stops skin infection and stops the bacteria growing on infected skin. Usually treatment works well when it is long enough and it is very rare that JP appears again later in the puppy´s life. Usually there are no signs left on the skin from this desease when it is healed but sometimes there may be some spots left with little less pigmentation.

We asked for some photos from an owner of a Dandie puppy who got JP and we also got permission to add them here.

Juvenile Pyoderma