Is your dog licking and scratching incessantly? Are they starting to lose their fur? If so, they might have mange. While a number of conditions could be responsible for your dog's itching, it's important to arm yourself with the facts about dog mange. Mange is a condition that, while usually treatable, is sometimes contagious and has the potential to be serious. Keep reading to learn about mange in dogs and how you can help your itchy dog.

What Is Mange?

Generally speaking, mange is a skin condition caused by an infestation of mites. These are tiny parasitic arachnids that are closely related to ticks. There are three major types of mange that affect dogs: demodectic mange, which is not contagious, and sarcoptic mange and cheyletiella, which are both contagious to dogs as well as humans.

Demodectic mange

This type of mange is caused by infestations of Demodex mites, which live in your dog's skin and hair follicles.

Demodex mites can be found in small numbers in dogs and humans, but are usually kept in check by the immune system. Demodectic mange develops when the immune system can’t stop the mites from reproducing, at which point the growing number of mites starts to cause hair loss and itching.

This can happen in dogs with a weakened immune system, such as those with some cancers and infections, or simply because the dog is young and their immune system is still developing. There are some breeds of dog, such as Staffordshire and English bull terriers, that are genetically predisposed to demodex, possibly because their genetic makeup has caused a weakened immune system.

With all this in mind you can see why demodex tends to affect dogs that are sick, geriatric dogs, young puppies and certain breeds.

Although demodectic mange is not normally contagious, mothers can pass it to their puppies due to the very close contact they have. While any puppy can catch demodex in this way, the puppies of predisposed breeds tend to be the ones that succumb to mange.

Demodex is usually quite easily treated, but this will also depend on whether any underlying medical problem can also be resolved.

Sarcoptic mange

This type of mange is caused by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite — the same mite that causes scabies in humans. These mites burrow under the skin, causing extreme itching. Hair loss from this type of mange is usually the result of a dog's incessant scratching and chewing, rather than the mange itself.

While sarcoptic mange is treatable, it's highly contagious and transmissible to humans and other pets. If your dog is diagnosed with this kind of mange, keep a close eye on yourself and the family. Look for patches of itchy skin and let your doctor know that your dog has sarcoptic mange.

Cheyletiella mites

An infestation with this mite is often called ‘walking dandruff’ because that’s exactly what it looks like! These mites rarely cause itching in the early stages but if the infestation goes unchecked you could see redness, itching and hair loss. If you notice itchy skin on yourself, again, notify your doctor of your dog’s diagnosis.