Found this on the internet:
www.dog.com/vet/
Boxers
Boxers and other breeds with very short, stiff hairs (such as Dobermans, Great Danes, and Dalmatians) are prone, especially during adolescence, to developing infections on their chin and lips that closely resemble "teenage acne" in people. In fact, "acne" is what this disorder is usually called. The cause, however, is not adolescent hormone fluctuations, but repeated "bumping" of those stiff chin and lip hairs on objects such as chew toys, food dishes, and the ground itself, an action which not only inflames the hair follicles by driving those stiff hairs into them repeatedly, but may actually break off the individual hairs below the skin surface and rupture the hair follicles, releasing hair protein and other irritating follicle contents into the tissues under the skin. The hair follicle begins to "ooze," trying to expel the foreign material, and it becomes chronically infected secondarily, repeatedly discharging small amounts of bloody fluid from small nodules, each of which is at the base of a hair or where a hair used to be.
There is a dual approach to therapy for these acne cases:
• treatment of the deep-seated infection and
• prevention of further hair follicle trauma.
This usually requires long-term oral antibiotics, topical therapy for cleansing the follicles and soothing the skin, and a change in play and eating habits. The goal here is to minimize activities that cause the chin and lips to bump into hard objects by using shallow dishes for drinking and eating and by NOT using hard chew-toys, especially during rough play.
www.dog.com/vet/
Boxers
Boxers and other breeds with very short, stiff hairs (such as Dobermans, Great Danes, and Dalmatians) are prone, especially during adolescence, to developing infections on their chin and lips that closely resemble "teenage acne" in people. In fact, "acne" is what this disorder is usually called. The cause, however, is not adolescent hormone fluctuations, but repeated "bumping" of those stiff chin and lip hairs on objects such as chew toys, food dishes, and the ground itself, an action which not only inflames the hair follicles by driving those stiff hairs into them repeatedly, but may actually break off the individual hairs below the skin surface and rupture the hair follicles, releasing hair protein and other irritating follicle contents into the tissues under the skin. The hair follicle begins to "ooze," trying to expel the foreign material, and it becomes chronically infected secondarily, repeatedly discharging small amounts of bloody fluid from small nodules, each of which is at the base of a hair or where a hair used to be.
There is a dual approach to therapy for these acne cases:
• treatment of the deep-seated infection and
• prevention of further hair follicle trauma.
This usually requires long-term oral antibiotics, topical therapy for cleansing the follicles and soothing the skin, and a change in play and eating habits. The goal here is to minimize activities that cause the chin and lips to bump into hard objects by using shallow dishes for drinking and eating and by NOT using hard chew-toys, especially during rough play.
