Fur problems, need advice

[ollie08]

Hi,

My 2 1/2 yr old chin has all of a sudden begun thinning/loosing his hair. There has been no change to diet, environment or really anything that would make him stressed that I can think of. I'm wondering if this is shedding or something I would need to take him to the vet. I tried to my best to take pictures of it. It's on both sides.

http://imgur.com/fzQ0lV5

 

[ollie08]

Heres another picture

http://imgur.com/TSEbqAJ

 

[Amethyst]

That is not how a chin normally looks when it's shedding, they tend to shed in a line that goes down from head to tail as they shed. This looks like possibly fur chewing, especially given the location. Fur chewing can be caused by a lot of things, stress (including picking up stress from you or if you smell different, new soap or shampoo, etc), boredom, genetic predisposition, among others. Fur chewing isn't dangerous unto itself, but if it continues down to the skin (which is not normal) it can be a problem as that can create sores, and a vet visit is needed.