Does anyone know about seasonal alopaecia?

[GrimmaTheNome]

Since I've mentioned it a couple of times recently it occurs to me I may as well see if the collective knowledge of MN extends to this.

Its not a terrible problem; the dog is perfectly happy and he's got a fleece jumper to keep his now nearly-hairless tum warm, but his poor ear flaps are a sorry sight. The hair didn't fully regrow this summer before starting to be lost again.

If anyone happens to know anything which might stop my dog perversely losing his hair in the winter, or promote regrowth, I'd love to hear!

Firstly has he been investigated for other causes of alopecia? As seasonal alopecia is a diagnosis of exclusion, plus it is more commonly two patches on the flanks that are symmetrical ears and abdomen are quite unusual.
What sort of dog is he? There is a small amount of success is some toy breeds with melatonin.
But no great tips some dogs get it some years and not others.

He's a dachshund. We haven't had it thoroughly investigated, the vet couldn't see anything obvious.

Really your dog needs a skin work up to rule out parasites, bacteria and yeasts and also a blood profile looking for endocrine disorders. Several endocrine disorders are fairly common in dachshunds.
Really if this is a repeat problem I would strongly advise this course of action.

They did rule out parasites initially and he's been thoroughly Malaseb'd so its fairly unlikely to be any of those skin things (would they be seasonal anyway?).

OK, many thanks for that - I guess we should check with our vet again whether he should have the endocrine tests done.