Approximately 3-4 weeks ago I took my 1.5 year old Old English Bulldog to our local dog park of which we are frequent vistors. She has contact with several dogs many of which are unknown to me during her play time off leash at this park (lesson learned). A day or so later she developed a small red irritation on her cheek which quite acutely lead to the loss of hair around that "scab" (for lack of a better word). Because it appeared so quickly I assumed it was perhaps a bite mark from one of the dogs that I hadn't noticed on the drive home... So I left it alone. About 1 week after that I noticed that it had "spread" to her eyebrow and seemed to display similar signs and symptoms. (hair thinning, red, irritated looking).
She shows no other signs of irritation, no diet changes, no mood or energy losses. Her activity is regular. She doesnt appear to need to itch the spot or really even notice it what so ever even when I am examining and manipulating it.
One observation I have made is that the sores seem to cycle in severity. One day they will exhibit perfectly normal skin colour with no signs of irritation other than the residual bald spot... and then every so often they seem to go through a 1-2 day period where they appear quite red, irritated and perhaps even slightly "scabby".
I hope this is enough information to give a couple differential diagnosis of this problem. If it is not resolved, or improving, in the next week or so I will be forced to take her to the vet and pay what i can only assume will be substantial testing and treatment costs - as a student any opportunity to avoid this would be of obvious benefit.