Folliculitis is an inflammation of the hair follicles. It occurs most frequently on your dog’s chin and muzzle hair follicles. As folliculitis progresses, it will impact your dog’s sebaceous glands, known as the glands within your dog’s skin which lubricate and protect the skin and sometimes the subcutaneous tissues, or the layer of tissue beneath the skin. When this happens, the condition is referred to as furunculosis.

If your dog has folliculitis, you will be able to see pimple-like elevations on the skin, the chin and/or muzzle. Brachycephalic breeds, or breeds with pushed-in noses, appear to develop folliculitis on their chin more commonly. Furunculosis occurs when the infection has spread deeper to the oil glands. Furunculosis will be painful to your dog.

Folliculitis/furunculosis can develop for a myriad of reasons. Allergies, pyoderma, auto-immune syndromes, poor hygiene and poor nutrition are all potential causes.

Your vet will make a diagnosis based on visual inspection of the pimples. Your vet will also likely take a culture to try to determine the exact cause of the condition.

Your vet will give you a special shampoo to remove bacteria and debris from your dog's hair follicles. If a bacterial infection is present, your vet will prescribe topical and oral antibiotics. If a yeast infection is present, your vet will prescribe anti-fungal medications.

The best methods of prevention are to keep your dog clean and to quickly treat underlying skin infections.

No, you cannot get folliculitis (furunculosis) from your dog.