My puppy is a black lab and about 16 weeks old. He has dandruff all over him. I changed his food and added fish oil and vegetable and still no luck. Can anyone suggest something that works.
Thanks for your help.
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My puppy is a black lab and about 16 weeks old. He has dandruff all over him. I changed his food and added fish oil and vegetable and still no luck. Can anyone suggest something that works.
Thanks for your help.
Give the new food a chance to improve his coat and give him a brush every day and you should see the dandruff disappear.
New (and I assume improved) food takes a couple of weeks to kick in.
It is almost a month with the new food and barely see any change. I thought I am doing something wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by last5oh_302
What food are you feeding?Quote:
Originally Posted by labtalk
He is on Acana.
A pups glands (forget what they're called but the glands that take care of skin and coat) are not fully developed until about the 4 month of age mark. Pups will often have dry dull coats and apparently adding supplements like oils to a pups diet is not recommended. Acana is excellent food. I'd try brushing him every day and give it a little more time. Are you feeding the grain or grain free version? That could be something else to consider.
It; so dry out; my skin is suffering too.
6 tips:
http://www.petmd.com/dog/grooming/ev...druff_free_pet
It is Acana Pacifica, grain free.Quote:
Originally Posted by last5oh_302
I have the same issue with my 7 month old GSP. I've been feeding 1tsp fish oil daily with her meal and saw little improvement but I noticed a HUGE improvement when I started brushing her daily. I never thought to brush her because her hair is so short but I bought a natural bristle brush (boar bristle or similar) and its working wonders. She loves being brushed and its a good opportunity to work on the "whoa" command while grooming her.
I also feed Acana (Grasslands)
Edited: Just checked out Sharon's link and I actually sourced this same info when looking to fix my GSP's flaky skin issue. I also rubbed her down with Aveno hand cream a couple times which may have helped a bit as a temporary fix. She's right though, even my skin is flaky and dry this winter despite how much I moisturize. Its been a long, dry, winter.
It takes a few weeks with the oily diet before you start seeing the changes.Quote:
Originally Posted by labtalk
A few things to remember: Dogs don't need frequent bathes, over-bathing can dry out the skin and coat. Certain shampoos can too. If I do bathe the dogs, I use BioGroom Protein Lanolin shampoo and at dog shows I learned from an old friend to use BioGroom Mink Oil Spray-wow it makes a smooth coated breed shine! Don't forget too, it's the winter and everything is suffering from the furnace and cold air drying things out.
Diet changes (additions of oils, fats, new food etc.) will take time to noticeably see a difference. Give it at least 6 weeks.
One thing I learned too years ago was some dogs shed dandruff from stress or excitement - I have noticed it a time or so on my own dogs. So I was at a hound racing trial (chasing the plastic bunny) and this Italian Greyhound was covered in white flakes, shaking so badly but ready to go!
Another note about dandruff/coat care - brushing is an excellent way of distributing the coat and skin natural oils, and despite having a short-haired breed, in my case Vizslas, they still require occasional brushing and the Zoom Groom is a gentle rubber brush that does the job for their length of coat. As you can see by the picture below, I got a nice pile of hair from Titan (2 weeks ago) and I just brushed him again last night and got another equal sized pile of hair. His coat is gleaming and looks great even in the winter:
http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/p...1e1be168c5.jpg
We use to add a cap full of olive oil or corn oil to our dogs food every few days.
Unfortunately one of my labs and my brother has her littermate has the same issue. The entire litter had a severe dandruff problem that no shampoo or medication could get rid of . Some black labs seem to be born with it and it is a life long problem. My vet and my brothers vet tried everything including a steriod on my brothers dog who skin became so dry and scaly throughout his entire body. We both ended up getting them spayed and neutured and taken out of the breeding program. No oil or food supplement would work and at times seem to make it worse.
Give him a raw egg once a week. His coat will greatly improve.
Is that for adults or pups?Quote:
Originally Posted by labtalk
All life stagesQuote:
Originally Posted by last5oh_302
Oh ok. I know some of their lines like Regional Red I believe, which is not considered good for growing pups.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cass
Some dogs given remedies such as a raw egg, fish oil, enzymes, prescribed fungus medication and high end dog foods may not always correct the problem. The more I searched it became clear that many people had this issue with black labs and no solution. Vets could not find an answer even after all kinds of different tests. In many cases it does but with black labs it seems to be a common problem with no remedy.