Suggestions for my dog's dry skin

Every year in the winter my dog suffers from dry skin. She does not have mites or any other problems according to the Vet. She is consistently scratching. I give her Omega capsules but they do not seem to work. Some people have said to put oil on her food but they do not know what type of oil or if it will actually help. I thought I would try my good friends on TUG. any suggestions?

Thanks

I give mine a spoon of cheap peanut butter every day for the peanut oil.

Ann

I put about a teaspoon of olive oil (EVOO is not necessary, regular is fine) in her kibble every evening. Seems to do the trick for Brianna, who is a Bichon Princess.

Fish oil

My vet prescribed fish oil to squirt on the food. It came in a bottle with a pump. I placed the bottle in a tote bag with all her leashes, t-shirts, sweaters and a pair of my gloves and the bottle somehow came open. I had to throw the things away after 14 washings and I still smell it in the house and my car...I never want to see or smell fish oil again!!!! Ugh!

My vet also told me that I can give my 8 pound Shih Tzu one half of a baby Benedryl when she's itching.

Glynda said:

My vet prescribed fish oil to squirt on the food. It came in a bottle with a pump. I placed the bottle in a tote bag with all her leashes, t-shirts, sweaters and a pair of my gloves and the bottle somehow came open. I had to throw the things away after 14 washings and I still smell it in the house and my car...I never want to see or smell fish oil again!!!! Ugh!

My vet also told me that I can give my 8 pound Shih Tzu one half of a baby Benedryl when she's itching.

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I can sympathize with you about the smell. I give my dog Omega pills which were suppose to help with her coat & dry skin. The pills are actually fish oil capsules. They have that noticeable fish smell and the kids complain that the dog actually smells like fish. Also She loves them. She thinks its a treat once a day. Unfortunately they do not help with the dry skin & scratching.

Keeping the dog hydrated is important but I think the dryness is due to the dry winter air and not to any deficiency in the dog's diet.

I live in the arid west and winters are very dessicating. I cannot function without body lotion. DH hates the feeling of lotion but hates the itchiness even more so he has me apply lotion to his legs--would be much easier if they weren't so hairy. Otherwise, he scratches them raw.

If you can find a way to apply a lotion or oil to your dog's skin, that would help keep it from drying out. Maybe an anti-itch cream to those spots that are the worst?

Canola oil has always done the trick for a few of our dogs with this problem - a tablespoon 2 over the kibble (we have big dogs). This works great and makes the coat softer.

A lot of commercial dog foods tend to be too low in fat, also, so depending on what you are feeding, you might look for something with a higher fat content in the winter or whenever you're noticing this.

Laurie said:

Canola oil has always done the trick for a few of our dogs with this problem - a tablespoon 2 over the kibble (we have big dogs). This works great and makes the coat softer.

A lot of commercial dog foods tend to be too low in fat, also, so depending on what you are feeding, you might look for something with a higher fat content in the winter or whenever you're noticing this.

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Thanks Laurie,

We have to feed her Hill's JD because she has a problem with her bones. I can only get it through the Vet's office. I am not sure what the fat content is, although I could look at the bag but how would I know what she should be getting. I just started giving her olive oil but if I do not see a change I will try the canola. I am putting about a 1/2 tablespoon on her food. She weighs about 74 lbs.

In the past when we were more dog-nutrition conscious (we raced sled dogs), we fed a 20% fat food. We mostly avoided the dry coats and itching by feeding that, and sometimes newly acquired dogs who arrived with that problem got over it as soon as they switched to what we were feeding.

Hmmm... I just looked up your dog food, and aside from fat % which is 15 or 16 (which you can boost by adding the oil), I noticed that its first ingredient is corn. You might want other opinions on how else you might deal with your dog's bone problems - corn suppsedly isn't very digestible by dogs, and premium foods usually have other ingredients such as chicken as first and second, whereas cheaper and less nutritious foods often start off with corn. You probably have to feed more volume to make up for that.

I've known other folks who show and race, who really didn't like Hill's ingredients - I know many vets do stock these - I know you weren't asking about that! I just stumbled upon a website called www.dogfoodchat.com - maybe you want to check it out and register for their forum for more info.

!00 point dry dog food grading list

http://www.the-puppy-dog-place.com/dog-food-comparisons.html

Hub pages has other helpful lists under Ask Susan Peters.

YMMV

Glynda said:

My vet also told me that I can give my 8 pound Shih Tzu one half of a baby Benedryl when she's itching.

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Many types of dogs (particularly certain purebreds)can suffer from psoriasis in varying degrees. Often dogs that suffer from very mild psoriasis will not show any symptoms until the cold dry air of winter rolls in. The vet prescribed the low dose of Benedryl because as an antihistamine it suppresses the autoimmune reaction that psoriasis is.

Jestjoan said:

http://www.the-puppy-dog-place.com/dog-food-comparisons.html

Hub pages has other helpful lists under Ask Susan Peters.

YMMV

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That's really interesting, Joan. According to this list, I'm surprised my beloved pooch hasn't starved to death sometime before she turned 14. The chow she's been given scored 14(F). Looks like there may be a change in her future, but there's probably not another 14 years in her no matter what.

Thanks for posting the list.

Jim Ricks

Jestjoan said:

http://www.the-puppy-dog-place.com/dog-food-comparisons.html

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Thanks Joan, I appreciate that too.

Here's the quick-link to their commercial-feed ratings:
http://www.the-puppy-dog-place.com/dog-food-ratings.html

We've been feeding the Costco brand which is pretty inexpensive, these folks give it a higher rating than premium brands Iams, Eukanuba and Pro Plan - Costco fans and budget-conscious, take note:

Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+

Here are the Hill's Science Diet brands which are stocked and "prescribed" by so many vet practices, including ours (makes me wonder: what's in it for them?)

Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet chicken adult maintenance / Score 45 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F

Edited to add: by the way, on that dogfood forum site I mentioned above, there was a thread about corn in dogfood contributing to chronic skin and coat problens, itching etc.

The breeder of our Borzoi had her on Diamond (green label) which was absolutely corn laden. I used the Hub Pages Ask Susan Peters to research dry food. I also used the Whole Dog Journal's guide. The boarding kennel gave me the 100 point list.

In researching dog food, I found some really horrific things that goes into some of it. I can't even write it, it's so disgusting.

The other interesting thing I found about dog food from the Whole Dog Journal was that you are supposed to change it frequently. The reasoning is that if there is something missing in one brand, it may be found in a different brand. I'm sure you still need to change over gradually, mixing the two little by little.