Pet's Dry Skin

mdupon70997

My German shepherd's skin is crazy dry right now. He's also shedding like crazy right now. The shedding I can deal with. It's the dry, flaky skin that's got me going insane...and the fact that he lives in the house. Anyone know of anything I can add to his food to help with his skin? Does cod liver oil work? I tried it once before with my pomeranian, but I didn't really notice a difference in her skin or coat. Any suggestions?

Djinxs

Fish oils are supposed to help. I add a bit of cold pressed salmon oil to our pup's food on recommendation of our breeder and the research I've done. We feed raw, though, so a lot of skin benefits come from her other foods, too.

LuckyAngel07

What food are you currently feeding? A food switch could help on its own.

A good quality fish oil will also help (not cod liver though, blech!). Like PP said, salmon oil is a great one. A spoonful of coconut oil daily can also help (but either coconut or fish, not both!).

Caz1221

Ditto the salmon oil recommendation - I add 1 pump of salmon oil to my pups' food once per day, but you would use more for a German Shepherd (it's based on weight, and my dogs are only 17-18 lbs. each).  We use Grizzly brand, but there are many others out there. I also add a few drops of Vitamin E once per day.

As PP suggested, a food switch may be in order as well - whatever you're currently feeding might not be the best match for your dog. One of my dogs was on a low quality food while he was in rescue, and he had issues with itchy, inflamed skin and even some bald patches. As soon as we switched him to a higher quality food that was a better match for him, the skin and coat issues disappeared.

High quality food and salmon oil can help reduce shedding but won't eliminate it entirely.  My pups still shed a considerable amount, especially in warm weather.  We also use the Furminator grooming tool, which helps with the shedding -  you can find it on Amazon for a much better price than PetCo/Petsmart/etc.

Also, how often do you bathe your dog, and what shampoo/cleanser do you use?  It's possible you're bathing too often (stripping the skin and coat of their natural oils) and/or using a shampoo that is irritating or drying your dog's skin.

mdupon70997

Thanks for the tip about the salmon oil. I think I'll try that first. We bathe our dogs once every two months or so because their skin does tend to be really dry (and because they both hate baths so much.) For our pom I use some shampoo with oatmeal to keep her skin from becoming too dry. For our shepherd we use some off brand shampoo that comes in a large bottle (because it takes so freaking much shampoo to bathe him.) I know we should be using something better for him, but we use almost a quarter of the bottle for every bath. His skin never used to be this dry though. He went for about three weeks to my in-laws house which has about 20 acres of woods and he came back with this horribly dry skin. I don't think it's bothering him though because he's not really scratching. 

Caz1221

mdupon70997:

Thanks for the tip about the salmon oil. I think I'll try that first. We bathe our dogs once every two months or so because their skin does tend to be really dry (and because they both hate baths so much.) For our pom I use some shampoo with oatmeal to keep her skin from becoming too dry. For our shepherd we use some off brand shampoo that comes in a large bottle (because it takes so freaking much shampoo to bathe him.) I know we should be using something better for him, but we use almost a quarter of the bottle for every bath. His skin never used to be this dry though. He went for about three weeks to my in-laws house which has about 20 acres of woods and he came back with this horribly dry skin. I don't think it's bothering him though because he's not really scratching. 

It doesn't sound like you're bathing too often.  I would add the salmon oil and give it some time, especially if he just recently came back from your in-laws and didn't have this issue before his visit.  Perhaps they were feeding him something different that caused the dry skin (or he came in contact with something that caused it).  If that's the case, it should improve just by being back on his normal food in his usual environment.  If it doesn't get better, you can consider switching food and/or bath products.

Trixeetrix

I agree with PP's on fish oil.  I switched my poodle mix to a fish based food (Blue Buffalo Salmon) which helped her skin ALOT.

In addition I started bathing her with Allergroom or Episoothe (not the cheapest stuff) but it does not dry her skin out or interfere with the flea and tick prevention.  We seemed to have good results.  

mgugs17

My German Shepherd is EXACTLY the same way...we give her Grizzly Salmon Oil and it does WONDERS for her...the scratching has subsided and she is herself again...not to mention I'm sane again from not hearing the constant THUMP THUMP THUMP on the wood floors!!!!  Shepherds tend to have some skin issues so it is best to start early!!

 http://www.grizzlypetproducts.com/salmon_oil/salmon_oil.html

Just be sure when picking out a Salmon oil you are getting the highest quality possible (meaning wild caught not farm raised)...and be sure to refrigerate it.  I prefer the Grizzly brand which I buy online (however due to high demands they do not have any available until mid July....which thankfully is soon because we are out!!)...I cant say enough about it because it was truly a miracle for our shepherd... 

Best of Luck!!

 

 

 

mdupon70997

Thanks for the link. I'll take a look.