my dog has dandruff?

Question

I have a six month old yorkie, she get a lot of dandruff i don't know what to do, her coat is not as soft as is suppoused to. I feed her with Natural Science food, and use and oatmeal shampoo, but don't know what else to do, please help me!

Answer 1

First, if you live anywhere where the winters are very cold it's not uncommon at this time of year. The air's very dry and dogs get really dry skin. You can do a couple of things - the first being, to not bath her unless absolutely necessary because that dries the skin more than anything, and it does not matter what kind of shampoo you use, it's still drying.

The other thing you can do to help your yorkie a lot is to give her about 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil on her food daily. Her skin and coat will improve tremendously in just a couple of weeks. One more thing you can do for her coat to help the condition is to buy a product called Linatone - pet shops carry it. It's terrific for coats.

Answer 2

The oil on the food is a good fix. Just don't go overboard or you will end up with some very soft stools.

There is a product out there called Tea Tree calming shampoo made by Nature's Gate. It is a human shampoo but it works wonders on a scratchy dog. It smells of mint, so it will leave her smelling great!

Answer 3

Her coat may not feel right, but at 6 months of age she still has her "puppy coat". Puppy coat is usually wispy and cottony ... once she gets older, her longer, silky coat will come in. Puppies are also known for getting "puppy dandruff", which is pretty common. Over-bathing, bathing with the wrong products, or not rinsing/drying properly can worsen it. Try a professional groomer ... they will know how, and have the proper equipment, to bathe, rinse, and dry your dog correctly.
Good luck!

Answer 4

She may have a allergic reaction to something gettting on her skin. believe it or not you can use a capsule of benedryl to help her. with her being small only about half. I had a pitbull who had dandruff so bad it started causing him to shed so i applied oatmeal healing lotions for dogs and shampoo prescribed by vets.. Finally a friend of mine total me to try benadryl its just like a allergy medicine vets prescribe except cheaper---she said .. I tried it for a week or so and wow i could tell the difference and i know he could too.

Answer 5

My advice switch her to a high quality diet, bath her less, and brush her more.

Overbathing is going to strip her coat of its natural oils, and cause dry itchy skin. It will lead to more dandruff, and more doggie odor as well.

Puppy food actually isn't very good for puppies.

Explanation as to why puppy food is BAD for puppies, especially large breed pups: It contains WAY MORE protein than needed. It causes rapid growth, rapid growth then leads to future bone and joint problems. Feeding a high quality all stages food will promote a more desired slow growth, and thus lessen the chances of bone and joint problems later. Puppies should grow up slowly, not spring up like weeds.

In my opinion "puppy" foods should only be fed to pregnant and lactating dogs who actually can use all that extra protein and calcium.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Vets are good choices for medical advice, not good choices for nutritional advice.

Answer 6

My chi was like this & the vet told me to put a cap full of vegt. oil on her food. I do & she no longer has dandruff & her coat is so shiney. Everyone who see's her ask me how I get her black coat to shine so much. The vegt. oil is my secret. So, give it a try & good luck. My vet is highly recommended by lots of very loving pet owners.

Answer 7

Maybe you are over bathing her?? Dogs that are healthy shouldn't need bathing all the time. Try giving her some Omega 3 oils, that'll help if it's just weather / season related.

Answer 8

If you bathe her alot it will dry out her skin. Do not bathe her for awhile and see if her natural oils will bring back the shine. I am not sure if this wiil work, but try it. I hope this helps.

Answer 9

Her skin is getting dry she needs to be shampoo ed using a baby shampoo,