Hair Shed and Dandruff - Page 1

Skin of my GSD is very much rugged and it is sheding hairs like hell. I give her a normal bath after every 2 3 days without using any soap or shampoo. I give her Royal Canin food. At times I feed her meat as well. Her skin is quite itchy these days. She has already rugged off lot of her hair and has many wounds on her body as well. Otherwise, she is quite active and happy dog. Can anyone suggest me a better suppliment or grooming for my dog.

Guru, I am not a Vet, but you better let your Vet check her out for Mange or Fleas or Scabies. You say many wounds. That does not sound normal. Just my thought! Dawn

As someone has already suggested, take this dog to the vet. What you are describing does NOT sound like normal shedding. Secondly, do NOT bathe the dog every two to three days, unless it is part of a treatment for some medical problem. The food you are feeding is an excellent food. If she has wounds, likely she has some serious skin problem. It could be mange, some bacterial infection or something else. This is why you must take the dog to a good vet. Once you get the underlying problem fixed, you probably will have solved the entire problem. Good luck.

thanx a lot for ur suggestions. I really appriciate your cooperation. But I think I shouldn't say its wounds..rather u may say tht its like when u have so much dandruff and u continue to scratch then it leaves some small wounds on body due to nails. Anyways...any further help in this regard would help a lot. Other wise I'll visit the vet tomorrow.

Guru, A couple of things you may mention to the vet. A) I have heard of some dogs having allergies to Royal Canin (as with any food!), so if the vet can't find any underlying cause (such as earlier mentioned bacterial infection of the skin, mange, internal or external parasites, etc), I would rule out food allergies next. A good vet can usually rule out any of the issues above in only one office visit (although some internal parasites are harder to track down). When was the last time you dewormed your female? Mention that date to your vet as well, and they can lead you in the right direction. :) In the meantime, you could also start adding in 1teaspoon of high quality oil to your dog's kibble twice per day. As suggested earlier, DO NOT give a bath that often. You are removing the much needed oils that the skin produces by bathing so often. A typical house "pet companion" dog only needs bathing once every few months, unless particularly dirty for some reason, or if you are showing the dog often. When you DO bathe, once this skin issue is cleared up, you might try using "Miracle Coat" -- it has worked well on my dogs. (since this WAS your original question) Good luck, and keep us posted!

VomFelsenHof...thanx for ur kind help. I'll definately check for the Vet on weekend. Infact I cant visit him before saturday because of office timings. Just need to ask you something...When u people say tht I shouldn't give my dog bath tht often. Do u mean not to give her a proper bath with shampoo/soap or I shouldn't even bath with water only. I mean I dont give my dog bath with soap or shampoo..I just shower the pipe on my dog and i brush her while showering water on her so tht her loose hairs get off easily and she doesn't have to scratch her body. Thanks for any input. And can u give me your pvt email address.