My choc lab has dry skin. How can I help him?

Would cod liver oil really help or would I not see much of an improvement?





I need something that will work pretty quickly as he is itchy. It definatley isnt fleas as he is reguarly deflea'd with Frontline drops.





Thanks

My choc lab has dry skin. How can I help him?
My eldest Golden had dry itchy skin and the breeder recommended evening primrose oil capsules (not doggie one's - I use cheapy 500mg ones from Savers or Wilkinsons). She also recommended low fat yoghurt and/or small chunks of cheese.





Both my Goldens have this regularly and don't suffer from dry skin anymore!





So there must be some truth in it!!!
Reply:Take him to the vet as it could be an underlying preoblem.


My golden had skin problems and i give him salmon oil now and his skin got alot better.


Dont bathe your dog to often..maybe every 3 month, brush him daily and try the salmon oil supplement.
Reply:give him a bath
Reply:Oil of evening primrose may help





The vets would be the best ones to advise you on supplements
Reply:Good food lots of water use mild shampoo Watch for what he might be contacting like chemicals or Poison Ivy
Reply:it could still be teh fleas .


Frontline doesn't help with my dogs at all ( maybe 3 days and they are back)


You should have the dog checked by the vet to see if there is an underlying problem causing the dry skin.


I use oil from cooking I put any drained oil in a jar and keep it in teh freezer. I give my dog a 1/2 teaspoon in her food evry other day. it does help my dog
Reply:You could try a drop of baby oil and give him a massage
Reply:Maybe you have been bathing him too often and with the wrong shampoo. Best way to counteract this would be to gently massage some Nivea type cream into his skin. Other thing maybe a reaction to the Frontline (I had this with one dog who lost hair and became itchy). Get your vet to check your dog out soon to save the poor animal more agony
Reply:codliver oil is mainly used for bones.


my dog has cold liver oil(for his bones) and evening primrose each day(for his skin). also try to give him oily fish once a week. I spoke to my vet about giving my dog human tablets/capsuls and he asured me its fine. Holland %26amp; Barrett often have half price capsules http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/p...





If your dog begins to bite specific areas of his body, the area will become sore and sometimes bleed. Over the years i've tried every "solution" on the market ranging from white cider vineger to special diets on my dog, The only one iv found to work (apart from steriods from the vet) is shampoo therapy using Derma pet http://www.dermapet.com/index.html
Reply:my three yr old choc lad had bad dry skin and is prone to ear infectins, my vet said its the breed. i fed her lamb and rice dry food for a awhile and she doesnt suffer with it any more. also try otedex skin cream for dogs and cats. clears em up quick.
Reply:He may have allergies.Does the food he is on have wheat.corn,soy in it? you may try switching his food.Wellness (brand) has a venison or duck with a carb.This helps for dogs with allergies.Many dogs are allergic to chicken also. Merrick (brand) is a very good dog food.There are many premeium brands.Go to the local pet supply store, they can help you.You can add a bit of canola oil to his food.Wash him in an oatmeal based shampoo.Don't shampoo him alot this can dry skin out.Good Luck
Reply:My belgian shepherd had a similar problem. My vet recommended the simplest short-term remedy... when bathing your dog, use a shampoo AND a moisturising conditioner, for his coat!





Cod liver oil will help him in the long-run and is an excellent idea, for his skin and coat, but the conditioner will start to help his skin, right away, to feel less dry and itchy.





NB: you also should not bathe your dog more than once every other week - as bathing him too frequently strips the natural oils, from his coat - drying out his skin.
Reply:i would definately give the vitamin supplements a go but it wont be a quick fix most things for itchy skin can take a few days even a week to sort out and with a supplement u cant go wrong, there is alos shampoo and creams you can buy from pet stores made specifically for this problem which will cool the itching down.
Reply:My baby seemed to have dry skin and dandruff when I adopted him. I bathe him every two weeks with a moisturizing oatmeal shampoo- and the dandruff and itchiness are gone.
Reply:Your dog is lacking in his diet. His coat is saying he needs Omega 3 fish oil. I would suggest that you change your dog over to a homemade food diet, where his body will be getting everything that he needs, which is not possible with a commercail dog food, as none of them are any good. You will not only see a difference in your dog coat, but a difference in the entire dog.
Reply:use baby oil, its fine. baby oil is bought for babies as much as people buy it for their animals
Reply:Purina do a special food for dogs with sensitivities but I cannot remember what it is called. I think it is one of the Bakers range. We used this for our dogs when one seemed to be sensitive to anything and everything and it really did help. Also, for supplements our breeder recommended cod liver oil but what we found was even better was the capsule that combined cod liver oil with evening primrose oil. The great thing with this is that both the dogs and I can take it!!
Reply:Try cod liver oil capsules. Worked great for my dog: and he thinks they're a treat!
Reply:How often is regularly when you say you de-flea him with the drops? This could be irritating his skin. Cod liver oil will help, try putting a small capsule in his food every day, or mix some in with his food. What kind of food do you feed him? If it contains CORN or MAIZE (same thing) that can cause allergic reactions in dogs. My Doberman was on supposedly the best food, "Royal Canin" when we first got him and he had dandruff, I read the ingredients and they were no better than an average dog food. "Science diets" and lots of foods reccomended by vets are not good quality. I changed my dogs to a wholistic food, Burns wholistic food and the Dobermans dandruff went straight away. I recommend Burns, its really good, either that or find another wholistic food that uses all human grade ingredients. You could take him off dog food altogether (probably the best option if you feed him a balanced diet) and feed him small pieces of raw carrot, raw meat, raw chicken, etc.





The food really does make a huge difference, change his food.





Hope this helps.