My dog is a 2.5 year old Shiba Inu. This spring, he did his normal shedding routine - ie, dropped a bunch of fur over a 2-3 week period. It was heavy, but we dealt with it through brushing and trips to the groomers.
About a month after that, he started shedding again, and it’s been going on all summer. Last time we took him to the groomer, even she was surprised. She worked on him for almost 2 hours, and he showed no signs of being done. She suggested changing his diet to a brand of food called Wellness (he’d previously been eating Science Diet.)
That was a month ago. Since then, we wake up every morning to piles of fur where he’s been lying. We finally changed his diet to the Wellness food a few days ago - not long enough to really see a difference.
My question is - when does shedding become a sign of ill health? He’s active and appears healthy, although his coat is a bit dull and raggedy looking. He doesn’t have bald spots or anything like that. He just won’t stop shedding. I’m not talking little bits - I’m talking every day we can pick a baseball size wad of hair off of him in about 2 minutes. If we brush him, we can literally brush him for an hour and it doesn’t stop. Where does all this hair come from?
He’s never shed this badly before, even though we previously lived in a much warmer climate (colorado). We moved to Michigan in July of last year.
I would talk to your vet about this- especially if his coat appears dull. Science Diet should have provided him a bright shining coat, I don’t think the Wellness diet will make that much of a difference- they are both have ingredients to improve skin/coat. My dogs are on Science Diet and though they do shed (Border Collies in Nevada can do nothing else ) they have very shiny, healthy coats with no other supplements.
He may have a thyroid problem, that can cause hair loss/dull coat and is simple to deal with but not that common for his age. Or he may just be having a heavy shedding year. You could try an additional supplement like 3V or Efacaps that have omega oils. Shibas have that double coat though, and are heavy shedders- so he may have just gotten more of his adult coat and is shedding it heavily this year. You didn’t mention if he was neutered or not- both males and females will get a more consistent coat after neutering/spaying.
I hear skin problems are common among Japanese breeds. My parents’ Akita has a serious problem in summer. Usually just a lot of hair loss, but often with sizeable bald spots, rashes and itchiness. They get medication from the vet which stops the symptoms but there seems to be no cure. They also keep her in the air-conditioned house which seems to help a little. I’m sorry I don’t have the exact diagnosis or name of the medication, all I can say is it’s worth going to the vet.
You’d think Japanese dogs would be well adopted to the heat and humidity, but I guess pure breeds have their weaknesses…
Wellness is a much, much better food than Science Diet. This is a very good first thing to try. Give it another couple of weeks before you worry too much, if he seems otherwise healthy (active and happy).
Drs. Foster & Smith offer a variety of food additives that are supposed to help with excessive shedding.
I have noticed with cats that the amount of shedding seems to be linked less to the absolute temperature than to the difference between summer and winter temperatures (makes sense, when you think about it).
Is your dog stressed out at all? Has someone moved out of the house, or into, or has his routine changed?
When my grandmother was sick and dying her dog started losing tonnes of hair and his coat got really dull. He has since been adopted by mom and dad and his coat is back to normal, although it took a while. Mom and dad also put a tablespoon of olive oil on his dinner at night (at the suggestion of the vet) and his coat improved.
) they have very shiny, healthy coats with no other supplements.