We adopted a dog yesterday from the Humane Society – her name is Daytona! She is so pretty! She’s a black lab mix (I think the other half is Doberman, but my husband isn’t convinced). Anyway, she has fairly short hair, and when we got her, lots of dandruff. I got her some moisturizing oatmeal shampoo and bathed her when we got home (she was not a fan, but she’s forgiven me). That got her very glossy and mostly non-stinky, but the dandruff seems to already be coming back.
What else can we do to help her skin be less dry? She’s firmly opposed to bathing any more than necessary, so I’m hoping there are other products we could use, or maybe something we could do with her food (we bought Iams adult formula for large breeds), or maybe we just need to brush her lots.
I am open to any and all advice, so lay it on me! Thanks!
A good food will help. We gave our lab mix an egg every morning for the first couple of weeks as well. She should shine right up. If not, she may have allergies and need to be checked out. Best of luck!
My lab/collie mix had the same problem when we got him from the pound. The vet advised dropping a little olive oil into Jake’s food every day. The dry skin/dandruff cleared up really quickly after that.
I believe there are little oil capsules that you can get, also. If you lab is anything like mine, you’ll just have to toss one in the air for her to catch and eat. She won’t know it’s not a treat until too late!
My vet has me giving these Omega Fatty Acids to my itchy retriever (probably the same stuff Mithril gives his/her pup). I put the capsule in her evening food dish and she gobbles it up with the rest.
Dolly gets Eukanuba food and has never had dandruff, although she DOES get allergy-related itchies.
The oils and a new food might help with your pup’s dandruff but I’ve been told by my vet that retrievers are notorious for their daintily sensitive skin
Good luck with Daytona! You’re pretty cool for rescuing and caring for a dog
A high quality food should take care of this problem. I see you’re feeding Iam’s so give her a few weeks to see how she reacts. There are better quality foods you may want to try if the problem still exists.
Make sure you don’t overbathe her as that can intensify the problem. Remember, she’s been in a shelter and stressed out so it may take a little while for her to settle in and her body may just be reacting to her shelter adventure.
We’ve always kept larger dogs (great danes), and when they experienced dry skin, the vet told me it was due to growth spurts. Basically, even being fed a good food was not enough to keep up with the growth. The vet called this the “gawky teenager stage,” which always cracked me up. Like others, he gave us a vitamin supplement, which seemed to help. You didn’t say how old your dog is, so it’s just a guess.
Here’s a site that covers dog dandruff and possible causes/treatments. I wouldn’t be really worried since you didn’t mention excessive scratching or hot spots. I’d still take the dog to a vet for a thorough check up though, if you weren’t already planning on it. I like the peace of mind, and you might consider grabbing a stool sample to bring with you. Congratulations and good luck!
Thank you so much for the ideas! I’ll give it a couple of weeks to see if it clears up with a healthy diet and less stressful environment. I did put egg in her food yesterday to entice her to eat it, and it sounds like it could be worth doing again.
I’ll be scheduling a vet appointment for her when I get home tonight. She’s had some vaccinations and boosters from the shelter, but we want her to get the full check up (and she needs to be spayed, too!). The shelter thought she was 1-2 years old, and we both think that she’s BARELY over a year, if that. My guess is that she has some bulking up to do, but time will tell. Anyhow, the growth spurt idea the cichlidiot brought up could be part of it.
She is such a sweetie! Other than the skin thing, she seems healthy as a horse and is playful and cuddly as all get out. I can’t believe anyone would surrender her, but I am so glad that she’s ours now. Thanks for the good wishes!
We buy 1000 mg fish oil capsules in the vitamin section at Costco for Angus, whose skin has gotten drier as he has gotten older. Holly, our other Newf, has terrible skin problems and has to get shots once a week. She has a freaking dermatologist.
I would ease off on shampooing, at least for a while. It dries out the skin. Brushing her with a good bristle brush (not a slicker brush or a comb, but like a human hairbrush) will clean up the flakes and help distribute her natural body oils over her skin and through her coat. Start out just doing it for a minute or two, and have treats handy, and soon she’ll love being brushed – if she doesn’t already!
