Flaky Skin

[DiamondJubilee]

My 11 month old pup has some serious dandruff and it seems to be mostly from her mid line back to her tail. When I part the hair, it looks to be on the follicle end and they are large chunky flakes. She doesn’t really seem itchy or more scratchy than she was in the summer but she does this odd barrel roll with her skin (kind of like a horse twitching a fly off its side) when you scratch down her back and she has a lip curl. So itchy when you pat her…A bit odd and I’ve never seen a dog do that before when pet.

I’m just looking for some advice/input in case I’ve missed something. A bit of a background - she has a double coat but its not long hair by any means (Greater Swiss MD - like lab length of coat) and bad me, but I very rarely brush her as she never seems to shed, so I just don’t do it. Perhaps its the main culprit of the dandruff?? She never had it a few months ago, but of course its dryer out now being fall/winter. She is fed a raw diet with proteins rotated and does not seem to have any allergies (no licking of paws, red skin, weepy eyes etc) and I do give her a supplement called K9 Diet Balancer from Herbs for Horses ( https://www.horseherbs.com/collections/dogs/products/canine-diet-balancer-for-dogs) though the actual amounts are on my container at home and not on their site for some reason. I also give her 10ml of herring oil as well, and ascorbic acid.

I have just added a tablespoon of coconut oil into her food the other day to see if it would help (1 tbsp in am and 1 tbsp in pm - just over 100lb pup now). I used a curry comb on her and scrubbed her like crazy with it and then bathed her last night with a gentle SOOS shampoo and when I part her hair now, I don’t see any flakes. For now at least.

I give my ponies natural vitamin E and perhaps I can add it to her diet as well to see if it helps with her skin?? Or maybe all I need to do is keep brushing her way more often than I do to bring her oils up or ?

[goodhors]

Sounds like she firstly, needs more brushing with a bristle brush to get thru the hair to reach the shin. Skin needs stimulation to get the flakes up and off. Rakes or the bristles with ball ends do not rub enough, they just straighten outer coat, while rake also helps get undercoat off. Dog really needs brushing at least once a week ti stimulate the skin, even if she is not shedding. She is probably pretty waterproof with the double coat, so no moisture reaching the skin unless she gets a bath.

You may want to practice with her and the vacuum, so after brushing you can vacuum or blow her off, get rid of the flakes. Brushing weekly, then I used the suction on the Corgi to get the constantly shedding undercoat off. Once a week kept the Corgi hair drifts from happening! Blowing is also great for removing water after bathing, so she dries faster. Just takes some practice. Starting younger is better. Using the narrow nozzle will help “compress” the air, so it gets warmer the longer it blows on her.

Fish oil should help keep the skin nice, but brushing is still required. I give my dogs each a fish oil pill once a day, plus the weekly brushing. Soft skin, no flakes, great quality hair on a Shelty and a Bouvier. Both very hairy breeds.

You may want to do some research on the coconut oil, I am not sure dogs absorb it well. I don’t give anyone coconut oil after the stories of over eating it and getting blockages.

[DiamondJubilee]

I have a horse vacuum/blower and my husband actually mentioned that to me as well. I haven’t tried it on her but she would probably be ok with it.

I thought the flaky skin might just be me being a bad mom and not brushing, and I bet that is the answer - just thought I would reach out here in case I was missing something else.

I actually have a double rake and a dematting undercoat rake that I always used on my non stop shedding lab - but not on her yet. I just wasnt sure if it was the right brush to use to get her oils out into her coat and if it would do anything to the dandruff - which is why I just used a rubber curry comb. But the curry comb wouldn’t really reach much of the undercoat I suppose.

I will look into the coconut oil. It was written somewhere in my travels but I can’t remember where I saw it now. She doesnt need any more health risks so I will stop it for now and look further into it.

[Marla_100]

My GSD is also on a natural raw diet and for coat and skin she also gets 6-12 raw eggs per week along with canned Salmon- the cheap pink kind
and canned mackerel,. The fish provide great oil and vitamins for the skin/coat
She also gets Nutri Vet multi vitamins.
She had a poor coat and dry, flaky skin when first
rescued from a shelter, but she gleams now.

[MunchingonHay]

sardines are great too.

[AMackechnie]

My dog (an aging collie mix) had flaky dandruff and a dull coat and my veterinarian suggested Welactin. It’s a fish oil liquid supplement. Within a month of use there was obvious improvement to both coat and skin and the dandruff has almost disappeared completely.

My wife and I were astonished that it worked so well. We had used another supplement called Omega Bites and it did nothing for our dogs.

Welactin is available through Chewy or other online pet stores.

[Angela_Freda]

All my dogs get wellactin.
It’s great for their coats and skin.
It’s also antiinflammatory.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

All dogs shed, so if she doesn’t seem to be shedding, I’d think that is actually the culprit–even if she doesn’t have a heavy undercoat, there’s still probably hair getting trapped in the coat, causing the itching and dead skin to build up. I honestly don’t think it sounds diet or allergy related, but if you can afford it, I’d take her to a groomer for a good deshedding shampoo/massage and then start brushing her more frequently. You may need to use a different brush.

[DiamondJubilee]

Thank you for the ideas all!

I will look into Wellactin. It seems to be a cold water fish oil, but I have fed Camilina oil and fish oil before and it doesnt seem to make a difference in the dandruff. She does get one full sardine (frozen) a day as well, as well as farm fresh eggs (when I can get them) or a frozen quail egg a few times a week.

She does have a very shiny coat and its soft as well, which was very surprising to me to see such large flakes under her coat. Perhaps it does have something to do with her not shedding much and me not brushing her?? I usually do bathe her at least 1 to 2 times a month with her being a farm dog and getting muddy etc. (I hate “stinky” dog smells and she does live in the house with us of course) with a gentle shampoo since I bathe her more than most would. I didnt want frequent bathing dry out her coat as well.

A groomer is a great idea and I’ve never thought of that. We have a great one in town that I used to send my lab to every month to help blow his coat out. I never thought to bring her there though since she never seems to shed! But I think it would help if I tell them her issues and I’m sure they can help me get it sorted out.

[OnAMission]

Hopefully this isn’t the issue at all but that area is where flea allergy or walking dandruff can show up too…

[DiamondJubilee]

@OnAMission - I have never heard of walking dandruff (I did check her for fleas and nothing there, no red or irritated skin/bumps) so I google it. Some of those pictures really did look like it could be her! She did have those really large flakes of skin though no hair loss but maybe its just not that bad yet?? It did say the mites prefer cats and rabbits, which I don’t have, but you never know. I"m not going to rule it out.

I did purchase a lime shampoo and I will treat her with it just in case. After her bath the other day the dandruff looks better but it is still there, just much smaller flakes. If its still there within a week, and after the lime bath, I will take her to the vet to check and see. Thank you for that suggestion!

I wish I took a picture, but this is what is really looked like before my grooming and bath. It was hard to see unless I parted the hair, but there was big and small chunks of dandruff all over her skin and I’ve never seen anything like it before (not that bad at least, I’ve had dogs with the occasional flakes, just not like this).