Des, I'm sorry baby Annika isn't doing well. I would definitely have her thyroid checked. Dry itchy skin and hair loss were two big problems for Alex before he was diagnosed as hypo-thyroid. He takes one pill a day and what a difference!
As to the raw, I feed it to mine and have noticed a huge difference in my older guys teeth and coats. However, I had fed them Science Diet and Iams for years (I didn't know any better before YT
) and I believe that finally switching them to a good healthy diet in general (not just the raw specifically) was a big factor in the change I saw. Since you were already feeding an excellent food, yours probably already had a very healthy coat so you wouldn't have seen the changes I saw in my guys. Raw works great for my dogs and we all love it, but I don't think it's the right food for 'every' dog.
Good luck, and please get that thyroid checked!
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He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. -- Author Unknown