Shedding? Dry skin??? Crazy weather?
 

It seems like Amara is shedding. I thought Yorkie's aren't supposed to shed?? Anyway. When I give her a bath a good bit of hair seems to come out. And then I find it on my clothes. On my hand and in my food. Its crazy. I'm not even sure what it is or why its happening. I don't know if they get a winter coat or not. But maybe she's shedding that. I've researched Yorkie's alot. And didn't see anything about shedding or winter coat or being double coated. But then again she also doesn't meet that "perfection standard" Its not really a problem. Except for when it gets in my mouth or on my food. Not a heavy shedder but close to average. Anyway. Anyone else having trouble with dry itchy irritated skin? Crazy weather outside. I think its affecting her skin. How it shifts from cool, cold and rainy, to warm, to hot. I'm going to the store today to pick up some oatmeal shampoo and conditioner. I think the grains in her food are maybe part of the constant scratching. So grain free again it is. I thought since she wasn't a performance dog that it would be ok to feed her food with grains. Also she was very thin. I've been feeding Blue Buffalo. I've tried wilderness and then small breed puppy.Wilderness is grain free, high protein and I thought about how she doesn't need that much protein. Life protection has grains small breed etc. She's put on some weight thought and feels and seems healthy. She's also been gassy too. Gross. I still love her. Just trial and error. Also. Blue Buffalo can be pretty pricey too. Just for anyone thinking about trying it. There are some five star foods that aren't that pricey that I've tried. I do think they are a little overpriced. But I like them though. I've switched her food alot so its made her kinda picky. I've been slowing down though. I have a plan to solve everything. Just posting for advice and tips. She sleeps like a baby after a bath with oatmeal shampoo. Doesn't budge until morning.

I have never had this problem. I hope someone here can help.

I as well have never heard of this before! I hope someone can help you out(:

But I will say that when the weather changes around here, it totally messes up my hair. So maybe it can happen to dogs too?

My Jewels is having itchy problems right now and she never has in the past so it could be alleries

Thanks for responding everyone.

I have to say, I was feeding a few low protein low fat grain inclusive foods for a while... and after about, I'd say 2-3 months, I noticed little hairs coming off Jackson too. I thought it was the weirdest thing - had never noticed it before. It WAS almost like he was shedding! Back onto Acana we went, and problem was gone!

Yorkies will lose hair if they are stressed, not getting enough fatty acids in their diet, eating the wrong type of food, have allergies and the like. You have to take one step at a time on this one.

I've spoken to Avery's vet about this... he loses hair like humans do. After baths there is hair there and I find when I hold him and he gets nervous, it's on my clothes. My vet said nothing is wrong with him, as long as it isn't coming out in clumps, etc.

It isn't natural for them to lose hair other than the normal loss such as humans have. If they are losing a lot of hair, then something is wrong. It could be diet or a health problem. It's definitely something that shouldn't be ignored.

I have been having this problem for months now with my little guy. He is a tiny poodle, and not a yorkie. But I will just tell you our experience. He has had extremely dry, itchy skin that was flaky. It slowly but progressively began to get worse. I tried all natural shampoos, hollistic products I researched, etc. Oatmeal shampoo, tea tree oil shampoo and many others all didn't help at all. I also then switched his food from royal canine to a five star high protein, wellness core.

He continued to worsen until he was scratching constantly to the point that he had large bald spots. Initially the vet treated him for sarcoptic mange. He did get negative scrape test results, but they basically treated him for it to rule it out. They said that many vets will treat for sarcoptic mange when a dog presents with dry flaky itchy skin with no apparent cause. This treatment didn't help at all..... so thus they ruled out sarcoptic mange.

I requested to see a dermatology specialist at our LSU vet school. I really thought he had some kind of allergies and an overgrowth of yeast...which is why I initally switched him to a grain free food.

The LSU vets do think he has allergies. They said that it's actually quite common in smaller breeds like toy poodles and yorkies. They said that we will know if it is indeed food allergies vs atopic if the food trial works. His food trial will last three months.

1. They had me stop everything I was giving him....no treats...nothing.
2. They switched his food to a royal canine prescription diet. They explained that it's the most ideal to switch the dog to a food they've never had when initiating a food trial.(This food is rabbit vs chicken, fish etc)
3. They did put him on an antihistamine that works better in dogs than the benadryl, claritin, and zrytec that I had previously used with him.
4. They had me stop all of my shampoos, coat oatmeal sprays, basically everything. They prescribed a ketachlor shampoo to help the itching, and this is all I can use on him for the next three months.

It's been only 12 days, and for the first time in a year, he finally has relief from the severe itching. His skin is still flaky but does seem to be getting better.

So, I just wanted to pass this along since they said that this is common in both poodles and yorkies. I spent alot of money on numerous visits to multiple vets before I finally got to this point. So, hopefully your little baby gets better from what you're already doing. But if not, you might be better off to either see a dermatology specialist or at least a vet that sees alot of skin issues and is familiar with treating them.

Good luck!!!!!!

Michelle

oops in my previous very long post, I did leave out that he also was shedding....at first a little...eventually a whole lot.... As I'm sure you know, poodles aren't supposed to shed like this. So far, that seems to also already be improving.... I don't know if it's because of the treatment or because his hair is so thin at this point from losing so much of his coat....but I really do think that this new food is making a difference!!

I'm just sooo happy to finally have him have some relief!!!

Thanks for responding everyone. I'm planning on getting her on Acana. I've been wanting to try it for a very long time.

I've been wanting to try Acana for a while. So I'm gonna go get some.

I've been wanting to try Acana for a while. So I'm gonna go get some.
Exactly what happened to Amara.

I'm trying. Thanks.