It happened again, Chloe has a mullet
 

Chloe has a REALLY thin dry coat and she also has seasonal allergies and sometimes it gets so bad that she will scratch at her face and she breaks all the hair around her ears and eyes off until its really short (like an inch) and ends up with a mullet. It only seems to be her ear area (like below and behind her ear) and face that bothers her. I feel bad for her and Im sad because we have been tryign so hard to grow her hair out and now her beard area and the hair that comes off the lower side of her face is really long but the top is too short and sparce to put in clips so what is up there just hangs over her eyes. She went to the groomer today and the groomer was absolutely stunned at how dry her coat was, its like it was fried, but I dont know how this can happen:confused: I use emu oil/spray when I brush her and I feed her nutro ultra with missing link. How can I keep her hair from getting so dry? Im getting some sort of special spray that my groomer is ordering for me but Im wondering what else I might should try, including other possible food supplements maybe? Change of food? (which changing food isnt easy at my house becuase ALL the girls insist on eating the same food)

I wish I had a suggestion... Tootie has that problem too... because he is a boy, I just keep his hair cut shorter.. I will be interested to see suggestions from others.... good luck!

Hi Shana! I am having a similar problem with Sadie's coat. She doesn't have the soft silky coat that Lillie has. Sadie's coat almost feels coarse and it isn't thick. I have noticed her coat almost looks like it is getting thinner..Today I gave them their baths and noticed alot of shorter hair on her...I don't know why it's breaking either! I read a post on here where someone had problems with their dogs coat and started feeding Canidae...I had switched the girls over to Canidae about 2 months ago...I am hoping it will make a difference in Sadies coat..If you find something that works...Please share the info.

Good Luck Shana!

Try putting olive oil in her food. Be careful, though. If you use too much, it can make her poopies runny. Or you can add scrambled egg to her food..its also good for coats.

I can't help with the coat issues but Dougal feels Chloe's pain - except his mullet is usually accidently inflicted by me trying to give him a hair cut. Poor boy.

Hi Shana,

Adding olive oil food to her food helps a lot also ry adding boiled salmon toher food . My advice is that you switch to a home made diet and her coat and skin look normal again...I heard that alll the chemicals that they put in dog food causes allergies and skin problems ...
Good luck....

Cali scratches the same areas, face and head only. I just had her at the vet again and he said that those type of allergies are usually environmental not so much food. I have her on antihistamines which do not really help much. She scratched from 3:00 this morning until 7. I feel so bad. I just ordered the Grizzly salmon oil and I use Emu oil spray when grooming nothing is working. I am thinking of a taking her to an allergist aothough my vet said with CAli's liver shunt he would not put her on allergy shots so it may be of no use. Ifeel your pain.

You might want to try using the grizzly salmon oil on her food for a while instead of the missing Link and see how that does for you. I was using Missing Link and just started using this. I got it a Jeffers pets

How often can I give her scrambled eggs? Ive heard that is good for their skin and so I usually make the girls eggs to add to thier food but only on the weekend. I just never really get up and do breakfast for myself on the weekdays but if chloe needs or can have eggs daily, maybe I should make the effort! :p

I woke up this morning becusae Chloe was scratching so much, I just had to give her a dose of childrens benedryl which I really dont like doing becuase it just makes her sleepy and isnt always that effective.

OKay I think I will order grizzly salmon oil and start giving her some more scrambled eggs more often. Hopefully this will help. Thanks everyone

I know there is a breeder on here that adds boiled eggs to her dogs food everyday

awwwww....poor baby - itching is not fun at all

what shampoo and conditioner are you using on her Shana ?? Chanels hair was pretty dry until I started using the CC systems about 2 years ago - it's still the ONE shampoo that doesn't dry her out. Have you thought about the Sea Breeze oil ?? It's water based and won't dry her hair - and it's Anti breakage

OHH!!! Poor baby!!! I hope you find something that works. Her coat was looking so pretty too!!!

We've had an unusually warm winter this year and the pollen is everywhere, I'm wondering if that is why my girl ZsaZsa is scratching lately. How has your weather been, anything blooming or producing pollen?

I use the sea breeze oil too it is great

Have you had Chloe to the vet? Does she have any other medical problems? It sounds to me like she isn't processing protein correctly.

I don't mean to scare you, but my first yorkie had a terrible dry coat all the time it was never shiney and healthy looking and she died at the age of 3. Something to do with her inability to process protein. That was many years ago and vet medicine has come a long way since then so maybe it can be corrected if it is actually that problem.

She had no other signs so I never had her to the vet until she started vomiting and getting thin.

Im not a fan of cc, Ive tried the ice on ice and it just does not do anything for us but leave chloe nappy feeling, I htink she must have a really weird coat or Im just really bad at bathing her which is why I quit. I dont bathe or groom chloe anymore, I started takign her to the groomer weekly a few months ago and then I cut back to bi-weekly since it was so expensive to go 4 times a month and since chloe is so dry she doesnt get oily or greasy and she could go 2 weeks in between baths so this worked fine. I awllays use conditioning sprays or that emu oil to brush her out daily too. And I forget what my groomer uses on chloe but she is very aware of chloe's dry itchy skin problem and whatever she does use leaves chloe actually feeling really soft and her hair looks awesome, like it has life in it again. Im thinking maybe I need to go back to going to the groomer weekly. I think chloe is just having a bad case of allergies again which this happens a few times a year and last a few weeks. I just hate it because all she does is scratch 24/7. I can hear her wake up several times in the middle of the night just to scratch.

OMG! I hope its nothing like that. Yes I did take chloe to the vet for scratching and they didnt do any extensive testing because they think its allergies which they said its common for it to be seasonal which this is how it is with chloe and they just had me give her benedryl. I'd say she gets like this 3 times a year. Her coat is awlays fine-haired, but I awlays figured that was genetic. Im pming you

I have also heard that eggs help, as do some oils. Lola doesn't have that problem, but for a couple years, my boxer, Romeo, had a terribly dry coat, shed like crazy, and was constantly scratching and itching. Nothing made it better, until my aunt gave me a big bottle of VitaCoat that she ordered from a Foster & Smith catalog. You just add a little bit to their food every day, and doesn't take much (even for a boxer...it would last forever with a yorkie). It's got omega-3 and omega-6 acids. It took about a month of being on that before I noticed a big difference in Romeo, but now his coat is sooo soft and shiny, where before it was like horse hair. I know you can order different sized bottles from that catalog, and I've also found other brands of basically the same thing in our local pet supply store, so you could probably find it just about anywhere.

has the vet given her allergy pills for really bad days?

Zoe has the same problem, probably not as extensive but she scratches and scratches. I noticed slight improvement from the the apple cider vinegar and turning on our warm mist humidifier. We have the humidifier running all day long in our house during the winters to beat the dryness.

That's a good idea! My skin gets really dry during the winter, so maybe I should try this!


I hope you find something to help Chloe stop itching. I've heard the grizzly salmon oil is really good for that.

Jadens coat get so dry!! Especially in the winter, I had him on Nutro as well. I changed him over to Canidaes All Life Stages and started adding grizzly salmon oil in the morning and missing link at night and I have seen an amazing difference in his coat! It is the sofest and silkiest it has ever been and is growing like crazy!! :eek: I also use Aubrey Organics moisturing shampoo and conditioner on him when his skin seems like its getting dry again. Theri shampoos and conditioners are all organic and even some of the finest pet conditioners are not. Any shampoo or conditioner with petrolyem by-products in it...for instance mineral oil, can cause severe drying and flaking of skin. Petsilk and John Paul have mineral oils in them. I still use their shampoos and conditioners but when I notice his skin starting to get dry again I switch back over to Aubrey Organics and within a week or two it clears right back up. :thumbup: You can order their products online, they also sell them at upper scale salons and health food stores. I also give Jaden a pre-oil a day before his washing, like in the morning I will oil him down with jojoba oil and let it sit all day and then that evening he'll get his bath. It's really great for the skin! I also use and run a humidifier throughout the entire winter and it REALLY helps!

Hope this helps!

There are many thoughts on this. I homecook and the vet suggested an egg about once a week.

My Boxer has a really bad dry coat and sheds SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH also(words can not express how much that dog sheds) and she gets missing link in her food daily, which doesnt that have omega3 and omega-6?

Maybe I should switch thier foods again. Since both Penny and Chloe get the dry coat. Penny doesnt seem to itch, onlly chloe has the itching but still maybe its the food.

I feed my girls nutro unltra which is completely all natural, no chemicals. So what should I switch their food to for both a boxer and a yorkie with dry coat?

Someone mentioned canidae (sp?) in this thread, will that also be a good food for Penny?

HMMM, so only once a week? Or one egg for a little size dog rationed out over a week?

I agree with switching to a water-based product like the seabreeze, or even just use some water to wet the hair for combing. Just like us humans, if you use a product that builds up at all, the moisture can't get into the hair. Also, olive oil in her food has done wonders for Ginger's hair. Good luck!

TRIED AND TRUE way to turn a dry skin and coat into a beautiful soft healthy coat. First, put the dog on real food. Use Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap http://www.drbronner.com/drb_sai_liquids.html They are gentle enough for new born puppies, kittens and human babies. Gentle on your own hair and skin and for dogs they come in eucalyptus, tea tree and lavandin & lavender scents to repell fleas. After a shampoo make sure you rinse and rinse and take 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to 1 pint of water for a final rinse. Then towel dry and do a hot oil treatment and wrap in a warm towel for at least 5 minutes. (not need to use a conditioner after the hot oil treatment. It leaves long hair soft and doesn't matt). (You can use VO-5 or equivilant). Rinse and towel dry. Do NOT use hair dryers. They are terrible at causing dry hair.
Add one gel cap of cod liver oil to the food once a day. The foods you can also give them are sardines, salmon, mackriel and tuna packed in oil. Follow these simple steps and you will be totally amazed at how they look and feel in just two weeks.

Missing link has omega-3, but I don't think it has omega-6 (I could be wrong though...I just remember reading that somewhere). I think I'm going to start feeding Missing Link to Lola and I might try it on my boxer, just so I'm not always buying different things. My boxer sheds really bad a couple times a year, but for the most part his coat stays nice and shiny with very little shedding when I keep him on the oils. I know it's hard trying to find something you can give both a big boxer and a yorkie with good results. :D

I give it all at once. I give it in place of the regular protein. I use a large egg. I suspect you may not want to give Chloe a large egg all at once, she seems a lot smaller than Punkin (at 8.6 pounds).

I just had a thought - what kind of treats do you feed? Maybe it something in the treats not the regular food.

My boys get 1/2 of a scrambled egg on Sunday mornings. Jo gets oily about 2 days after a bath but Riley doesn't...if I feed them a fish based food for the higher oils Jo is a mess with very oily hair and little blisters on his belly. So, I bought a bag of Nature's Variety today...the frozen, raw food medalions...which I will start switching them over to tomorrow morning. They also make dry kibble. I talked with a lady at the store that was in line with some in her basket and she said her schnauzer had terrible itching and scratching but since she switched him to NV he's been fine and his coat is great. So, I'm going to give it a shot and see if the boys like it...I know I like the idea of a raw diet. Here's their website in case you want to look: www.naturesvariety.com

One more thought...have you had her thyroid checked?