Dry skin
 

Hannah has horribly dry skin. She is always itchy. How can I make her feel better? What can I use to get rid of the dryness?

the first thing is to take her to the vet to rule out any allergies, or serious things, like fleas, mites, etc.... Then look into things like fish oil, coconut oil, to add to her diet.

Sophia has really dry skin that was making her itchy. I asked the vet and she said an oil supplement added to her food would probably help a lot. We've been using it only two weeks and I've already noticed an improvement. I'm hoping over time her itchies will be gone. We got this directly from our vet. It is called "Omega-3 Pet"...it is wild anchovy and sardine oil. Both Yorkies LOVE it. I just use the dropper to put some on their food and mix it around until it coats it.

Allergies could be it. Also, what type of shampoo are you using? Maybe there is something in it that is not agreeing with your pup. Or even check your food? Rosie has grass allergies. When she is bad we have to have her treated for them. She usually chews her paws to death. If your pup is dry all over, a vet visit may be the best option.

I agree with all the posts above. Personally, I supplement Tatiana's food with coconut oil and fish oil, and she has no skin problems, and her coat looks great (she can be prone to dry skin).

Also, my Tatiana is sensitive to shampoo. It makes her itch no matter how much I rinse her. So I skip the shampoo, and use conditioner only. I use conditioner for sensitive skin. It moisturizes her skin as well as conditions her coat. This works well for her.

Hope this helps.

How are you suppose to clean her when she hasn't has a bath for a week or two without shampoo. I would think using just conditioner would just make her hair more greasy since there are no cleaning properties in conditioners.

I would try talking to your vet about allergies (they can generally gauge severity better then we can) and if that could be causing issues.

In the meantime, try switching to a very gentle shampoo if you haven't already and you can also add in some extra oatmeal to it to try and help soothe the skin. You just need regular plain oats, toss some in either the coffee grinder if you have one (easier to do small amounts this way) or the blender, or even the food processor. The idea is to get the oats as fine as possible, and then you can mix them in with either your shampoo or your conditioner and then let it sit for 5-15 minutes.

Oatmeal can often help with the itches but its not necessarily going to solve the problem. The fish oil (or flaxseed oil) can really help with the skin too like other posters have said.

same here, except the vet gave me the gel caps, which I have to pierce and squeeze onto Smokey's food.. PIA, but it worked within a couple of days and now it's part of the morning ritual.:animal-pa

those BIG black spots
 

Deucy used to get one or two a month. He'd lick and lick and lick them, then get red, then they get RAISED up,..then they get crusty and I finally scratch them off. NOW, he has them ALL OVER HIS tummy!!! It just happened. I can't take him to any vet around here. KC is the closest. It's all red and inflammed on his tummy with all of those black things. HELP!

Really sounds like he needs a vet - why can't you use " any vet around here" :confused:
I'm afraid the way he is licking those places he will get an infection.

If you can't answer with a response as needed..(i.e. someone who has had this same problem before and used a certain product). Please, don't answer at all. Thank you. I don't need anyone questioning me or criticizing and I don't have to explain myself to anybody. That's not what this forum is for.

I had a whippet with the same condition and those 'black things' really freaked me out. My vet put one under the microscope and said they were little scabs, not some kind of infestation.

Since 'fools rush in where angels dare to tread', let me say that I agree with Yorkiemini in that this WAS a rampant infection of the bacterial kind in my case and my dog needed a 10 day course of CLAVAMOX antibiotics (really expensive) to cure it, and the condition returned more than once.

Oh, I've had the same problem and had to drive 55 miles ( in a borrowed pick up) to a vet because I was in a rural area that had nothing but horse doctors. And no critics here, those dry rough, red areas can get infected if not addressed - I had that problem. Took some prednisone" and heska ( which we still use) to solve the problem. . Would have been better for my $$$ and the pup if I had gotten to the vet sooner. Just talking from experience.

City folks, me included at one time, dont realize the challanges of living in the country. I got tired of the city and moved to upstate Vermont to get away from it all. I could walk to the Canadian border. The nearest big city in the US was 3 hours away and accessible only by back roads. The nearest Walmart was 3.5 hours away unless I wanted to go to the one in Canada, which was a 'close in' 1 hour up the road a piece. I had to order every thing online, including bed linens, small appliances and underwear because there was nothing to choose from 'in town'. TOWN consisted of one street with 6 operational stores and 15 abandoned storefronts. The local 45 bed hospital was only a place where you either went to get born or to die.

I lived at the end of a dirt road which was icy and treacherous in the winter and all mud in the spring and fall. Power outages were frequent and could last for days. My annual heating bill was $6000. During one particularly bad blizzard I didnt leave the house for 10 days. I had my choice of a number of competent vets who were also 'horse doctors' but nobody had ever seen or treated whippets or greyhounds. Nobody had diagnostic equipment such as sonography or MRIs, and you either waited a week for 'the guy' to make the circuit with his 'machine' or drive 1.5 hours each way to the facility 'down the road a piece' that I had very little use for or confidence in.

With gas prices the way they are, a 6 hour round trip drive to the city cost $50 in gas, or I had to board the dogs at $75 a night and find a hotel in town or a friend to stay with in addition to doing whatever business I needed to do.

After 10 years 'enjoying' the peace and quiet of the country, I sold my house at a net loss of $40k, yes, $40k since real estate values in farm country are still tanking.. and I moved to 'the city'. 46,000 people in this city, but we gots all the modren conveniences like box stores, a world class teaching hospital and CHINESE TAKE OUT!!!!

The only way I will ever leave the city again is in a plain pine box.

I hear you. Lived in an area where cattle & horses out numbered humans. I, too, am now living in a small, suburban type area and loving the convenience. Don't miss the blizzards and being snowed in for days at all! My current Yorkie has never experience running out the back door and totally disappearing in the snow :D