Bad skin

[Valkie]

My Dobie has developed really bad skin. His skin is very oily and has dandruff. I've upped his bathing to once a week, which has helped, but the dandruff starts coming back within two days and his fur still feels oily on his back as soon as he dries off.

I'm using a shampoo for oily dogs, but it's not helping his back much, and he's still itching constantly. I know that I'm bathing him correctly... I use to be a bather for the local groomer for over a year.

Does anyone have any suggestions for an oily dog??

[Ash47]

Try Head & Shoulders human shampoo. Mix it 1 part shampoo and 4 parts water.

[Khristine]

I've heard that works well (head and shoulders that is) ..

My groomer also suggested if i wanted to, to try sardine oil in their food has a lot of oils to i think help with the dandruff..

i use missing link and mix it in my puppy oreo's food.. i can tell the difference now... :p

[Valkie]

Thanks for the suggestions! Sunday is bath day, I'll let you all know how it works out.

[Renee750il]

What is he eating?

[smkie]

flax seed oil might be better than fish oil..but maybe i am wrong..that is what my brother is using..my mother is taking it as well because it is a good fat and she needs some good fat on her thin bones.

[Saje]

Avocado is a wonderful fat to Smkie. Maybe you should tell your mom to eat more guacamole! It's my fave. :)

Valkie, what kind of food is your dog eating? There is usually a reason for greasy hair/skin.

[Valkie]

he is picky as far as his food goes. When I first adopted him, we tried Eukanuba (I know I spelt that wrong), Science Diet, ect... he refused to eat any of it even though the shelter said that that was what he was on... and he went from the 110lb mush that we adopted down to 94lbs.

The only thing that we've been able to find that he'll eat on a daily basis is that cheap ass Walmart brand Old Roy Lamb and Rice mix. That and he's constantly eating the cat food... :rolleyes:

I would think that the cat food has fish oil in it... or maybe he just likes the cat nip :p .

There is one more thing that I didn't think of when I first put the post up... He'll get these patches of fur that just don't grow in right. God, I don't even know how to explain it... it's like 20 hairs try to grow out of the same folicle. They become ingrown, get infected, and turn into this... like, giant zit thing. (I thought of this one because I had to deal with two patches on his legs earlier today) They look half bald, but when you really look at them, you can see the tops of the hair bunches on the skin. I know that they are painful because he doesn't like anyone touching them... the skin gets really hard and swollen. It's gotten to the point where once a month, I have to check him to make sure that the hairs are growing in right. If they aren't, he's a good boy and lets me pop the bad ones and the others I have to pull out with a pair of tweezers. Has anyone else had to deal with this or possibly know how to prevent it?

[Renee750il]

Right there's your problem. He's literally eating toxic food. The Eukanuba and Science DIEt aren't much better either.

You need to get him detoxed or those skin problems stand a high probability of getting chronic. I get so angry at these dog food manufacturers. You ought to be able to buy dog food without having to turn into a researcher, but they lie and sell you poison for your companions.

I'm betting Mordy can give you some very direct advice on getting his system cleaned out and getting this problem cleared up before it turns into something worse. A lot of us here feed Innova, and the EVO formula is particularly good. Your poor guy's system is just overloaded and is trying to excrete all that garbage.

By the way, no self respecting dog can pass up stinky cat food, lol! They'll even take it after it's been through the cat . . . :eek:

:D

[Saje]

LOL Renee.

She's absolutely right Valkie. It's a horrible industry but a few companies, like Innova, are moral and make good products. I'm going to get Mordy's attention on this thread as she can explain it better than I can and has maybe even heard of hair cases like yours.

[Mordy]

valkie, i know it might not be easy, but you will not solve these problems until your dog is off the poor quality food he's eating. you have to treat the problem from the inside out, no topical product or shampoo is going to make much if any difference at all.

i can't make a call on the skin condition without seeing some photos at least, but most likely the cause is a food allergy aggravated by the poor quality food. it's very likely they would clear up without extra help with a change in diet and some simple natural treatments for the skin to at least help with the itching until it goes away.

you will also have to prevent him from eating the cat food.

i can work with you on this if you like, but it will take quite a bit of commitment from your side. to work out a plan, i need to know how old this dog is and how long this problem has been going on. and any other details in regards to his health that you can possibly think of - no matter how small. what do his ears smell like for example, and are they naturally clean or do you have to clean them a lot? are his teeth and gums in good condition, does he have bad breath? has he been treated with any medications recently? do you use heartworm and flea preventives, and if so, what brand? is this dog an indoor or outdoor dog?

photos would help immensely, if you have a way of emailing them to me. best taken in natural light, one of each side of the body as close up as you can to get the entire dog into the photo. one of his armpits and one of the belly/groin area, and of the area where the "pimples" you mentioned are most prevalent.

please PM me with your email address so i can give you my main one. that way you can get a hold of me directly, but it's an address i do not generally post publicly.

[Saje]

Mordy, you are wonderful. What would we do without you? :D

Here's your star...
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-039.gif

[Mordy]

awww :o thank you saje. we'll get to the bottom of it, no doubt. :)

[Saje]

I have faith. :D

[Valkie]

PM sent and I'm going to work on those pics. There is another forum that I'm on that a lot of the people there use Old Mother Hubbard brand, how does that one stack up?

Thanks everyone!!

[Saje]

Hmm I haven't heard of that. I'll look into it.

[Saje]

Well in my opinion (which is humble and lacking in knoweldge on the subject) I think that is a much better option than what you have been feeding. However, it seems to have a lot of grains in it and from what I understand some dogs don't do well on that.

www.omhpet.com is their page

[Renee750il]

Your best bet is working with Mordy - she can steer you to the best possible choices for your poor guy's problems.

Dobes are such great dogs - I know he'll be grateful when he quits itching!

[bogolove]

Brady's friend Jenny had a bad skin problem and her owner's found out she could not eat ANYTHING with corn in it. They had to switch her food and she has been better since that.

[RedHotDobe]

Well, I know this doesn't help much, but Duke was completely dandruffy and disgusting before he started getting his Thyroxine. Now he's just loverly! :) Although, he was blowing coat a few weeks ago and I was about to take a heavy-duty vacuum to him...

[Valkie]

Well, I figured I'd give everyone an update.

I switched my sweetie's food about a month ago to Nutro for large breed seniors and he's doing great! I just gave him his first bath in a month, and the main reason he needed that one was because he was starting to get oily again. The dandruff is gone, his bald spots are growing hair again, haven't seen any of those nasty ingrown hairs and his scaley ears are nice and soft again. I didn't even have to use the medicated dandruff shampoo this time!

He's sooo happy that he isn't itching any more. and he's starting to get his grey facial hair :lol:... believe it or not, this one is a relief to me. I was thinking a couple of weeks ago that it was odd that he didn't have any grey hairs yet since he is 12 yrs.

Thanks to everyone about the tips on the food. I didn't realize that the dog food that is out there is so disgusting and actually bad for the animals... here I am, this time last year, thinking it was odd that one of my buddies wouldn't feed his dog dogfood. :rolleyes:

[lilly]

ok you did reaaaaaaaaaaly well!with some patience you did your goal. :) :cool: :D ;) we are all VERY happy he got better!

[lilly]

:) im happy :)