I have a 10 month old blue dobie who’s recently been experiencing some dry/flakey skin. I first noticed this about 1.5 months ago and heard that fish oil would help, so he’s been on allerg-3 but it hasn’t helped with his condition much. Do you guys have any other recommendations that I should try or should I stick to allerg-3 for some more time? I know it’s not his shampoo because he’s been on the same medicated shampoo since 7 weeks old, he’s also on Purina pro plan for sensitive skin and stomach.
Please kindly help. Thank you so much!
PS: here’s a picture of my boy sleeping on his place bed
I'm not really going to address diet issues (that's not at all my area of expertise), but over-shampooing is one thing that can cause flaky dry skin. Is there a reason you are shampooing him (fairly often, it sounds like?)
The vet recommended the medicated shampoo for his skin bumps when I first brought him to the vet at 7 weeks old and I’ve just been using that ever since. I bathe him once a month, I just never felt the need to change the shampoo since it really helps control the bumps. If I wait longer than 1 month to bathe him the bumps would start showing around his neck.
Have you had a skin scraping? Is he possibly allergic to his collar (the metal on it)? He really shouldn't be getting bumps on his neck - I'd be pursuing a diagnosis there...you should follow up with your vet on that.
How much fish oil are you giving? My vet recommends 1000 EPA (with 400 mg of vitamin E). I'd confirm with your vet what their recommendation is. A lot of fish oil caps don't provide a high level of EPA.
I'm wondering if there's actually a low level staph infection or something that simply hasn't been treated.
I have been fighting skin allergies also for the past year and it started with flaky skin to little bumps to scabs to now welts. Also he has developed irritated red skin on his belly. I have used medicated baths, premium fish oil(not the commonly rancid stuff that is often sold), 2 types of antibiotics, keto hex wipes, and probiotics. He just got a cytopoint shot and will observe for the next 4-8 weeks. Take it one step at a time and good luck !!!
What is the medicated shampoo? Manufacturer? Some medicated shampoos work better than others--and if he wears a collar-what kind is it? If it's fabric it should be washed frequently. Some dogs react to the metal in metal collars (but they should be washed too) and if leather--it should be cleaned with saddle soap or any good leather cleaner regularly.
Sounds like it might be a low level staph infection as MeadowCat said. You really shouldn't need to bath him monthly to control the "bumps" (which really sound like staph).
Also when bathing don't scrub him--short haired, single coated dogs like Dobes are never that dirty--a soft sponge or a soft wash cloth--to apply the shampoo--don't rub back and forth--just massage the shampoo in the direction the hair lies--and rinse very well.
Use cooler rather than very warm water--the dog won't like it but his skin will and scrubbing at the coat and really warm water will open the hair follicles and sometimes that will cause a case of folliculitis (infection of the hair follicle)--which also can result in dandruff and dry looking skin.
A final rinse in cool water with vinegar added also will do two thing--it does a good job of making sure you've gotten all of the soap off of his skin and it's really good to provide the proper pH at skin level. Yes, he'll smell like a salad until he dries but once dry the Dobe as salad odor goes away. I use a mix of about a gallon of water to one or two cups of plain white vinegarl
Good luck--dilute dogs (blue and fawn) sometimes have more problems with skin issues that black and red dogs. My fawn dog didn't really but it's not uncommon.
dobebug
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