[jeslovesdogs]

Hey!

Does anyone else feed their dobie pup (mine is ten months) Wellness Brand Large Breed Puppy food? Toffee seems to love it and he is in good health and has a pretty coat! Should I be giving him any supplements in addition to his dog food? He does have some dry/flaky skin around his elbows and at the tip of the tail where it was docked when he was a puppy.

Jessica

 

[Zeusy Boy's Mama]

My vet suggested feeding Zeus Wellness Core adult food, as well as Allerderm oil for his allergies. The food is well balanced, and his coat and skin are great. But he is far from a puppy, being 6 years old and all.

Are the areas around Toffee's elbows more like calluses? Zeus has these as well, and it is from laying on hard surfaces - we have hardwood floors. He also has the flaking on his tail nub. Our vet prescribed a leave in conditioner which helps both his elbow calluses and flaky on his nub called Resicort http://www.entirelypets.com/resleavcon8o.html

Long story short, you may want to follow up with your vet to see what he/she thinks. It would be best to figure out what exactly it was before treating it (rule out mange, yeast infection, allergies, etc). See if your vet would suggest adding fish oil to Toffee's diet (what kind and and how much), or maybe using something along the lines of the Resicort leave-in conditioner.

 

[stryker2]

For skin and coat this what we supplement with. You can give him 1,200 mg fish oil and a Vit. E 400iu every day with his food.
or you can give him a can of 3.75 oz can of sardines pure olive oil and the Vit. E. Its great for skin and coat. We also give a organic egg every day.
Always check with your Vet. to make sure nothing else is going on like Zeusy Boys Mama said.

 

[jeslovesdogs]

Hey,

Thanks for the info! The spots on Toffee's elbows are like calluses and I have tried rubbing that Bag Balm stuff (for cow udders,etc.) into them and that seemed to help with the dryness. I am going to look into that conditioner you are talking about. I have had him tested for allergies/skin infections/problems and the tests came up negative. My vet says this just happens with Dobies sometimes.

 

[PatchworkRobot]

I second the use of Fish Oil Tablets + Vit E and also the occasional Sardines. Both do WONDERS for my dog's coat.

 

[eisel]

well, try a different food if wellness causes dry skin issues. It is way overpriced anyways.

 

[StarlightDobe]

well, try a different food if wellness causes dry skin issues. It is way overpriced anyways.

It is an excellent food and is cheaper than some of the others out there, I feed Wellness Adult Super 5 large breed to both my dogs, one is 8 months old and one is 18 months, one is a red, and we have no problems with skin. Both have beautiful coats, my black girl shines like high gloss paint and is as soft as velvet, and my red girl is almost as soft. Both have eaten Wellness all their lives and have always done great on it. We switched the puppy to adult when she was about 6 months old on the advice of our vet.

 

[eisel]

It is an excellent food and is cheaper than some of the others out there, I feed Wellness Adult Super 5 large breed to both my dogs, one is 8 months old and one is 18 months, one is a red, and we have no problems with skin. Both have beautiful coats, my black girl shines like high gloss paint and is as soft as velvet, and my red girl is almost as soft. Both have eaten Wellness all their lives and have always done great on it. We switched the puppy to adult when she was about 6 months old on the advice of our vet.

30lb bag of large breed puppy is like 60 bucks at petco and other suppliers around here locally. That is very high priced for a grain dog food. The other grain blends are within a couple dollars too. One can get EVO or even Orijen for just 2-3 dollars more for the same weight bag. I'm not suggesting it is a bad food(but may not be right for one dog vs another), just seems to me too high priced for it's ingredients. Heck TOTW is 46 bucks for 30 lbs.(40 right now at tractor supply), grain free, and provides the same calories per cup(little more in high prairie and wetlands, little less with the fish and the lamb formulas).

 

[jeslovesdogs]

Guys,
I have decided to switch Toffee from the Wellness Large Breed Puppy food to the Orijen 80/20 Large Breed Puppy food. I just ordered the first bag from Petflow.com and I got free shipping using the PFLW49 code! I hope that Toffee will like it and I really hope that this grain free food that is higher in protein content will improve his dry skin and coat!

 

[eisel]

Orijen is a good food. My dogs love the taste, but, for whatever reason the new formula did not work out well for Finn where as the old formula was the best he ever looked.