# Dry Skin



## Stormy77 (Aug 17, 2010)

My dog seems to be loosing his hair because of dry patchy skin. I inspected him an I see not one flee on him. I used frontline and I am wondering if anyone has noticed it messes with their dogs skin?


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

what do you feed him?


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## Stormy77 (Aug 17, 2010)

I feed him Pedigree.


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

That could be your problem, pedigree is not a great food and I could see some coat health issues. Is he losing hair where you put the frontline on? BTW fleas do not dry out skin and cause hair loss like that.

It could be a nutritional issue, I would get him on a better food and give 100mg of fish oil a day as a coat supplement. Does he itch? cold be some type of allergy, pictures would be nice.


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

well that is prob your problem, that food doesn't have a decent fatty acid ratio nor it it a fixed formula (every bag the same). He needs some good omega 3/6 fatty acids 

i'm going to let somone else pick up on what to feed and why because nobody likes my food (eukanuba) even though it had done me VERY well with many dog expecally with skin issues 

i also believe there is a thread on how to rate your food you may want to go check it out


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

Eukanuba is full of filler and they just had a major recall on food on Aug 5th, I do not recommend it!


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

which is why i recommended the other thread


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## Stormy77 (Aug 17, 2010)

No the hair isn't coming out where I put the front line although It say's on the box it could cause acne which is also a problem I have been having on his chin. As for where he is loosing his hair it is flakey skin in little patches like the size of a dime or smaller but where ever it seems to be flakey the hair comes out. I will most definitly look into a healthier diet for him to start thanks for that informations. The next best thing would probably be a visit to the vet. Thanks again!:


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

is he itchy? could be a food allergy but he definitely is having coat issues. Acne on the chin is common in APBT's and they usually out grow it, is your dog young? You can try new food and when you do give it a a month before you notice a difference. If you really want to rule out a food allergy maybe to grain my suggestion is to put him on Taste of the Wild Salmon for coat health and grain free food. That would be the best place to start IMO because if it is grain related and you just put him back on another grain diet it will do not good. It will also really help his coat on the salmon diet and give one fish oil pill a day.


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## Stormy77 (Aug 17, 2010)

Well he really isn't itchy. He has not been chewing himself at all. He is only 9 months. So not even a year yet.


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## Stormy77 (Aug 17, 2010)

I have never heard of Taste of the wild brands so I looked it up. Can I buy this at a pet store or do I have to order it online. Also I have heard so your dog doesn't have stress on it you should mix the dog food half and half for the first week is this true? One more thing In the past month I have been taking my dog swimming more then often and I also washed him at home afterwards maybe this could be the reason his skin is drying up. Needless to say I have not taken him to go swimming for a week to prevent washing him. I just have a feeling that might have been my big mistake. I guess time will tell one step at a time.


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## Stormy77 (Aug 17, 2010)

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc132/ladyvanilla1977/IMG_0221-1.jpg
here is a photo its not very clear.


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

You can find taste of the wild at pet stores or feed stores.
Swimming would not cause that because you are not washing the oils out of the coat.
Do you have ticks in your area? Those look more like a bug bite of some sort than an allergy or just dry skin. How many patches like that does your do have?


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## StaffyDaddy (Mar 28, 2009)

taste of the wild has a store locator to help find a feed store near you who carries their line. Also, I agree this could be caused by a lack of nutrients in the pedigree, as well as food allergy. Ive been playing around with MY diet lately and by far a gluten free diet has cleared up some skin issues Ive had, as well as helped me lean out.


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## geisthexe (Jan 18, 2007)

Most dry skin is due to the following:

- Food
- Lack of Omega 3s
- Air Conditioners
- Heaters
- Swimming Pools due to the chlorine 
- Allergies
- Thyroid
The list can go on. 

I would first try working on the Omega 3s (Fish Oils) will help to put oil back into the dogs system.


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

TOTW locator

Taste of the Wild : Dealer Locator


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## Stormy77 (Aug 17, 2010)

I know It looks like a bug bite in the photo but it isn't the photo is actually flaky skin and like I said as soon as the skin flakes away the hair falls out. As far as how many spots, I would say 10 at least and they vary in size but mostly smaller then a dime to dime size. This Omega 3's (fish oil) sounds like the way to go and a change in the dog food. So as soon as Friday comes along I am hitting up a feed store and I will try to find the stuff I need to make my baby better. I wasn't really concerned about when I took him swimming in the lake I was more concerned about the bathing part and the tick and flee shampoo I was using to wash him. In the process of switching his food I will lay of the bathing part FOR SURE and hope he gets better. Once again thank to you all for your help. I am just starting to understand a healthier way for my dogs life and I am very happy I found this site. :woof: :goodpost:


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

still sounds like bug bites but really hard to say for sure, try the food and hopefully that will help and he will fell better too. How often are you giving him baths?


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## KateM (Sep 1, 2010)

Hi
I am new to this site and see that this thread is a few days old but I just wanted to add my experience in case your still having the skin issues or have them in the future. I agree with the above posts that food could be a main culpret. I have tried so many different things becuase my dog has had skin issues. He had the allergies to certain ingredients in foods. I switched him to an all natural diet but that gets expensive. The best thing I have had results with besides switching his food was a product a friend told me about called vet aid. I cant remember if its 2 words or 1 but look it up I love it.


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