# Dull coat, advice?



## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

Ginger, my brittany, will be two in July. She came here at just under five months. Her coat hasn't ever been really nice & shiny. It's dull, sort of fluffy and just not that nice but I think it looks worse now. I suppose it could be that I live in NH and til a couple weeks ago, the heat has been on daily. She came here eating Nutro Natural. Since then, she has been on The Honest Kitchen (Embark, turkey grainfree and right now Love, beef grainfree), Prairie and the lamb TOTW. She does not need grainfree but I was feeding her, mostly, gf because my other dogs needs it. She is a poopy dog (3-4 times daily, no matter what she is on) but when on the Prairie, it was humongous frequent poops. On grainfree, still frequent but nicely formed.
She gets on salmon oil daily, plus a cranberry capsule, Bug Off Garlic and organic apple cider vinegar. Oh and a probiotic/digestive enzyme, hoping it may help with the Prairie poops. 
In case it's not the heat, which has barely been on the last two or three weeks, any idea what food to look at? I'd like to keep her on the Honest Kitchen in the morning, just because she loves it and it's easy to mix the supplements in.


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

I have read coconut oil helps add shine to the coat.


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## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

Fish oils and coconut oil is what I do and a probiotic greek yogurt. And brush with a soft brush and not too many baths.


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## BeagleCountry (Jan 20, 2012)

When feeding kibble the best results were from Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon. With nothing added their coats had a deep luster and excellent texture. The food is high in omega 3. I suspect, but cannot prove, that the improved coat may have been due to the BB vitamin/mineral mix. It has some ingredients that are missing from some brands. It is also a higher calorie food than TOTW. Compare the ingredients to other foods. Second best were Innova and TOTW Pacific Stream with salmon oil added. It takes 2-3 months to see the coat improvement.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

AveryandAudrey said:


> Fish oils and coconut oil is what I do and a probiotic greek yogurt. And brush with a soft brush and not too many baths.


I forgot, I add yogurt every other day, tho not greek. Forgot about coconut oil, guess I should be checking that out! I dont' bathe here at home so that's not a problem LOL, not rich enough to send her to the groomers too much!


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

I really believe eggs help too! my dog eats 4-5 a week and his coat is very shiny. I also give him a teaspoon of coconut oil a couple of times a week in his food and sometimes rub a little in his coat which also makes it shiny. A little goes a long way, you don't want the coat to be greasy.


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## dustinshaw98 (Feb 22, 2012)

lovemydogsalways said:


> I have read coconut oil helps add shine to the coat.


To keep the coat shiny, raw egg (cracked, whole, and raw) with the shell still intact can be served to the dog once or twice a week. Making The Switch To A Raw Food Diet Easy for You and Your Dog


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

dustinshaw98 said:


> Making The Switch To A Raw Food Diet Easy for You and Your Dog


Wrong section for that raw link. Secondly that link looks more spammy than anything. What are you selling once ppl leave their emails?


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Yeah, I agree. There is so much information on raw diets everywhere that you DON'T need to sign up for an email list and get spammed all the time.

Eggs are fine, for a larger dog I'd even give one daily. Coconut oil, wild salmon oil is great, I use Pet-Tek brand, but Grizzly is good too.. From what I hear, Krill oil is even better. I personally rotate between coconut and fish. Adding some cooked or raw oily fish like mackerel, smelts, sardines, salmon, is also a good idea.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I would try something with higher protein content, if you want to stick with totw, either high prarie or wetlands. I'm not too familiar with honest kitchen, but I know several of their formulas are very grainy. 
I've also had success with grain free fish foods (right now Uno is on acana pacifica and has a nice coat), due to higher omega 3 content. 

As others said, eggs are great (make sure to get the free range/grass fed ones, since factory farmed eggs will have little omega 3's or vit. e content). Uno gets en egg every other day which is also a great protein booster and in between meals snack.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Sorry - it does look like spam. Not appropriate in the Dry and Canned food section. Eggs can be fed daily. They are rich for some dogs though. only 1 out of my 7 had to get used to them the rest did fine. We don't need spam in the raw section either by the way. Thanks


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

Unosmom said:


> I would try something with higher protein content, if you want to stick with totw, either high prarie or wetlands. I'm not too familiar with honest kitchen, but I know several of their formulas are very grainy.
> I've also had success with grain free fish foods (right now Uno is on acana pacifica and has a nice coat), due to higher omega 3 content.
> 
> As others said, eggs are great (make sure to get the free range/grass fed ones, since factory farmed eggs will have little omega 3's or vit. e content). Uno gets en egg every other day which is also a great protein booster and in between meals snack.


I really have to proofread my posts LOL. She has previously been on TOTW, she is on The Honest Kitchen's Love (beef grainfree) at the moment. We're on a health food kick ourselves, only buy those eggs. Do I just toss it in her food or do I break it up? Shells are fine?
Also, if I use coconut oil, anyone know if I should be using Vitamin E with that too? (you're supposed to with salmon oil)


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Yes, I just break the egg into the bowl. Most of my dogs love the shell some leave it. I don't really care one way or the other whether they eat the shell though I do give it. We use coconut oil as my dogs do poorly with fish oils and no you don't have to feed vit e with it. It is a nice oil with lots of omegas 3's. My collies get a tablespoon a day and my shelties get a teaspoon


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

Liz said:


> Yes, I just break the egg into the bowl. Most of my dogs love the shell some leave it. I don't really care one way or the other whether they eat the shell though I do give it. We use coconut oil as my dogs do poorly with fish oils and no you don't have to feed vit e with it. It is a nice oil with lots of omegas 3's. My collies get a tablespoon a day and my shelties get a teaspoon


Sheltie? OOH! I lost my last one last year, really miss having one. We've had three.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

here is a quick sheltie fix for you . The bi blacks are out of my sable merle girl. The one in the chair is her whole litter. 
View attachment 7234
View attachment 7235
View attachment 7236


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

Liz said:


> here is a quick sheltie fix for you . The bi blacks are out of my sable merle girl. The one in the chair is her whole litter.
> View attachment 7234
> View attachment 7235
> View attachment 7236


AWWW! I've had three. My first was Jasper, my first dog. Came to me from a byb before I knew what they were. Oversized tri. Second was Tucker, my wonderful blue merle boy. He came from what I call a hobby breeder. Big boy, 20" tall, 34 lean pounds. Wonderful dog, was pts in July 2010. We adopted a then 11yr old little (height wise) sheltie, 14" but she was 43lbs when we got her, a mess with her obeseness and lots of medical issues. Didn't think she'd last a year but we had her for three, she's been gone almost a year. I don't like being without a sheltie.


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## NotAChampionFan (Apr 6, 2012)

I would stop all the supplementation and use a food that has actually been tested. I wouldn't use any oil unless the oil was balanced 3-6-9. Omega 3 oils may be beneficial for the skin, but Omega 6 oils benefit the coat. Adding fish oil to a food that already has enough Omega 3 is not a good idea. You really don't know what the ratio is.

As for Brittany's, do you clip this dog a regular basis? I see many trial Brittany's that get clipped and their coats are horrible, and its not diet related. This coat type should not be clipped.

Coconut oil won't help coat.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

what kind of yogurt do you feed. i think diet and grooming helps with a healthy coat. 
maybe you should give your dog a bath . how often do you brush your dog? what
kind of yogurt do you use? 



InkedMarie said:


> I forgot, I add
> 
> >>>> yogurt every other day,<<<<
> 
> tho not greek. Forgot about coconut oil, guess I should be checking that out! I dont' bathe here at home so that's not a problem LOL, not rich enough to send her to the groomers too much!


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## _unoriginal (Apr 8, 2012)

That is a lot of different kibbles to be on in a year and a half. How long was she on each before you decided it didn't help and moved on to something new? IME, dogs will go through a detox period for each new food they are on and will sometimes take up to 2-3 months to show improvements, even if their body seems to be adjusted already.

You are also adding a lot of supplements to her diet. Why are you adding so many? Many are for improved skin/coat health but seem to be doing very little.

Here's what *I* would do... I'd find a kibble to stick to for a few months. Start out the process by cutting out all of the supplements. Slowly add supplements back in one at a time.. Add one, wait a month, see if there's an improvement, if there's not, cut it out, move on to another one.

I know sometimes supplements seem like they could be a magic solution but in many cases, you're just adding extras that have no effect on the dog are you are, in essence, wasting money. I don't mean that in an offensive way, I, too, was once sucked into the supplement bubble where I was convinced that I was helping my dog but was really doing nothing.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

She has non fat plain yogurt. We don't bathe her, she goes to the groomers every few months or so. She has been on alot of kibbles not because they don't work but for rotation purposes. I prefer my dogs to eat a variety of foods. She has been on each kibble for months. Unoriginal, not sure why you think she's on alot of supplements. ACV is good for dogs, so is an oil of sorts (been on salmon, switching to coconut now....I know people who's dogs get both), she went on the probiotic/digestive enzyme when she was on the Prairie that gave her lots of poops. Bug Off Garlic is for fleas & ticks. The yogurt & pumpkin arent' supplements, just toppers they love. 
This doesn't seem like alot of supplements to me. oh, the Vitamin E has to be given with salmon oil; if she's on coconut oil, she doesn't need that.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

InkedMarie said:


> Ginger, my brittany, will be two in July. She came here at just under five months. Her coat hasn't ever been really nice & shiny. It's dull, sort of fluffy and just not that nice but I think it looks worse now. I suppose it could be that I live in NH and til a couple weeks ago, the heat has been on daily. She came here eating Nutro Natural. Since then, she has been on The Honest Kitchen (Embark, turkey grainfree and right now Love, beef grainfree), Prairie and the lamb TOTW. She does not need grainfree but I was feeding her, mostly, gf because my other dogs needs it. She is a poopy dog (3-4 times daily, no matter what she is on) but when on the Prairie, it was humongous frequent poops. On grainfree, still frequent but nicely formed.
> She gets on salmon oil daily, plus a cranberry capsule, Bug Off Garlic and organic apple cider vinegar. Oh and a probiotic/digestive enzyme, hoping it may help with the Prairie poops.
> In case it's not the heat, which has barely been on the last two or three weeks, any idea what food to look at? I'd like to keep her on the Honest Kitchen in the morning, just because she loves it and it's easy to mix the supplements in.


Our GSPs have wonderfully shiny healthy coats and great muscle tone which I attribute not only to lots of exercise, but protein. The kibble we give them is the highest protein kibble available at ~ 42%. It's EVO Turkey/Chicken. EVO has other varieties as well, but since the older dog cannot tolerate beef, this one serves our needs nicely. Although the EVO costs more at the checkout than some foods, because it's very dense & calorie-rich you feed much less of it. For example, the dogs are 56-58lbs and get 2 1/2 cups/day. And the "output" is also significantly reduced.

"Da Boyz" also will get cheese or leftover protein (chicken, pork, whatever we had that day) or tinned fish like salmon or tuna. (Bearing in mind that what ever "extras" we give them we cut down on their dry food for that feeding.)

As for bathing, it's usually on an "as needed" basis (as in "just rolled in armadillo poop so REALLY need it" or "laid down in a mud puddle to cool down, so REALLY need it". We use Perfect Coat Protein Tearless that also seems to show off their coats and smells great.

FWIW,


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## _unoriginal (Apr 8, 2012)

InkedMarie said:


> She has non fat plain yogurt. We don't bathe her, she goes to the groomers every few months or so. She has been on alot of kibbles not because they don't work but for rotation purposes. I prefer my dogs to eat a variety of foods. She has been on each kibble for months. Unoriginal, not sure why you think she's on alot of supplements. ACV is good for dogs, so is an oil of sorts (been on salmon, switching to coconut now....I know people who's dogs get both), she went on the probiotic/digestive enzyme when she was on the Prairie that gave her lots of poops. Bug Off Garlic is for fleas & ticks. The yogurt & pumpkin arent' supplements, just toppers they love.
> This doesn't seem like alot of supplements to me. oh, the Vitamin E has to be given with salmon oil; if she's on coconut oil, she doesn't need that.


When you're supplementing, do you know how each specific additive affects her? Not just what it says it's supposed to do? What if you're adding something that's having no affect? That's all I'm saying. For example, I gave ACV for months, like 6 months, and it did absolutely nothing for my dog. That's one of the main reasons I didn't buy any more.

I didn't realize you were rotating, even still, if her coat isn't luscious and shiny, maybe you need to take a step back and start trying things and sticking with them, supplements and kibble included, to see what works and what doesn't work.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

_unoriginal said:


> When you're supplementing, do you know how each specific additive affects her? Not just what it says it's supposed to do? What if you're adding something that's having no affect? That's all I'm saying. For example, I gave ACV for months, like 6 months, and it did absolutely nothing for my dog. That's one of the main reasons I didn't buy any more.
> 
> I didn't realize you were rotating, even still, if her coat isn't luscious and shiny, maybe you need to take a step back and start trying things and sticking with them, supplements and kibble included, to see what works and what doesn't work.


Thanks for explaining, I was totally confused! You're right about the ACV, it helped my other dog with his licking/itching but not Ginger.


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## _unoriginal (Apr 8, 2012)

InkedMarie said:


> Thanks for explaining, I was totally confused! You're right about the ACV, it helped my other dog with his licking/itching but not Ginger.


No problem. I know sometimes it's hard to know what's meant without further explanation 

But consider what I said about doing a little trial and error.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

_unoriginal said:


> No problem. I know sometimes it's hard to know what's meant without further explanation
> 
> But consider what I said about doing a little trial and error.


I did plenty of trial & error with Boone, my pbgv. He is 6yrs old now but started with his first ear infection at 4mos of age. I changed foods, probably too often til an online friend gave me a list that she got from Tufts when her dog had allergies. I didn't have the money for allergy testing and my vet wasn't in favor of it. The list was for stuff to avoid: chicken, corn, wheat, soy, rice and flax. I have found out that Boone doesn't do well with brewers yeast and The Honest Kitchen has organic flaxseed in their foods and he's fine with that. Back then, almost 5yrs ago, there were only a few choices that I could find: Cal Nat herring and sweet potato, Timberwolf Ocean Blue and Solid Gold Holistic Blendz. The SG ingredients were very nil, too little for a puppy. I couldn't find Timberwolf locally enough so we opted with the Cal Nat. For two years, it worked well for him, then I started adding different foods. He has done fine on both Orijen and Acana fish, ate the Orijen adult which is chicken but has had other chicken foods and no go, no idea if it's the Canadian chicken or what, for the most part, fish foods have worked well. He has had the newish Nature's Variety Instinct LID turkey and done great, and has done great on The Honest Kitchen's Embark, which is turkey.


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## ciaBrysh (Dec 16, 2011)

So are those the flavors you are going to rotate with?


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

ciaBrysh said:


> So are those the flavors you are going to rotate with?


Are you speaking to me? If yes, what post are you referring to, since you didn't quote? If you mean post #25, re-read because I was explaining about my other dog, years back.


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## NotAChampionFan (Apr 6, 2012)

_unoriginal said:


> That is a lot of different kibbles to be on in a year and a half. How long was she on each before you decided it didn't help and moved on to something new? IME, dogs will go through a detox period for each new food they are on and will sometimes take up to 2-3 months to show improvements, even if their body seems to be adjusted already.
> 
> You are also adding a lot of supplements to her diet. Why are you adding so many? Many are for improved skin/coat health but seem to be doing very little.
> 
> ...


This is exactly true. All I hear about is how good some foods are but then people cover them with junkie supplements. If they are so good why do you need supplements? How could you ever know how good a food is if you only use it for a month, or less? Timberwolf, oh lord, what a fraud.

It is amazing how gullible people can be.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

NotAChampionFan said:


> This is exactly true. All I hear about is how good some foods are but then people cover them with junkie supplements. If they are so good why do you need supplements? How could you ever know how good a food is if you only use it for a month, or less? Timberwolf, oh lord, what a fraud.
> 
> It is amazing how gullible people can be.


Can you read? I said my dog is going to be TWO years of age. The foods I listed are what she has been on in those years. Some of the foods she was on for a month or two....when dealing with a dog having many many poops a day & big ones at that, there was no need for me to keep her on that food which was Prairie....which is why she was on one supplement, the digestive enzyme. I still have the enzyme, no sense in throwing it away so yes she is still on it. Bug Off Garlic is not a junk supplement, it helps with fleas & ticks. She had two UTI's and her breeder suggested the cranberry. Lets see, what else did I mention? Oh, the salmon oil which she was on for her coat & to help with joints. Might be working for the joints but not the coat which is why I started this thread. ACV...as I said above, was for itching but hasn't helped.


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## NotAChampionFan (Apr 6, 2012)

Why do your other dogs "need" a grain-free food? I have never heard of one needing one.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

NotAChampionFan said:


> Why do your other dogs "need" a grain-free food? I have never heard of one needing one.


if he has grains, he gets ear infections. He was on california natural herring and sweet potato but i prefer a protein higher than 21% esp for a six year old dog.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Curious how much salmon oil you use? I use two-three pumps for my 10lb dog.


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## NotAChampionFan (Apr 6, 2012)

InkedMarie said:


> if he has grains, he gets ear infections. He was on california natural herring and sweet potato but i prefer a protein higher than 21% esp for a six year old dog.



Yeah that is too low. What were the grain-inclusive foods you used when you noticed the gunk? We are talking about long-eared dog right? Were you using a grain-inclusive food with at least 30% protein and 16% - 20% fat?


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

NotAChampionFan said:


> Yeah that is too low. What were the grain-inclusive foods you used when you noticed the gunk? We are talking about long-eared dog right? Were you using a grain-inclusive food with at least 30% protein and 16% - 20% fat?


To be honest, I don't remember. It was six years ago, I was using grain inclusive food. He was a 4month old puppy and there were nowhere near the grainfrees available then. I found out that chicken and rice don't work for him for sure. I put him on the Cal Nat herring, which was grain inclusive but also had limited ingredients; it worked for him. Yes, he's long eared. He's the black & white dog in my signature picture. Keeping him away from chicken, corn, wheat, soy, rice and brewers yeast have kept him mostly ear infection free since.


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