Puppy has very dry skin

lip

Hi,I have a 13 week old chocolate labrador.His skin is very dry and flaky.He was at the vet 12 days ago and she thinks he has a mite,sprayed him with stuff and gave me tea tree shampoo for him.I washed him in it after 2 days with no improvement,and washed him again last night.Is there anything else I can do?Hes going to vets on thursday again but its awful seeing him scratching.He is indoors a lot,don't know if this has anything to do with it.I am feeding him Pedigree puppy complete,have washed his bedding in plain boiling water.Any advice would be great,thanks.

kildara

Try putting some cod liver oil into his food. It will help with his skin and general coat appearance.
You could also try changing him onto a higher quality puppy food. You shouldn't have any hassle changing brand as he will eat anything! But do it gradually over a week or so in order to give him time to adjust.

Where's the pics?!!

star-pants

+1 on the changing dog food and cod liver oil. As said, gradually put more of the new food less of the old food, as it can mess with their tummys otherwise. My pup had bad itchy skin- we use codliver oil alternating with evening primrose oil on their food and it helps. Just a tiny capsule though.

Sigma Force

Puppys skin can be very sensative, no harm that the vet treated for mites anyway esp. if he's out and about in the garden. Perfect weather for insect nasties.

Agree about changing the food, my pup is on Royal Canin Junior but Burns puppy is good for the skin as well so which ever one you can get your hands on. A tiny bit of extra sunflower oil of fish oil will help as well but not too much as a food like RC etc. contains all he needs. Perhaps twice a week.

Tea tree based shampoo is good for the skin but wouldn't over wash him, although pups tend to need freshening up now and then.

You should see a difference in his skin within a week or so when using a food like RC or Burns etc. Puppies grow so fast so any improvements in their diet etc. seems to work quickly.

lip

Thanks everyone,the vet told me pedigree is a good food,thought I was giving him what he needed.I will put some cod liver oil in his feed this evening,may wait til thursday to change his food though.I know he'll have no problem changing food,think he'd eat anything.
As for putting up pics,I'm lucky to be able to post this,I'm a complete dunce when it comes to computers.I'll give it a go though.
Can I ask 1 more question?Hes very good going outside to the toilet,I leave the back door open most of the day.But yesterday I closed it cos it was raining and he wet.He knew he did wrong cos he lowered his head while I was cleaning it.I didn't give out to him cos it wasn't really his fault.Just wondering how do I teach him to alert me if he needs to go?

lip

Hope this works.043.jpg

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andreac

lip wrote: »

Thanks everyone,the vet told me pedigree is a good food,thought I was giving him what he needed.I will put some cod liver oil in his feed this evening,may wait til thursday to change his food though.I know he'll have no problem changing food,think he'd eat anything.
As for putting up pics,I'm lucky to be able to post this,I'm a complete dunce when it comes to computers.I'll give it a go though.
Can I ask 1 more question?Hes very good going outside to the toilet,I leave the back door open most of the day.But yesterday I closed it cos it was raining and he wet.He knew he did wrong cos he lowered his head while I was cleaning it.I didn't give out to him cos it wasn't really his fault.Just wondering how do I teach him to alert me if he needs to go?

Ok, your pup is still very young and will not know how to alert you, also his bladder cannot hold and he will just go as he needs to.

He needs to be trained to go outside, not just leave the door open and hope he goes out himself. You need to do basic toilet training with him and this can take weeks, even months to get right, he will then eventually alert you to go out as he is trained to do so.
My fella hits the wooden blinds on my back door to go out to go to the toilet.

With regards the food, pedigree is actually one of the worst foods to feed your dog as its full of artificial flavourings and additives. Try and go for a complete food that can be found in the pet shops, Burns, Red Mills, Arden Grange, Orijen etc as they are all good quality foods.

lip

Hi,just updating on my puppies skin problems.Went to vet last Thursday,she took skin scrapes to see if he had a parasite,he doesn't TG.She gave me Sebocalm and I have to wash him in it twice a week for 3 weeks.Also I sprayed him with frontline.His coat does look much shinier,and he isn't scratching as much so hopefully it will sort it.She said to keep him on Pedigree food as he is doing really well on it.
He got his 2nd vaccine,so the kids can't wait to bring him for a walk in the park on Thursday.
As for the toilet issue,thanks andreac.I know hes still very young,but I know he can hold cos he holds all night.We let him out about 10pm and again at 7.30am and he doesn't wet or soil.He just hasn't figured out how to let us know he needs to go yet.Its not a huge deal as he only has an accident occassionally,in fact he hasn't since I posted the question.

Outkast_IRE

I find that mix a half tin of tuna in sunflower oil into the dogs food every few days does wonders for skin and coat , my dog gets complemented a bit on it.