Need Help on coats…

[saba]

About 2 or so months ago, I swapped all the dogs onto a 'new' food, one that I had fed the ACD's with really good results, in the past.

Unfortunately I dont think this food is good for/compatible with the B's at all. Our weather has been a little warmer than expected this winter, but most of the dogs coats are absolutely revolting :mad:… After watching the dogs start to moult, I at first put it down to the strange weather, but now these guys are getting a furminator all over their body's, daily, with Saba and Java having lots of undercoat, horrible dead coat coming out... I just cant seem to get the horrible dead stuff out of Java's coat, AND, we have our 3 biggest shows coming up in the next month or so :eek:...

I cant and wont show him like he is at the moment, its too much of an insult to the judges, (and embarassing to me), and I was hoping to make a decision on which boy is staying, partly with these shows results in mind...

At the moment they are all on a dry food that they have previously done well on in the past, as the am meal. Then their evening meal is either bones of all descriptions, or the dry with some of the following added:- sardines, plain yoghurt, minced chicken carcus, goats milk, leftovers etc, etc. Added to that they have Fish Oil capsule every night and a Vitamin E 3-4 days a week as well...

Ok so now to my question ... Has anyone got any helpful hints to help get their coats back into a decent state so I can show them at the shows coming up ???

Oh I should also add, when they are outside they have 1 possibly 2 coats on all the time, (yes I know... They are my little precious babies :p eek:)...

[saba]

Anyone ???

[paneane]

I've fed my dogs on raw food for about 10 years now, and they've always had nice, shiny and soft coats. But eggs (or yolks) are said to make the coat get nice and shiny as well. I give mine a whole, raw egg with shell on, I just crack it for them, so I don't have raw eggs all over the place.

[saba]

Thank you paneane… So how many eggs per week do you think ??? I always have them in the fridge, but rarely give them eggs, no real reason, just dont think of them

[wizard]

Mine get occasional egg on Sunday mornings and fish oil (I buy treats with it and use Taste of the Wild kibble with salmon). Wonderful shiny smooth coat.

[paneane]

I give it now and then. Every other week, and sometimes once a week. Give it to them with egg shell and the content inside as well.

You can also mix it into their food if they won't eat the egg alone.:)

[curlytails]

I think your diet regimen looks pretty good. It's similar to what we do around here, specifically the fish oil + Vitamin E + raw combo. When we give raw eggs, I just give yolks - maybe once or twice a week.

The one thing I would try to do differently is to Furminate the B's less. I know some people here say that they have B's with fur that's thick enough to Furminate, but I have not found that to be the case. If I was to use a Furminator on my B, I'd basically be scraping her skin with the brush, and if you've ever run that thing across your skin, you get a feel for how irritating it could be! Instead, perhaps you can use a Zoom Groom/curry comb more, and some massage/skin stimulation. That's basically been my tactic for both my dogs this summer (when it's dry for us), and in the case of my Shiba (who usually does get Furminated – he's got the double coat and needs the heavy duty work it does!), it's made a difference in the overall quality of his skin and the plushness of his coat.

Not that I prepare either of my dogs for show, but that's what has worked for me, and I'm quite happy with the results.

[DebraDownSouth]

Okay food wise, you got good advice, though I also use Fastrack (or other probiotic) to help them utilize what they eat. It really helped with my dogs' coats and skin.

But for the show, get a stripping tool and simply strip the coats out and use a gunny sack material to rub them a lot to work out dead hair and condition the skin. LOL works on dogs and horses.

[saba]

Thanks for the info guys, really appreciate it.

Curlytails thats really an interesting way of looking at the Furminator. We bought it for the ACD's, (works brilliantly for them, looooove it ), never thought I would ever need it for the B's :)… I do use it VERY gently, cos I know it would very much hurt them. The dead coat that Java in particular has, is really dead, pale, crappy looking stuff and when I use it tons comes out. He doesnt squirm, or fidgit when I do it, and I do stop well before I really want to !!! I can pluck it out, but this does make him fidgit, so I dont really tend to do that. Its interesting that he had a 1 inch scratch on his neck buried in this dead coat, and the coat thats coming through there, is much more like his 'normal' coat colouring... So frustrating :mad: Off to look at the Zoom-Groom...

DDS, hadnt thought of a Probiotic, will look into that... I think this must be a 'lost in translation', cos I dont have a clue what a gunny sack is :o ???????

[DebraDownSouth]

ROFLMAO, I love the differences in terms between the US/GB/Australia etc. One night Graham Norton did a thing on "fanny packs" and how fanny is the "front bottom" in GB and we Americans use it as the buttocks. He said that must have been one very confused pilgrim that changed the meaning when he brought the term here.

Gunny sacks are really course bags they used to use for grains, horse feed etc.
http://www.google.com/search?q=gunny+sack&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1280&bih=857&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=3lR1TuC2BMyRgQf65_j1DA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCIQ_AUoAQ

[saba]

Yep fanny is the 'front bottom' here in Aus as well :)…

Thanks for the pics of the gunny sacks, DDS. It looks a lot like what we call hessian bags in Aus... That is another thing I would never have thought of to help get the dead coat out... We have some here, so I will try it on him as well... Thank you :)...

[bewler]

I have given my dogs raw eggs int he past for their coats as well, but I recently read that you shouldn't give dog RAW eggs, only cooked. Has anyone else heard this?

[eeeefarm]

I've heard it. Something to do with the whites, not the yolks. I believe they deplete biotin. Also, salmonella could be a concern, but a healthy dog should be able to deal with it. Some people feed yolks only.

[DebraDownSouth]

A few raw eggs a week won't hurt. I even grind up the egg shell for them.

[paneane]

@DebraDownSouth:

A few raw eggs a week won't hurt. I even grind up the egg shell for them.

Luxury! My dogs just have to eat it as it is. I crack the eggs or them, but the rest, they need to take care of it, hehe!

[Patty]

I'm not sure about dogs not to be given whole raw eggs. I think I've posted before about my Kangal (who was the runt of her litter) who I reared on raw eggs for a year as she would eat nothing else. I later weaned her on to biscuit and then on to normal food. She lived for many years after and no nticeable ill effects>

[paneane]

Patty,

I can't see why not. It shouldn't be given every day, but now and then. And it should NOT be replaced with their regular food. Eggs have lots of good protein, and it's also a good source for riboflavin, B12 and phosphorus, and even selenium. I've seen only a few dog food brands with riboflavin in it, and I believe it's an important deal for dogs, as well for us humans.