My Valentino had terrible dandruff. His vet said it was due to dry skin. She had me add Goat's milk and coconut oil to his diet. His dandruff lessened dramatically after about a month. The amount of coconut oil (solid or liquid) per day should be no more than 1 teaspoon per 10lbs of body weight. Valentino is about 27 lbs. so I give him about 2.5-3 teaspoons a day. I divide the amount in half and add it too his meals. I feed goat milk rarely because it is so high in calories.
Scratching and dandruff
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Bookworm, Does the lumps feel like our antbites would or do they feel dry and crusted over? Sometimes they could have excema type bumps, and they tend to be very itchy. Your vet saw him though right?
As far as food there are so many really good foods out there. The most common problems dogs have with kibble is the grains.
Here is an address to a different chicken related forum, so I hope I am not "breaking" the forum rules by posting it. It is basically a list on how to evaluate your dogfood, scroll down until you get to the list and see what you find, if you scroll down even further there is a list of foods that have already been evaluated.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=67485Here is another one that is also really good.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/I wish I had a brand name that was the "best food out there" but I don't. My dogs are on the RAW food diet, because I had a Westie that just passed a few months ago, with horrible food allergies and I wowed I would never have that again, if I could prevent it.
And yes, Proteinman is correct, we all want to see pics of your little adopted guy..Buster.oops just saw the pics of Buster and he is a beauty, thanks for sharing
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Welcome and what a cuttie.
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Welcome Bookworm and Buster, he looks a lovely little Basenji.
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Welcome. Glad you found us.
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Iams has a lot of corn in it which is often an allergen for dogs. One thing you can try to see if it is a food allergy is to put him on a bland diet of boiled white rice and hamburger and see after a week or so without the food or any treats he may be getting if there is an improvement. You should also see if your local pet food store has some trial size bags of foods. Look for a brand that is at least corn and wheat free. California Natural Chicken and Rice or Wellness Simple Solutions are good foods with only a few ingredients. Another option are the grain free foods, Evo, Instinct, Core, and Orijen are a few of the grain free options out there. Then you can pick one to try and see if he has a reaction when you start adding it to the bland diet.
In order to avoid stomach upset, you probably want to do the bland diet for 5-7 days and then start mixing in the kibble that you have chosen slowly over another 3-5 days and just watch for signs of itching.
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I agree about the corn… many dogs have allergies or skin problems due to grains in foods. And there are better foods out there then Iams. I would consider changing foods to ones without grains and see if that makes a difference.
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I will definitely look at the two sites on dog food. He actually likes the other dog's Joint Mobility, which has a lot of fish in it. I'm going to see if I can find him a better type of food.:D
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High quality food can often really change a coat and get rid of dandruff (dry skin). My vet sold me a spray that helps when Topper gets itchy, it is a moisturizer, designed to give relief to skin. Called Dermal-soothe anti itch spray for dogs and cats. If you are bathing him, try not to do it more than once a month…you may find that he really doesn't need bathing as basenjis have very little odor. (unless he rolls in dead things, that requires a bath no matter how dry the skin!
I agree that lots of dogs seem to have allergies to corn, many people say that the skin allergies clear up with different foods. Good luck, it is sad to see them miserable and itching.
Welcome, hope you find helpful information for your cute little guy. Most of my friends who "inherited" dogs from their kids wind up with big Boxers or Pits or Pit-mixes, so you are pretty lucky!
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Our first dog that our son picked out from the SPCA puppy adoption is a pit mix!!!! That was 13 years ago when our son was 8. He's been a great dog.
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Bookworm, just a hint, our petco and petsmart down here in Texas will take back food even if it has been opened, so if somethings doesn't work out you might be able to return it.
