Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Hi all, I wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to improve coat health and texture for a 15 month old double coated breed. She is fed very well (I think) and we have introduced a coat supplement (show stopper) recently in addition to her omega 3,6 & 9 supplement which she has been on since August. We have recently changed her to a different dry food to see if that would help (from royal canin giant breed to holistic select lamb and rice). In addition to the dry food she gets lactose free milk/yoghurt twice a week, green tripe 1-2 times a week, half a kilo of mince with veggies and egg twice a week and until changing her onto the holistic select a couple of weeks ago she also got chicken frames 2-3 times a week as well as whatever offcuts she can beg whilst I'm trimming meat and I've also started her on tinned oily fish as often as I can stomach her fish flatulence (probably once a fortnight) :laugh: Otherwise she is a healthy bounding girl full of energy- she is a good weight, has a reasonable appetite and has no ongoing health concerns. Her vet doesn't think she has any medical reasons for her dry scratchy coat and discounted thyroid issues. We try not to bathe her too much (usually once every 4-6 weeks) and we use a coconut oil shampoo and Chris Christensen spectrum 10 hypropak conditioning treatment when we do. We don't use furminators but use a slicker and a pretty standard shear magic comb for grooming instead Any thoughts? We've run out of ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 and when I say a scratchy coat I mean it's scratchy for me-she hasn't been scratching herself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 What breed is she? She might be supposed to have a coarser coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vehs Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 What breed is she? You could always try a silicon spray.. or dilute a conditioner and spray it on her, sounds like the internal is being taken care of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 It isn't correct for her breed unfortunately. I've never had another with such a coarse dry coat either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 She's an anatolian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pjrt Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Yes what breed? Some of the white and red coats can have a sort of harsh yellowish jacket over them, particularly over the shoulders, back, rump. Has all the puppy coat dropped out and been groomed out thoroughly. If she has recently had a season they usually drop out all the undercoat like a bomb and that can leave you with stringy coarse feeling guard hairs left . Sun damage? Swimming in chlorine pool? Some double coats should have a rough feeling jacket over the top of the dog. The ROUGH collie for example! The best way to keep the coat healthy besides diet which sound fine, is to groom undercoat thoroughly regularly to get the junk out and allow space for nice new hairs. Don't brush a dry coat, use a conditioning spray to mist as you brush. Don't brush a really dirty coat. Maybe swap to something like a LesPoochs slicker as the pins are polished which minimises coat damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Yes the puppy coat is well out and she went through her first moult last September (it wasn't a full coat change unfortunately) though the dry coarseness has persisted since August if not before. She doesn't swim willingly so water damage can't be it. I have just started blowing out her coat using a high velocity dryer and i doubt excess grooming could be the cause Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisys Mum Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 I bath my dogs maybe every 3 months, sometimes longer if they don't have a doggy smell.....Maybe every 6 weeks is too often? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pjrt Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) Sounds like you're doing everything ok and you might be stuck with it. A picture might be worth a thousand words. If it's just a harsh jacket on the top I'd be tempted to try literally hand stripping out a small patch and see what grows back. Perhaps while the dog was quite young there was something happened during the development of the coat that caused it to grow funny. Pulling those hairs out and letting whole new hairs grow may prove fruitful... Actually now I think about it, that is likely what I would do myself. Spot strip a patch of just 30 or 40 hairs. Pull each one right out. Just the coarse hairs. See what grows back. If you get the same coarse hairs grow back, then you know it's something you can't fight, some sort of genetic throw back or such. If you get new hairs of the desired texture then slowly but surely hand strip the whole lot. Of course if the dog is not for showing then maybe just accept it and leave it. Or if intended for breeding knowing where that coat came from might be useful. Edited January 30, 2016 by blinkblink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 If I can figure out how to add a photo I will do so blink blink lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottsmum Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 If I can figure out how to add a photo I will do so blink blink lol You can link - to flickr or any other public image - or you can upload a small image using the attachments do-dad directly below the text window you type your post into. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trifecta Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) It sounds typical of thyroid issues, do a search on this part of the forum and also google Dr Jean Dodds. The Hemolife tests are much more sensitive than tests that are available here; there are quite a few DOLers that have sent blood samples to Dr Jean Dodds.... I'll see if I can find some links for you although I am on an ipad at the moment sitting in the dark due to a power cut! Here you go, here is a recent one: http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/264300-sending-bloods-to-jean-dodds/page__p__6743120__hl__%2B+%2Bjean+%2Bdodds__fromsearch__1#entry6743120 Edited January 30, 2016 by trifecta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Hi trifecta-we will be doing a thyroid test possibly through Jean Dodds however the vet doesn't feel it's to thyroid due to her excellent general health, healthy weight and the absence of other symptoms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlaznHotAussies Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 6 weeks isn't exactly often to be washing a dog. I wonder if it's just how her coat is, but perhaps you could try using some Equinade Showsilk Protein Conditioner so soften her coat a bit. Works a treat on horse tails & I use it on my dogs to make them really soft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) Sure she doesn't just have a rough coat? I read the standard it said some have a longer coat. I would expect the breed to have a coarser coat as it would need to be water resistant. I was at a Border Collie club day once and the judge had hysterics because the dogs all had too soft coats. He told everyone off for using conditioner! And brushing out undercoat! Edited January 30, 2016 by JulesP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Thanks Scootaloo-im wondering if that's just the way her coat is too but i hope it's not. Her uncoat never really came in well either and to add to that it's a much darker colour than her guard hairs so it really does look pretty bad compared to others of her breed. If she wasn't for showing I guess I'd just leave it alone. I gave myself another 3-6 months before i admited defeat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castal dreaming Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Hi Jules, I've had four myself and literally met dozens of them. This is the roughest, coarsest coat I've ever come across-even compared to full time working dogs ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) Have you tried oil? You could try coconut oil as a pre-treatment to bathing. Even err mayonnaise is good for coats, on the dog not fed to the dog! I would also try and wrap the dog a bit to get some warm in there to help the oil get into the coat. Edited January 30, 2016 by JulesP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pjrt Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 If I can figure out how to add a photo I will do so blink blink lol Here you go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now