Can Dogs Get Dandruff?

[Roxyluvsme13]

That can make dry skin worse in some cases. It takes all of the natural oils out of their coat.

OH...not even if you used special shampoo?

[Jessika]

SOMETIMES giving a bath frequently is not a problem so long as you use a VERY mild shampoo (such as Dawn Dishsoap, etc). Normally frequent bathing strips the coat and skin of its natural oils though, as .sarah mentioned. The natural oils are vital to healthy skin and coat, so without them the hair can become dry and brittle and break easily and you can have skin problems, as you're experiencing now.

Since in winter you're especially prone to dry skin, the natural oils are even more vital! So less frequent bathing in winter, and then maybe in the summer once you get the skin problem taken care of you can start bathing her more frequently again.

I only bathe my two once a month, though. If they start smelling, I just spray them with some conditioning doggy cologne

[Roxyluvsme13]

Ok, so less bathing in the winter...and I think I may have convinced my mom to switch to Nutro! (If Lily likes it) A 20 pound bag would last a REALLY long time for Lily...so we may be switching

[K9karen]

Logan had dandruff when I adopted her. I started putting extra virgin olive oil in her food, mixing it well, and viola! No more white stuff. I try to brush her every other day or at least once a week. Soft as silk and glossy.

[Uabassoon]

but I will be buying her some DOG shampoo or Selsum Blue or SOMETHING to help her dandruff.

Do NOT use selsum blue or any other human dandruff shampoo! It has chemicals that can be left behind on their coat which could be posinous if she licks it off!

As for oils I like Omega-3. I live in the desert, so it's super dry here especially in the winter. Tibby (my cat) will sometimes get problems with dandruff so I add a little Omega-3 to her diet and it works very well.

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

Dogs can get lice, lice lay nits on the hair which are visible to the naked eye. They pose no harm to any other animal, they are species specific. There is also the dreadful "walking dandruff". Yes It looks as though the dandruff is walking, unfortunately, this is caused by the movement of Cheyletiella mites motoring around under the scales.

These can only be diagnosed by a veterinarian, but dont worry, it is probably just dry skin. Does she have thickened skin? Or slight loss of hair? Is she itchy?

[lv4dogs]

Do NOT use selsum blue or any other human dandruff shampoo! It has chemicals that can be left behind on their coat which could be posinous if she licks it off!

As for oils I like Omega-3. I live in the desert, so it's super dry here especially in the winter. Tibby (my cat) will sometimes get problems with dandruff so I add a little Omega-3 to her diet and it works very well.

With any shampoo you are supposed to rinse VERY well. (hey maybe that is part of her problem???) Are you rinsing her well after each bath?
I know of a lot of vets that reccomend selsum blue for dandruff problems & have never heard of any ill affects.

Thanks for letting us know what Omega oil is the best. I coulnd't remember what one.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Dogs can get lice, lice lay nits on the hair which are visible to the naked eye. They pose no harm to any other animal, they are species specific. There is also the dreadful "walking dandruff". Yes It looks as though the dandruff is walking, unfortunately, this is caused by the movement of Cheyletiella mites motoring around under the scales.

These can only be diagnosed by a veterinarian, but dont worry, it is probably just dry skin. Does she have thickened skin? Or slight loss of hair? Is she itchy?

Shes VERY itchy...it could be a slight case of fleas...(But dont worry we're getting flea meds tomorrow) No hair loss...Thickened skin?? Not sure...

[Roxyluvsme13]

With any shampoo you are supposed to rinse VERY well. (hey maybe that is part of her problem???) Are you rinsing her well after each bath?
I know of a lot of vets that reccomend selsum blue for dandruff problems & have never heard of any ill affects.

Thanks for letting us know what Omega oil is the best. I coulnd't remember what one.

I rinse her, then rinse her again and I do this about 2 times, as I dont want the soap to still be there/...

[Vela]

Honestly, the best things you can do is to get rid of the fleas if she does have them (do watch her closely for any signs of problems with the flea meds, they CAN sometimes make them sick so when you give to her make sure you watch her closely), use a nice oatmeal based shampoo made for dogs (its really ont expensive and she's realy tiny anyway, don't need much), give her a healthy diet, brush her daily, and don't overbathe (she really doesn't need more than once a month unless somethign happens). If those things alone don't clear it up then it may be a medical issue and she would need to see a vet but it should help. Also someone mentioned those baby wipe types of cleaners you can get at the pet store, they wash the outside and dont get to the skin to cause dryness.

Also just for info sake a lot of the flea meds you can buy in the regular stores have caused LOTS of problems with dogs, even large ones. So I really really would suggest getting one your vet recommends even if it is more expensive. The others are insecticide, poison, and with Lily being so tiny, I would really hate to see something happen to her. I'm not trying to be a know it all honestly, but it's just really risky and I'd hate to see it cause her to be very sick or even die. I'm not making it up I promise.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Oh dont worry, we never use the store stuff on her! WE used Advantage or K-9 Advantage (I dont remember which one) the first time we gave her flea medicine. I hope that she likes Nutro, if she does we'll start feeding it. I think she would still need the puppy food though? Or could we go ahead and buy the adult? She just turned 15 weeks old today. She has a vet appointment tomorrow, and we are going to ask about when she can be spayed, too.

[Husky_mom]

of course keep her on puppy until a year or more, it varies on breeds, some util 2 years, but anyway keep her on puppy....

[Vela]

Oh good I'm glad you don't use the store stuff, a lot of times people do because they just don't realize how dangerous it is. That makes me feel better. Most of the time a puppy doesn't really need puppy food, they are usualy fine with adult but because she is to tiny it reallymight depend on teh size of the adult. It may be too big for her to eat comfortably even if the nutrition aspect was okay with it. My dogs never had puppy food, they had all life stages like canidae and had adult chicken soup but I don't know about Nutro, never used it myself, so I don't know about the size chunks, might be good to stick with the puppy to start.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Oh good I'm glad you don't use the store stuff, a lot of times people do because they just don't realize how dangerous it is. That makes me feel better. Most of the time a puppy doesn't really need puppy food, they are usualy fine with adult but because she is to tiny it reallymight depend on teh size of the adult. It may be too big for her to eat comfortably even if the nutrition aspect was okay with it. My dogs never had puppy food, they had all life stages like canidae and had adult chicken soup but I don't know about Nutro, never used it myself, so I don't know about the size chunks, might be good to stick with the puppy to start.

Ok! If she doesnt like Nutro...then oh well... We're used the store stuff on Roxy...but we are going to go back to the vet stuff, because the store stuff doesnt help Roxy that much.

[lv4dogs]

You may be able to find samples of the Nutro at your pet store, if you don't see it then ask a sales associate.

Maybe start her off on a small bag? I think they are 8lbs.