# Dry puppy skin?



## dystopiamachine (Jul 8, 2010)

Hey-- I have a 14 week male GSD puppy named Spencer who I rescued from a foster home 2 weeks ago. He seems to be having an issue with dry skin-- he nibbles and itches a lot and he looks like he's getting some dandruff going on. There's no bare patches besides around his genital area and his 'armpits' (which I hear is normal) so I really doubt it's mange or anything else. I highly doubt it's fleas either, I just think it's dry skin. Question is, what should I do about it?


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## Brown314 (Jun 18, 2010)

I have the same issue with my little guy, the vet told me to mix some cooking oil (I believe he said cooking oil he said some kind of oil), and put half a tablespoon in his food once day. I have yet to do it, since I was going to look on here for an option that has been tried out by different people, just haven't had a chance yet. 

Also the food you have him on can affect his coat, Ive noticed from switching to Purina One to BB Large Breed, his coat is getting shiner and hes not scratching as much.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Instead of cooking oil, please go with human grade fish oil gelcaps(1000mg) and then supplement with 400iu of vitamin E. Vitamin E is produced by dogs naturally, but when adding oils it is depleted, that is the reason to supplement E.
You can up the fish oil(or salmon is what I use as that is pure vs a blend of fish) to 4000mg split between meals for an adult dog. You can also give raw egg, full of omega's to help the skin and coat. Vitamin C daily(500mg up to 2000mg for adults) is great for helping the immune system and every few days B complex is a good supplement. I feed raw so these are included in my feeding schedule. 
Make sure your pup doesn't have worms, that can cause skin issues along with nutrition malabsorbtion.


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## Mika (Jun 16, 2010)

How often are you giving the dog a bath? that could strip the skin of needed oils and cause dandruff. Also what kind of food is the pup eating? It's possible he has an allergy to corn or wheat. I don't want to scare you that would be the last thing I would think of but just some food for thought.


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## dystopiamachine (Jul 8, 2010)

@Mika: I've only bathed him once and it was on the day we got him. It was with an oatmeal dog shampoo. We had to bathe him because he had dirt and god knows what encrusted in his fur-- He's a rescue puppy. Also he is eating solely Purina puppy chow, I have another thread on how I want to switch or supplement him with raw meat. Maybe he is allergic to his food, thank you.


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## VChurch (Jun 14, 2010)

Sobacca has ALWAYS had itchy skin -- at first it was mange; and then allergies. He's always had dry, flaky skin too.
But I found that washing his blankets, and my comforter in a hypoallergenic detergent really helped him stop scratching as much.
We also started brushing him daily and that helped tremendously with the dry/flaky skin.

As of now, there's just an occasional normal dog scratch, nothing compared to what the scratching used to be like.


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## heatherr (Jun 5, 2010)

When I got my pup his foster mom was bathing him once a week with her shampoo and feeding alpo!

I was given bags of Purina One LBP and Science Diet Puppy, so he's been eating that, and has only had one bath (oatmeal puppy shampoo) in the month I've had him and its getting better.

Hopefully I can get him onto a better kibble and my vet said fish oil could help too.


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