# Projectile shedding!



## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Grimm's been on raw a bit over a month and a half. After begining raw, his coat became *luxurious*-- thick, dense, plush.. amazing, for Grimm. Now for the past week or so, it is all shedding out! The resulting coat is *short and close *







and not luxurious at all







-- except (this is weird) it has remained dense and long on his chest and lower tummy, and his face cheeks. His coat is super-glossy now, but.. shedding bigtime and short coming in, I think!







It was so long and thick right after the initial switch!









Is this normal after starting raw? I think Lauri mentioned something about Riggs having a change-of-coat after starting raw, but I'm not sure. Anybody have this happen?

Here's Grimm's diet:

2Xday: salmon oil, 200 IU vitamin E, brewer's yeast, plain yogurt dollop, hunk of fresh frozen green tripe, piece of turkey liver size of 2 almonds.

1Xday: tsp olive oil OR organic coconut oil

3 - 4 X/week: 1 tsp dried kelp

2X/week: 1 egg, whole, with shell

Meals:
RMB: a 3" section of turkey neck or a chicken thigh or chicken back
MM: turkey hearts (a few times a month, it is beef off-cuts with most extra fat removed)
A few handfuls of fish (Baltic herring, small) get added to most meals.
Veg/Fruits: each meal he gets either pureed carrot.. or apple... or spinach.. or a handful of frozen blueberries... or a hunk of banana, mashed.. or mashed nectarine.. etc.


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## elsie (Aug 22, 2001)

so, does he eat his veggies or does he try to sneak them to his humans?


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

LOL Elsie, he loves them!







Pureed, mashed, grated, even sometimes a whole chunk. Oink!


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

.... Anyone?.... Anyone?... Beuller?.... Beuller?...


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

Well, it IS August. Is it toasty where you live? It's possible it's the heat, and come winter he'll floof out again. Got pics?


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## tracyc (Feb 23, 2005)

Could it just be a seasonal coat-blow?


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Really? Is August a coat blow time? We have had a HORRIBLE heatwave the past few weeks!

The weirdest thing of all, is his topline, haunches, shoulders and sides look short and tight-coat now.. but his chest is still downright luxurious, as is his neck, butt fluffs and longer fur tummy fur in the weenie-zone. That's all new with raw. And it DID look gorgeous after starting raw-- his whole coat was even better than his usual winter coat on kibble!

Is August a coat blow month? I thought light is what made them change their coats? Could it be heat? Cos of the heatwave we have had?

PS-- How's Grimm's diet look, especially regarding coat.. any holes in his meal plan that you can see?


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## kallie (Sep 3, 2001)

> Quote:Here's Grimm's diet:
> 
> 2Xday: salmon oil, 200 IU vitamin E, brewer's yeast, plain yogurt dollop, hunk of fresh frozen green tripe, piece of turkey liver size of 2 almonds.
> 
> ...


I guess the brewer's yeast & kelp jumps out at me, only because my dogs have issues with both..

I'm just curious..Why do you give both salmon oil & olive oil OR organic coconut oil daily? Curious on the combination daily and the amount daily Plus giving fish daily also, just seems like a bit much in omegas maybe?

Could just be blowing coat, this weather has been SO strange lately..


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## tracyc (Feb 23, 2005)

...and my dogs don't have any issues with brewer's yeast or kelp--they get both of these items daily. 

I think if the coat shedding were dietary, there would be some kind of skin symptom? Itching? inflamation? or at least some evidence of a poor haircoat. 

Sounds to me like blowing coat. Mine are doing it now too. 

I think Grimm's diet looks good.


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## kallie (Sep 3, 2001)

> Quote:I think if the coat shedding were dietary, there would be some kind of skin symptom? Itching? inflamation? or at least some evidence of a poor haircoat.


I would think that if an allergy issue yes, you would get itching and inflammation. However, if it was a dietary issue as in vitamin deficiency or too much of a certain supplement, you would not necessarily get itching and or inflammation? 

But you are right could just be blowing of the coat, as this weather lately has been really strange..


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

> Quote:We have had a HORRIBLE heatwave the past few weeks!


He's stripping down to his undies the only way his body knows how.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

Wait, didn't Grimm have unusual nakedness before? Like, he looked like he stole a chihuahua coat and was wearing that instead? About 8 months ago? 

We thought maybe it was thyroid? (Wasn't this around the time that Jean's Nina was going through the same thing?) 

I didn't imagine this, did I?


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Yup, he had a thin coat before the raw. After the raw, it came in GORGEOUSLY _heavy_, for Grimm. It was absolutely luxurious! I was so surprised, I had never seen his coat like that before! Right now, I am just surprised that now so much is shedding out and he has a more nekkid look... except for the newly plush chest, neck, butt and tummy fluffs.

DianaM, heheh, could well be-- it has been sultry here and we have *no* A/C in Germany. Grimm runs in a big grassy valley field for about 40 mins each day, chasing thrown balls, so.. adds to his heat. I try to cool him down afterwards with water I bring in my backpack. I am careful he does not get overheated. Guess it may be a summer coat shed out?

BTW, if this situation remains, I will get his thyroid re-checked. It was on the normal side of "borderline" hypo. He's not sluggish, chubby, or sleepy. I will watch and see how it grows in after this major shed out. If it looks okay, I won't re-test for thyroid.

Here's to hoping it's a summer coat blow!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Onyx is the same age as Grimm(give or take a week or two) and has blown her coat only once in her 21 mos. in the end of June '08. She now has a very sleek, tight coat for a GSD in my opinion. More like a dobe with a bushy tail. She does have some neck fluff, like a collar around it that is somewhat longer and does have an undercoat. There was a thread on short, tight coat a few weeks ago. I don't recall the name of the condition- I was wondering if Onyx is normal, curious to see what she does this Fall. Unfortunately,she will not eat her
fruits n veggies


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## djpohn (Jun 27, 2003)

Mine are all shedding like crazy, males and females. They usually have one big shed a year where guard hairs will fall out too and they will look naked. I find the sables shed more like a molt than the black and reds meaning it comes out in clumps all at once. Emmy will come out and shake and clumps of fur fall of of her.


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

I have been calling Rayne my Brillo Pad because every time she walks by she has more clumps of undercoat sticking out. My guys are SOOO kind and thoughtful that they elected a long time ago to NOT blow at the same time. KC and Rayne go together and have usually bi-annual blow outs. 

Tika, Chimo, Nucky and Kota are just finishing up. Just in time for KC and Rayne to start. 

It sounds to me like it is just a regular coat cycle for Grimm.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Thanks for the input, all. Sighh.. guess I hafta wait a few weeks before he floofs out again, huh?


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## UrbanGSD (Dec 22, 2005)

> Quote: 2Xday: salmon oil, 200 IU vitamin E, brewer's yeast, plain yogurt dollop, hunk of fresh frozen green tripe, piece of turkey liver size of 2 almonds.
> 
> 1Xday: tsp olive oil OR organic coconut oil
> 
> ...


 
When I first started raw, I went with kelp as well, and found it RUINED my dog's coats







They shed more copiously and had a brown tinge to the black. I believe kelp can affect the thyroid, but don't quote me on that - either way, it's not a necessary nutrient in a dog's diet. It's basically sea vegetation, and no way any wolf or wild dog would ever come across it. 

FWIW, this is my advice. Get rid of the brewer's yeast, coconut, AND salmon oil. Too many sources of omega 3 fats and oils, and dogs need much less omega 3 than 6 in the diet. My own dogs always did much better on generic fish oil that was a mix of a few different oils but also had salmon included. For some reason, they quickly built up an intolerance to the plain salmon oil







I have had good luck with olive oil as a source of omega 3's though ... it seems to be a very mild, well tolerated oil. 

Another thing I'd change is feeding the whole egg. There is an enzyme (avadin) in the raw white that can prevent the absorbtion of certain B vitamins and that will definitely show in the condition of the coat, especially if there are other imbalances. Another newbie mistake I made, and since going to raw yolks only, coats did noticably improve. 

Ditch the fruits and veggies. Mine get fruit when I'm eating it, or as a rare snack, not part of the diet. It's just not needed, no real nutritional value. Make the basis of the diet meat and meaty bones. All the RMBs you're feeding are very good ones, but you might want to add in more zinc rich red meats. I'll feed ground beef and lamb ribs once a week to add in more variety and nutrients. If you can get mutton from the butcher, that is also a great muscle meat! Can you get whole chickens on sale? They are the best to feed because they are so complete. They contain so much more meat than just indivigual parts, too. And that's whats going to grow in a good coat - meat, and lots of it









All dogs are different, and will need varying menus, but just to give you an idea, this is what I feed in a 7-10 day period when I do raw:
Chicken leg quarters (the staple of the diet)
lamb ribs
chicken hearts
ground beef (second staple)
beef liver - 1-2 "slices" mixed in with either ground beef or raw, soaked oatmeal
turkey necks
pork chunks 
egg yolks 2-3x weekly
fish or olive oil 4-5x weekly 
beef scraps from butcher (they're mostly fat with some muscle meat, but hey, they're free!)

I came up with this diet after tweaking and experementing for a long time. I found that my dogs always had a reddish tint to the coat and needed to be doubled up on fish oil until I added the oatmeal. It's the only grain I feed, and is very good for the coat, skin, nervous system. Hope this helped!


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