Hi, we had an unusually beautiful sunny day here in Scotland yesterday and decided to take Murphy along to a stream in Dunblane to see how he liked the water. Well, he absolutely loved it and swam about with another older lab that we met there. They had an absolute ball and he done so well for his first time in the water, no fear at all. Today however, his normally beautiful shiney black coat is rather dull, and it looks like he has dandruff!! Has this happened to anyone else after their dog has been swimming and how did you get the shiney coat back again? Out of interest, in general, how do we keep coats in such good condition? Many thanks for your time as always Karen xxx
Re: Dull black coat That's a bit odd, dunno. Did you rinse him off afterwards? I know we all like to think the UK rivers are all lovely and clean, but it's sadly often not the case. Making contact with the local environment officer in the local council is always good bet...I send mine Christmas cards. : I do nothing to Charlie's coat. A quick swipe with a furminator when the shedding gets too bad - and a good rinse and dry after swimming and muddy walks, and that's it. His coat is pretty shiny. How shiny a coat is depends on the type of undercoat and top coat they have. It might surprise you to hear that the labrador standard comments that the coat should be matt if there is a proper undercoat. Charlie has a shiny undercoat though. :
Re: Dull black coat Hmmm I know Penny's coat goes a bit dull after she's been in the sea but I figure it's just the salt water and it seems fine after a good bath. I know dull coats can be related to poor body condition or diet, but I'm sure this isn't the case with yourself! It could just be that being in the water didn't agree with his coat. For Penny being in any type of water be it river, sea or bath, seems to exacerbate shedding for a couple of a days after so it could be to do with that maybe?
Re: Dull black coat I never bath Tatze, but I do hose her down outside if she's muddy. We give her a cod liver oil capsule every day and a squirt of salmon oil on each meal - she is very shiny!
Re: Dull black coat Strange - Mira seems to get even glossier when she has been in the sea, especially after several days on the trot. When she is moulting it seems to get rid of all the fluff which can make them look dull. Maybe Murphy is starting to moult? Mira gets a spoonful of sardines in her food fairly regularly. A tin lasts 3-4 days and I open one every fortnight or so. Don't know if that is purely responsible, but she is a very glossy girl
Re: Dull black coat Obi has a nice coat but, being yellow, the shine is subtle (but Angela and I know it's there!!!!!). He gets a 100g tin of sardines every night and two fish oil capsules every morning. My old Lab got a tin of sardines every night for 14 years and his coat was glossy up to the last month or so of his life (that's over 5000 tins of sardines).
Re: Dull black coat Oooh makes me seem mean with my sardines :-[ Started giving them when she was wee and never upped the quantity. That's my excuse anyway. Nothing to do with being Scottish
Re: Dull black coat A small tin of sardines lasts my two Labs, two to three meals! However, they do have other things, the sardines are on top.
Re: Dull black coat [quote author=Oberon link=topic=6601.msg88713#msg88713 date=1402916165] Obi has a nice coat but, being yellow, the shine is subtle (but Angela and I know it's there!!!!!). He gets a 100g tin of sardines every night and two fish oil capsules every morning. My old Lab got a tin of sardines every night for 14 years and his coat was glossy up to the last month or so of his life (that's over 5000 tins of sardines). [/quote] OK now I am confused :-\, there was a thread a little while ago that implied too much oil is not good for dogs especially if oil is already in the kibble you feed ??? I stopped giving mine Cod Liver Oil as I was pretty worried that it could be doing more harm than good. Maybe it's just the Cod Liver Oil and not Fish Oil? I give Hattie & Charlie a tin of Sardines a few times a week but not every day as I have just changed their food to Skinners Salmon & Rice and didn't want to over do it. I wonder if this subject can be cleared up please as I find it most confusing, no surprises there : ;D Thanks xx
Re: Dull black coat A bit of a daft question..but what sort of tinned sardines do you give your labs?
Re: Dull black coat I haven't seen the post re overdosing on fish oil and have no experience of giving it to dogs, but I can see that you would want to be careful if you were giving relatively high doses of CLO. It is high in Vitamins A&D which are not water-soluble vitamins and can build up in the body (applies to hoomans too!). If you are giving them under the vet's advice at a therapeutic dose then they should be fine even if you are giving sardines etc. Fish meat doesn't contain nearly as much of the vitamins as the liver does. Hopefully someone else can be more helpful. Glad I'm not the only one to ration the sardines I get mine in Lidl, 40p per tin. I go in from time to time and buy a stack of them - they must think I have a strange diet Sometimes I get mackerel for a change
Re: Dull black coat Don't worry.... It was Annabelle's post - she was giving Cod liver oil and Salmon oil and a kelp product, and I was wondering if Barley was getting too much Vitmain A and contributing to his itch. The thread is here I think Lochan suggested one or the other, just not all of them!
Re: Dull black coat Penny gets a cod liver oil/fish oil supplement daily as per vets advice to help with her joint issues. It sounds like I'm quite stingy with the dose though. They're 500mg tablets and she gets one, once a day. Might up it to two and see if it has an effect on her coat. She's pretty when she's shiny!
Re: Dull black coat Our ortho vet said when giving omega-3 fish oils we should use twice the standard adult human dose, so the high strength ones we use which say once a day, are given twice a day. Not sure I made up that they could cause gastric irritation or I read it somewhere but I usually give it with food, although she is quite happy to just snaffle one any time
Re: Dull black coat Is giving a tin of sardines like giving fish oil supplements though? I wouldn't have thought there was the same danger in overdosing on fish as overdosing on concentrated supplements. Obi is getting sardines as part of a raw (or mainly raw) diet, so I think a tin of sardines a day would be absolutely fine.
Re: Dull black coat I agree Julie, a tin of sardines a day is not going to cause any problems. You would need to be careful about giving multiple supplements though.
Re: Dull black coat [quote author=Kirriegirl link=topic=6601.msg88935#msg88935 date=1402949958] I agree Julie, a tin of sardines a day is not going to cause any problems. You would need to be careful about giving multiple supplements though. [/quote] I agree with that too
Re: Dull black coat [quote author=Kirriegirl link=topic=6601.msg88935#msg88935 date=1402949958] I agree Julie, a tin of sardines a day is not going to cause any problems. You would need to be careful about giving multiple supplements though. [/quote] What about if the sardines are in olive oil? Some owners have stated they give Sardines and Salmon Oil daily, is this unwise?
Re: Dull black coat Sorry Helen, I don't know the answer there. I guess it depends on your dog, and it's metabolism as well as the amounts, strength, and general health of your dog. All well out of my knowledge, Not sure whether Lochan could reassure you on this.
