German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

[wgonfan]

MY pup - now 4.5 months old. Has some dry skin/hair on his hind end that seems to pull out easy, & will even fall out when brushing or playing. He also has flakes. The vet gave me some "dermacaps" that have helped alot, but it's also made the resy of his coat very soft. I was wondering if this could have any negative efects on proper coat development (harsh & wirey). Also some one suggested just adding a little vegetable oil to his food. What do you guys think?

TC
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Tom - Texarkana, Tx.

Cargo - male GWP

[whiskerdog1]

Sounds like a food related problem. I wonder what youre feeding?
If not yet, I would switch to Eukanuba or Royal Canin puppy-highest amounts of omegs 3s/6s. It is worth the extra $80yr and will clear up most skin/coat problems. 1 less trip to vet pays for itself!

The best supplement you can give your dog is fish oil found in pharmacy. Caps or liquid- put small amount on food. I also put an egg on food every 3 days or so. It flavors the food and is excellent for them. Uncooked is fine.
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Real men hunt Wire Dogs

[cheerio]

I suspect your dog may be suffering from a dry form of seborrhea.
Seborrhea is common in the hunting dogs in particular in Setters and Labs but can affect any dog. It presents itself by either a dry flaky skin with brittle hair, or greasy scaly skin, or a combinaition of both.
There are no cure to Seborrhea but it can be easily controlled wityh bath.
For treatment, you will have to bath your dog with a sulfur or Salicylic acid shampoo once a week for 4 weeks, once every 2 weeks for another 4 weeks and once every months for 4 months. Then, make sure to use only moisturising hypoallergenic shampoo containing no dyes, perfums or added chemicals when ever you need to wash your dog.
Your dog may remain asymptomatic for several weeks, several months, and sometimes several years, but it will come back and the treatment will have to be started again as prescribed.

If the scale are oily, then, you are dealing with an oily type Seborrhea and the shampoo to use is a shampoo containing Coal Tar. The frequence of the treatment is the same as for the dry Seborrhea. If you hesitate as to whether your dog suffer from a dry or oily type Seborrhea, simply put your nose on the scaly area: an oily seborrhea has a rancid odor, a dry Seborrhea has no odor.

[whiskerdog1]

Its possible that it could be seborrhea and a good shampoo can help. However if it becomes a chronic condition,as in more than a few weeks, I would treat from the inside/out and this begins with diet.
I personally have seborrhetic dermitis, and suffer from dry scaly skin on face and chest. All doctor did was prescribe steroid cream which helps, but only treats symptoms. I changed my diet got away from acidic foods ie coffee, alcohol, fried and starting more greens/fruits and meats and been fine for over 2 yrs. The saying you are what you eat is true and with animals as well. Thats why I strongly suggest a top shelf food like EUk or Royal Canin and suplement fish oil. You will see improvement in 4-6 weeks in most cases.
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Real men hunt Wire Dogs

[wgonfan]

I've been feeding Iams puppy. Dryness has gotten better since he started taken the dermacaps & the flakes are gone. His hair in that area still pulls out real easliy. I think I'm going to upgrade his diet & try the fishoil. Is there a general rule of thumb for adding the fishoil?


Thanks
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Tom - Texarkana, Tx.

Cargo - male GWP

[whiskerdog1]

I use the 1000mg of fish oil tablets-either break open or get em to eat by putting peanut butter. It can come in liquid form.
I think 500mg-1000mg is fine and recommended.. It is great in Omega 3s and treats everything. I prefer fish oil over anything else including salmon oil-but thats a close 2nd. good luck.
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Real men hunt Wire Dogs