Content

• Steps
• Advice

Surely every owner wants the dog to be comfortable in shiny and healthy fur. Unfortunately, your dog will feel itchy and uncomfortable if it has dry skin. Dog skin can also become rough and scaly. To protect your dog's health, take steps to improve its coat and skin.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Evaluation of dog skin

1. 

   Look for signs of dryness. The first sign of dry skin is the dog scratching hard when you touch the dog's skin. If you remove the dog's fur, you may also notice other signs of dryness such as:
   • Dry and flaky skin
   • Dandruff
   • Itchy
   • Crispy and rough skin
   • Chapped and rough skin

2. 

   
   
   Consider your dog's health. Watch out for recent changes in dogs. For example, has the appetite (the dog can eat more or less) or the amount of water the dog drinks? Has your dog's activity level changed? If you suspect your dog has a medical condition, see your veterinarian. Dry skin can be caused by a number of diseases. Once the disease is treated, the dry skin in dogs should be gone.
   • Unclear changes in behavior can be a sign of some illnesses like hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid), Cushing's disease, infection, or diabetes. These diseases can affect the health of the dog's skin and coat, especially in older dogs.

3. 

   
   
   Check for parasites on dog hair. Observe the dog's fur at close range. You can brush and look for dandruff flakes in your dog's coat. Note that the flakes of white dandruff that you think are a sign of dryness are most likely small bugs. This is the Cheyletiella dog beetle. Cheyletiella beetles are nicknamed "dandruff" because they simply look like dandruff. However, you will spot them moving with careful observation.
   • A veterinarian can diagnose the Cheyletiella dog beetle by looking at the dog's skin under a microscope. You can use a spray (containing Fipronil) once every two weeks to kill pigers.
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Part 2 of 2: Improving dog skin

1. 

   
   
   Provide adequate nutrients for dogs. Make sure to provide your dog with a balanced, quality diet and with enough clean water. When buying dog food, you should choose foods with meat (chicken, beef or lamb) as the first ingredient, followed by vegetables like sweet potatoes or carrots. These quality ingredients are generally more nutritious than "meat by-products" or "soy". Besides, high quality products often contain many vitamins and minerals. You can also look for vitamin E supplements or omega-6 fatty acids to nourish your skin. Alternatively, you can add olive oil to your dog's food to prevent dry skin. Olive oil has the ability to moisturize the skin and treat dry skin in dogs.
   • Cheap foods often contain poor quality ingredients and go through more processing. Hence, inexpensive dog food can be harmful to dog's skin, especially when you switch dog food from high quality to low quality. The changes to the dog's skin are not immediately detectable and take about a month.

2. 

   Give your dog a supplement. Whether you buy high-quality or poor-quality dog ​​food, some of the nutrients will break down during processing. If your dog has dry skin, give him a supplement to take in nutrients. These foods help nourish the skin cells located deep inside the tissue, thereby helping the skin stay healthy after about a month of use. Consider the following supplements:
   • Vitamin E: Give dogs 1.6-8 mg per kg of body weight per day. Consult with your veterinarian about the right dosage for your dog. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that improves dog skin and promotes skin repair by combating skin damage caused by environmental factors such as pollution.
   • Omega fatty acids or oils. These are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Omega-3 fatty acids are found in flaxseed, corn, soybean oil and omega-6 is found in fish oil. These fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties (especially useful for dogs with allergies), thereby helping to nourish skin cells and improve skin barrier. The recommended daily dose is 30 mg per 1 kg of body weight. Giving your dog too much fatty acids can cause diarrhea.

3. 

   Brush your dog regularly. You should brush your dog every day to spread the natural oil all over the dog's coat, protect and keep the coat shiny, and also prevent oil from accumulating and irritating the dog's skin. Grooming is an easy way to improve your dog's skin. Just like with a massage, brushing helps increase blood flow to the skin. Besides, brushing also helps to increase oxygen to the skin, removes impurities and reduces dryness.
   • Immediately remove blood stains from dog hair. These dull marks can stick to your dog's skin on contact and lead to flaking and dryness.

4. 

   Bathe your dog. Bathing your dog not only prevents dirt and oil build-up, but also allows you to see more problems on your dog's coat and skin (such as dog bugs). In general, you should bathe your dog every month or up to every two weeks if his skin is normal. For dry dogs, you should bathe your dog with oatmeal shampoo to avoid further drying his skin.
   • Choose a shampoo that is pH balanced and suitable for dog skin. Do not use scented shampoos to avoid drying out your dog's skin. The oatmeal shampoo helps to moisturize the dog's skin and is non-greasy.

5. 

   Control humidity in the home. Low humidity caused by cold weather can cause dry skin or aggravate dry skin. You should control the humidity in your home by using a humidifier. On the other hand, indoor heaters can dry out your dog's skin, so avoid turning on the heater too hot. In addition, keep the dog away from the heater.
   • You should also keep your dog indoors during cold, dry weather.

6. 

   Patience. It takes a while for the skin cells to form and re-hydrate the skin. The mature skin cells above are often old and dry, and are therefore prone to flaking. The skin cells underneath are called the "germ" cell or the sapling cell. It takes 28 days for young skin cells to move upwards and become mature skin cells. Therefore, you need to nourish your dog's skin for at least a month to notice that your dog's skin improves.
   • After a month or two of nourishing your dog's skin, you can assess the effectiveness of a dry skin treatment.
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Advice

• Practice brushing the puppy as soon as possible so that the puppy will adapt and become comfortable with brushing.