# How to Deal With Dandruff?



## Majide (Oct 22, 2013)

Just under one month ago, we adopted two dogs (posted some other threads about them recently. A puppy and her mom).

We're told that when they came into the shelter they both had really bad fleas. The adult dog also seemed to have a bad looking coat. Though it could just that their fur is very fine. They don't have fleas now, though they both scratch a lot. The puppy doesn't have dandruff, but Abby does. 

We also switched their food. The shelter had them on Science Diet. After some reading, we went for the Costco brand food. This has been pretty recent, so I wonder if it might be a while before the change in food affects the dandruff. We've also given them a bath, but it was just a bottle of dog shampoo we found at Wal-Mart one night.

Any advice? Any certain shampoos/conditioners to try or other ideas?


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Add fish oil to their food. I just buy the regular fish oil capsules for people in the vitamin section and squeeze one out on the dog's food. You can also buy pump bottles of fish oil for dogs and add a squirt onto the kibble. Another option is to feed sardines a few times a week-- the packed in water, no salt kind in the tin from the grocery store. Most dogs love the taste and the healthy fats tend to really help the skin and coat. Start off small on the amount of fish oil or fatty fish because fat can cause GI upset.

I also like to add a small amount of beef liver and chicken hearts to their diet for the added vitamins and protein. Cheap and available in most grocery stores. 

Use a good quality shampoo and rinse very very well. Dogs usually don't need a bath very often unless they roll in something nasty. For skin issues, I'd suggest a shampoo like Micro-Tek or another anti-itch, anti-microbial type (I've used one from the vet that was benzoil peroxide based that was really good on dogs with raw and itchy skin). Dry the dog well with a towel.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

It will take a while for the flakes to go away as the old sick skin needs to be sloughed off, shampooing and gentle brushing should help that go faster. I really like the MicroTek shampoo too. Fish oil is definitely a good idea and you may want to add a bit of water to the food bowl in case they need to drink more water. As well as bits of meat and sardine you might add some scrambled or raw egg to the bowl. Up to you which addition you prefer, how much and how often to mix it in. Start small and increase a bit at a time though.

Ginger has flea allergy and will scratch and flea bite just because she is feeling conflicted or anxious, it is a bad habit as well as natural response to getting bit by a flea. I thought fleas gone problem solved but it took about 2 months for her skin to be a healthy white all over. She instantly started shedding her nice soft thick coat when she came here 4 months ago and now has stopped shedding and we are hoping something grows back soon. At least the scabs, bare spots and red skin are gone now.


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## Kayla_Nicole (Dec 19, 2012)

Our boy had dandruff badly when we got him, along with scabs all over his belly/inner legs (mild staff infection). In his case, it was due to a food allergy to wheat and possibly corn. We immediately put him on a quality grain-free food, and he gets salmon oil supplements. We had to get a medicated shampoo from the vet to take care of the staff infection and to make sure it wouldn't get worse, and i believe this helped clear up his dandruff as well. If he just had the dandruff problem though, I'm confident the food and salmon oil would have made a world of difference on their own.


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## Majide (Oct 22, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice!

I am wondering about baths though... These girls love to roll around in the dirt when we're outside, and don't seem to stay clean for long. But I've read that dogs really shouldn't have baths more than every few months or so. What should we do about that? How can we keep them clean without bathing them too often? If Abby has dry skin already, I don't want to make it any worse...

I really want to give them another bath, but it's only been a couple weeks since their last one. Plus I kinda want to get them used to it so they aren't so scared when it's bath time.


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## Tankstar (Dec 30, 2006)

there is nothing wrong with bathing often. ONLy when you use a good shampoo, dilute properly and rinse very very well.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

My dog had flaky skin when he was a puppy. Maybe cause he was eating junk food at the shelter, maybe it was just "puppy dandruff" as the vet said... either way we switched him to much better food a week after we got him (gave him time to adjust to his new home before changing his food too), and the vet gave us EpiSoothe shampoo, and it cleared up!


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## Masterjedi688 (Apr 27, 2009)

I've heard that adding LINATONE in there food helps with dry skin/ dandruff. There are also medicated shampoos for dandruff and omega 3 capsules for dogs that you can give them for that problem.


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