# 12 week old puppy has dandruff?



## Silentgirl490 (Jun 5, 2012)

I have noticed lately my puppy has a lot of dandruff. He is black so maybe I notice it more but is there a special shampoo i should use? what can i do for him?


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## marsha=whitie (Dec 29, 2008)

A bad diet could cause Dndruff too, so evaluating what you are feeding is a good place to start.


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## Silentgirl490 (Jun 5, 2012)

I feed him purina puppy chow, while not the best dog food I totally agree I was advised to keep him on it for a few more months. He has just gotten over parvo and the vet doesn't want me to stress him out too much because he is underweight. The first few ingredients in my puppy chow are (real) chicken and rice, no corn in any of it.


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## Nev Allen (Feb 17, 2010)

There could still be a reaction to one or more of the ingredients. I would buy a high quality grain free kibble for puppies and mix this into the current chow, swopping a spoon of chow for a spoon of kibble so after say a week he is fully on the kibble. 

Dogs do not need to be bathed more than once or twice a month. Are you bathing him too much and taking away the natural skin oils?


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

My pup had dandruff when he was very young. The vet just said it was puppy flakiness, gave us Episoothe Shampoo to use, and it went away pretty fast. We bathe him about once a month (unless he gets ridiculously filthy doing puppy things... it happens). It doesn't come back at all now that he's older. He's smooth and shiny and black.


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## marsha=whitie (Dec 29, 2008)

Silentgirl490 said:


> I feed him purina puppy chow, while not the best dog food I totally agree I was advised to keep him on it for a few more months. He has just gotten over parvo and the vet doesn't want me to stress him out too much because he is underweight. The first few ingredients in my puppy chow are (real) chicken and rice, no corn in any of it.


http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/purina-puppy-chow/

All Puppy Cow has corn. 

I definitely second the suggestion to slowly incorporate a better food. Refer to dogfoodadvisor.com for food ratings.


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## Silentgirl490 (Jun 5, 2012)

marsha=whitie said:


> http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/purina-puppy-chow/
> 
> All Puppy Cow has corn.
> 
> I definitely second the suggestion to slowly incorporate a better food. Refer to dogfoodadvisor.com for food ratings.



Purina isn't a terrible brand, I understand people hate it and what not but it has several natural ingredients in it as well and many dogs have grown up on it fine. I just want to follow my vets instructions for that at the moment, because he is a picky eater and needs to gain weight. I don't want to stress him by changing his food. Maybe one day I will but not till he is atleast a little older.

As for the bathing, I bathed him once after his hospital stay 3 weeks ago (he had that weird hospital smell) and haven't since.


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## marsha=whitie (Dec 29, 2008)

Silentgirl490 said:


> Purina isn't a terrible brand, I understand people hate it and what not but it has several natural ingredients in it as well and many dogs have grown up on it fine. I just want to follow my vets instructions for that at the moment, because he is a picky eater and needs to gain weight. I don't want to stress him by changing his food. Maybe one day I will but not till he is atleast a little older.
> 
> As for the bathing, I bathed him once after his hospital stay 3 weeks ago (he had that weird hospital smell) and haven't since.


I must have missed the vets advice part (its hard to see everything on my phone sometimes). Most of my dogs grew up on Purina Dog Chow, and it did the job of feeding them. I wasn't as aware about dog food then, though.

Keep feeding your pup the Puppy Chow, but it wouldnt hurt to research foods and individual ingredients. Like what meat and bone meal actually contains, educate yourself about the preservative in the food , even how grains effect some dogs. The site I listed has a forum part, too. I am not a member, but others who are say that is pretty helpful. 

Its kinda like reading food labels when you're shopping. Its a good idea to know what you're eating, same goes for what your pup eats.


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## PatchworkRobot (Aug 24, 2010)

I'd also suggest a better quality food. If it has the word "chow" in the name you can pretty much assume it's sh*t. If you're stuck on Purina for whatever reason at least feed ProPlan - it's the better of the Purina foods. You could also supplement fish oil, that could help with his coat.

There are some dog shampoos for flaky dogs but bathing him excessively will simply make his skin dryer. I wouldn't bathe more than once every few months.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

Interestingly, I hadn't even thought of the dog food aspect of Ham's flakies. When we got him at the shelter he was on puppy chow (why does dog food need artificial colors??), and we kept him on it for the first week exclusively just to make sure if he had belly problems we could rule out food change. Then we weaned him onto Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul over the course of a month. The vet gave us the episooth shampoo during that time, and the skin problem resolved itself after two baths... which also coincided with having eaten the better food for about two weeks.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

If you don't want to change dog food, I understand -- although I would consider it. But in the meantime I would give him fish oil and vitamin E. Just like with people, these vitamins help with dry skin.


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## Silentgirl490 (Jun 5, 2012)

I am going to change him food to Grain Free Natures Recipe.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Silentgirl490 said:


> I am going to change him food to Grain Free Natures Recipe.


That's still not the best food, and quite low in fat (fat would probably help with his skin) -- but definitely an improvement.

www.dogfoodadvisor.com is a good resource.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

hamandeggs said:


> If you don't want to change dog food, I understand -- although I would consider it. But in the meantime I would give him fish oil and vitamin E. Just like with people, these vitamins help with dry skin.


Agreed on this.
My current foster arrived with dry skin and dandruff along with a kind of rough coat. I switched his food cold turkey (I DON'T suggest this for your pup though) and within ONE week, no more dandruff and nice shiny coat.

Look around his face and neck especially










Nutrition plays a huge role in hair and skin health; ask an example, think of the malnourished children in the really really poor countries and how it affects their hair (as seen in National Geo photos and such)


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Shell, wow! That's an amazing difference. The weight gain helps too


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## Silentgirl490 (Jun 5, 2012)

hamandeggs said:


> That's still not the best food, and quite low in fat (fat would probably help with his skin) -- but definitely an improvement.
> 
> www.dogfoodadvisor.com is a good resource.



I think it is a pretty good food actually, I have done research on it before and your website isn't the only website out there about dog foods. I am happy with my choice and I am sure my pup will grow up just fine on it.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Silentgirl490 said:


> I think it is a pretty good food actually, I have done research on it before and your website isn't the only website out there about dog foods. I am happy with my choice and I am sure my pup will grow up just fine on it.


Oh for crying out loud. Yes it's a perfectly fine, middle of the road food, and no one said your dog would not grow up just fine on it. All I did was point out the low fat content, which is relevant because you came on here asking about your dog's skin problems. Why come back just to argue?


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## Silentgirl490 (Jun 5, 2012)

I wasn't trying to argue I was just stating what I had decided. That website has been given to me several times already was how I meant it.


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