# dull coat



## gloria66 (May 11, 2011)

My eleven month old Bernese Mountain dog is shedding huge amounts of hair. I've been using grooming tools to remove a lot of it. Before all the shedding his coat was black and shiny. Now it looks dull with a rusty colored tinge. Will having him bathed and groomed help his coat return to it's former luster?


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## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

Evaluate the diet, is it a good food? Does fur need conditioning? Can consider supplements like fish oil. Mostly good diet & conditioning is all it takes.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Does he have his adult coat? Maybe he's blowing his puppy coat and/or getting ready for winter. But yes, I second the rec for a high quality food and some fish oil.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I third the high quality food, fish oil, and vitamin E.  This will shine a dog up like a mirror!


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## Niraya (Jun 30, 2011)

He's blowing his coat. He'll look pretty icky for about a month. Then it'll go back to normal.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

What tools are you using to brush and deshed him? Tools like a Furminator will damage coat, causing dullness, split ends and other coat damage. I agree with all the above posters otherwise, diet. I have never seen a healthy dog/coat, then blow coat and that alone cause a dull damaged coat...Likely something else like improper tools or use of them. Also, not sure where you are located, but the red tinge you describe is typical of sundamage/bleaching as well. Using a spray on sunscreen before going outside for periods of time will help prevent future sun bleaching...there are many of these made for dogs..Coat Handler makes one.


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## mom24doggies (Mar 25, 2011)

Graco22 said:


> What tools are you using to brush and deshed him? Tools like a Furminator will damage coat, causing dullness, split ends and other coat damage. I agree with all the above posters otherwise, diet. I have never seen a healthy dog/coat, then blow coat and that alone cause a dull damaged coat...Likely something else like improper tools or use of them. Also, not sure where you are located, but the red tinge you describe is typical of sundamage/bleaching as well. Using a spray on sunscreen before going outside for periods of time will help prevent future sun bleaching...there are many of these made for dogs..Coat Handler makes one.


 Ditto...my thoughts exactly. I have two seasonal shedders...I can always tell when they are about to blow their coat because it gets lighter in color and dulls quite a bit. Usually, a good bath with warm water and conditioner then a good brushing with a zoom groom and maybe furminator (yes, I do use it a little bit on my one dog...but just a *little bit*! She's pretty short coated though...it should not be used on longer coated dogs. So I wouldn't recommend it for you. ) will do wonders in removing the old, dead coat and revealing the new, shiny one. Actually, one of my dogs, Sam, turns a totally different color...she goes from being yellowish to a pretty light red. HTH!


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## stacey101 (Sep 20, 2010)

A hard boild egg is great for their coat !


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