Ok Champdog lurkers, show yourselves! Anyone have any sneaky tips for promoting a shiny coat?

My pup Cam (a brown dobe) has never had the best coat in the world. It's a lot better than it was but does lack a certain shine. He's fed a high quality puppy food supplemented with various bits and pieces - my briefcase, the living room carpet, etc. My trainer suggested using a chammy (sp?) leather on him, which sounded like a good idea, and giving him flax seed oil. Any other suggestions that have worked for you?

Thankee

Jo

Must admit we dont give Gus any supplements as such and he has a nice shiny coat -
he's on Hills Science Plan and gets tripe , mackeral and sardines in sunflower oil regularly .
The Chamois idea is a good one - you can buy a glove made out of chamois too to rub him down with
:)
Lel

edited to say it could just be his age Jo , as Gus went through a stage where his coat looked pretty dull when younger ( about 5 months stage)

oily fish, or cod liver oil in his food, and a chamois leather, it really does work :)

Hi, to get a shiny coat on my black dobe we used to include sunflower oil, butter ect in her food, when I bathed her I used to finish off with a little bit of baby oil all over her then rinse it off within a day she had a coat you could see your face in.

Nikki

Thanks. I knew "chammy" looked wrong, but my spell checker insisted!

a cotton velvet glove works well too :)

Hi,
I visited a show last week to watch the dobes and saw lots of people spraying there dogs before they went in the ring. After a good old nose I found out it was Canter Coat Shine which is something that I actually buy for the horses I've just never thought of using it!

Debbie

Oooooh, they are naughty! If they win, and the KC does a spot 'coat-check' as they are entitled to, the dogs will be stripped of their win. The only substance allowed on the coat when the dog is being shown is water!

How ofen do they do spot checks though JG ??

Good grief i would like to bet that 99% of the dogs in the showring haven't been just sprayed with plain water and it's not just the grooming sprays don't forget the chalk and the touch ups with makeup etc. Whilst showing at Driffield last year i was going past a Poodle exhibitor getting her dog ready and as i got level got a real good blast of hairspray in my face and that's supposed to be banned and she was doing it in full veiw of everybody

Surely the judge can "feel" hairspray when he goes over the dog ???

Yes you would think that they would feel hairspray the same as they would notice the beatiful chalk white colour of certain dogs coats

A top winning poodle of yesteryear was stripped of several wins when it was discovered he had been dyed.

LOL the worst I've ever seen at a show is the BUll Terriers - some of them even have clown make-up on their faces to hide the pink skin, and the chalk..... whole boxes of the stuff You'd think the judge would notice

When showing my Burmese I found the best thing for putting a shine on is a rubber hound glove followed by a velvet or chamois cloth/glove and plenty of oily fish/ sunflower oil/etc. in the diet :D

Both Willis and Phoebe have a coat you can see your face in - willis is blue and very shiny, and Phoebe is brindle and has a really deep shine. They are fed on Burns and Tripe/Beef mince/scrambled eggs - and thats one of the reasons I haven't changed their diet (despite Burns being so expensive). Its a case of finding the riet diet mix and sticking with it, and giving it chance to come through to the coat IMO :)

Yes I think the important factor is the main diet he is being fed on already - rather than additives. If he is on a complete food then perhaps it should be changed as it should be giving everything he needs including a shiny coat. I pop an Evening primrose oil capsule into a small lump of meat in their dinners every night to help the coat/general well being/fertility as it contains natural Vit E.

Evening Primrose Oil and Autarky food - has worked wonders for my two :)

My family has given Halibut Liver Oil capsules for the past 15 years and 4 dogs. Their coats have all gleamed and are always commented on by the vets.

Wendy

People are going to be sick of me & Flax Oil BUT..... Mia has been on this since the beginning of June & her coat is gleaming, the black is so dark & glossy & her white bits have that lovely silvery sheen through them, that & Royal Jelly capsules too, Burns Active Dog food & 2 slices of toast with butter on before her brekkie every day. Unfortunately because Curtis is prone to mild colitis, I won't add anymore oil into his diet otherwise he would get the same. Genes have a lot to do with coat type too, Mia's sire tends to throw these glossy coats like the one he carries himself.

Having read about flax seed oil, where have you bought this from? Couldn't find it in Tesco's special oils section this evening, is it more of a supplement thing (eg stacked with evening primrose?)?

Jude

Yes, more likely to be with EPO, as you wouldn't cook with it - heat destroys its active compounds. It's also called linseed oil.

:)

my friend has a shar-pei who she gives a raw egg mixed up every day and he has a beautiful black shiny coat.

What does Ring 5 coat gloss do ?I heard people use this on their show dogs?
Is it a spray or what?

Briony :-)

i feed bradley (boxer ) james welbeloved and he has scrambled eggs sardines or mackeral for breakfast. A special treat is fresh swordfish steak on sundays. His coat is very very shinny and he is developing well.

My lab gets fed on Pedigree Complete and has a pretty good coat - no complaints but the best thing for her coat is.....wait for it......a swim in a messy/dirty stream and then washed down with water afterwards. I know it sounds weird but for about a week after she has gone swimming in the smelliest water she can find she is the shiniest dog around. Think it may be bringing out the natural oils in her coat.

And my akita which looks great on the same food.

IMHO unless your dog has a deficiency you shouldn't need to add anything to their diets as long as it is a complete diet - same with humans. Better to eat heathly than make up for it with supplements

We feed our 5 month old male Dobe James Wellbeloved puppy performance plus half a tin of Butchers tripe in the morning and raw mince meat in the evening (following breeders diet sheet) and he is gleaming. It seems like a huge amount of food but we're just following the guidelines on sack of food we buy (just had to buy a new bowl to fit it all in!). We did give him milk too and cheese for treats but vet suggested dietary intolerance so no more. Use the odd baby wipe to freshen him up between our entertaining bath times!

Jude

My favourite grooming aid for my smooth coated dog was a chamois leather. They really are excellent.
I will sometimes use a leave-in conditioner rubbed lightly into the coat on my shepherd to bring up a shine if he's been in kennels and is looking dull. The results instant and lasting.
Lara x

My 2 beagles came out of kennels recently with lack-lustre coats, so now I add a couple of drops of cod liver oil to their dinners. I also use a chamois on them. This has definitely helped and their condition has been comented upon.

I think additives can help a lot, but to my mind a dog's coat should have some shine at least from its everyday diet or something is wrong with the quality of the diet.

I feed NatureDiet - my Terv is a red/blondey colour so you can only see the shine in certain lights, but she does have a good one :)

I used to feed Chappie years ago when i was hard up - the dogs had a wonderful shine, due i suspect to the fish oils.

I believe companies like Dorwest Herbs sell supplements to improve coat gloss and shine.

Lindsay