Hi all, was wondering if any of you have any special tips, for growing coat especially for show dogs.

I use Starflower oil for its GLA content which is 2 x's that in eve promrose, i've also tried fit 'n fertile which is great, anyone know of any others???

Obviously start with a high quality diet.....

Sharon

A lot depends on a) breed then b) coat type.  As well as good feeding and supplements which you have mentioned above, the care of the coat is ultra important.  This is where the breed comes into - very different care for different breeds!  Let us know what breed you have, and someone is boudn to be able to give advice.  to give a "for instance" with my breed, American Cockers, regualry washing, conditioning and blow drying is vital, along with not brushing out between baths ( loses hair) and making sure you do a full bath and dry whenever the dog gets dirty, even between the routine baths!   However, lots of dogs in the breed simply dont have the genetic make up to give the required coat, whihc is disappointing for the owners, of course.
bye
Gwen

As Gwen says, depends on the type of coat. I've tried all sorts over the years & would say don't bother with supplements,save your money & just feed a wellbalanced diet. The only other ingredient is  Patience - lots of it.

Thanks Gwen

To be honest i dont have a problem with coats just now, but i thought it would make a nice discussion, and help to share tips for all..

Someone might have a special remedy we could all use...

Yes i agree totally with the regular bathing, although in some breeds you can bath too much.. as a minimum in my show dogs i bath weekly, but the retired dogs are every 2 weeks and you can see the difference.
I guess some breeds need bathing more often than this?
Having said that i dont necessarily think bathing grows coat, it just conditions the coat you have.

Sharon

I know that some dogs who for whatever  reason have a  problem growing coats can benefit from having biotin added to their food & as a side effect I found that a friends dog that had soft nails & no coat showed a slight improvement in coat adding biotin & his nails returned to normal

Bitotin of course contains keratin which is what nails & fur is. I used a horse one & it works out really cheaply

But correct feeding & coat care does help & breeding has a lot to do with it as well

Exactly Sharon - different coats, different needs.  Dont think there can be one catch all tip - it very much depends on breed, and what sort of coat growth you want!  I dont know that bathing grows coat, but in my experience it is vital to keep what has grown (at least inYankees!)  With a breed which requires a harsher texture then frequent bathing is, of coure, contrary to promoting good coat growth.
bye
Gwen