Firstly I have used this on all my dogs for the past year or more and i have a very good relationship with the nutritionalist there, and I have also asked her the question I am going to ask on the board.

My dogs coats are more coarse and wiry while on this food.  I have noticed it and so have my children.  I also do dog rescue and a dog may come to me with velvet fur, but after a period of time on AG it is wiry and harder to the touch (particularly along the spine).

My friend 'borrowed' one of my dogs for company to see how her dog would get on with another dog if she wanted to have a second dog - she fed him Pedigree Complete and he has come back with lovely soft fur.  I just know that now he's home and on AG it will go back to the coarser feel.

I am thinking maybe I should give an oily suppliment as I am loathe to change dog foods completely, but I wondered a.> what other people have found who feed AG?   & b.> what suppliments people use or would recommend for coat condition?

I've never fed Arden Grange but in general if a food made my dogs coat harsh I would change feeds, particularly when it's every single dog you've fed it to. I would worry what else it was lacking that didn't show on the outside?

I feed Arden Grange, it gives me lovely soft coats. I feed classic adult. Which one do you feed yours? It could well be you just need to change the type for your dogs coats. The premium one, maybe. or lamb and rice? :)

No personal experience but two friends of mine that are pretty successful swear by it. One has malinois where the coat should be quite harsh, the other Goldens where it is not and all their dogs have correct coat.

Our youngster is on AG and she's doing fine on it with a lovely coat.  Her skin was raw when on eukanuba and kept nibbling herself pulling her coat out and it was very dry.  However 3 of our other dogs suit eunkanuba really well.  Sometimes it's just finding the food to suit the dog.  Another of our dogs used to do well on pedigree untill they changed the recipe and is now on wafcol salmon and potato! 

Try another food would be my suggestion :)  It's trial and error really untill you fin one that suits and then stic with it :)

How long did your friend borrow your dog for?  I wouldn't expect a food to make a difference to fur already grown to be honest.  I might be completely wrong but it sounds like it might have more to do with your environment.  Perhaps your house is warmer and dryer due to central heating or something similar.

I feed different range to different dogs, but in the main it is weaning puppy and puppy junior.  I also have the light food for an adult I took on who was overweight and all the dogs LOVE the light food.

My friend borrowed my dog for a month (wasn't supposed to be this long but she was worried that her dog would miss the company and so she held out until she could get a puppy).

I am actually wondering if you may have a point CherylS as I have had ongoing problems with my heating system for the best part of a year, as the thermostat broke and then something else went, so the heating was only able to be on FULL.

I have resolved the issue now so I will keep an eye on it as the weather has changed also so if it's environmental (which ness the nutritionist at AG suggested it could be).

I feed the lamb one and have a lovely coat.  If yours in on light, then the fat & oil content is possibly reduced.

Yes but it's only been the last month I have had the light in, and the problem pre-existed.  I think it really could be environmental now.

I may try the lamb one though, I'll have a word with Ness again.

Thanks for the feedback.

I feed AG and my golden is in good condition with a good coat. He eats the adult for large breeds.

Well I have always found it was great for Coat texture, but then I want the guard hairs to be harsh.

Which are you using, as the Prestige or the original adult (now called Arden Grange Premium) gave me excellent results, but I feed what was then Classic (now just adult) to the older dogs, or when they just need maintenance.

I feed Arden Grange to my two and they have fantastic coats. I do however mix a little Natures menu in with it.

Hayley

I had my Shepherds on AG for a long time, and never had any coat problems :-)

Lisa

I feed the AG Prestige to my 4 adult cockers and it hasn't affected their coats at all.

Thanks again everyone.  I am convinced this is down to when my heating system was constantly on high or off and we were freezing.  that is the only environmental factor I can think of and a couple of them have seen a slight improvement in coat, which could be a gradul thing now the system has been fixed and the air is less dry and more of a decent temperature.