Hi,

I have a bernese and she normally has a lovely coat, however lately she seems to have developed dandruff on her back near her tail, i spoke to a fellow bernese owner, she actually has ten, i'm only brave enough to have one (at the mo) she said to put corn oil in her food and when hers get it she uses head and shoulders i wondered what you all think, head and shoulders on a dog surely not .
I must admit though her dogs have the loveliest coats, and she has been breeding them for about 25years, just wondered if you have heard of this and if you have any more tips.

thanks lisa

Hi there, I have bernese and poodles and I also use head & shoulders if they have dandruff but I water it down to about 1/3 shampoo to 2/3 water in a bottle.  I would also use a good conditioner too.  Our bernese also get evening primrose oil capsules or cod liver oil although it takes a good few months to see a difference with this but I'm a great believer that you are better treating skin or coat complaints from the inside so it's worth the wait, our old bernese was very ill and after he recovered his skin was very dry and coat very dull but a year on after starting the oil capsules you wouldn't believe it is the same dog :-) If you are washing your bernese for a show head & shoulders is a good quick fix and leaves a lovely shine on the coat.

I put a cod liver oil capsules in my dogs food twice a day and i know many others do this, or you could add in sardines in oil instead either has worked well for mine.
He had bad dandruff but hates the bath so that was impossible i give a good brush out daily to rid of dead hairs and supplement.

Works well for us it was around 4-5 weeks before he got a nice shine.

Sarah

What you really must do is make sure the shampoo is DILUTE when you bath her!! If you sorta 'pour' the shampoo on without mixing it with water, it's the devils own job to make sure it is all rinsed off and a small residue will stick like glue and casue this patchy dandruff! I had a Bernese and used to use Black coat on her...the one I used for the Newfies!! She always looked stunning, though NOT a great show dog....I also give Vit C, Garlic paste, Cod Liver Oil, Star flower Oil, and especially for Skin I use ZINC! Sometimes the diet can also be rsponsible for a scaly coat...Use a quality feed like Nutro. Also may be worth feeding an oily fish in their dinner for a while...good luck!!! Dawn X

Thanks for the tips, i will give them a try.

Corn oil would be the LAST oil i would add to your dogs food,apart from the high risk of allergies to corn it also has the least amounts of omega 3&6! Salmon oil,EPO and to a lesser extent Flaxseed oil would be my suggestions.Dont forget to also give vitE along with any oils.

I wouldnt use head&shoulders on my own hair lettalone my dogs My hairdresser recommended it for stripping colour from your hair if you want to get rid of it,that's how strong the stuff is. As has already been suggested,if you MUST use it make sure it is highly diluted!

I think adding oil is a good isea, but would give head and shoulders is a good idea - you say yourself this breeders dogs look great. I use wash & go on my spaniel (not diluted) and it gives a great shine - in the past I have used pantene, both brands including a conditioner.

Hi,  i,ve noticed before that when EPO or any other oils are recommended, it normally follows on to say dont forget to add Vit E when giving oils as a supplement........ gonna be thick now and ask WHY?

Hello. Dobes can get dry skin and I rub in some gentlemens Vasaline hair tonic(superdrug)as well as giving Omega 3 and my girl is lovely and shiney, no flakes at all. I found the tip in a very old dog book that smelt of dust and wisdom!. Of course Dobes have short coats so I'm not sure about furry dogs.

Hi Blackberryway,

Something I scribbled from a site in the past (can't recall the link for now :rolleyes:)

A small amount of vitamin E added to evening primrose oil products reportedly slows the rather rapid breakdown of important fatty acids; opt for vitamin E-enhanced products when possible.

I personally don't use EPO as recent studies have shown a link to epilepsy in dogs who have this in their lines or a low threshold to it, likewise CLO.   Diets or supplements containing fish body oils are generally the recommended route of late.  Tohme or someone more educated in this area than me is probably best able to explain when Vit E is an advisable additive.

Regards, Teri :)

Hi,
This is my first time in this forum,everybody seems very helpful. I give  my dogs a sardine in olive oil with each meal ,they love it. I only show one of them but everyone admires her coat. I only brush her  twice a week and bath every 6 to 8 weeks.I saw a huge improvement in her coat when i started giving her sardines. Using sardines in olive oil was the best bit of advice i've ever got. My dogs are St Bernards, not the easiest coat to maintain, but i wouldn't swap them for the world.

Vit E works synergistically with fish oils, high doses of fish oils over a prolonged time can deplete the body of VitE so its best to use the 2 together :)

Hi again,

I,m fascinated by the Vit E working alongside the other oil supplements, I am gonna go buy some Vit E in the next day or so, what dosage of iu,s would i be looking for?