One common problem that dog owners find, especially those with long hair is that their pet’s coat can quickly become dry and matted. It doesn’t take a fortune to put this problem right indeed there are many ways to slove this problem using natural ingredients.
[ad#left-336]Care with your dogs food can go a long way to overcoming this problem, partly due to that fact that dogs often lack for certain nutrients and vitamins in their diet and are thus more likely to have skin issues and allergies than dogs which have a good balanced diet.
If your dog breed is known to suffer from allergies or skin conditions then these should be fed special diets, especially a diet containing fish as a major part of its makeup. I’ve found that some dogs often have a poor reaction to a particular brand of food,. The message here is simple start experimenting to see what food suits your dog best. There is no one answer, the right answer is to use the food that suits your particular dog.
If your food does not contain fish oil then add some to the food: salmon, sardine and anchovie oils are all great for a dogs coat. Some people prefer to give the dog a capsule of fish oil everyday others prefer to pour the oil over the food, either way is acceptable. I tend to pour oil over my dogs food.
It may be an old wives tale but it is true raw eggs can help to make hair shiny and soft. So don’t be afraid to mix the occasional raw egg up with your pets food. A maximum of three every two weeks is a good guide.
We stoke about fish oil above another good way to rehydrate and protect your pets coat and skin is to use olive oil. Try this: wet your dog’s hair with tepid water and then massage some olive oil into it, let it sit for approximately 30 minutes and then give your dog a good wash. This will help remove excess oil from the coat and skin.
While I try not to use commercial products there are some very good dog shampoos on the market and if you decide to go down this road then find one that also includes a conditioner that de-matts. You will also see pet shops offering products that are applied by spraying on the dog’s coat after a bath to help make it shiny.
One final thought don’t bath your dog to often as this can also have an adverse effect on its coat as a guideline no more than once every month. I wash my dog no often than once every six weeks.
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