Oil Supplementing

Question
QUESTION: Is vegetable oil a good supplement to give in my shepherd's food for her skin?  If not, what do you recommend?

ANSWER: If your dog's skin isn't good, then you should first speak to your veterinarian.  Most high quality foods don't require supplementation, so be sure you are feeding one of those (even though they are more expensive, the cost per kilocalorie fed is often lower).  My Aussie does well on Innova, but there are certainly other equally high quality foods.  I do give my dogs oil once in a while, mainly as "insurance", but I use Grizzly Salmon oil (the oil is fine, but never feed a dog raw salmon).  There's also a product called K9 Shine, which is made from herring.

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QUESTION: Thank you for your prompt response.  My dog's skin is fine, she has allergies and sometimes gets inflamed.  My vet says that it is quite common and says to give her benadryl whenever the flare ups happen.  I feed her California Natural herring and sweet potato formula.  However, she is still a bit dry.  I was wondering if vegetable oil might help just a little bit.  Thanks so much.

Answer
Well, you could, but I also remember that there is a supplement, sold in most pet supply stores, called Linotone, that does a really good job for some dogs for skin issues.  If your dog is already getting enough fish through diet, then that might be a good thing to try, too.  Double check with your vet, so that you aren't missing something that could be addressed in another way, but that supplement helped one of my dogs back in the 1980's.