dandruff

Question
My 15 week old female boxer has dandruff. Her skin is really dry and you can see white flakes all over her coat. We feed her Canidae all life stages which is a good food so it is not her diet. We bathed her once since we had her so we are not bathing her too much. Is this common? What can we do? She is always scratching so it must irritate her. Please help!

Answer
Hi Andrew,

Oftentimes itching and dandruff is caused by dry skin, as you mentioned; if you're in an area where you're still running the furnace, that may be a contributing factor.  If she's itching quite a lot, you might have her checked for cheyletiella, or "walking dandruff"; it's a mite that is not uncommon and typically shows as increased dandruff and itching.  (This would be especially suspicious if you have had rabbits in your yard, as the mite is carried on rabbits, or if you are itching, too.)  Ruling that out, you could try giving her fish oil (fish body oil, not fish liver oil) to increase her Omega-3 fatty acids - be sure to also give vitamin E (or buy an oil product that includes vitamin E) to protect against free radicals.  There are many formulas of fish oil, for people and for dogs - Grizzly Salmon Oil is a popular liquid supplement; you can find capsules at www.b-naturals.com or www.monicasegal.com (among other places).  Check the labels (or ask the seller) to be sure the recommended dosages are safe for puppies.

I'm assuming she doesn't have fleas; that's something to check for, of course.

Good luck - I hope she gets some relief soon!