switching 10 yr old cocker from kibble - how fast?

Question
QUESTION: My 10 yr old Cocker Spaniel is covered in bumps and his skin is often red.  I bathe him with oatmeal shampoo and use Aveeno colloidal oatmeal as well which gives him temporary relief.  He has developed gas and doesn't like his food anyway.  I feed him Blue Buffalo lamb & rice kibble moistened with water then with DinoVite added.  Since adding the DinoVite, his eyes sparkle and his energy picked up, but he still is itchy and his eyes are often runny.  If I switch to canned Canidae as you suggest to others, how fast can I make the change?  Do you recommend stopping the DinoVite?

ANSWER: Can you describe the skin "bumps" and exactly where his skin is red?
Is it where the bumps are or all over?

I'm strongly suspecting he has seborrhea.  Is his coat dry & flakey?
Oily?  Any odor?

If you switch to Canidae - do it over a few days by adding more each day to his current food.  I'll need to investigate the DinoVite and see what's in it.

Susan, this can get chatty so feel free to write me directly at DeeBeck7765@aol.com.
Delores

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Today I feel bumps in his armpits and a few here and there on his back and behind his ears.  They are uniformly small (less than 1/8" diameter).  Where he has no hair his skin is slightly red today but doesn't seem to be itchy.  When I scratch him, he emits an odor, otherwise no dryness, flakiness or oiliness.

ANSWER: Take a good long look at the bumps and describe them.
Round?  Smooth?  Cauliflower appearance?  Color?  Do they come and go?
What type of odor comes from his skin?
Delores

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Round smooth bumps, no color.  I guess they come and go because the other day he was itchy and scratching and his skin was red, when I petted him I could feel the bumps were covering him about 2 inches apart, now only in the areas I said in previous question.  I'm not sure how to describe the odor.  When I walk into the house, I don't smell anything.  When I pet him, more when I scratch his back I can smell him and others say he stinks then.  Not like gas or unwashed dog stink.

Answer
I'd like to try some topical approaches.  If you can smell him "a bit" and others can smell him "a lot" - then, trust me, he has a distinct odor.

Go to any drugstore (some supermarkets) and buy some Nizoral shampoo.
Lather him up well - leave on for 10 minutes and rinse extraordinarily well with tepid water.  When I say rinse well, that means when you think you've rinsed enough - do it ten more times.

Then pop him into an oatmeal soak for 10 minutes.  Do not rinse off - just towel and/or blow dry on cool (or if you're somewhere warm, take him out for a walk).

I'd like him totally off kibble since the high carb load exacerbates skin issues in cockers.  He's also going to need a couple of supplements.

I'd prefer you write me directly at DeeBeck7765@aol.com so we can go into this in detail.
Delores