Hair loss

Question
QUESTION: I have a blue dane, best dog in the world, but he is now 11 yrs old.  He's still in pretty good condition, still has good energy, a bit of problems with his hips but nothing major (I give him glucosamine) BUT he sheds something terrible.  I have looked over all of the diseases, he has no plaques, no redness, no mainge or anithing like that, he just sheds like crazy.  How can I help this?  Medication? Vitamins? ???  Please help!

PP Beauchamp
Ottawa, Canada.

ANSWER: Sometimes it may be the individual dogs generics that make them shed so much. The other possibility is that he is on a food that is not working well for him. What food is he currently on? Do you have other options available to him to eat? You can actually get certain foods specifically formulated for skin and coat. You are sure that he does not have any allergies? A lot of times nutrition has something to do with shedding and you may see it go down if you switch him to a different food. If you can tell me what foods you have available I can tell you what the best option for him would be.

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

QUESTION: He presently is on IAMs weight control, and we pretty much have anything available around here through petsmart, walmart and our vet.  I don't think he has any alergies, he does not scratch, lick or any odd behaviour.

PP

Answer
In sorry I didn't even get the follow-up question until I came onto the account login. If you have a petsmart available they have some foods, such as blue buffalo, and ultra that will help with the skin and coat issues. What is probably going on is that he either one has an allergy to something in the food or two he needs something that contains more fish oil our fish meal in it. I hope that helps out, usually a food change is the first step you want to take to determine if it its allergy related.