shih tzu shedding

Question
hello,

my 7 month old shih tzu is shedding like crazy! when i first got her she did not shed at all! and now i can even walk past her with out getting hair on me. what can i do to help stop the sheeding?

Answer
Hi Angela and thanks for your question. Sorry it's taken me so long to get back with you.

It is hard to tell why your dog would be shedding, but one thing that comes to my mind would be, she is blowing her puppy coat. When she was younger, her coat was growing in and now that the adult coat is coming in better, she is shedding her puppy coat.

New hair/fur is growing into the follicle while the old hair is living it's life cycle and when the old hair is ready to "die" the the new hair has grown in sufficiently, the old hair falls out. It's the same way with humans. Hair is constantly cycling and continuously replenishing itself.

Having this dog professionally groomed will help with the cycle of this blowing coat and move it along more quickly. You might also want to try adding some fish oil to her diet too! The omega 3 fatty acid will greatly improve skin and coat condition, as well as, increase cardiac function and it also has anti-inflammatory properties.