Seeing a healthy, shiny coat shows that the dog is well taken care of. There are several ways to get a healthy, shiny coat on your dog.
A nutritious diet is an essential key to a healthy coat on your dog. He needs a proper balance of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Ideally, the protein levels in his food should be about twenty to twenty-five percent. If you can, finding foods that have Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids in them are a good idea. This is largely what’s responsible for the shine that you see in a dog’s coat.
Two types of dry dog foods found that have both fatty acids in them are Artemis Maximal dog food and Petcurean Go Natural Grain Free Endurance. These two products are also grain-free, which is really good since grains are not an original part of a dog’s diet. To get an overview of how your current dog food ranks, you can visit the dog food analysis site. If you cannot find any food with the Omega fatty acids in them or you can’t afford that dog food, simply adding a teaspoon of flaxseed, fish, olive, safflower, canola, or sunflower seed oil to your dog’s food will help.
Grooming your dog also attributes to a healthy coat. You should brush your dog for a few minutes every day with a brush that has round tips so as not to irritate or scratch the skin. If you can’t brush your dog every day, at least brush him once a week. Brushing helps spread around the natural oils your dog produces.
Bathing your dog is also recommended, but not nearly as often as brushing. In fact, washing your dog too much could dry out their skin, resulting in the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve. It removes the natural oils that are spread around from the brushing. The dry skin may result in flaking and irritation. If you want to wash your dog, you can, but try not to wash him more than once a month. If you live in a colder climate where moisture is already an issue, don’t wash your dog more than once every four to six months unless needed.
When you do wash your dog, you can use certain shampoos and conditioners made specifically for them. Do not ever use human products on your dog as their pH balances are different from ours. You can find many different products at pet stores, but it’s best to use all natural ingredients and to buy a shampoo that has soothing agents in it like aloe. You can also buy shampoo products that have Pathenol in it. This also helps enhance your dog’s coat. When washing, massage the shampoo down into their fur. You might find that your dog will actually like this. Just be sure you get all of the soap out when you’re done.
The last thing you can do to help improve your dog’s coat is to exercise. Just like humans, the blood and oxygen in the body flow the surface of the skin during exercise. Exercise helps clear up our skin problems, and it has the same affect for dogs.
If you’re feeding your dog a healthy, balanced diet, grooming him regularly, and giving him plenty of exercise but his coat is still dull looking, shedding excessively as to be more than normal, or patches of hair are falling out, schedule an appointment with a veterinarian. Some medical conditions can affect the skin and coat of dogs, too, that might require medication.
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