You might try bathing her in a good quality shampoo and using a leave in treatment like Resicort after the bath. Hopefully, the food change will help too. It can take as much as two months to see improvement when changing foods. Why was she prescribed the SD?

 

Give the food a chance SD is such a poor quality food that it may take a little time for the good quality food to fix the problem. Real meat and good quality fat will help. Since the fish oil is not working for her you could try ground flax seed which you just sprinkle on the food ( 1 tablespoon per meal) or you can try cold pressed coconut oil. You can use it inside and out, rub a little into her coat. It smells great. Trade Joes has it less expensively than most stores. It comes in a jar and is solid you just warm it in your hands to rub on. I use it on my own skin.

 

Stop the fish oil, get her on the TOTW and give it a solid month. If you're still dealing with the dry skin, the food wasn't the problem to start with. If the soft stool remains, then time to get her off of the TOTW. The dry skin may honestly just be the climate change. The bathing is a good idea. Have you put flea/tick prevention on her this month? Because she's itchy- despite the temperature- I'd put it on her anyway.

The soft stool may be the fish oil, but may be the TOTW. Give it a few weeks and see how it changes with her just on the food. If still soft, switch foods again because a month on just TOTW is enough to know if it works for your dog or not.

Any changes to laundry detergents etc?

It's just in her back? Any chronic rain exposure? (Like, does she live the rain so much that she's constantly out playing in it?)

 

My Squash is the same way in the winter. Run a humidifier, and get more water into her if you can - try adding it to her food. If there are specific spots/patches that are dry, try diaper rash cream. A little coconut oil on the food might help, might not. The Resicort that someone else already mentioned is a great idea, too.

 

I know this is a disputed remedy, but when any of my dogs show dry skin dandruff, I break out the raw eggs. I'll use only one, mix it up in a dish and distribute it to the dogs' supper. I might do this two or more times a week if the dandruff is especially bad.

I have had no bad reactions the few times I've done this, but it has worked every time. The dandruff clears up within a week, maybe two.

I would try small amounts at a time if there is a possible concern of bad reactions. Also, do a quick Google search and you'll see the proponents and naysayers to this treatment.

 

SD is what she was on before we adopted her we just kept her on it for a bit. We always had the intention of switching it.

Her stool was actually what I would consider normal this morning that is one day removed from the fish oil and 5 days into the TOTW.

We use Tide free and clear on all her bedding and jacket.

She loves being outside rain, snow and the cold does not bother her. We just stopped putting her fleece on her so it does not suck the oils out of her skin.

I will look into the coconut oil and flaxseed oil.

Thanks for the help

 

Picked up some organic refined coconut oil for $7 at Walmart. Massaged some into her dry skin. Brushed her a few hours later and not a single flake came off. Hopefully this is a cure for her and her nibbled off fur will grow back in soon.

I just applied some more. I will put it on her every afternoon or night when I know she is going to sleep since body temps rise and that's when the body does the most healing.

 

Its better to use the cold pressed if you can find it. It is healthier and smells like a fresh coconut. It works great on my own dry skin. The great thing about it is you can put it on your dogs skin and they can lick it off and it only does them good on the inside. You might want to add a teaspoon in the food also the fatty acids are great for skin and coat.

Coconut oil in its raw state is rich in lauric acid, a rare medium-chain fatty acid found in mother’s milk and tied to boosting metabolism.It also has less than 1% of omega-6, and has been tied to weight loss because of its richness in metabolism boosting medium-chain fatty acids. You can enjoy the true benefits of coconut oil in its organic, cold-pressed, extra virgin state; it should never be bleached, hydrogenated or refined.

 

Good luck!

 

You can also add the coconut oil into her food (just a little bit at a time) as this will have a systemic effect (supposedly). Start with a teaspoon full once a day and see how she tolerates it.

 

So She got worse the cold pressed coconut oil does help but she is still flaking. We took her to the vet and right now she is on twice weekly bath with Pryoben medicated shampoo as per the vet with coconut oil treatments in between. BTW- she loves the coconut oil.
The vet did not do a skin scrape yet but the bumps on her inner rear thighs were gone after her first treatment with the shampoo. So she is due back in another two weeks if the dry skin on her back does not clear completely. So mites have yet to be ruled out as of yet.

 

How long were you on the fish oil? It's common for fish oil to cause some loose stool in the beginning.

 

She was only on it a few days. We since put her back on it since she loves the taste. We are giving her 700mg once daily and her stool has been fine.

We know she has been through a lot in her life I'm guessing climate and a whole new house can cause problems.

I spoke to the vet (they do follow up calls) She said TOTW is a great food for her to be on if you are on a budget. She said continue the fish oil and the baths and see how she is doing. I noticed since the TOTW that her coat is ultra shiny and oily (not from the coconut oil) This is a day after the Pryoben bath. I just Don't get how her coat is retaining so much moisture but her skin is not.

She is scratching and nibbling much less and her nibble spots are growing back in. She still has very dry skin. I guess time will tell the Vet said on the 2nd follow up to stop the coconut oil go back to fish oil and see if she improves. She thinks the coconut oil may be clogging her pores maybe not allowing the Pryoben to do it's job.

She does flake less after the Pryoben but by the time her 2nd bath of the week comes she is flaking like crazy.

So right now it's
Pryoben twice a week
TOTW with 700 mg of fish oil once daily.