Dry Skin Relief For Dogs
Does your dog have dry itchy skin ? There can be many reasons for this and finding a dry skin relief for dogs can be challenging. Sometimes dry skin is caused by the weather, allergies in the environment and/ or diet. Finding a dry skin relief for dogs is important so that the skin problem does not get worse.
Dry skin uѕuаllу indicates а problem wіth уоur dog’s health. Many times it is because your dog is not getting thе nutrients he requires from his diet and it is showing up as unhealthy skin. But as mentioned above it could be environmental.
If the skin problem is chronic or severe you should work with a veterinarian, a natural vet if possible. They may start with medication if needed and then move to natural remedies so the body can heal itself naturally. With my dog Dusty the vet put her on medication for her skin yeast problem for 2 weeks to calm it down, then she prescribed natural supplements.
Natural Dog Shampoo
Uѕing а special dog shampoo could provide dry skin relief for dogs but be careful of the ingredients. Make sure they are ingredients are natural and ingredients you can read and understand. You can wash your dog every couple of months as long as the shampoo has NO chemicals. Bathing your dog helps to get rid of dry skin, allergens and dust mites.
If your dog is in the dirt a lot like mine you could clean them off once a day with a wet towel to remove the dirt and wash them a couple of times a month with a skin soothing and moisturizing soap.
SEASIONAL ALLERGIES
Winter
A dogs skin has a tendency to get dry in the winter like ours does. Some other allergy symptoms for dogs in winter are sneezing, itching and watery eyes.
Since a dogs skin tends to be dry in the winter it it is best to to bathe as little as needed. Using a dog shampoo that is moisturizing containing only a few ingredients such as essential oils, neem oil, coconut oil, and/ or aloe vera is important. Sometimes a dog needs to be bathed in the winter and that is ok, its just best to do it other times of the year if you can.
My dog Dusty’s skin allergies start around October so she has to be bathed in the winter. I just use a good moisturizing shampoo that has natural moisturizing ingredients. These soaps may also be called hypoallergenic, but don’t take the labels word for it, check the ingredients.
Summer
In the summer a dogs skin can also be dry. Some of the symptoms of summer allergies can be red, watery eyes, red or itchy skin, itchy ears, coughing, sneezing, excessive licking and scratching, and more.
DOGS DIET
Your dogs diet is the most important thing in making sure your dog will have a long healthy life. If he is not eating well his skin will not do well. I am not a veterinarian, but from what I have seen with my dog Dusty, and what other people have told me about their dogs health, things did not change significantly until they went to a raw food diet.
Kibble VS. Raw
You may be wondering how changing your dies diet will provide a dry skin relief for dogs…
I fed Dusty a mid grade kibble and thought I was doing good for her, but when she started having yeast issues the vet couldn’t help with and she got a small lump of some kind on the back of her ear I knew I needed to start by changing her diet. I switched her to a raw diet her health took a big turn for the better. Look at whats in your dogs food. It should have whole foods in the list of ingredients.
If you see a big list of vitamins on the bag that looks good right ? It may not be. If there are a lot of vitamins are listed in the dogs food that means they are synthetic vitamins that were sprayed on after the kibble was baked. So if its a long list of vitamins listed on the bad of dog food, they are synthetic – not real. If only a few vitamins are added its not a big issue because they are only adding vitamins that are missing instead of adding vitamins that are baked out in the process of making the food.
What If I Can’t Afford An All Raw Diet
I know there are a small percentage of dogs that cannot eat a high protein diet due to medical reasons, but most dogs can eat raw and should. If you cannot afford to purchase raw dog food for a full meal at least add some from a local co-op or pet food store to your dogs kibble each day. This could be in the form of freeze dried dog food or freeze dried kibble toppers.
Ok, so your able to feed raw …
Unless you want to go through the tedious process of putting all of the ingredients together every day necessary to create balanced meals its best to purchase the food with the ingredients already put together.
If you just feed raw meat from the grocery store it won’t be balanced. Other ingredients would need to be added to the raw meat. If you decide to stick with kibble you need to feed a high quality kibble, and add raw meat or freeze dried meat. While it can be expensive, it is worth it so that there are better ingredients in the food that helps your dog live a long healthy life.
One more note about kibble… how it
You need to add water to your dogs food if you are feeding kibble. The dry food, has a lack of moisture which has been known to create kidney problems in dogs. To remedy this you can just add some water to the food for each meal. My parents feed their 40 pound dog a high quality kibble and add 1/2 – 3/4 cup of water (depending on the season) to the kibble.
SUPPLEMENTS
In today’s world it is necessary for dogs to be given nutritional supplements so their bodies can properly digest their food, reduce inflammation, and have a healthy coat and skin.
Even if you only follow a few of the tips above your dog will begin to have better quality health, which also provides a better quality life !
