Hi - I've got a 1.5 yr old 75 lb neutered male lab-mix (probably lab, border collie, and either great dane or pit). I feed him primarily Canidae kibble with some Nature's Variety frozen raw (usually the lamb) and 3 pumps of salmon oil (from the large bottle of Grizzly salmon oil) and 400 units of vit E per day.

He seems to get itchy 24 hrs or so after swimming and gets a little dry skin too. He doesn't swim in a pool so it's not caused by chlorine and it's Winter here so it's not "swimmer's itch" (and the rivers and lagoons around here that I take him to are very clean). I'm assuming the water just dries his skin out a little.

So, I'm thinking about upping the salmon oil a bit - maybe to 4 pumps a day rather than 3. I take him swimming as often as I can - usually 1-3 times per week. Does anyone know if increased salmon oil will help or if it might cause some other problem? Or any other suggestions are greatly appreciated too...! I'm pretty sure it's just dry skin from being in the water and not allergies or fleas -

Off hand, do you (or anyone) know what 3 pumps is in grams? I know I have looked it up and posted it, but I can't remember. (I don't have a pump-type bottle.)

Connie - here's what it says on the bottle: "one pump stroke equals approx 0.12 fl oz (3.5 ml)"

Does that help?


PS. this is on the 32 oz salmon oil bottle

OK, .12 oz. = about 3.4 grams, so you're giving enough (around 10 grams).

Are you sure that the itchiness is directly related to the swimming?

I'm not sure. It just seems like the day after he swims, he gets a little itchy and there's a little flakiness of dry skin coming off him when I brush him. It doesn't really seem like a lab ought to get all that dried out from swimming!

Ok, so let's assume for a minute that it's not the water that's drying his skin out and making him itchy. In that case, what could it be?

I treat him once a month with Frontline Plus and I've not seen any evidence of fleas, so I'm assuming it's not fleas and/or a flea allergy (and supposedly Frontline doesn't wash off so the swimming shouldn't be having an effect).

If it's a food allergy, what should I cut out first? The raw lamb? I was feeding him the raw beef for a while but I switched to the lamb thinking that the beef might be the culprit. Itching may have decreased a little after that, but I wasn't really sure.

I could go off the Canidae and switch to one of the California Natural Foods. Maybe either go with chicken and rice kibble with only Nature's Variety chicken raw, or go lamb and rice kibble with only N.V. lamb raw...??

Like I said, he's not real bad. He's not scratching out chunks of hair or anything, but he does itch more than seems like should be normal, and there is a light skin flakiness if you look closely when brushing him.

What about soothing the skin with oatmeal baths? I'm concerned that might strip more of the oils off his fur.

---

Oh, and for treats (we're doing a lot of training right now) we're using a lot of zukes - chicken and salmon, and organic chicken hotdogs. I was using little bits of cooked up beef liver and pork stew meat, but I've cut those out recently to see if that'd help (it hasn't)

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!

(he couldn't be allergic to the salmon oil could he?)

Matt,

I have a GSD, not a lab, so this may not apply to your dog.

My dog has seasonal inhalant allergies, which complicates things a bit.

I swim her a lot in the summer. After a few weeks of this, she starts itching more than is normal for her. I have found it helps to rinse her off thoroughly after swimming, and then dry her thoroughly as well, but even with all that, she'll still itch a lot more than is normal for her, and I do believe it comes from the swimming.

When we stop the swimming in the fall, after a couple of weeks, the itching decreases a lot.

I'm not sure what's doing it, but this pattern repeats every year.

She is raw fed, and gets salmon oil/vit E.

Also, she tends to have a touch of dandruff on the top of her hip area, year around. It's not serious, and I brush her frequently, and I don't really worry about it.

I did a post early last summer (can't find it or I'd give you the link<g> that concerned this general area you've brought up. One of the replys discussed various things that live in the water and can cause itching problems (we're talking about microscopic things here<g>. One of them causes what's called swimmer's itch, and there were others. It's possible that's what's bugging your dog.

I know labs are bred to spend a lot of time in the water, but that's also their original breeding. It's possible that resistence to constant water has been decreased in your dog's lines, and the protective oils on its skin are getting washed off, leading to the dryness. Just a thought.

Before you try to do an elimination diet, I'd try not swimming your dog for a few weeks and see what difference that makes.

good luck,
leih

I know that dogs can get yeast build-ups between their toes and in their ears...is it possible that they can get a mild version over their whole body?

I've never personally heard of it, but if you really think it's caused by moisture, then the first thing that popped into my head was yeast.

Again, I've never heard of this happening, but just throwing out a thought. I've heard that skin conditions can be the hardest to figure out because so many things can be culprits. Have you asked a vet about it?

If it was me, I would start keeping a food AND activity log to see if I could figure out exactly what the pattern is and if it is actually related to the swimming or just a coincidence and possibly food-related. Good luck.

I remember reading a post a while back

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=12&Number=213192&Searchpage=2&Main=21120&Words=Apple+Cider&topic=0&Search=true#Post213192

that was about apple cider vinegar. I wonder if that would help the skin? I'm curious about this because when I get a dog we have a summer house on the beach and I was hoping that we could get a lot of exercise in the water.

Good Luck

 Quote: Amber Morgan

I know that dogs can get yeast build-ups between their toes and in their ears...is it possible that they can get a mild version over their whole body?

Yes they can, Or at least Nico has in the past.

You can use an oatmeal bath to soothe his skin, If he is good in the tub you can put some colloidal oats in the bottom of the tub and just keep pouring it over him. Just make sure to rinse well.