Shiny Coats

Lizbut · Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:26 pm Post subject: Shiny Coats

I realised the other day that my lab's coats are quite dull. One of the puppies that didn't sell as quickly as the others (we had him for 4 months) had an extremely glossy coat for the whole duration he was with us, but for the last month his mother's coat got into the same wonderful condition.

I wondered how it happened and found out when someone came to look at the puppy.

I went into the drawer we have for pasta, and chucked the puppy a few raw pasta shells. Tess (the mother) would eat whatever the puppy (Charlie) didn't eat, but my other dogs wouldn't go near it! The people who had come round commented on what I was feeding them, asking if it served any purpose.

"No", I said back, "It just keeps them occupied for a while I guess."

Does raw pasta help the condition of coats? Is there anything else which can help?

_joanne_ · Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:29 pm Post subject:

Personally I wouldn't think dry pasta would help, but I could be wrong Confused

Daily grooming and the occasional oily fish will Very Happy

rach_willibob · Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:32 pm Post subject:

I doubt very much whether the pasta has lead to an increased coat condition as its just wheat and egg usually... and the dried stuff doesn't usually have a decent egg quality to it.

Would the dullness be due to being out of coat at all? Is it because they simply needed a good brush?

What do you feed your girls on? Is it a quality food - with the correct balance of protein, oils etc? A good food can make all the difference in terms of coat condition.

You can get supplements to increase condition like Dorwest Herbs Keepers Mix etc. or you can add a tin of oily fish to their feed a few times a week - although it does have to be fish in oil/spring water/tomato sauce and not in brine as this is far too salty and could make them ill.

HTH Smile

molkite · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:09 pm Post subject:

Well Muppet always has a glossy coat. I have recently started feeding her sardines in sunflower oil. Also wash her very occasionally with moisturising shampoo. Keep her well exercised.

I don't really know what makes Muppet so glossy but it makes tkaing decent pictures hard because of the shine on her coat!

cheekygityorks · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:25 am Post subject:

i use keepers mix too but in the last couple of days ive started using a product called kernelcote which is a belgian coat preparation which states your dogs coats condition will dramatically increase in just 4 days so in a couple more days i should be able to tell whether it works or not

Sleeping_Lion · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:44 am Post subject:

Ours have shiny coats on the barf diet in any case, but for extra shine I put a teaspoon of cracked linseed in their food a couple of times a week.

_Jules_ · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:13 am Post subject:

Mine have very shiny coats and I can't really attribute it to anything really. They have sardines about once a week (if I remember) and they are both on different dried foods. So I think some dogs are just naturally more shiny than others, just like our human hair really Wink

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far-far-away-k · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:50 pm Post subject:

well My dogs are lovely and glossy they would be great as a stand in on one of those shampoo adds!! I feed them on dry complete food was BETA now started on skinners and They get tinned oily fish every now and again. I really cant see how dried pasta could help?? it is just water and flour most dried varieties don't have egg in it, you pay more for that!! Mine also seem to shine more when they have had a swim in a fresh water loch, they seem more dull after swimming in salt water.