coppperbelle
March 22nd, 2005, 07:53 AM
Just wondering if anyone has had a good experience with a particular food that helps with shedding.
I have two golden retrievers and one is not shedding the other loses a pillow full of fur everyday. He (the shedder) is 14 months old and otherwise healthy. He doesn't have any bald spots and has a very thick coat. He just loses a lot of fur.
I do not want to feed raw. It is not for me.
I am currently feeding Solid Gold, Wolf King. He was shedding badly before the food change but it has not helped. He has been eating it for two months.
goldenblaze
March 22nd, 2005, 11:05 AM
My opinion is it might not be the food but the coat of the golden that sheds... different than other golden that doesn't.
I say this because my golden doesn't shed bad at all never has, he has the smooth, softer coat American golden... with that said...Blaze is 13mths
Frodo, my goldens 1/2 brother 6 weeks younger sheds bad...they eat the same food Nutro LBA, but he has the longer coat, wavy and not as soft as my boy Frodo is the British golden.... It might depend on that... just a thought. :)
SnowDancer
March 22nd, 2005, 11:15 AM
I have been told that adding some good quality olive oil to your pet's food can help with this. I haven't done it as yet. Until recently we only had short-haired dogs. Now we have an American Eskimo and my clothes are/were black. But while the house and my clothes are covered with "tumbleweeds" when brushed not a lot of furry hair comes off. Actually he did not even blow his coat - a groomer had to do it as the hair was becoming too dense. I think a lot has to do with the dog's coat - just as with people. I have very thick hair - and very little falls out. Apparently the olive oil is also supposed to give a nice sheen to the dog's coat as well - but my dog is a "smooth operator" as it is - no peanut butter in his Kong - and is now on a corn and relatively wheat free diet.
Prin
March 22nd, 2005, 11:17 AM
My old lab used to and now my big Boo (newf pointer mix) shed no matter what food they are on. My big Boo's fur is very fluffy too so it gets in your nose and you can't see it... I think as long as you are feeding the best food you can and the dog is not allergic to it (I feed wolf king too- and there ain't much to be allergic to in that), there is nothing you can do. There were people who recommended some sort of oily suppliment to us but the side-effect was diarrhea and we didn't think the hair was THAT bad...
It's also cyclic. Like Boo sheds a lot all the time but he sheds clumps in fall and spring. So we just say, "Yey, he's not shedding as much as he was last month!" (Cup half full- but we still find hair in the freezer...)
By the way, when my dad's Jack eats food he is allergic to he sheds off ALL his fur (he looks like a little piggy).