Healthy Dog Coat Tips to Make Your Dog Cuddles Softer

Good health and the quality of your dog’s skin go hand in hand. If you’re looking to keep your dog’s coat in tip-top shape, you can do so with the help of supplements. If your dog’s coat is thin, dull, and greasy, you’ll need to take a look at your dog’s internal health and see how you can improve it. 

In this blog, we’re going to discuss how you can help your dog’s coat become healthy and shiny. As usual, reach out to your veterinarian when it comes down to choosing which vitamins and minerals to use for your dog’s coat.

There is a connection between the ingredients in your dog’s food and the quality of his coat. To maintain a shiny and healthy coat with healthy hair, you’ll need to feed a high-quality diet with adequate supplementation. 

Supplement Your Dog’s Coat Healthy 

If you only feed carbohydrates, fats, and proteins this will not ensure a healthy and shiny coat. You’ll have to reach out for the vitamins and minerals to help support and nourish your dog’s coat and help with all the metabolic functions for optimal health growth.

Coat Health Basics 

Coat hair is made from proteins, but the vitamins and minerals help with hair growth. They help to support and nourish hair growth. So if you want to improve coat condition in your furry best friend, reach out for those dog supplements to maintain hair growth and health. 

If you’re supplementing with vitamins and minerals, you can help your dog’s coat become thicker and more luxurious, as well as soft and glossy. Your dog’s coat coloring with also become enhanced. Here’s the take with supplementation for a dog’s coat.

• Vitamin A helps to promote lubrication between the hair follicles and helps with growth. You’ll need to purchase vitamin A in a water-soluble form. (beta-carotene) Vitamin A can be found in foods like sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash.

• Vitamin B helps with dog coat health, and you’ll see the benefits of biotin as soon as you start using it. You can find B vitamins in foods like peas, kelp, liver, green vegetables, nutritional yeast, and nuts.

• Vitamin C. The good news here is that dogs make their own vitamin C, yet we still need to supplement with some more. Vitamin C has numerous benefits for a dog’s coat, with one of the most important being coat formation. It also helps to promote tissue and cell repair and growth. It can be found in different fruits and veggies like Brussel sprouts, berries, red peppers, and even kale. As usual, if you’re feeding fresh fruits and veggies, see which ones are safe for your dog to eat.

• Zinc is tremendously important for skin health in dogs. It helps to promote a healthy and strong body and promotes optimal neurological function. It’s a great trace element that also helps with immunity. 
• You can find zinc in foods like salmon, lamb, pork, chicken, beef, and most protein foods. If your dog has skin issues, combining both zinc and vitamin C helps ease skin conditions.

• Essential fatty acids are also beneficial for optimal skin and coat health in dogs. Look for EFA products with an algae- base. As with all fish oils, choose high-quality ones that are free of contaminants.

• Coconut oil is also beneficial and provides an array of health benefits. It’s good for reducing dandruff, body odor and also helps support thyroid function. Coconut is plentiful in lauric acid, which is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. 
• You should start coconut oil at a half teaspoon per 10 pounds of dog weight split up over two meals. Coconut oil has a great taste and can be mixed into your dog’s kibble or beef, salmon, or chicken if you’re home cooking for your pooch.

• Calcium balances out the high phosphorus content of proteins like meat. You can provide your dogs with a more bioavailable calcium supplement. 

All in all, if you work together with an integrative or holistic veterinarian before giving your dog a new supplement, you’ll be able to work with your vet in choosing the best supplements for your dog’s skin and coat health. Keep in mind that the water quality is important, and that tap water contains numerous amounts of chemicals and heavy metals.

Shedding and What to Do About It 

The growth of hair is affected by your dog’s diet. What you feed your dog together with hormones and change of seasons will affect the level of shedding. You’ll notice that your dog tends to shed the most in the early spring and early fall. 

During this time, pet parents tend to consult with their veterinarian because their dog is shedding excessively. It’s necessary to keep in mind that even when your dog sheds a lot, shedding is accompanied by new hair growth. Shedding can be abnormally excessive if you see bald spots and plenty of hair loss. 

Bacterial infections may cause this, but if there are no bald patches, then shedding is a seasonal stage with the hair coat’s natural replacement.

Dogs may also be prone to shedding with temperature changes or the amount of sunlight they’re exposed to every day. Genetics and hormones control the size, growth, and length of hair. A combination of drugs, disease, and environmental factors will also contribute to how healthy a coat your dog has.

Fresh food diets for dogs help skin and coat to clear up in a short amount of time. If you’re having dermatological problems, you’ll find that by feeding a fresh food diet combined with pet supplements, your dog’s general health and skin and coat health will improve. 

Because each pet is unique and will have different nutritional requirements, it’s best to reach out to your veterinarian so that you can work on a nutritional plan for your dog’s skin and coat health. Your furry best friend may need a change of diet or additional supplementation. 

Like humans, dogs do better with diets made from whole foods and fresh food ingredients. Feed products that are free of antibiotics, preservatives, chemicals, and additives. 

It’s also important that your dog consumes a hormone-free diet. Fresh food diets help maintain good health in dogs, and they are also beneficial in helping heal skin conditions and other therapies.

Commercial dog food diets tend to use artificial fractions of vitamins and non-chelated minerals. In contrast, if you’re feeding a natural whole food diet and biologically active vitamins and minerals found in fresh veggies and fruits, you’ll be providing whole food products.

Underlying Health Concerns

If you feel that your dog’s chronic skin conditions are linked to his health, you’ll need to get your veterinarian to do a full physical check-up for any possible medical conditions. 

There are many health issues like hypothyroidism that contribute to poor coats in dogs. Hyperthyroidism is a common cause of poor coats in dogs.

It can also cause your dog to be overweight and lethargic. Thyroid hormones help with coat health and all the metabolic activities of nearly all the tissues within your dog’s body. If you’re supplementing, do so with high-quality supplements. 

Coconut oil is also great and helps to support the thyroid. Consult with your veterinarian to routinely test your dog’s thyroid. This is especially important in older dogs.

By feeding a natural whole food diet with vitamins and minerals, and by making sure that your dog consumes enough protein and healthy fats, you’ll be helping to promote healthy skin and coat, as well as heal skin conditions and allergies. 

Remember that diagnostic testing is key if you have a dog with scaly skin or plenty of dandruff. Skin biopsies help diagnose a skin disorder, and your veterinarian may recommend using a medicated pet shampoo. 

If your furry best friend has a skin condition, you’ll need to work together with your vet to rule out parasites like fleas, skin infections like MRSA, ringworm, or allergic skin diseases. Dandruff and seborrhea differ from scaliness in dogs. This is different in people. 

Some dogs will be genetically prone to primary seborrhea. These breeds will include the Cocker Spaniel, Springer Spaniel, Bassett Hound, and Westie. That said, dogs with skin conditions tend to get secondary seborrhea like mange or a yeast or bacterial infection.

In all these cases, it’s important to have testing done and work together with your veterinarian. For most skin conditions in dogs, applying a fatty acid topically as a conditioner may help dogs with skin issues. The use of antioxidants may also be beneficial for optimal skin and coat health. If your dog’s coat is not the greatest, start by reaching out to your vet to check for any underlying health problems or allergies. You can also discuss the use of high-quality pet supplements for optimal skin and coat health.

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