skin problems

[Diabolical_nine]

anyone know of any vitamins or food i can feed my dog that will help clear up/tighten up her skin? its always been irritable and im trying to find something that actually works.

[damienApbt]

is it dry skin? my boy breaks out in bumps and then they get dried out an irritated. since i've been feeding him wellness fish and sweet potato it really really helped. i was shocked actually. sounds like it could be some sort of allergy but with you limited description its hard to tell. that kibble i told you about really helps dogs with allergies.

also for dry skin you could use derm caps. also if you pup's skin gets irritated after baths, you may want to look into non soap doggy shampoo.

[barbponys]

Tighten up her skin? Don't know that there is really anything that will do that. Depending on the age of the dog it may just be a growth issue.

As far as clearing it up, Damien is right, need a few more details as far as what is going on. If it's dry and flakey, oil is the key. What food are you feeding? How old is the dog? What's the skin problem? Are there any other peripheral issues?

Pat

[Clydesmom]

My pit have very bad allergies,
he is allergic to:grass, fleas, flies, masquitoos (sp)peckernats, hay, any kind of ivy, tick, any kind of bug.

so we spend all summer treating it, we used to go to the vet and get pills, but the only ones that worker were steriods, as if any large dog need steriods. plus it got to be very costly. so, this is what I do every day, I useskin so soft (avon) the repelent. and I have three different kinds of shampoo, that he get a bath with once a week, if the allergins are real bad, I bathe as needed, A medicated shampoo, that smells like tar. AOatmeal bath for the itching, and A flea and tick shampoo, but not in that order, medicated-flea and tick-and finally the Oatmeal.

you must make sure you leave the shampoo's for as long a s the direction say too. the oatmeal shampoo that i have needs to be left on the dog for 8 mins. but it works so well. Clyde is so much happeir than he was a few years ago.

It just takes alot mor work on my part. instead of giving him some pill, that didn't work.

[Diabolical_nine]

sorry im new to this and i dont type well and i asked my gf to type for me the first time and i did not provide more info...okay, my bitch's name is spots and as soon as i figure out my cam and picture trali ill have pix of her and her son i bred for his name is ozzy..they are english statforshire and very good dogs.spots has skin problems with her elbows, theyre red and have no hair its dry and irrated lubriderm doesnt work..and wem she gets cut it takes along time to heal, sometimes the hair ingrows too.also, she has had a false pregnancy once, then i bred her like one year later and her whole belly/all the nipples are really loose and hangi, ive been thinking of tryin creitine...please help me..thanx for all the posts....oh yea, her litter was dropped the 17th of december so theyre like 5 monthes old she had six. the runt died, she killed one, i sold three. one of the of the puppys owners is on here too his name is addam and the puppy is named reagan...thanx again

[barbponys]

I'm no vet but it sounds like she has some kind of systemic issue if she heals slowly. Do the spots bother her? Do they itch? How old is she? What's the over all quality of her coat, dull, dry, brittle, sheds a lot? What food are you feeding? She may improve by adding some oil to her food, flaxseed, salmon, extra virgin olive oil.....something like that. Putting lotion on is only a surface deal, getting it in her so her body can use it is the key.

I don't breed but I think it's pretty normal for the nipples to sag after whelping. They may never completely retract, someone please help me out here if I'm mistaken. The addition of creatine to her diet will not do much to help, it will allow her to do heavy work outs and build muscle but I don't know about drawing loose skin up. Please be careful if you decide to add creatine. If you want to add creatine consider using raw meat, it is naturally high in the amino acids that make up creatine. Beef will be your best bet since the other two good sources shouldn't be fed raw. Salmon has a liver fluke you don't want to mess with and with pork you risk trichinosis. Neither bugger is one you want to deal with. If you want to use salmon cook it first, it won't have as high a concetration for the dog but it will get some. There is a good dry food called Timberwolf Organics Wild and Natural that works very well with pits. It isn't cheap but it does the job and the pits I know that are on it don't eat a lot, and look great.

I hope this helps some. Good luck.

Pat

[Diabolical_nine]

shes 3 years old this month. i dont think she itches, but i could be mistaken, she doesnt mutiliate herself much.ummmmm, her coat is wirey, but still soft and shiny. i feed her(and my puppy ozzy) purina large breed puppy formula because i dont like buyin two diffrent kinds and she likes it, along with that i feed her pretty much anything she'll eat wenever she wants it because shes my buddy and i like seein her happy. thanx alot for the input

[Clydesmom]

My boy, has calas's (sp) on his elbows, I think, from the way he lays on them, I'm not sure that what you are discribing is abnormal,

I'm not sure is I were you I would put lotion, on my dog, has too much acohol

[mnp13]

spots has skin problems with her elbows, theyre red and have no hair its dry and irrated lubriderm doesnt work..and wem she gets cut it takes along time to heal, sometimes the hair ingrows too.

Where does she sleep? Perhaps she does not have enough padding under her and these are pressure sores?

Michelle

[barbponys]

Hadn't even considered calluses..........DUH! My dog doesn't have them so it didn't occur to me.......sheesh.

Pat

[Diabolical_nine]

she sleeps in her kennel, it has many blankets and carpets, the hair is ingrown in the elbow

[chewalotopus]

The hair probably is ingrown from all of the friction against the skin from constantly laying on it. Not much you can do about it.

PLEASE, take your dogs off of Purina food right away! It might be less costly than some of the better foods out there, and easier to find, but the cost is your dog's overall health! If you read around on this board, you can find A LOT of great info on the different kinds of food out there (and why grocery store brands are the worst!). If you're not wanting to buy two different foods, please consider Canidae, which is an all-life-stages food. Here's a link to another great thread to get you started on your research:

http://www.pitbullforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=43

good luck!

[Diabolical_nine]

i like purina, plus its inexpensive...also my gf and i are about to start traveling again, so no more posts and they will have to eat less money than me....

[pandabot]

i like purina, plus its inexpensive...also my gf and i are about to start traveling again, so no more posts and they will have to eat less money than me....

If you actually read the posts, they are very informative. And they refer to a website about the B.A.R.F. diet, which I knew nothing about but am going to start my dog on this diet---it's VERY CHEAP! One person says $30 per month.
Anyway, read it, I feed my dog Science Diet, but am switching to something with better ingredients today. We just assumed science diet was good, but 2 of the first 4 ingredients were "fat" and "corn" (2 things that should be avoided in first 4 ingredients)....
try asking your butcher for leftover raw bones!

[JessaNGizmo]

Personally you dont seem that you REALLY care about your dog. Sure she sleeps in a kennel, and I'm sure you feed her scraps of human food but you say you love her and care for her but you just said i like purina, plus its inexpensive...also my gf and i are about to start traveling again, so no more posts and they will have to eat less money than me....How bout you care more about your dogs and let them have a higher grade of food. :naughty: I'm not lecturing you but when people say they care and love their dogs they need to prove it and well your not doing to good a job by feeding them that crap, just because YOU like it and its cheap. You buy cheap food, you have cheap dogs. You breed your dog, Do she have papers? Does she have health testing? No probably not. If you cared you wouldnt make your bitch have pups, and you would care more about what you feed her. Just my opinion.......All I can say is Back Yard Breeder....maybe