Does Your Dog Have Dry, Flaky Skin? Here's The Home Remedy Our Veterinarian Recommends

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black-lab-with-great-coat-of-fur.jpgOur dog, Tenor, has such a thick and luscious coat of fur. (He's part Black Lab, part Great Pyrenees, but he mostly just looks like your average Labrador Retriever.)

His skin and coat weren't always in such great shape, though. In fact, a few months ago he had dry, flaky, itchy skin so bad that we thought he had an incurable skin disease!

Here's what the vet recommended. And it worked like a charm!


One Option: Antibiotics

The first time we noticed the flaky skin, we probably waited a bit too long to take him to the vet.

Against our better judgment, we tried an over the counter remedy first. It was a spray-on leave-in conditioner specifically made for a dog's dry skin. After a few days of that and no change, we ended up taking him to the vet for something better. (The dog smelled wonderful, but you could still see lots of small white flakes on his pitch-black coat of thick fur.)

In fact, by the time we took him to the vet, his skin problem had turned kind of scabby and itchy. NOT a good sign.

The veterinarian said it was probably allergies, but without running a lot of tests he couldn't be sure. At this point, it was most important that we clear up the itchy and scabby spots on his skin, so he recommended a 10-day dose of antibiotics (Cephalexin). That worked like a charm. Within 2 days, the flaky skin was pretty much gone.

But the vet had warned us... if Tenor's dry skin was in fact due to allergies, then it would likely return. The trick then would be to selectively test a variety of foods, products, environments to determine what exactly he was allergic to. (That didn't sound like fun!!!)


Another Option: Olive Oil

dog-food-and-bottle-of-extra-virgin-olive-oil.jpgA month or so later, Tenor's dry skin had reappeared. It wasn't as bad as the first time... just random flakes here and there.

The vet said before we go through all the tests for allergies, let's try a simple home remedy first: Olive Oil.

He said to pour a tablespoon or so of Olive Oil right on his food 2 to 3 times each week, and see how that worked. We did it, and boy, did his coat get thick and shiny and flake-free in no time!

I can't recommend this stuff enough! Tenor loves it, too. It reminds me of the days when we used to add doggie gravy to his dry dog food. It was always a special treat. Now, the Olive Oil is his special treat at feeding time.

I'd have to say the best home remedy for a dog's dry, itchy flaky skin is plain and simple Olive Oil.


Why Dogs Get Dry Itchy Skin

The vet said most likely our dog's flaky skin is simply due to dry air inside the house -- especially since we have gas heat.

He said dogs that spend a lot of time indoors during the winter months tend to get mild skin conditions like this. It's (usually) no big deal. And Olive Oil will typically remedy the situation throughout the entire winter season.

IMPORTANT: If your dog has dry flaky skin -- and it persists -- then then be sure to discuss it with your own veterinarian. Olive Oil won't cure everything!

We've been adding a glug or two to our dog's dry food a few times each week for a month or so now and his coat has never looked better. (By the way, 'glug' is a Rachel Ray term.) His coat is much thicker and shinier since we've started adding the Olive Oil to his food.


To Give You An Idea Just How Well The Olive Oil Works...

We left Tenor at a doggie kennel last weekend, while we went out of town for a wedding. And naturally, they didn't add anything to his dog food during his 3-day stay there. (I suppose if I'd asked them to, they would have.) When we picked him up at the kennel, the first thing we noticed was how dry and flaky his skin was.

So now he's back on the Olive Oil, and he's loving it. And his coat looks great again. It works really quickly!


Just For Laughs

Yeah well, his skin and coat may be great, but he needs a little help controlling his drool sometimes. Ah but that's a whole 'nother issue...

black-lab-with-drool-over-his-nose.jpg

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14 Comments

Kylie said:

Thanks for the reading!! I am going to try this. Also has anyone had a problem with their Lab's ears. I noticed a few days ago Sam's ears were kind of red. We have been usuing a little peroxide on them and cleaning them with a cotton ball but we are not to sure what it could be...

Sandra said:

I was looking for remedies for dry skin.. thanks for the info. I started right away on my German Shep. She was spayed a few days ago. I noticed dry skin, I imagine is from the op.. I'll let you know the results. tks again.by the way, i hope Tenor is doing better.

Lynnette said:

Hi Sandra,
Hope the oil helps with your dog's dry skin. To this day, we STILL find ourselves surprised by how thick and soft Tenor's coat is AND how he doesn't ever get dry skin anymore. It worked wonders for us.

P.S. Yep, Tenor has healed wonderfully after his TPLO knee surgery. You can barely tell... He's back to his old self, with just a little limp that goes away a little more each day. Thanks for asking.

sue said:

To Tenor's owner: Tenor looks exactly like my dog Sister - white muzzle and all! Except Sister has light blue eyes because her dad had a little Siberian husky in his background. I have what may be a dumb question, but my dog Malia has dry, scaly and very itchy skin. I keep Advantage on her but she has her tail half bald and viciously bites at the base of her tail. Because of your advice, I will buy a big bottle of olive oil for her. Did your dog bite and scratch a lot before the olive oil or was his skin just dry and flaky and has he been less itchy since you started feeding it to him? Thank you for your help. Sue.

Lynnette said:

Hi Sue.
No, our dog didn't bite and scratch before we gave him the olive oil. His dry skin was mostly just from being indoors during the winter months with the heat on.

Your dog's itchiness sounds more like an allergy or hot spot. Both are very common in dogs. I'd definitely have your vet look at it, as he can prescribe something that will help to cure that up in no time. I doubt that olive oil will take care of the serious itchiness and baldness that has resulted in your dog.

Cesar said:

My golden Retriever Has dry flaky skin also. One question I have is should i use the Extra Light Virgin Olive Oil that i cook with or get him the regular purer olive oil rather than the light stuff?

Lynnette said:

Cesar,
I use the Extra Virgin Olive Oil that I cook with. I think either would be fine though.

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Photos

  • Our dog pooping. The long-awaited poop. There was so much in there, he actually went 3 times in a matter of seconds. A very proud moment.
  • Tenor is pretty much back to his old self these days -- 8 days after surgery. Now he's just bored.
  • Tenor is eating fine and getting around okay 8 days after surgery -- but he still won't put much weight on his foot.
  • Our dog is resting on a bed sheet out in the backyard after TPLO surgery.
  • Tenor dog is crouching down into a seated position -- on top of the bad leg! It didn't phase him at all. By the way the tongue action is because he'd just had a drink of water.
  • Here, Tenor is lying directly on his bad leg. No worries. The only thing that was difficult for him during the first week of recovery was lying down on bulky things like blankets and dog pillows. It seemed to put extra pressure on parts of his leg.
  • Ice cubes are good for a dog right after surgery. I don't think our dog ate or drank much while he was in the hospital. He seemed to be running a fever, and he couldn't get enough water and ice cubes.
  • Here you can see how bad the swelling is in the right rear ankle -- and this is while he's lying down! The swelling was on top of the foot, as well as in the ankle.
  • A closeup of our dog's stitches and bruising after TPLO surgery.
  • The x-rays of our dog's leg, post-surgery. This is his right rear leg. The metal plate is on the inside of his leg, the screws point to the outside of his leg.
  • Dr. Beckman is showing us how to place a towel under his belly/groin area, then with both ends of the towel in your hand, lift the dog's back-end up so the toes don't touch the ground.
  • Tenor is wishing he could just go to sleep and not feel so uncomfortable any more.

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