When I brush my 2½-year-old golden non-retriever he seems to shed a fine skin dust similar to dandruff, along with a lot of hair. He's fit, alert and active, with no sign of actual skin infection, and he doesn't seem to find it irritating. I suspect his skin is dry from the very dry warm-air heating system in my house, which is working hard in this cold season.

His diet is a dry all-in-one food in small pellets, plus the odd bit of leftover chicken or whatever. Is there anything I can usefully add to his food? Some kind of oil perhaps?

I suggest reevaluating the diet you are feeding the dog. You mention that the diet is a dry all-in-one food - what particular kind is it? I'm wondering about the quality of the food.

The skin is the most visible organ of the body and will be the first thing to show signs of an inadequate diet. The skin is the first to break down and show abnormalities and is also the mechanism of how a body rids itself of toxins. The dry skin is indicative of something else...

Some of the nutrients you may want to consider are cod-liver oil, vitamin E, bonemeal and brewers yeast. The unfortunate thing though, is that with a complete dry diet, you won't be able to mix any of this in with the food.

As an aside, feeding dry food alone can cause kidney problems because it doesn't provide the system with enough water for digestion. In order to digest the dry food - the body is pulling moisture/water from anywhere it can - which can cause significant problems.

Thank you, Lydia. The food is James Wellbeloved Turkey and Rice. I don't know if that is sold in the US. It says it is 'Min. 26% turkey, min. 26% rice, min. 10% oats'. Canned dog food, in contrast, is 85% water. He does, of course, always have water available.

I could make up some instant chicken gravy and add that for moisture. I could also add any of your other suggestions to his food. He's a goldie after all, and won't refuse anything - except tablets from the vet!

I'll make a start with cod liver oil. His owner can take that too to lubricate his own creaking joints.

Lydia

I know this is an old thread, but this post has had to await results.

I thought you, and maybe some others too, might like to know that I have been feeding him cod liver oil in one-a-day capsule formulation for humans, and the problem seems to have cleared up. The capsules I put in his food have disappeared easily, but he did turn up his nose at one that fell unnoticed into his water bowl and dissolved over a couple of hours into a horrible gooey gelatinous mess.

I've been taking the capsules too, and they don't seem to have done me any harm!