Black glossy coats

[Soubrette]

Hello everyone

I have adopted an old boy of 8 (he's absolutely adorable) and he has been here for 4 days now.

He is black (and a bit grey with age too) and I'm wondering what I can do to help his coat. He is very dandruffy (is that a word?) and the vet has recommended a medicated shampoo in case he is having skin problems. His hair is a little bit shaggy (it's lovely and soft) and dull looking.

Now for the ignorant question - can I help him have the shiny luscious hair that I see some dogs have in their photos, or is his hair naturally soft but not shiny?

I have owned a dog before but never a greyhound so any advice gratefully received.

Sou

PS the smileys here are very confusing

[dominique]

When we got Ruby my lurcher she had a very dull and dandruffy coat, but since we started to feed her on sardines (fish oil) and dried biscuits (royal canin) her coat looks lovely. She will immediately get flaky skin if she is feeling stressed. I feed her live yogurt when this happens.
I'm sure that you'll get more advice, but it may be the case that your new dog just needs time to settle properly.

Good luck

[greyhaven]

A good diet and add some oily fish such as Pilchards and sardines or some cod liver oil...the type for dogs.
If you add oily fish make sure it's in oil or tomato sauce NOT BRINE.
Use a good dry food for senior dogs and add rice or pasta and cooked chicken and veg. I buy value veg and fish and mince and pasta and rice from Asda or tesco. Not too expensive.
Just give his coat time and brush him. If there are no skin infections/fleas etc it should come nice and shiney.
It also may be moulting as the spring is coming hence the 'shaggy' look.
Sue xx

[cadbury]

Congralutions on adopting an oldie If he has been in kennels you'll find he has what is know as kennel coat. Now that he is in a nice warm house 2 things will happen he'll shed the dark fluff in his coat and the dandruff will increase while he gets used to the dry atmosphere of a centrally heated house.
As the others have said oily fish in the diet will help loads. Also rubbing him over with a pair of marrigolds/rubber grooming mit/ shredding comb ( looks like a loop of hack saw blade with a handle) will help remove the thick coat. I find grooming very relaxing and it will help you to bond.

[sharron]

i give Zeb oily fish or cod liver oil. Not together. He gets fish once a week and for the rest of the week he gets cod liver oil. he also gets evening primrose oil. throught the week. I get these from Dorwest herbs ( www.dorwest.com/ ) they give you advice if you need it. give them a call.

[raiye]

Salmon oil, codliver oil, evening primrose. oily fish.
Coaltar soap is helpful too. Its naturually medicated to help the skin and doesnt strip a dogs coat as some normal shampoos do. Plus, being in a bar, its easier to apply aswell. Also doesnt leave such a wet dog smell afterwards.

[nixy69]

We found with both our black beauties that a curry comb over the body once a day helps considerably with shedding the kennel coat gets all the dandruff to the top so it can be easily brushed away and also gets the blood pumping all over the body and it also brings the oil to the top coat. By a curry comb i mean a rubber one not metal available for a few quid from your local saddlery. Also we have an old velvet cushion cover we rubbed over them both. The best bet also lies with oily fish and royal canin. Good Luck xxx

[linnillew]

Hi, so pleased that you have adopted a greyhound! You have had excellent advice here on what is good from the inside, I have a black girl age 7, who had kennel coat and was covered in a fine scurf when I adopted her a year ago but she's lovely and glossy now (she's a smooth coat) I use tea tree oil (which has antiseptic qualities) sprayed on a grooming mit rubbed gently in the direction that the hair grows and against. Then only lightly spray coat oil (or he'll look like an oil slick) onto rubber gloves and smooth over his coat. I adopted a blue girl 2 weeks ago also with a fluffy kennel coat and she is improving with this treatment too. Sound like a hairdresser??............maybe that's because I was!

[Soubrette]

Hi all, thanks for all the advice and the warm welcome.

It's interesting what you said about stress, dominique, as Bandit's hair was much worse at the vets (just for a registration check up) but I thought it was because we'd been fussing and smoothing him more.

I don't really deserve the praise about adopting an older dog though - an older one fits in with our lifestyle more than a puppy would (but I am going to take a bit of credit for adopting a black one - my absolute favourite colour is...*checks Bandit isn't listening* a brindle but I was determined to adopt a black dog if there was a choice as I had heard they are really hard to rehome. ) and I think they look absolutely as gorgeous as the other colours too

I'm going to try out a number of these tips and I'll let you know how it works out

Sou

[madaboutgreys]

You won't regret adopting a black hound - apart from all their other virtues the moult is almost invisible (or perhaps I need better glasses?!)

[Milothemonster]

Congratulations on your new hound..and I am so pleased you have a luscious black one too..there is nothing better than seeing a gleaming black shiny coat.

All the advice given so far is brill..lots of fish oils etc. Sometimes you do see dandruff on a black coat but it is more to do with it standing out more against the black colouring rather then it being a problem as such ..unless of course it was excessive.

We use a rubber curry comb on Herbie also..you can get them from most pet shops.

Plus another tip and a simple one is when you have finished grooming with the curry comb.....run the palms of your hands over the dog's coat. The natural oils in your own skin are brilliant for bringing up the shine..plus it is very pleasurable for the dog and for you too and helps to form a close bond. ;D

If your dog is a bit nervous at first by being touched then do it slowly. Herb was a bit scared of being touched in certain places at first ..but doing it each day ..very slowly and gradually increasing the touch helped him relax and now he absolutely loves being touched and stroked all over like this and will come up and place his body alongside and give me a look to remind me to do it.

Herbie's coat is very shiny and his fur is very soft ....plus he is very relaxed now..so it obviously works!

Good luck and can we have some pics of your gorgeous new addition please! ;D

[policarpou]

Hi,

We recently (3 weeks ago) took on Dillon (a black boy) from Gap and after some time in kennels his coat was dull and dandruffy.

We have been grooming him daily with a rubber curry comb to remove the dead hair and also it seems my hisband has been using my Aussie Source spray in hair conditioner!!!

He now looks wonderful, glossy and smells fantastic!!

Kate

[jacquisouthern]

Dom was very dandruffy and not shiny when we got him at 7 We were told by the vet to add a spoonful of corn oil to his dinner and his coat is lovely now (3 yrs later took about 6 months to sort out)
The vet, who rescued hounds himself, also said it usually takes about 18 months from being rescued for them to get properly sorted diet, coat, condition etc.

[Flaperoo]

Agree with all of the above. Good diet, regular grooming and in no time the kennel coat will be gone and a beautiful shiny black coat will emerge.

My Peggy was a complete dandruffy scruff when we first got her . She now has a beautiful shiny coat with bits of grey (sorry shiny silver ) coming through too.

[amy81]

i agree with what they others have said.

on whirly i use Greenfields birch tar shampoo, it has worked wonders on her skin and coat. she also has evening primrose oil daily and sardines a couple of time a week.