I rescued Roscoe June 30th this year. Perfectly healthy, sable, almost 2 years old now. I started noticing that his black top coat on his back is breaking off like crazy, you can see his tan through it now, and I'm worried. He had already blown his undercoat before I got him I'm assuming. I read that it could be the food change, but its been 2 months now, could that still be it by now? Maybe I was over brushing him, around every 3 days or so? Or the leave in tropiclean conditioner I was using? I stopped using that recently and just use water now. Could it be stress, or maybe the slicker brush? This morning I found some strands on the bed. If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated! I miss my boys beautiful coat... Please help.
help! sheltie top coat!
- Thread starter jsnell
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BarbV
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One comment to start....when you say the black hair is breaking off....is it being replaced with other guard hair?
It is common for young pups to carry a strip of dark hair down their backs until they grow into their adult coats which starts to happen around 2-3 years of age. Is it possible that this is what you are seeing? My sable, Bacca, had a dark stripe down his back which disappeared around this age and he turned into more of a red sable, now at 4 years.
Apart from that, I don't see that using a conditioner or not would make the hair to break off. What could cause it is if you a brushing without any moisture at all, and clearly that's not what you are doing.
I don't think you can overbrush, however, it could be your technique in brushing. Are you line brushing?
Finally, health and mental health should be considered as well. What are you feeding? Diet, of course, is a huge factor.
Stress could be a factor as well. What is your pups day like? And finally supplements.....there is a long, long list of choices out there.
I personally like to keep it pretty simple. I feed my dogs a high quality grain free diet, and am now supplementing their food with Salmon oil. Best treat ever is sweet potatoe rawhide which is good for digestion. And yeah, they got raw carrots too.
Hope this helps a little to help you isolate what's going on with your pup. But since you've already asked all the right questions, you now need to drill down on the answsers
It is common for young pups to carry a strip of dark hair down their backs until they grow into their adult coats which starts to happen around 2-3 years of age. Is it possible that this is what you are seeing? My sable, Bacca, had a dark stripe down his back which disappeared around this age and he turned into more of a red sable, now at 4 years.
Apart from that, I don't see that using a conditioner or not would make the hair to break off. What could cause it is if you a brushing without any moisture at all, and clearly that's not what you are doing.
I don't think you can overbrush, however, it could be your technique in brushing. Are you line brushing?
Finally, health and mental health should be considered as well. What are you feeding? Diet, of course, is a huge factor.
Stress could be a factor as well. What is your pups day like? And finally supplements.....there is a long, long list of choices out there.
I personally like to keep it pretty simple. I feed my dogs a high quality grain free diet, and am now supplementing their food with Salmon oil. Best treat ever is sweet potatoe rawhide which is good for digestion. And yeah, they got raw carrots too.
Hope this helps a little to help you isolate what's going on with your pup. But since you've already asked all the right questions, you now need to drill down on the answsers
After a bath and only brushing once a week now it seems you might be right barb. The hair growing in is a reddish color, so he looks kinda silly right now. We are feeding grain free Fromms, and already have been on the salmon oil for about a month now. I also talked to my cousin who has had huskeys as long as I can remember and she said hers will change color around this age, but usually change back. We'll see. Thanks for your help guys!
BarbV
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Well interestingly enough, after all my wonderful advice to you, I suddenly find that my Bacca's coat and skin is looking like hell! This cropped up in the last couple of weeks.
He seems to have some heavy duty dandruff (yet more than that....it's not dry...fungus infection maybe? from swimming?) and his coat is super dry and looks broken at the ends.
I can't imagine what's causing this unless his hypohyroid meds are out of whack.....He's eating fine though and his weight is normal.....
Groomer suggested a tar shampoo to eliminate fungus.....any other ideas as to what could be causing this.
I would call the vet or take him in if you think he has a fungus. Maybe just get his meds and levels checked out. Let us know whats up!
BarbV
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He just went today for his complete blood rework. I'll find out soon.