My Shih Tzu has dry hair. What dog food is best for her health?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. As long as she doesn't have any food intolerances or allergies, you can feed Klovy any type of dry dog food that is formulated for adult maintenance. Some great brands are Hills, Purina, Beneful, Blue Buffalo and Pedigree. I recommend avoiding grain-free diets, as these can predispose dogs to heart disease. I hope this is helpful!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The diet I prefer for this is the one made by Science Diet called sensitive skin and stomach diet. However, what I have found the most helpful in reestablishing a nice shiny coat is using fish oil daily. You can get the commercial ones sold online or at your local pet store. This works great. Good luck and have a great day!

This is a great question, and one which does not have a simple answer, as there is no one pet food that is best for all dogs, even within a specific breed. Certain types of specialty dog foods, including grain free diets may be linked to heart disease in dogs, so I recommend talking to your vet about potential risks for Lilly and her sibling. I recommend a small breed adult food until they reach 7-8 years old, and then switching over to a senior formula slowly over the course of a week. You can mix a small breed adult wet food in with the dry if you think they'd prefer it, and a skin support formula such as the one below with omega 3 fatty acids can help support the skin https://www.royalcanin.ca/products/catalog/Royal-Canin-Veterinary-Diet-Canine-SKIN-CARE-SMALL-DOG-dry-dog-food/223038 See the links below for more information: https://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/newsevents/cvmupdates/ucm613305.htm https://talkspetfood.aafco.org/rightpetfood https://www.hillspet.ca/en-ca/dog-care/nutrition-feeding/how-to-transition-my-dogs-food If your dogs are overweight or have other health issues, I recommend speaking to your vet as there may be other diets they recommend that can both help the skin and help manage their other conditions. I hope that helps!

I personally do not like Blue Buffalo at all. They have had serious quality control problems which they have admitted due to the fact that they don't own their own factories. They therefore give the recipe to someone to make, and have no control over whether or not the recipe is followed exactly. Plus many colleagues have reported an increase in gas with this food. I would not recommend Blue Buffalo for Fiffy. As for the other two foods, between the two of them I would recommend the Nutro Max. It's a better quality food in my opinion. Just so you are aware, grains are beneficial to dogs and I do not recommend feeding a dog a grain free food unless they have a proven grain allergy, which isn't very common at all in dogs. Food allergies are the least common type of allergies in dogs, and when they do have a food allergy, it is most commonly related to protein not grain. There are very few dogs who have true grain allergies. It is beneficial for Fiffy's health to feed her grains, and brands that I would recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. I hope this all helps!

I don’t advise to give coconut oil or olive oil but an omega-3 fatty acid supplement for dogs is excellent. You add this to the food. You may even look for a breed-specific diet for Coach as it will contain additional supplements to support a healthy hair coat. They don’t make lotions for dogs but they do make dogs specific shampoo and conditioners that are balanced for pets skin pH. Oatmeal type conditioners and shampoos tend to be the most moisturizing and can be done once a week. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional quote

Jinx is adorable! I can see the scales on her coat in the picture. You can try giving her an omega 3 fish oil supplement to see if these fish oils will improve her coat condition. Personally, I find Welactin to be both safe and effective ( https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19121 ). However, if the scaling continues despite this supplement or if she becomes excessively itchy, it may be worth taking Jinx to her vet for further evaluation to assure that there are not any other underlying health issues. Be sure that she is eating a high quality food (i.e. Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, or Purina ProPlan), as skin issues often develop with lower quality diets. I hope this helps and that all goes well for Jinx!

I will be completely honest with you, I do not like Blue Buffalo (BB) at all, and that's a feeling held by many of my colleagues. They don't own their own factories to make the food, so they give the recipe to a factory to make it. This means they have no quality control over their food, and have admitted that publicly. In addition, it causes horrible gas. I personally never recommend feeding a grain free food to dogs unless they have allergies. Grains are beneficial to dogs, and I recommend owners feed a high quality food such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, or Iams. If you really want to feed Luka a grain free food, I recommend Acana or Orijen. Those are very high quality foods as well.