Portugese Water Dog with Dry Itchy Skin
Answered by: Kerry Hackett
Question from: Debbie Harper
Posted on: February 26, 2007

I have a 1 year old Portuguese Water Dog. She has very dry itchy skin. I switched from dry and moist commercial foods to a raw diet, then just one type of meat, I add oil and have tried different types olive, cod, safflower and a special blend of oil and suppliments. I also add vegetables, dark greens (leafy right up to broccoli) and some fruits (apple, banana and her favourite blueberry). I run room humidifier at home and at night the house cools down to 62-65 degrees. I don’t want to put her on a steroid.

You do not mention from where you purchased the raw diet or found the recipe from which her food was made. All raw foods are not created equal so I would suggest you look at the work of Richard Pitcairn, "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats", "The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and "The Barf Diet" by Ian Billinghurst for further information and recipes if you haven’t already seen thses books. Billinghurst has some very interesting things to say about the differences between "active" and "non-active oils" which may be of interest to you. In addition, there is a supplement powder made by Wysong named "Call of the Wild" that is quite useful for augmenting raw diets. It may also be that there is something else in the house that is bothering her skin: household cleaners, laundry detergent, perfumes, personal care products for humans, dog shampoos, etc. In addition, it may be useful to look at the areas in which she likes to sleep for possible irritants and as always, make sure she gets an opportunity to exercise as much as possible.

Externally treatments: please see the posting on this website (www.richters.com) entitled, "Pug and Allergies".

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