Tips To Give Your Dog A Shiny Coat

The dog's fur allows you to protect it from cold weather, sunlight, prevent damage, and acts as a heat insulator. A beautiful coat is an indicator of a dog's health, the state of its immune system. One of the first signs of problems with the health is a change in the quality of the hairline: it loses its shine, becomes dull, falls out, looks sloppy.


Coat structure:

To solve the coat's issues, it is necessary to understand that the coat forms a unity with the skin, both structural and functional. The roots of the hair follicles are located at the base of the skin, which contains the sebaceous glands, as well as the neuromuscular fibers. Therefore, the condition of the skin, its renewal, the supply of oxygen, blood and the functionality of the sebaceous glands affects the growth and quality of six.

The cells that make up the hair are made of keratin, a special water-resistant protein. And the cells of the hair follicle divide, leading to hair growth. The surface of the hair is covered with tiny scales smeared with a thin layer of fat produced by the sebaceous glands. These scales protect the inner layer from external factors. It is the condition of the scales, the density of their adherence that affects the appearance of the coat.

Coat types:

The dog's coat should be healthy and beautiful regardless of the type of coat:

  • usual, characteristic of medium length and two-layer structure, consisting of a delicate undercoat and strong guard hair;
  • long, which can be with or without a short undercoat;
  • smooth, characterized by short guard hair and minimal undercoat;
  • hard, preventing the influence of negative factors, but in need of trimming;
  • curly, in which the soft and long guard hair is twisted into a curl.

What determines the quality of coat:

Numerous factors can affect the texture of a coat, including:

  • Genetically transmitted data of the breed from the parents - length, thickness, structure.
  • Food, which should be of high quality, saturated with vitamins, microelements.
  • Health, or rather its violation, will affect the well-being of the pet, as well as its appearance.
  • Care, if correct, can be life-saving even in poor health. Disastrous if it is wrong.
  • An ecology that is burdened by the abundance of chemicals around the animal.

Causes of dull or shedding hair in dogs:

  • Non-seasonal hair loss, its change, expressed in dullness, dryness, excessive harshness should be a cause for concern. The reasons can be different:
  • Diseases:

-infectious skin diseases such as: dermatitis, lichen, mycoses, seborrhea;
-hormonal disorders associated with thyroid dysfunction;
-gastrointestinal tract, leading to difficult absorption of nutrients.
-The presence of parasites:
   --internal, such as various worms, larvae;
   --external: ticks, fleas, lice.
-Allergic reactions to medicines, detergents, flea collar substances, pollen, insect bites, improper cosmetics.
-Poor or too plentiful nutrition, lack of trace elements.
-Illiterate and unsystematic care with the use of detergents not suitable for animals. Which do not contribute to the health and beauty of the skin, but can cause negative reactions.
-Wrong textile in dogs clothes leads to the fact that the wool cover is broken: it falls off, falls out.
-The stress of losing your owner or changing your place of residence can affect not only your health, but also the quality of your coat.

How to restore shiny fur:

If problems with your pet's coat are visible, it is best to start with a visit to the veterinarian. The doctor will take tests, diagnose, establish the cause of the change in the structure of the coat. In case of identified diseases, the doctor will select the dosage, prescribe medications, and develop a treatment regimen.

It is necessary to carry out preventive measures, vaccinations, systematic examinations in order to prevent or promptly eliminate diseases, both internal and associated with skin lesions.

Pay attention to the composition, organization of the dog's nutrition. If you feed your pet with natural food, and not with specialized food, it should be proportionate and contain:

  1. meat, part of which is raw;
  2. lean fish;
  3. fermented milk products;
  4. vegetables fruits.

The presence of a large amount of cereals or flour products in the diet is not permissible!

It is important to add foods containing zinc to the diet if you want the coat to be shiny and silky: wheat bran, seaweed, beef, egg yolk, offal. Best supplements with these ingridients are available here.

You also need to pay attention to special food. Often, improperly selected food can provoke diseases of the digestive system or cause allergies.

Good care is about hygiene, not from time to time, but constant. Including:

1. The washing up:

- special care products developed in accordance with the characteristics of the skin of dogs, which can not only cleanse from dirt, but help restore the fur structure as it gets dirty, rather than waiting for a certain time.

2. Brushing is not only the final touch after washing, but a daily ritual that contributes to:

- giving a well-groomed look;
- increasing the general tone of the body;
- massaging the upper layer of the epidermis;
- improving blood supply;
- removal of dead scales, hairs;
- stress relief