Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a Shiba Inu pup. Her name is Indy Anna Jones. Anyway I am new on here, and am glad to finally find other people that know what kind of dog I have lol. This is her first winter and she has been itching like crazy. Does anyone know of a way to help with her dry skin? Thanks

Welcome! I hope you and Indy have a good time here.

Itchy dry skin in the winter can happen in my area where furnaces are running all the time and humidity is low in the houses. I suppliment my dogs with extra fish oils to help out. Derma Caps (you can find in many pet stores) are a common suppliment some people use as well.

You may also want to consult your vet about severe itching because allergies are known to occur in the breed. Sometimes a little extra help from the vet is all that is needed. Even something as simple as Benadry can help if that's the issue. It's just good to have a vet help you out to rule out anything more severe.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

Hi Stee;er amd welcome to you and Indy to the Shiba Inu forum. The winter months can take their toll on our dogs. The air is very dry and cold. I agree with Chelle in that you can supplement Indy's diet with DermCaps. They are harmless fish oil capsules and can be found on the net as well as pet stores. Just the opposite of what you would think you never give your dog a bath during the winter as this can dry out the skin and coat even more. You didn't say how old Indy is. Hoe is her diet... is she getting a good brand of food to eat? Shibas seem to be predisposed to eating corn and many are allergic to it. Have you discussed the problem with your vet?
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Welcome to the forum!

One of my Shibas gets very dry itchy skin in the winter. We do a fish oil suppliment, unproccessed organic coconut oil, run a humidifier constantly -our house is VERY dry - and cross our fingers!

Our vet suggested used alpha kerri oil (or any sort of light bath oil) mixed with water in a spray bottle and lightly spraying his coat a few times a day - Too bad Niko is scared to death of said spray bottle. We also have a medicated shampoo - but like Bob said I try not to bathe him at all in the winter.

So try to add moisture to your home, healthy oils to her diet, maybe a topical oil straight to her coat. Make sure she is on a superpremium diet - with no corn or soy. And if none of this helps you may want to talk to your vet about allergy testing.

Good luck and we would all love to see some pics!
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Alicia,Owned by 2 Shibas, Niko and Avari, 3 cats, Miss Kitty, Mr. Grobbles and Al E. Cat and 2 beautiful daughters, Gwen and Penelope

Welcome to the shiba forum! Others have given good advice for the dry skin issue, so I'll just say welcome again--and that we'd love to see pictures of Indy.

Welcome! Please post some pics--we love the puppy photos here!

Others already said exactly what I was going to--make sure you have your pup on a good food, maybe run a humidifier, and supplement with Derm Caps. If those things don't help, or if the scratching is to the point that it is causing any bleeding or really raw spots, go to the vet for some advice.

As for food--a lot of the time the itching seems to be caused by food allergies, so I would pick a good food with only a few ingredients. Then, if it's an allergy, you will easily be able to do an elimination diet. Some foods I would recommend are California Natural and Solid Gold.

I had a shiba that had a lot of itching when she came to us. She had been on a store bought food (Purina or Iams, I can't remember). I switched her to Wellness (another good brand) and she was better within a month or two.

Good luck and keep us posted!
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Amanda's Pack: Greg the Husband, Kate the daughter, Liam the son, Brewster the Shiba Inu, Cassie the Torbie & Fenway the Leopard Gecko!

The has been covered by the others, but Shiba Inus notoriously have food-based skin allergies. Corn is a big one. I would not bother with any food that has corn in it. Shiba Inus tend to require a higher quality brand of food than what you would find at the grocery store anyway. I have had good luck with Timberwolf Organics. (It's expensive but it's higher quality means you can feed less) I use the Ocean Blue and Dakota Bison formulas simultaneously. Also my dogs also did well on California Natural.

Hoshi (my male) has a particularly bad corn allergy. I found out that a laundry detergent I was using had Corn Alcohol in it. That really caused major problems for us until I discovered it. Also Hoshi can't have the heartgard with the flavorings in it, it causes him ear infections. Eliminating the corn, corn alcohol, and then we only do the heartgard tablets now, and he has no itchies anymore, healthy ears and a gorgeous coat.

I have heard Shiba inus can also be sensitive to wheat (so you might start with a grain free food or one that only uses oats or barley as a grain source). I've also heard they can be sensitive to lamb. I also eliminated chicken because chickens are usually fed corn. Hoshi's allergies were so bad I wasn't taking chances with that.

Hope this helps and Good luck!!
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My crew includes Shiba and Hoshi the Shiba Inus; Aurora, Seneca, Murtle, Rainbow, Sunshine,Raindrop, Diggy, Gimlet, and Luna the Leopard Geckos and José the Rosy Boa.
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