# Puppy dandruff



## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

My 8-week-old Tucker has a mild to moderate amount of dandruff that seems to be coming from his undercoat. It is just little white flakes. I called our vet this morning and they just said that he probably just has dry skin and not to bathe him. He only occasionally scratches around where his collar is, but the vet said that this is probably because he is still getting used to wearing the collar. He acts totally normal otherwise. He has loads of energy and loves to play, eat, and be taken outside. He has an appointment a week from Friday for his distemper booster and a second exam and I can have the vet look at it then, but in the meantime can anyone recommend a good treatment for this? I'm not going to give him a bath since that can make it worse.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

Actually, you _should _bathe him. Use a hypoallergenic shampoo, an oatmeal based one would be good. Rinse him thoroughly, then do a rinse of diluted Listerine. You can either lightly rinse that, or, as he has dandruff, I would leave it on, and towel dry him.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Thanks! I'll go to Petco tomorrow to find an oatmeal shampoo for him. Hopefully that will help!


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## colton (Jun 5, 2008)

I had the same thing with my pup and he is now 18 weeks old and STILL has the problem. I have tried everything out there and none of it worked. If you find the solution let me know I would really appreciate it.


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## GRyan (Sep 13, 2008)

My 12 week old Griffin has puppy dander too! It's not so noticable unless I brush him and then he looks like he has snowflakes all over him. Parasites have been ruled out...vet really didn't have much advice. If it's still bad at the next visit, then we might look to a medicated shampoo. He's getting a capsule of some kind of oil. Can't remember the name right now...AllerGen or something like that. Four of the ten pups from his litter had the puppy dander. I do hope it goes away. 

What does the Listerine do? 

Thanks!


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## mcgorman (Apr 8, 2009)

*Any cure?*

Did anyone find a cure yet? I have a 6 month old puppy who has had white flakes since we got her. We changed her diet, gave her fish oil, an occasional bath and still nothing has worked. She is otherwise very healthy but the flakes are driving us crazy.


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## GRyan (Sep 13, 2008)

Griffin is 11 months old now and seems to have outgrown the dandruff. He still has some dry skin on his belly, but I only notice it when I give him a good brushing on his tummy. His skin looks great now....and it was awful when he was a puppy. I'm not sure when he started to outgrow it though. It just seemed that as he got bigger, it became less of an issue. We did the Allergen capsules, changed his food to Candiae, brushed a lot, and he got a bath about every other month. Not sure if any of that actually did the trick or if he just had to outgrow it. Hope your pup will outgrow it too. Personally, I thought the brushing was the trick...it acted like a de-flaker and also stimulated Griff's natural oils to help out. I'm certainly not an expert though .

Good Luck!


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## mcgorman (Apr 8, 2009)

Thank you for the reply. So far there hasn't been any improvement with Genny but she is just 6 months old. I hope we find that she out grows it too. We will continue to do what we are doing and hope she either out grows it or the stuff we are doing works. If anyone else reads this with a similar problem please post how you handled it. Thanks

Matt


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Sidney was a big puppy and has since grown up into a larger-than-average Golden Retriever. He had dandruff really bad as a pup. I could brush out enough dandruff to make another puppy... and these were BIG humongous flakes too. The breeder said a couple of the pups in the litter had a 'little' bit of dandruff which her vet diagnosed as "walking dandruff" (its called Cheyletiella mange cause by a tiny mite and affects most often puppies). However my vet took skin scrapings several times and couldn't verify the diagnosis. Even so we treated little Sid with 3 dips spaced several days apart. I felt soooo bad exposing his immature immune system to insecticides but we were just so concerned. Turns out nothing we tried worked... not the shampoos, medicated rinses, various oils added to his diet, brushings, etc... we are talking like over the course of his first year we tried many things to stop his dandruff. In the end, he simply slowly outgrew it. The worst of it was pretty much a thing of the past by the time he was about 10 months old, however we could still brush up some flakes (sometimes kinda large flakes at that) even two years later but it was nothing like his puppy years. Today he is 5+years old and we probably haven't noticed any flaking for maybe the last 2 years. Over-all it was just a gradual progression of the dandruff problem fading until he no longer had any. I've read enough of the dandruff threads to conclude that some Golden puppies just have lots of dandruff but eventually it does go away. Sorry I don't have any miracle answers and I can't provide any magic tricks to 'fix' the problem... other than to say I believe in time it will resolve itself so try not to stress too much about it.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Ajax had a bit of puppy dandruff when we brought him home. Gentle oatmeal shampoo temporarily controlled it, as did regular brushing. We've seen less and less over time. I wish I had a good "cure" for you, but unless it's allergy related, the only thing you can really do is give gentle, moisturizing baths.


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## kblinkgirlie182 (Mar 15, 2009)

Brushing seems to help also. We gave Buddy a bathe when we first got him (he had a lot of dander) and starting brushing him right away. This was at 11 weeks. He loves being brushed now and no dander problems. It has helped a little with his shedding too.


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## mcgorman (Apr 8, 2009)

How about an update on everyone? Genny is almost a year now and we have tried everything. So far no luck. It has been worse lately and she seems very itchy now. The vet has ruled out mites and we have begun switching her over to Dick van Patten's Limited Ingredient Diet Venison and Sweet Potato. Hopefully this will help her. It is very stressful to everyone in the house especially her. Other than that she is beautiful healthy puppy. I was hoping someone could give me a miracle cure but so far nothing has worked.


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## IZZI (Jun 11, 2009)

I'll bump this thread. We got Izzi in late June, and never had any problems with her. Within the last month, she's been much more itchy. She scratches as she walks, she nibbles at her back and butt all the time, and she stops eating or playing to scratch. When I brush her, there are close to 5 spots that make her kick her leg, like it feels amazing or is relieving a huge itch. She's got some dandruff, but no irritated skin from what we can tell. We've changed her diet to Lamb and Rice, and got her some skin-rejuvinating style shampoo. 

I read in a few other threads that this could be allergies, seasonal allergies, or even a water softener issue. She's 7 months old tomorrow (11/30/2009), and it's only really been prevelant since maybe her 5th month. If anyone else has found any sort of solution, please post up. She wakes us up at 3a from nibbling for 20 straight minutes, and I just feel bad like she can't enjoy anything because she has to stop and nibble. Fleas or ticks are ruled out, she's clear of those.


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## NCGoldens (Jan 28, 2020)

My 11 week old golden puppy has it. Of course the vet ruled out cheyletiella mange but offered little other explanation. A seborrhea or possibly ichthyosis are his thoughts and to give it time to see if it goes away. I am brushing twice a day, giving salmon oil, bathing once a week in oatmeal shampoo. He is happy and doesn't scratch much. No redness, loss of fur, but lots of white flaking skin. Mostly on his chest and sides, but also some from his back. None on his belly where there is no fur. I just switched him off chicken to a fish only diet. Any other ideas? Maybe he just has to outgrow it.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

it'd be super easy to do a cheek swab yourself and send to pawprint genetics. 
I think a single test costs maybe $50 or so.


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## NCGoldens (Jan 28, 2020)

Prism Goldens said:


> it'd be super easy to do a cheek swab yourself and send to pawprint genetics.
> I think a single test costs maybe $50 or so.


For ichthyosis? I may do that.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

yep. And it's a lot surer than trying a bunch of things that may not be helpful! PP usually has a sale about now, dk if the individual tests are on sale or not, if not, you might also look (if you have to do the whole panel ) at embark who does even more conditions for about $160


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## NCGoldens (Jan 28, 2020)

Prism Goldens said:


> yep. And it's a lot surer than trying a bunch of things that may not be helpful! PP usually has a sale about now, dk if the individual tests are on sale or not, if not, you might also look (if you have to do the whole panel ) at embark who does even more conditions for about $160


Thanks. Yes, I ordered of Embark. They test for 170 things.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

Were the parents tested?


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## Brg (Feb 8, 2020)

mcgorman said:


> *Any cure?*
> 
> Did anyone find a cure yet? I have a 6 month old puppy who has had white flakes since we got her. We changed her diet, gave her fish oil, an occasional bath and still nothing has worked. She is otherwise very healthy but the flakes are driving us crazy.


Hi it’s now 2020 and I have a puppy with same issue I’m going nuts - it looks like I snows every 2 minutes in our house - have any of your found a solution?


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## Brg (Feb 8, 2020)

We have the same issue also ! 6 month knot English cream retriever it’s horrible ! Like it snows in our house minute by minute where ever she walks ! Any advice ? We also a have tried it all!



NCGoldens said:


> My 11 week old golden puppy has it. Of course the vet ruled out cheyletiella mange but offered little other explanation. A seborrhea or possibly ichthyosis are his thoughts and to give it time to see if it goes away. I am brushing twice a day, giving salmon oil, bathing once a week in oatmeal shampoo. He is happy and doesn't scratch much. No redness, loss of fur, but lots of white flaking skin. Mostly on his chest and sides, but also some from his back. None on his belly where there is no fur. I just switched him off chicken to a fish only diet. Any other ideas? Maybe he just has to outgrow it.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Have your pup tested for Ichthyosis. It is a DNA test. If pup is affected, there's no sense in spending a fortune trying to find a cure that isn't going to be found. 
If you want the whole panel of DNA testing, Embark is probably your best bet $ wise. If you just want an ICT test, Pawprint Genetics is probably best bet. Individual tests run about $50 +/- depending on sales, and the whole Embark panel (I'd get the breeder version since it includes more and doesn't cost more) is around $160 depending on sales.


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## EmpyreanStar (Dec 29, 2019)

A good Slicker brush works wonders. Let a little fur build up in the brush and the flakes will stick to it like magic. Also a nice supplement that includes fish oil is also very helpful.


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