just need a bit of advice really regarding my one year old german shep. she seems to be permently loosing her coat in bagfulls, we brush her but is as tho the hair is always falling out. as its winter i thought shed keep her coat but itsgot worse recently. thought about the vets but not sure really, also its as tho shes got really bad dandruff when you are brushing her.shes wel lokked after and has a good balanced diet, anyone got any ideas. cheers brooksy.

I've got a similar problem with my Doberman - any advice gratefully received!

our dog looses hair like mad, she's also a german shephard... dogs are thrown by the seasons due to central heating, they'll loose and gain their fur much more than they would in the wild... we have to hoover the house pretty much every day because of our dog!

also the dry skin is probably due to a skin condition thats prone to german shephards, our dog has it, very dry skin and her belly turns weird shades of red at time... almost rash like...

other things to look out for in german shepards... bad ear infections, back legs going... all come along with old age...

and its all our fault for in-breeding them for so many decades! :( pedigree my ass... its cruel!

[edit]

just like to point out, I meant "our" as in humans, I dont breed dogs :P

cheers xafier , is there anything you can buy to treat this, a dog shampoo or something you can include in her diet. at the moment if she keeps loosing this hair i fear she may be bold soon?.

don`t worry it`s perfectly normal for the hair loss and the dandruff type stuff as well.
we`ve always had shepherds and they are all the same. Just brush your dog regularly and trim the long bits off the coat (if it`s a longhaired one) and don`t bathe them more than once a year in summer.

German Shepard’s are really bad for losing hair, we used to have to hoover every day until he passed away last year. I think it was around now when his undercoat would be shedded.

Central heating dries dogs skin out, which causes the dandruff, my greyhounds suffer with the dandruff more in the winter as I have the heating on full.

Sardines or cod liver oil in their food is good for their skin and coats. As said before a good brush will help to keep the hair loss down in the house.

If you are really worried about her hair loss, take her to the vets to have any medical problems ruled out, thyroid problems can cause hair loss but usually in patches. Otherwise mention it on your next visit and see if they are concerned about it.

Originally posted by brooksy
cheers xafier , is there anything you can buy to treat this, a dog shampoo or something you can include in her diet. at the moment if she keeps loosing this hair i fear she may be bold soon?.

We were advised to put a tablespoon of olive oil in the food at each mealtime, by the vet. We have two Dobermann 's and it has seemed to help with the dandruff, can't really say whether it will help with the hair loss though
good luck
deecee

Hi,
I've owned a german shepherd and two X shepherds and can say that they are one of the worst breeds for moulting, unlike other breeds they seem to do it all year round and I have noticed central heating does seem to make it worse. After collecting a carrier bag full of hair I often used to wonder why my black german shepherd wasn't bald and you could pull it off him in clumps a lot of the time as well.
Dry skin and dandruff can be helped considerably by using the old fashioned remedies mentioned by previous posties and although you can buy shampoo to deal with the dryness you're then tempted to bathe the dog far too often which is bad for the dog.

It's a stripping comb you need to be using. It helps to remove the loose-but-not-out hairs and gives you a fighting chance with your soft furnishings.

This is the right time of year for losing the winter coat that's been keeping them warm over the cold months, but don't worry about it unless you can actually see patches of skin ;)

I just can't figure out why Crufts is in this month, when so many dogs are between coats and slightly moth-eaten looking as a consequence :confused: