Shedding guard hairs

Mylo

I was hoping a few people could help me out with advice...

I've had Mylo for just under a year now (but he's 8 years old), and I'm noticing something I didn't notice last summer... He's shedding a lot of guard hairs when I give him a good scratch down. There aren't any bald spots or anything, and he's already blown out his winter undercoat. I've checked his skin to see if he's got any fleas or anything, and I haven't noticed anything. All I noticed is that his skin is a little dry. My Dad also mentioned to me that Mylo's fur is a little bit more coarse than usual. He also has almost no undercoat along the top of his back up to his neck.
Is this normal?
What kind of tools should I use to brush out guard hairs?

Some other info that might be helpful:
The last time I gave him a bath was about a month or so ago and I use Hart's oatmeal dog shampoo.
I feed him Orijen's wild fish formula (same as I've been feeding him all year).
He's also become more impatient with me clipping his nails lately.

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

Sangmort

If you're not adding Omega 3 fish oil to his diet, I would do so. It does wonders for skin & coat.

I would take him to the vet to get a quick check-up if it looks serious. Are you sure he isn't blowing his coat? The main thing that concerns me is that you say his skin is a little dry...~

Mylo

He started blowing his coat about a month ago, so I figured he was done with it. It doesn't LOOK serious (yet?), it's just something I've noticed when I give him a good scratch down when I come home. He also has some dander sometimes when I brush him.

lindsayt

Sounds fairly normal. The little skin flakes can also be caused in part by the guard hairs comming out and the new ones comming in (I saw that with Ike recently and he was already on lots of salmon oil). The coat is supposed to be coarse, the undercoat makes it feel softer, so if that has already been blown, the top coat will naturally feel more coarse and will be drier as the hairs are about to shed. When they do a total shed, undercoat and top coat-just once a year I thought, they will look dreadful and appear to be quite naked. You can use a furminator, but I use a fine tooth greyhound comb.

Mylo

So omega 3 fish oil should help no matter what? I figured he was getting enough since he's eating the Orijen Wild Fish food. Can I just give him the Omega 3 Capsules I take? (or was that a super stupid question...)

And one more thing to clarify, should he have lots of undercoat along his spine? Because he has almost none right now, and he blew out his coat a month ago... He does have guard hairs though (they're just shedding a bit more than I remember from the past).

KFontaine04

Yes, You can just give him the fish oil capsule like you take. I give my two a fish oil capsule and they LOVE it, Miso gulps it right down and Sake likes to bite it until all the fishy oil goodness oozes out a bit.

Calia

Ever since he shed his puppy coat, Tetsu didn't have any undercoat along the spine...I think the undercoat would affect the ability to raise that fur under stress.

Mylo

Hm... good to know I might just be a mildly paranoid parent haha. I'll try the Fish oil capsules and see if that makes a difference in his skin. =0)

Heidi

I find that Tojo sheds some guard hairs in the Spring, but not generally in the Fall. They do replace their guard hairs over time, just not as dramatically as the undercoat. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Mylo

I went to visit my parents over the weekend and my Mother gave me a big bottle of Omega 3 capsules. I've started giving Mylo one per day. He picks them up, chews a little, and spits it out about 3 or 4 times before swallowing, but I think he likes it better that way ;). Yesterday I also went to my usual dog boutique and (upon much discussion), decided to gradually switch Mylo from the Orijen 6 fresh fish, to the Acana Pacifica food. It's a little bit cheaper, and since Mylo has been trying to eat grass lately, I figured it might be a nice change from the usual. We fed it to him last night (50% Orijen/50% Acana) and his stomach seems to be fine. He had a bit more of a loose stool this morning, but I'm assuming that's because the brat got onto the coffee table last night as we were seeing guests to the door... He ate an almond flavored cookie/bar. His stomach kept it in last night and I didn't hear him at all (he always cries before he throws up).

I guess we'll see how it goes!