Hey guys! Sorry that I keep asking questions. Juno is constantly scratching around her neck and ear, normally the same place. When I adopted her, she had a lot of dandruff. I gave her a bath with oatmeal based shampoo hoping it would help. Unfortunately, I don't think it did.

I went to pet smart and asked one of the locals there about it and they suggested I use salmon oil. I just started giving her a tablespoon of salmon oil in her breakfast food. Should I let this play out for 2-3 weeks before going to a vet and having a skin test/allergy test done?

How bad is she scratching? Like, a little itching, or breaking the skin? Dry skin is really common in the colder months, so I wouldn't be too concerned about it right now unless she's obsessive about it. What kind of food are you feeding her? Is it different than what she ate before you got her? Food plays a huge role in skin issues too.

As for the salmon oil, that's awesome. I buy fish oil capsules from walmart and give them to my dogs because its cheaper than buying the special "pet" versions. Ava goes crazy for them and will remind me if I forget to give her them.

Do you have access to a high velocity dryer? When we moved down south where high humidity was a problem our sibe started developing a dandruff problem. It was explained to me better, but basically it has to do with the humidity causing moisture to get trapped in the coat when the dog is outside, then drying out when the dog is inside with heat or a/c, and a constant back and forth cycle whenever the dog goes inside and out. My sibe never had a problem when we lived in WA state.

I tried oatmeal shampoos and adding supplemental oils to his diet, and while they helped a little, the biggest improvement was when I got a high velocity dryer to be able to blow out his coat every few days (or at least once a week). The force dryer not only helps dry out his skin and blows out any moisture trapped in the coat, but it also blows out any accumulated dandruff which makes him feel better (i.e. not itchy) and as an added bonus it makes him smell better too since dandruff tends to give him a bit of an odor.

She isn't breaking the skin, just vigorously itching the same spots. What kind of dryer do you have? I don't know much about them since I don't typically dry anything!

I have a K9 Mini. You can read more about hv dryers in one of the existing threads in the grooming forum.

I'd say take the collar off when in the house for the night. I think it is trapping moisture between the collar and skin.


Just be sure to put collar back on before letting dog out.