Bodhi has been blowing his coat the last two weeks.
His breeder recommended a comb-out, bath and forced air dry from a groomer.
I've always washed my huskies myself before this, but I must say having someone else do it was great.
There's almost no hair floating around my house now.

The groomer said that Bodhi had a vitamin deficiency.
She said his coat was not supposed to come out in clumps.
Earlier, I had noticed when I brushed him his fur had some white flakes, like doggy dandruff.

My vet is out of the country for a month, so I can't ask him.
But he said my last two huskies had a zinc deficiency.
He explained that historically huskies had eaten a diet that was mostly dried fish.
On this advice, I had given both dogs a couple spoonfuls of tuna every other day.
Then I switched to fish oil capsules, and their coats were fine.

I am feeding him Taste of the Wild Pacific Salmon dog food.
He likes it, and does a little excited twirl around before I set his food down.
I think I am going back to adding fish oil for now.

Have any of you have experienced similar probs with your husky?

huskies coats don't come out in chunks/clumps?.... that's news to me, i just spent the last month with jack having clumps of under coat coming out! (has your groomer ever dealt with a husky blowing their coat before?)
TOTW salmon is what sierra got b4 her diet and she loved it. i would do the fish oil if you want, can't harm them, i think its Val that gives all her pups the oil.

Yeah, that comment did concern me.
My other huskies just seemed to be in permanent shedding mode.
This guy I didn't think ever would shed, then three weeks ago - OMG!

Surely you don't mean like this?

embrys blowing his coat right now, and i have clumps of tuffs of fur everywhere

Exactly like that!

Yeah... the clumps are totally normal. All of my huskies and my German Shepard all had those nice little tufts that just "came unglued" EVERYWHERE. I'd say find a new groomer...

I don't think your groomer knows exactly what they're talking about. It is perfectly normal for huskies to drop clumps of fur and even have uneven, ugly patches when they're blowing coat.

Dandruff and dry skin can be easily taken care of too if Bodhi has it. Did you notice the dandruff before he went to the groomer? I'm thinking most likely, but if it was after I'd seriously wonder how good a job they did on him.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with supplementing if you think you might have a dry skin issue leading to the dandruff though. I'd disregard the deficiency and clumping comments. If you want to supplement for the coat I would suggest either fish oil or cold-pressed virgin coconut oil. I am about to start my pack on coconut oil as a supplement. It has a lot of health benefits and can be used both internally and externally. Externally it can be used as a wrap that will leave your dog's coat oh so soft...so I hear anyway. I know a lot of people who use coconut oil and rave about how great it is, better than their experience on fish oils. It's high calorie but it can help boost the metabolism and help overweight dogs slim down. The saturated fat content tends to bother people too and that is addressed well in the second linked site below.

Here's some good reading for anyone that might be interested in learning more about coconut oil:
WDJ Crazy About Coconut Oil

CocoTherapy FAQ

Very interesting, Val. Thanks for those links. Going to have to try that with my group

Clumping like that is normal for most double coated breeds.

I'd try adding some oils into his diet. We do fish oil and vitamin E daily. Rarely ever see dandruff except for when the temps dipped down real low (for us, anyway) a month or so ago.

arooroomom wrote:

I'd try adding some oils into his diet. We do fish oil and vitamin E daily. Rarely ever see dandruff except for when the temps dipped down real low (for us, anyway) a month or so ago.

Yeah, we feed Nut fish oil 2x a day. When we first got her, her coat was thin, dry, and she was itchy. I expected a big coat blow (NORMAL, BTW ) this fall and she just had a few clumps here and there.

Just gave Nut a bath last night and thanks to the Nupro supplements we've started, the fish oil, and her last food change her coat is shiny, good oil, and soft. It took some time, though. She's been on fish oil for about 2 months now and we're just starting to see the difference.

I don't have anything else to add except that I agree on all accounts. Clumping is normal. Even the dandruff. Val made some great suggestions

Do you supplement the dog with Vitamin E? My Sibhee had hair loss on the past and her vet said that she has vitamin E deficiency and recommended me to supplement her with Vitamin E.