Two years ago at the BRAT convention in DC, I remember petting someone's basenjis who had the softest fur I'd ever felt on a dog. Marveling, I asked the owner what kind of shampoo they used. They told me that it wasn't shampoo -- they simply fed their dog a high-quality food, and a daily capsule of fish oil.
In the past year, I have been experimenting with different kinds of high-quality dog food (see my previous posts on What Difference Does Food Make?) and the jury's still out on which one seems to have the best impact on my dogs. We're presently feeding Blue Buffalo, but I think I may switch again because I'm not seeing quite as big a dietary impact as I'd hoped for. However, about a week ago I was at Costco and I had a coupon for a big bottle of 1000mg fish oil capsules for $5, and I remembered the advice that I had received at the convention. I bought the bottle, and started feeding my dogs each one capsule of fish oil at night with dinner.
That was about a week ago, and in just two days I was amazed to notice the dogs' fur was already getting softer. We're now 7 days in, and my two little basenjis feel like soft velvet, and I swear that even their eyes seem brighter. They absolutely love the fish oil with dinner (I slit the capsules open and squeeze the oil over their food), and I was surprised that it doesn't seem to give them bad breath as I had feared. My only complaint is that the fish oil smells absolutely GROSS and there's no way to squeeze out the capsules without getting some on my fingers! So, if you don't mind washing the smell of dead fish off your hands (it comes right off, I promise), I highly recommend feeding your dogs one capsule of fish oil every day with their food. It costs virtually nothing for the capsules, and it really makes a huge difference in their fur and their health!
What kind of fish oil and how many mg. or iu. or however they measure it. Because at my pharmacy they stock salmon fish oil and mixed fish oil etc.
ReplyDeleteI also was in the process of changing my B-boy from Innova senior to Acana senior and he went from 2 poops a day to an astounding 4 or 5 poops a day! I was 2 weeks into slowly introducing the Acana and had built him up to half Innova and half Acana and gave up after I thought about what it would be like on 100% Acana haha. I gave it to a friend and her dogs are fine on it.
I feed my pack fish oil as well as vitamin E. I swear by it!
ReplyDeleteI just put the capsule in with the food and my dogs eat it no problem!
ReplyDeleteI add the Liquid Health K-9 Glucosamine to Solid Gold
ReplyDeleteWe use Grizzly Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil. It comes in a pump bottle. I just add one pump to each dish so I don’t get it on my hands. It’s nasty smelling stuff, but the munchkins love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips! I'll definitely check out these other products -- they've got to be easier than trying to squeeze a gelcap of nasty fish oil over the dogs' food every night!
ReplyDeleteI use 1000 mg caps of salmon oil from Trader Joe's for my newly adopted BRAT boy, Tag (I'm a proud failed foster). They have made an immense difference in his coat and skin.
ReplyDeleteMy only complaint is that the fish oil smells absolutely gross and there's no way to squeeze out the capsules without getting some on my fingers!
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