We have a springer spaniel dog and he has the worst dry skin. I am trying to avoid the vet but I will go if nothing else works. We have feed him all different kinds of dog food. The vet did tell me to use lamb and rice or chicken and rice. He does not scratch all the time but it just flakes everywhere. Thanks so much for all the help.

Have you tried adding olive oil to his food? This site seems to swear by it:
http://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/200..._allergies.php

How old is he? Is it a new problem or something he's always had. If it's new, it might be worth a trip to the vet to make sure it isn't the sign of something more serious.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Have you tried dinovite.com ? I keep hearing the ads on the radio, so I have no idea if it is as great as they claim! lol

I'm a dog groomer...When we have dogs that come in with very dry skin, we use either Tea Tree Oil or Aloe Oatmeal shampoo. It seems to really help with the flakes and itching. ~Lisa

I would recommend a grain free dog food they are expensive, but you feed your dog a lot less

http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1485

I would also suggest adding olive oil or a fish oil capsule to his dogs food.

How often do you bathe him and brush him?

Is he flaky, itchy all over or is it just in a particular area like his belly?

I know several people who put oil in their dogs food. I know one that would cool the grease from their meat pans and use it since the dog loved the taste of it.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

My dog had itchy, dry skin. He also ate and drank excessively. Turned out he had Cushings disease and hypothyroidism. Apparently, it affects a larger number of dogs than you would think. I'm attaching a link, just in case.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_4969159_ca...-dry-skin.html

While we were waiting on the diagnosis, we bathed him every few days using a dry skin shampoo. It didn't do much to help him, unfortunately. I hope you are able to find something that works for your dog!

Kim

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Kim

Olive oil is the reason italiano has the most beautiful and perfect skin.

I would second the grain free diet. Try canned grain free and slowly switch to dry if you want. The canned will help him get more water which should help with dry skin (just like people).
We have one dog who used to get hot spots. We switched him to grain free a little over year ago and he hasn't had any for almost a year. He isn't itchy anymore either.
Add fish oil, olive oil even eggs to help his skin.
The diet change should be gradual also. It will take probably about a month to see signs of improvement.
HTH,
Judy

Thanks everyone for all your help. I am going to try to oil for awhile and see how that goes. I appreciate all the suggestions, I am sure I will be using all of them in time.

Hey Caddylisa I totally agree with the oatmeal baths they helped my Sunshine Sheltie girl soooooooooo much. Op I sincerely hope your dog feels better poor thing itchy and dry skin or fur is no fun.. Peace. Catherine