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How can I get that luxurious shiny silky coat

linderbelle

Well-known member
As you know we got our 3rd cav on friday. This princess is absolutely gorgeous--her coat her so shiny and soft. My blenheim is still a puppy--only 14 months so he has the puppy coat--my tri is 5 years old and compared to the black-tan she is dry and so dull. What can I do to get that shiny coat that I absolutely love. I make their own food so I know she's getting good stuff. I give a multivitamin liquid and calcium pill and since getting Chelsea on friday have added fiber and coq10. Any suggestions?
 
The best thing I've found so far is adding raw wheat germ (1 rounded teaspoon) to their breakfast. Raw wheat germ contains both oils and enzymes. The raw wheat germ should be stored in the freezer or it will lose its freshness/benefit. Their coats have a lovely shine like I've never seen before!
 
where do you buy it Cathy and how long did it take before you noticed a change. I can't believe the difference in my tri and new black-brown. Another thing could it be good breeding vs bad breeding? We truly believe our tri came from a puppy farm in slovakia--thats where she was born--we were so dumb--thought it was kind of neat that she came from there. We thought we had some knowledge of doing the right thing. grrrr. We were dumb. I don't care anyways. I love her so much.
 
Hi

Another suggestion is Evening Primrose capsules ,they are good for the coat and I believe quite popular for this purpose.
 
Is a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil all right added to their food? I'm worried in case it upsets Murphy's tummy.
 
I give mine fish oils for joints and coat, always see a great improvement in my fosters coats when they come in. If you are feeding a good quality food their coats should look smashing also. My own Cavalier has quite a fluffy coat which isn't as shiney as others but this has to do with the texture of her coat, perhaps this is why your dogs coat doesn't appear as silky as your other one.
 
Linda, is Chelsea spayed? If she isn't yet, that might explain the coat difference. If your 5 year old is spayed, that may explain the cottony coat. I understand that is a common side-effect to spaying is the coat change. Intact dogs often have a different coat, the silky, shiny coat as opposed to more fluffy and cottony that can occur after "fixing".

I also like Isle of Dogs Shampoo. You could try it. The No. 10 is formulated for cavalier type coats and it contains evening primrose oil. Mine are SOOOO shiny after a bath, and all the time, really. I don't supplement with anything. Even Lizzie, already at 5 months is glossy and shiny.
 
Chelsea isn't spayed and of course I am under contract to do so but I told the breeder on friday that I would like 2 weeks before doing it. Don't want to get her and then put her through that ordeal. She's got enough adjusting to do. Yes Abbey is spayed. We spayed her before her first coat. Funny you should mention that post as I read your post a week or two ago and I ordered it last week and it came yesterday but I haven't bathed her yet but we are going to try it!!!
 
I will say yet again that there are MANY reasons for dry and cottony coats and that an overweight dog or a dog that has inherited such a coat is as likely to have this as a neutered dog. I have seen intact dogs with dry coats -- indeed the vast majority of cavaliers I get in are intact -- probably 95% -- and of those, probably a third have poor coats; some really in bad shape, and fat dogs are the most likely to have cottony coats. So truly: this is NOT a neutering issue alone and neutering only affects some dogs in this way. I really hate this being offered as THE reason for poor coats as it very clearly is not.

Likewise not ALL post-menopausal women have terrible cottony dry hair. :lol: As many older people will realise, hair also can get dryer simply due to age, too, and no doubt the same with dogs.

In my experience, you won't be able to truly improve coat too much, if you are already feeding a good diet and have a fit dog. One of the best ways to improve appearance is simply to get one of the silicone-based dog coat sprays/conditioners and brush a little bit through weekly or so. This helps smooth the hair shaft and imp[rove appearance just as similar products do wonders for human hair.
 
Not sure if it's 'universal', but I find the more often I brush our boys the better their coats look.
 
I e-mailed the breeder that we got Chelsea from and this is what she said:

The coat shine I use is actually Biolage which is a human product that you can find in a lot of stores. It is the Colore Care Shielding Shine Mist.

Interesting. Kind of like what Karlin said. I'm going to try it. Who knows may work. Won't hurt to try.
 
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