[Sudanpan]

We have a couple of collie x springer x cockers, both males, aged 2 and a half, litter brothers.
They both resemble long haired border collies - one (Yanni)  is just black and white, his coat is slightly more 'wirey', while the other (Habasher) is black and white with some brown - eg eyebrows, cheeks, hind legs and around the back end - he has a much softer coat.
Both boys were castrated at 9 months.
Ever since the castration Yanni started to show patches of dry brown hair - always symmetrical on the body, most notable in the 'withers' area, but also some on his flanks. The rest of his coat is shiny and black. When he was a pup   we remarked that his coat was definitely black and white - very pure, but now it isn't.
Now Habasher is showing similar dry patches, mostly on his hind legs.
Can anyone throw some suggestions forward as to what might be going on? Should we give them such extra oil or something in their food? They get a mix of a complete dry dog food plus a tin of dog food each day.
Thanks in advance
  

[doganjo]

Direct result of early castration that vets don't dwell on.   There are a number of others.  Personally I don't see the need to castrate any dog unless you also have bitches in the house, and don't have the facilities to keep them apart when in season.  But that's vets for you. (where's the symbol for 'loadsa dosh'?)

Yes, oil may help - is the skin underneath dry and flaky?  Try a different food with higher fat content in it, or give them a tablespoon of oil every morning, but don't overdo it.  Fish oil is better than most other oils but is probably more expensive.  You could also try rubbing a good bit of baby oil into the affected areas and leave for a few days, then wash off.  I did that with my young dog who had dandruff and he's been clear ever since - that was about 6 months ago.

[sabrina]

This happened to one of My Irish Setters, he was a show dog. We put him in kennels when we went on holiday and came back to a wreck of a dog. Never been with a bitch but my vet at the time said he was either next to a bitch in season or they had used him. he was ruined. We had to castrate him as he did nothing but run away or jump on the kids who were young at the time. His lovely rich coat went dull and hair was always coming out. Never was the same again.

[Hopewell]

Some dogs/bitches get coat changes regardless of the age that they are castrated/spayed at. Some breeds are more likely to do it than others and I would definitely include Springer and Cocker Spaniels and Irish Setters. Also I think dogs more likely to than bitches. I've never known it to be a real problem ie it doesn't bother the dogs, but it can make it necessary to groom more often.

[SallyintNorth]

I have had this in the past, both times on collie x GSD types.  Try feeding a raw egg every other day.  Also you could try switching to a more natural diet - a wholebake biscuit and fresh (raw if they don't get too hyper) meat. 

I used to have a lot of problems with eczema - on myself, this is.  I very rarely get problems these days that I mostly eat a much more wholesome diet. 

One dog I had with a dull coat, I switched his biscuits to Natural Choice Wholebake.  The transformation was like you get with hens moulting - the new coat was glossy and healthy.  It improved his joints too - although he did still have to go onto Glucosamine Sulphate a few years later.

[Rosemary]

It improved his joints too - although he did still have to go onto Glucosamine Sulphate a few years later.

Slightly sidetracked - sorry, but our 11 year old spayed collie bitch has arthritis in her front legs. We feed Burns, which is brown rice and chicken or lamb (no colours, flavours etc) plus she gets the odd egg, apple core, carrot. She is otherwise in good health, although she ruptured both cruciate ligaments a few years ago.

I wondered about getting her a glucosamine supplement. Does it make a difference?

[Cinderhills]

Rosemary - my springer has arthritis and is on Seraquin, a glucosamine, but because she is on lots of painkillers I really don't know how effective it is.  Word of advice though, do not buy from your vet as it's more than double the price than from petdrugsonline.co.uk.  I guess you could try for a month and see if you notice a difference in her movement.

[Sylvia]

Get some frozen spinach, it comes in handy small servings, and give your dogs one portion (raw) mixed with their meat every day for a few weeks, then once or twice a week afterwards.

[Hopewell]

I wondered about getting her a glucosamine supplement. Does it make a difference?

As far as I am aware there is no hard scientific evidence that glucosamine makes any difference at all. There is slightly more evidence that chondrotin helps but it would need to be the more expensive chondrotin sulphate rather than the more commonly available chondrotin hydrochloride. Unfortunately the evidence for these supplements is mostly anecdotal ie people tried them and it seemed to make a difference - however arthritis often causes flare ups of pain which then subside giving the impression that whatever you have treated it has worked. Personally I would save my money for some decent anti-inflammatories.

[Sudanpan]

Hi All
Many thanks for all the replies 
The patches of dry hair seem to be restricted to the ends of the hair - rather like split ends, the skin underneath does not show any sign of dryness.
We will give the addition of some oil to the feed a go. In all other respects the boys are happy and healthy 
All the best
Tish 

[doganjo]

Hi All
Many thanks for all the replies 
The patches of dry hair seem to be restricted to the ends of the hair - rather like split ends, the skin underneath does not show any sign of dryness.
We will give the addition of some oil to the feed a go. In all other respects the boys are happy and healthy 
All the best
Tish 

He he - you could try giving those bits a  haircut 

[SallyintNorth]

I wondered about getting her a glucosamine supplement. Does it make a difference?

I was advised by my vet at the time to try it - but to find it cheaper than the vet could supply it (as they can only supply one tested on and warranted for dogs), which I did at my local chemist.  The vet had said it could take up to 6 weeks to have any effect but I saw a big difference in less than a week.  As Hopewell says, that could have been coincidence but I really don't think it was.

I also took Rimadyl from the vet, which she said to use if he was particularly sore any time, or if I knew we would be doing the sort of exercise that would make him sore.  The combination of G/S and Rimadyl worked well for a good few years, keeping him comfortable and active.

WARNING - Rimadyl comes as a 'palatable for dogs' tablet which I discovered to my cost (and HOW) is also extremely palatable to - and dangerous for - cats.     Emergency nighttime trip to vet, plus all the care and treatments they gave him - £237.  Ouch!

On the G/S or G/S plus chondroitin, I know a lot of people say G/S is pointless without chondroitin, but neither Horace nor I have had the 'with' version and both have found plain G/S helpful.  At pretty high dose rates, mind.

Sorry about tangenting off topic, Tish - back to split ends, now!   

[Old Shep]

Rosemary - we have used the synoquin but have moved onto Flex green lipped mussel sprinkle powder which seems to make a real difference.  My 7 year old is still happily doing agility whereas a couple of years ago we were a bit worried about her hips, so I would say it works.

Tish - it sounds just like dead hair  - can you pull it out (gently) or would that leave a bald patch? Or as Doganjo says- get the scissors to it :-)