• Where To Start
• Obtaining a healthy looking, shinny, soft, less shedding coat you have to start on the inside.  Healthy skin results in a healthy coat.
  
• Healthy looking coats need the proper balance of essential fatty acids and biotin, a B-vitamin.  The essential fatty acids make your pets coat thicker and more shinny while biotin works as a nutritional enzyme for their complete synthesis.
  
• You first need to restore the essential fatty acids that have been processed out of most commercial pet foods.
  

• Natural Dog Foods
• Find a good natural dog food for your dog.  There are many commercial feeds on the market or you can make your own. 
  
• Diets that are based on grain such as corn, wheat, barley or rice will not properly nourish a dog.  Poor quality proteins found in a highly processed commercial feed produce excess urea and larger more pungent stools. 
  
• Natural foods rarely attract fleas.

• Natural Remediesczema give apple cider vinegar daily to restore a healthy coat.
• Dogs suffering from skin problems brew a batch of green tea and let it cool.  Sponge the effected parts of your pet or use as an after bath rinse.
• Cheese has many essential nutrients and is a good source of calcium.
• Cider vinegar is useful in helping the immune system.
• Fiber such as oat bran will help prevent anal gland trouble.
• A meal made from brown rice and chicken is a healthy natural diet for a dog.  This can be feed 2 or 3 days a week to enhance the quality of your dogs coat.
• Use Yucca to reduce the pungent odor in urine and feces.  Food supplements of Yucca tend to inhibit the production of urease as a result, fecal and urine odors are reduced by up to 50%.  This is very helpful if your dog is limited to a specific area to relieve itself, it will also help eliminate the dead spots in your grass.  - Empty 2 capsules of Yucca (about one teaspoon) every other day in one feeding.
• For a soft, shinny coat use evening primrose oil, flaxseed oil or starflower oil 500 mg daily over 1 feeding.  I use flaxseed oil and the difference has been unbelievable.  Most of these remedies will take 3-6 weeks to see an overall coat change.
• Rex wheat germ oil is another oil you can use.  For small dogs, give 1/2 teaspoon every day, for large dogs 1 teaspoon.
• Packs of frozen vegetables from the freezer at your local grocery store are easy to feed as an occasional treat.  Most dogs love mixed vegetables.  Cook them in beef or chicken broth instead of plain water or mix them in the feed.  Feed in small amounts to small dogs.  Give these no more than 2 to 3 times per week.
• Try this supplement cocktail to stop excessive shedding, improve doggy odors and drippy eyes.  To eliminate both dry and oily skins along with eczema and hot spots.  Combine 1/2 teaspoon of both flaxseed oil and sunflower oil with 1/4 teaspoon of powdered biotin into the feed twice daily.

Biotin - Skin and Coat Benefits of Biotin

Biotin also known as Vitamin H or B7.  Several studies have shown that dogs suffering from dry skin, seborrhea, and dry, itchy allergic skin greatly improve when supplemented daily with Biotin.  Biotin is often used in combination with fatty acids to treat dogs with allergies.  Biotin is very safe with no side effects or toxicities.

Of the active substances necessary to maintain the functions of the skin and coat, Biotin is particularly important.  Biotin is a natural ingredient found in certain foods, its availablity for absurbtion by the body is often not sufficient.  Because of this a Biotin supplement is very helpful for dogs who suffer from poor skin and coat conditions. 

Liver, oils from seeds, and yeast are the most important natural sources of Biotin.  Biotin is best given in Brewers Yeast supplements or a multi Vitamin-Mineral supplement.