[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi merrymenagerie –

If she’s currently eating Pedigree I’m sure you’ll see a big improvement in coat condition by switching to any of the 4 or 5 star grain-free foods. The only suggestion I would make is to drop the flax oil and use fish oil or krill oil instead (or at least in addition to the flax oil). Flax contains omega 3 fatty acids, however they’re in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) – ALA needs to be converted into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) before it can be utilized by the body. Dogs are very inefficient at converting ALA to DHA and EPA (some sources I’ve read say less than 15% is converted), so you’d be much better of feeding a fish-based oil which contains omega 3’s in the form of DHA and EPA.