# Dry dull coat-switch food?



## Tryin (Oct 27, 2013)

My poodle and poodle mix are on Nature's Domain grain-free dry and Natural Balance wet food. I have used Iams in the past with other dogs and they had beautiful shiny coats. On the current food, my dogs' coat are dry and dull. I am considering adding/switching to Iams in hopes of seeing an improvement. There have been no other issues with them being on grain-free. I have only had these dogs for a approx. 4 months. One is 3yrs (shelter) and the other is 5 months. I want to feed them good food, but shouldn't I also see a shiny coat?


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Nature's Domain is a 4-star food, so it's decent nutritionally. It's hard with poodles and their kinky woolly hair to really be shiny or glossy the way other dogs are. However, Acana and Orijen give nice shiny coats as much as you can expect with a woolly dog, but they're a bit more expensive than Nature's Domain. Some people supplement their kibble with a little bit with fish oil or coconut oil, too. But as long as your dogs are healthy, it's not a big deal. It could be winter time too, along with indoor heating, making them feel dry.


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## Jamie Hein (Aug 17, 2013)

I agree with Indiana here. Poodle's do have wooly coats that are less likely to have a shine. What is in Iams that you think was making your previous dogs coats shiny? They don't use good oils or anything else known to produce a nice coat as far as I know.


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## Ruscha_Baby (May 22, 2011)

As a raw feeder with little experience of processed foods, I can offer no useful advice. But what I will say is that poodles coats are not shiny if longer than a few centimetres. To see how the coat is really doing, I recommend clipping the ears with a 10 blade (*with* the grain of the hair rather than against.). This provides a good approximation of coat condition. Of course, you'll lose any ear length, but it soon grows back. Mine are clipped short all the time because dogs' ears are not meant to be floppy or covered in hair, IMO.


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