Adult Coat: Still soft but more dull vs. shiny and ends seem frizzy/frayed??

[Luna Labradoodle]

Our Luna came to us with a beautiful glossy dark black coat at 4 months old, and now at 10 months old and well into/nearing the end of the puppy/adult coat transition she has very little gloss and is just in generally more dull (I would say 'matte' but I don't mean knotted!) and her coat looks more frizzy/frayed on her back and sides.  I'm wondering exactly what I should attribute this to so I can work to get that beautiful gloss to her coat again.  I should note that she's still insanely soft, so the texture of her fleecy coat hasn't changed its just the sheen is gone.  And also of note is that I keep her coat a shaggy 4", she's never been shaved or clipped, always scissor cut. 

Is this more likely due to her food/nutrition?  I don't currently give supplements but maybe she needs one.  Maybe she needs a new brand of food?

Or Is it her grooming (cut & condition)?  I just use the little thin beauty parlor scissors I use for my son's hair, but perhaps the blades are making her ends fray/frizz?  I have tried using both a lotion-like leave-in conditioner and a lighter spray leave-in and both seem to keep her nice and soft but do nothing for the sheen.  Or maybe I'm not doing it enough, she gets sprayed at least once or twice a week and brushed every couple of days.  I haven't invested in a Les Pooch brush yet, but she's not matted so I thought we were doing okay with the brushes from the pet store.

Thanks for any help/tips/advice you can offer!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Adding salmon oil or evening primrose oil capsules to a dogs' diet (for the Omega 3 fatty acids) can help a lot toward having a shiny coat. A good Omega 6:3 ratio and content in her normal diet will help, too. But the woolier and more "poodle like" a coat is, the less shine it's going to have, especially the blacks. That's the trade off for having a dog with a nonshedding coat.  They may be shiny as puppies, but as they get older and the coats get denser and woolier, they also get less shiny. It's very similar to the way many humans have finer, silkier, shinier hair when they're children, and then as we get older, the hair gets coarser and less shiny. Those with fine straight hair also seem to have a lot more shine than those of us with the thicker bushier kind of hair that frizzes.

I do not find that the leave-in products help with shine; in fact, the opposite is true. They attract dust and dirt, which will make the coat look even duller.

If you want more info on Omega 3 & 6, please visit us in the Food Group. :)

 

[Becka]

Karen, I give Sadie wild salmon oil for her coat and I feel like she's a bit softer (it's been maybe a month or so), but I've also heard that it can take a long time for the difference to show. Do you know anything about that?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

General guideline is that it takes about 2 weeks to see results, and you should continue to see improvement with time.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

I give Hurley Salmon oil and it seems to have helped with getting some of the gloss back.  Hurley is definitely molting.  I agree he isn't as shiny as he was when we first go him. Brushing him every evening is helping keep away the knots but he has had a few small ones I have had to cut out.  Those were inside the legs or on the belly. His fleecy coat looks good for a few minutes after I brush him and then it looks a mess.  Still soft, just messy. I also give him a pet vitamin, a multi-enzime, pro-biotic and c-complex.  

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I looked at your pics to see if Luna was wool or fleece and she looked fleecy but it was hard to tell.  Ollie, my wooly doodle does not shine no matter what I do to him but if his coat is properly maintained he will stay soft and fluffy (kind of like sheep's wool or cotton candy).  Cubbie is a fleece doodle and his coat does shine but I find that it isn't nearly as bright as when he was a puppy.  The longer he gets, the less shine there is.  I also noticed that the frizzy look means that he needs a trim.  I always figured it was similiar to how humans get split ends.  I use clippers on his body (I am not patient enough to take the time to do a full scissor cut) but even when I use a comb attachment on the blade, it still takes care of removing the frizz. 

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

It's kind of like puppy coats are evetually not being 'fed' by the skin so they become dull, thin, whispy etc. They are due to become dead hair that has to be brushed out. A good trim to get some of the adult coat showing helps. I give my dogs salmon oil regularly too to help with dry coats and skin.

Also, like you suggested, really sharp scissors helps prevent the frayed end look.

 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Funny that you post this as I was just thinking the same thing about Riley's coat.  He has very soft fleecy hair and I noticed that it looked a little dull.  He is on a really good diet and I add EPO to his food.  Around his head and ears it is shiny but on his body not so much.  I'm going to trim him over the weekend and take off those whispy end bits and see what happens.  I use very good shampoo and brush and comb him daily so I don't think there is much else I can do.  I may give him some salmon oil instead of the EPO and see what happens.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's what EPO does for JD's coat:

I don't think it could be any shinier, even if I gave him salmon oil instead. But Jack has straight fur that sheds. I really think that beyond a good basic diet with a good Omega 6:3 ratio, shine is basically dependent on the coat type itself.

[Michelle Motorola]

he has beautiful hair! just love it

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks, Michelle. But...he sheds like crazy.

[Michelle Motorola]

is he a labradoodle or a goldendoodle?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

F1 Labradoodle.