How to Make My Dog's Coat Shine

There are countless home tricks for improving our dog's coat shine, from applying various oils to its coat and skin to strange foods that dubiously offer any visible improvement.

That's why we want to show you the tips that will actually help keep our dog's coat healthy and shiny, leaving aside the urban legends that offer no benefit at all.

Is It Good to Apply Oils or Products to Its Coat?

Well, this topic is as real as it is absurd at the same time. Obviously if we apply some type of oil, nutritional preparation, or even beer as some sites claim.... We can notice extra shine in our dog's coat.

However, this is a short-term fix. By applying any substance to our dog's coat, we'll be coating it in grime. Dust, dirt, and grime will do away with that shine within just a few days.

So obviously the answer is no, we shouldn't use this type of not-very-useful home trick that just confuses us. We need to improve its coat shine in a real, direct way, without concoctions.

How to Improve a Dog's Coat Shine

Let's get to it and look at how to definitively solve the problem of our dog's coat shine. Let's set aside applying absurd products like oil or beer and tackle the problem at its source: the dog itself.

Lack of shine in the coat is mainly due to a poor diet. Yes, that's right — even if you're giving your dog the most expensive, complete kibble on the planet, it's very likely it has some nutritional deficiency.

So let's look at what foods we can give our dog to get its coat shining again in no time.

Fish Oil Rich in Omega

Although unknown to many, fish oil is even sold on its own so we can give our dog an extra boost along with its food. Salmon oil is generally the most used, since it contains a large amount of Omega acids.

Omega 3 and 6 help drastically improve the dog's coat and skin shine — it's a natural way to make its coat shine more and look better.

If we don't want to use fish oil, we can directly use canned sardines, canned tuna, or fresh fish. If you use the canned options, they should always be in olive oil (and ideally, salt-free or low-sodium).

Yes, fish is very good and beneficial for our dogs, and it also gives them that extra coat shine thanks to Omega fatty acids (beneficial for health). Careful, though — make sure your dog isn't allergic to fish... don't want to cause any trouble.

Daily Brushing Is Essential

Want to improve your dog's coat shine? Then you need to take action, and one of them is brushing your dog daily.

Careful! This doesn't mean brushing until its skin turns red — we should simply brush it gently and delicately, always in the direction of the coat, for about five minutes a day.

This will remove dirt and dead hair, and help keep its coat clean and increasingly shiny. Remember to use a brush suited to your dog's coat type (depending on the coat type, a different kind of brush is needed).

Spend Money on a Good Shampoo

Needless to say, it's completely inadvisable to use human shampoo on dogs, since they have a different pH, and its use can cause irritation, dandruff, and even hair loss over time.

We need to buy a special dog shampoo, and one of the good ones at that (yes, it will be expensive). We should bathe our dog once or twice a month with this shampoo and not apply any other type of product — just rinse thoroughly with water and that's it.

A good shampoo removes dirt, hydrates the coat, and also doesn't leave greasy residue that helps the coat get dirty quickly.

Use Brewer's Yeast

Brewer's yeast is a nutritional supplement we should use alongside its regular diet. It's very good for regenerating gut flora and also provides a large number of B vitamins.

It helps produce melanin for our dog's coat, intensify its color, and improve its overall appearance, shine, and health. You can buy it at your vet clinic and apply the dose recommended by the vet.

Extra Tips

The secret to a shiny coat lies in the dog's health and diet. If your dog is completely healthy, focus on its diet. If you suspect it might have some health problem, solve that first and then move on to its diet.

Don't expect its coat to improve overnight — some dogs need a couple of weeks and others a couple of months, but its shine will come and last.

As an extra tip, you can avoid walking through arid or dusty places, preferring instead to walk through grassy areas/parks, where our dog will stay clean for longer.

Avoid using pipettes and anti-parasite collars — instead you can use equally effective chewable pills against parasites. This way its skin and coat will look cleaner and better.

Steer clear of any urban legend that tells you to coat your dog in oils, concoctions, or the like... those are just things that work for a day and make its coat worse for the rest of the month.