we just got sammy today, our new black lab. she was a rescue and came from the street. was treated for stage 1 heartworm. she was fed dick van patten natural balance dog food, 1 cup in the morning and 1 at night.

but it's her coat. it's dull and she has a lot of white dandruff. she scratches and skoots her but on the carpet (worms, maybe?). we have an appt with our vet on the 29th to get her checked out.

i bought some oatmeal shampoo but i'm afraid to traumatize her so early with a bath.

has anybody got any ideas?

could it be her food?

OK, the easy answer first. The butt scooting is usually the result of anal sac problems. The other possibility is tapeworms, which, considering the fact that she's a rescue, she probably has.

Now, to address the coat and skin issues. The cause is probably a combination of factors, again taking into account that she's a rescue. Diet is almost certainly one factor. A heavy load of intestinal parasites (tapeworm, round worm, hook worm, and/or whip worm) is another. The heartworms are also a factor, as well as the treatment for them. If she had fleas, that's also a factor. One other possibility that needs to be ruled out is the skin mite Cheyletiella Parasitavorax. This mite causes a condition called walking dandruff, and it's becoming more common. It's also easy to get rid of, so don't panic.

I'm sure your vet will sort this all out for you, and in time her skin and coat will recover. It does take time, though. Get her on a good diet, take care of any parasite problems, give her a bath in a high quality shampoo, or have her professionally groomed, and wait. In a few months her coat and skin should look 100% better.

In my experiences changes in your dog's food usually take about 4-6 weeks to fully take affect and work through your dog's system. I didn't have a lab but I did have a dog with really dry skin and I changed his food to Pinnacle and it really helped out. The food is kind of rich so he gained a little weight but we leveled off the amount of food he was eating and in the end it really worked well. His coat was really shinny and the dry skin vanished. Hope this helps.