Enhancing Red Coat Colour

[Skye2]

My 1 year old bulldog has just gone through a coat drop and the colour has changed from a lovely rich red to a pale yellowy red. I am hoping it might improve as the new coat comes through but she seems to get lighter with each change in coat. Does anyone have any tips for improving coat colour through diet. I thought about adding in some fish oil or Livermol or maybe feeding her some carrots.

Help appreciated...

[sheena]

Black Hawk have a new range of natural shampoos out & have one for enhancing red coats

http://www.blackhawkpetcare.com/grooming-products/YU-Shampoos--Conditioners/yu-red-copper-enhance-formula

other than that, the long term use of Livamol works well, but it is not an overnight fix.

[Vacuna]

I have a dog that has come from up north with a very sun bleached coat - while golden highlights may look good on the human head definitely not a good look on him. I am using colour enhancing shampoo from Groomers Australia to try to get the colour of the top of the coat closer to his natural colour rather than resorting to cutting it off. Maybe an option for you to use in conjunction with diet.

[Skye2]

Thanks, i have never had a great deal of suscess with the enhancing shampoos, thats why i thought a long term diet option was better.

How much Livermol do you think you would feed to a dog, I suppose i would start small then adjust as she adapts to the taste.

[Alyosha]

We used to have a red saluki and she loved her Livamol. We started off with a teaspoon per feed, and ended up with a good tablespoon. You could just start with a pinch and go from there.

[dog geek]

Flax/Linseed added to the diet will change the colour of the yellow pigments... I brought out the red on a Saluki I had for several months using flax.

...this works for Palomino horses (turns them orangey, rather than golden) and for my seven year old son - he lived on soy and linseed biscuits for years, then they changed the recipe and he went off them; he has gone from strawberry blonde to dirty bonde

[espinay2]

Livamol and omega 3's in the diet. Best addressed from the inside out for the best results.

[WreckitWhippet]

Livamol and an omega oil that is balanced, that being 3,6,9.

[espinay2]

Remember to take into account other sources of essential fatty acids in the diet - for example chicken and lamb fat is high in omega 6 ;)

[OSoSwift]

carrot oil, two drops a day in their food

[Stitch]

I used to add Livamol to the dogs diet however I think you have to be a bit cautious.

Because it has molasses in it I had one dog develop a major tartar issue followed by 2 teeth extractions which the dental specialist put down to the amount of sugar in the diet. Other dogs did not have this problem so it obviously varies from dog to dog.

I would not feed Livamol again because of it.

I have found from experience that feeding certain dry foods can also have an effect on coat colour.

[Roova]

I don't know if this helps or not but I used to breed Discus and often wanted to improve red in them. I hand made food which contained foods high in natural carotenoid pigments. You can buy artifical red enhancers but I didn't want to go that route as it was quite expensive.

Foods high in carotenoid's include fruits and vegetables with vivid colours like green leafy vegetables, broccoli, kale, carrots, tomatotoes, pumpkin, sweet potato, red capsicums and peas. Another thing especially helpful is krill which you can buy frozen as fish food so potentially you could add this to your dog food if you make your own food.

If you're desperate you may be able to buy pure astaxanthin or canthaxanthin from an aquarium if you want to go the artifical route. (Its pretty expensive though).

Good luck