# chihauhau shedding tons of hair



## KENNY GUIDO (Jun 1, 2009)

hello, this is my first post. I have been a chihauhau owner almost all my life. my friend, whom at one time, hated chihuahas. my mother had one and she always bit everyone. but, 5 years ago, my friend bought one. I had purchased one in 2001 and he jumped on the bandwagon after his beagle passed away.

anyway, he had a 6 pound medium hair chihuahau. he is always complaining to me that his dog is constantly shedding. I told him my dogs shed a bit but he says his sheds huge clumps of hair. I told him that the hot weather could be doing it. or, his diet could have a large impact. 

like i said, i owned chis all my life. I currently own 3. we feed them twice a day dry food in the morning and dry and wet food for dinner. yes, we give them the occasional table scraps. my mothers chi lived for 17 years, eating nothing but mighty dog and table scraps. she never went to the vet. she was a mean but healthy chi.

my friend feeds his dog a cup of dry food at 11pm at night and thats it. he says his vet says its ok. he feeds him, i believe, Iams. I told him that that might be the cause of it. he insists it isnt because the diet came from his vet. now, the cause i meant was that he only feeds him dry food. I was told by my vet to give out dogs a mixture of both. my friend doesnt want to go with my advice. I even told him about my others dog and how long she lived on what food and he still doesnt believe me. can anyone help with this sheding problem? thanks!


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

It sounds like your friend needs to educate himself on proper feeding. Feeding once a day at 11pm doesn't sound very healthy to me. I would point him to dogfoodanalysis.com to start with and have him look through some of the foods available and their scores. Depending on which Iams he is feeding, it is a one star food. (Out of a possible 6 stars.) So truly one of the worst dog foods out there.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog-food-index-i.html

If your own dogs are in really good condition, with little shedding, that could convince him to change to a better food. You could be an example to him. Some people are not willing to change or learn, but if he is - I would encourage him to change to a better food to start with, break it into two smaller meals and feed twice a day. That's where I would start. 

Good luck. You are a good friend to worry about your friends dog. 

Brodysmom


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## Jesslan (Jul 18, 2008)

Changing to a quality food was my first thought too. 

Maybe the chi needs a good grooming too. When we first got Jaelyn she shed everywhere! And I mean EVERYWHERE. Once I changed her food and started having her groomed regularly the shedding has almost completely stopped.


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## Tanna (Jan 29, 2009)

Nupro will also help with shedding


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## KENNY GUIDO (Jun 1, 2009)

OK, he is no longer feeding his dog iams. he is feeding his dog NUTRO ULTRA for small breed.


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## *Tricia* (Dec 1, 2007)

I feed Wellness and some boiled chicken as treats, and Holly has always shed like crazy. I definitely think your friend isn't following a very good feeding schedule, but I wouldn't promise him that better food fed twice a day is going to stop the shedding. Some chi's shed, and some just don't.


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## KENNY GUIDO (Jun 1, 2009)

ok, he also says he sheds whenever he combs him. he combs him 3 times a week and thats when the clumps of hair comes out. (he is also a barber!)


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## jazzman (Apr 8, 2009)

Twice a year, my chi's shed when I comb them, but generally, not as you described.

Carlos was a Chi/Terrier mix and he shed like you would not believe !
I would take him out back and just start petting up and down his body very fast, and it was like a snow storm around me. 

He was healthy, ate well, and lived to 19, so I don't have an answer as to why.


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## KENNY GUIDO (Jun 1, 2009)

I told him that feeding him at night wasnt good. he said the dog didnt know the difference whether it was 11am or 11pm. he said he feeds him according to his schedule. when he wakes in the morning, he walks him. i told him that feeding him at night wasnt good because his dog couldnt exersize until the morning.


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

A premium food would definately help. Feeding dry only is fine, I feed dry only and have always heard from my vet and the research I have done that it is not nec. to feed canned food. If he is not a pup then feeding once a day is fine as well although IMO twice a day is better. 

He can add Olive Oil to the dry food and this helps the coat and reduces shedding. Also some Apple Cider vinegar, honey blend will help with all around health;-)


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2009)

Well, first, this friend needs a good whack up the side of the head and then he needs to pay some attention to caring properly for his dog. You're giving him good advice. He just needs to listen!


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## CM Katie (Sep 28, 2005)

jazzman said:


> Carlos was a Chi/Terrier mix and he shed like you would not believe !
> I would take him out back and just start petting up and down his body very fast, and it was like a snow storm around me.
> 
> He was healthy, ate well, and lived to 19, so I don't have an answer as to why.


My Carl is a chi/terrier mix (I think...the owner of his parents said they're both chi/pom but Carl looks chi/terrier to me!) and he sheds a TON!!! 
Mia on the other hand barely sheds at all.


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## dogsarepeopletoo (Jun 11, 2009)

*Better Food & Supplement*

A higher quality food would help, but kibbles today are cooked at such high heat that all of the naturally occurring enzymes in a dogs natural diet are cooked out, so our furry kids miss on what they really need. We've gone to a RAW diet and dinovite supplements (we use carnoyum) which has worked great. NO SHEDDING - NONE! We couldn't believe it. It's been about 6 months now. I would expect it to work as well for you as it has for us.

The thing I had forgotten was the skin is an organ and as such has to remain healthy to hold on to hair follicles. 

If you want to check it out it's www.dinovite.com


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## orl2222 (Jun 8, 2009)

Angel, my Pom-Chi sheds, but Jackie Boy is ok. In fact I thought he was shedding, but it was hair from Angel!


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## huskyluv (Oct 24, 2008)

orl2222 said:


> Angel, my Pom-Chi sheds, but Jackie Boy is ok. In fact I thought he was shedding, but it was hair from Angel!


Since poms are double coated and shed annually to bi-annually, Angel will likely shed a lot and I don't think there's much you can do about it due to the pom in her.


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