[Kmkpax]

My 10 month old lab-chow mix sheds constantly, even after bathing and brushing. We tried giving her fish oil capsules, as suggested by the vet, but have seen no improvement. Any suggestions about this? Thanks!

[labman]

I gave this answer to somebody the other day:

''Puppies don't shed much, but it is normal for adults to shed, often a major one spring and fall when they are changing coats. We have 3 labs in the house right now, and they are very efficient at converting Pro Plan to hair. During the worst periods of shedding, I use a wire slicker brush. It is very efficient at stripping of the woolly undercoat. I have another brush that has large, conical rubber teeth. It does a better job on the outer guard hairs. Between major hair falls, I use a soft bristled brush. Recently I hit on brushing any dog within reach a little while I am waiting for net pages to load.

I feed a decent chow, brush the dog regularly, have them on Revolution for fleas, and seldom if ever bathe them. The brushing does a good job controlling both shedding and odor. If you are doing so, and the dog still sheds too much, you may need to talk to the vet. It is really hard to say how much is too much. From what I have seen of other dogs, food supplements and special diets really don't help much. Some of the people I know feeding Pro Plan to a dog, have other dogs they are feeding something else. Actually my one dog is on Iams. Nobody sees much difference.''

Too frequent bathing could iritate the skin causing more shedding.