Good Morning everyone! My Boy is shedding very badly...Is it possible he is still blowing coat? I mean he always sheds but this seems a bit much...I brush him daily with a slicker brush...hoping to remove loose hair but I am still getting alot of hair out of him? Is this normal? He is eating good...I feed TOTW so there have been no food changes or anything. I did start giving a raw egg 2-3 times a week....any suggestions are welcome...thanks in advance....

A couple of good warm baths and blowing the coat completely out with a good cold blower seems to resolve the constant shedding, although a couple of my dogs seem to shed and grow new hair at the same time-and that goes on for a while for them.

I think that raw egg white is indigestible for dogs. I always cook eggs first, but I don't think raw eggs would cause your copious shed or even hurt your dogs in any way.

Raw eggs fed whole are fine as the biotin in the yolk counteracts the avidin in the white. Mine get raw eggs (from our free-range chickens) several times a week (as well as occasional chicken parts - they got feet yesterday when we butchered chickens - they love them and they are full of joint-friendly compounds).

Here is some info from http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/eggwhite.htm:

Many clinical nutrition books discuss biotin (one of the water soluble vitamin B complex) as being an essential nutrient which can be bound by avidin, which is found in raw egg white. This binding prevents it's absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately cooking deactivates this effect of avidin, and egg yolk is so high in biotin content that biotin deficiency does not occur when whole raw eggs are fed. So, whilst biotin deficiency is a potential problem - in reality it is unlikely to be seen in domesticated animals unless they are fed an extremely imbalanced ration that is predominantly egg white.

On the positive side - raw chicken egg white does of course have some nutritional value and contains the following :

* 88.3% water
* 9% protein
* Trace of fat
* Trace of carbohydrate
* Minerals -
o Sodium - 190mg/100g
o Chlorine - 170mg/100g
o Potassium - 150mg/100g
o Phosphorus - 33mg/100g
o Magnesium - 11mg/100g
o Calcium - 5mg/100g
* Vitamins and vitamin precursors
o Tryptophan (an amino acid and niacin precursor in dogs and other species but not cats, mink or fish) - 2.6 mg/100g
o Riboflavin - 0.43 mg/100g
o Pantothenate 0.3 mg/100g
o Folate - 13 mg/100g
o Biotin - 7 mg/100g
o Vitamin C - 0
o Vitamin D -0
o Vitamin E - 0
* No dietary fibre
* 36 kcal energy per 100g

Great info on the raw egg white. I have a small flock of laying hens and the occasional broken egg is given to the dogs. They love it and it is a guilty pleasure of mine to a allow the dogs to have them because I had been told it was bad. I'll stop feeling guilty.
Thanks!

That is some good egg info...I started giving egg hoping to help his coat and skin through this little shedding issue! I have given eggs in the past and saw a difference! Is is normal when they are blowing coat to be able to pinch and pull (gently) his coat and it come out easily? And is a slicker brush okay to use for helping get out the unwanted hair? or should I use something else...I will try also a couple warm bath and some cold blows
Thanks again

Someone once told me kelp was good to prevent excess shedding. Does anyone have any first hand info. on kelp?

I give 300mcg of biotin with a b 50 complex daily. works great for shedding and gives a nice coat.

The body will not absorb one B vitamin on its own. The reason for the B 50 complex.

where do you purchase your Biotin and B50? How many mgs/day do you feed?

I use the supplement "Grow Hair" from Natures Farmacy.
Contains biotin.

At www.gnc.com You can try Vitacost.com (they have great prices)

I give 300mcg of Biotin daily and a B 50 complex (all B vitamins are 50mg accept for folic acide which is 100) in the GNC product.

I looked at GNC site yesterday and they only have a 600mcg listed. But I buy the 300mcg in the store - perhaps not all items are available on line.