Royal Canin Maxi Dermacomfort Dry Dog Food26–44 kg adult weight · adult

Large breeds get a particular version of this: hot spots. A patch of skin gets irritated, the dog licks it, and within a day there's a wet, raw, spreading sore the size of your palm. Labradors, Goldens, German Shepherds and Rottweilers in a Cape summer are the classic picture.

Omega-6 runs above 34 g/kg here with gamma-linolenic acid from borage oil, and omega-3 above 11 g/kg of which around 4 g/kg is EPA and DHA — roughly double what the standard adult foods carry. That combination is what rebuilds the skin's barrier, the layer that holds moisture in and keeps irritants out. Husked oats and flax seeds add to it, and a restricted-ingredient base reduces the number of things she could be reacting to in the first place. Give it eight weeks; skin works on its own timetable.

• Healthy Skin & Coat
• Skin Barrier Support
• Complete Nutrition

Ingredients

Wheat, vegetable protein isolate (L.I.P. — protein selected for its very high digestibility), rice, animal fats, maize gluten, maize, husked oats, minerals, hydrolysed animal proteins, soya oil, beet pulp, fish oil, flax seeds, fructo-oligo-saccharides, borage oil, marigold extract (source of lutein). Additives (per kg) — Nutritional additives: Vitamin A 29,500 IU · Vitamin D3 800 IU · E1 (Iron) 73 mg · E2 (Iodine) 6.1 mg · E4 (Copper) 15 mg · E5 (Manganese) 75 mg · E6 (Zinc) 148 mg · E8 (Selenium) 0.19 mg. Preservatives. Antioxidants.

Looking after it

Store in a cool, dry place, sealed. Use within six weeks of opening — a food built around fatty acids goes off faster than most. Give it a full eight weeks before judging, because that's roughly one skin cycle and you will see very little before then. This supports healthy skin; it does not treat fleas, mites or an actual allergy. A dog scratching hard enough to break skin, or losing hair in patches, needs a vet first and a food second. Dry her thoroughly after swimming or a bath — a damp coat under a thick undercoat is how most hot spots start.