This is a specific conversation about Dog skin and coat supplements — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
Switching from a straight salmon oil to an all-in-one skin supplement is a pretty common move, especially as dogs get older and their needs become a bit more complex. Skin and coat issues in dogs usually fall into two categories — dietary deficiency or an underlying skin condition — and supplements only help when the root cause is dietary, so it's worth being clear on that before changing anything. To point you in the right direction: what breed and age is your dog, what are you actually seeing that made you want to switch, and what are you currently feeding day to day?
He's an 8-year-old Border Collie. I've been giving him liquid salmon oil for about two years — it did help initially but his coat still looks a bit dull and he's started getting some flaky skin on his back. He's on a dry kibble, Harrington's complete adult.
inparticular.ai
That's a useful picture. Two years of salmon oil with partial improvement suggests the omega-3s are doing something, but you're likely missing other components — specifically omega-6 fatty acids in the right ratio, plus vitamins like biotin and zinc that work alongside the omegas for skin barrier function. Harrington's is a decent kibble but it's not particularly rich in those co-factors. The flaky skin on his back in an 8-year-old Border Collie is also worth flagging to your vet at his next check, just to rule out anything thyroid-related, which is more common in older dogs. Can I ask — is there any itching alongside the flaking, or is it mainly cosmetic at this point?
Mainly cosmetic I think. He does scratch occasionally but nothing frantic, and his vet checked him over six months ago and didn't flag anything. He just looks a bit rough compared to how he used to.
inparticular.ai
Good — a clean vet check six months ago and no intense itching means we can reasonably focus on nutrition here. The reason plain salmon oil has a ceiling effect for some dogs is exactly what you're describing: it covers omega-3 but doesn't address the full spectrum of nutrients the skin needs to produce a healthy coat. For an 8-year-old Border Collie in this situation, I'd recommend YuMEGA Plus by Lintbells. It combines a balanced omega-3 and omega-6 blend (including starflower oil for GLA, which straight salmon oil doesn't have), plus vitamin E, and it's specifically formulated for dogs with sensitive or ageing skin. It comes as a pump bottle you add to food, so the transition from liquid salmon oil is very easy — no new habits to form. Give it a full 6–8 weeks before judging results, as coat changes are slow.
That sounds sensible. Do I stop the salmon oil completely when I start it, or overlap them?
inparticular.ai
Stop the salmon oil when you start YuMEGA Plus — there's no benefit to overlapping them and you'd just be doubling up on omega-3 without adding anything useful. YuMEGA Plus is designed to be the complete fatty acid supplement on its own, so running them together would throw the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio off balance, which is actually counterproductive for skin. One in, one out. Start on the recommended dose for his weight and stick with it consistently.
Perfect, that's exactly what I needed to know. I'll order it today.
inparticular.ai
Good move. You should start seeing a difference in coat texture within four to six weeks, with the full effect by around eight weeks. If the flaky skin on his back hasn't improved noticeably after two months on YuMEGA Plus, that would be a good prompt to go back to the vet for a thyroid check — just to be thorough at his age. Hope he's looking glossy again soon.
