Best skin & coat supplement for Airedale Terriers

Losing a vet-recommended product is frustrating, especially when it was working well — finding a like-for-like replacement matters. Before I point you to a specific alternative, it helps to know a little more. Skin and coat issues in dogs usually come down to one of two things: a dietary deficiency or an underlying skin condition. Supplements genuinely help when the root cause is dietary, so knowing what your dog was taking and why will help me match it properly. Can you tell me what the discontinued product was, what symptoms it was addressing in your Airedale, and what you're currently feeding him?

That's really useful context. Orijen is an excellent food, so this isn't a diet-quality issue — your vet was right to go straight to supplementation. The combination of fish oil and evening primrose oil is a well-established approach for dogs like Airedale Terriers, whose wiry double coats can leave the skin undernourished. The fish oil provides EPA and DHA for general skin barrier support, while the evening primrose oil adds GLA — a specific fatty acid that helps with dryness and flakiness in particular. You want to replicate that dual omega profile as closely as possible. Can I ask — did the original product come as capsules you added to his food, and was there any dosage on the label you remember, even roughly?

Perfect — that dosage profile and delivery method makes this straightforward to match. For a 28kg Airedale with confirmed dietary-related skin and coat issues, I'd recommend Yumega Plus by Lintbells. It's a liquid oil blend combining salmon oil and evening primrose oil in a ratio specifically designed for dogs with dry or sensitive skin. It's well regarded by vets in the UK, widely available on Amazon UK, and the dosage is easy to adjust by weight — for a dog your size, you'd typically use around 4ml daily on his food. It replaces the capsule routine with a simple pump or pour, which most dogs accept readily. The fatty acid profile — EPA, DHA, and GLA from the evening primrose — is very close to what your vet originally prescribed. Given that your boy responded well to that combination before, Yumega Plus is the most direct equivalent you'll find over the counter.

You should start seeing coat improvement in around 6 to 8 weeks — similar to your previous experience — because skin cell turnover takes time. The first sign is usually reduced flakiness, then a gradual improvement in coat texture and sheen. One practical note: introduce it slowly over the first few days, a smaller amount building to the full dose. Fatty acid supplements can occasionally cause loose stools in sensitive dogs if introduced all at once. If after 8 to 10 weeks of consistent use you're not seeing meaningful improvement, it's worth going back to your vet — occasionally what looks like a dietary deficiency is actually low-grade atopic dermatitis, which needs a different approach. But given how well he responded before, that's unlikely to be the case here.

Good plan. Stick with it consistently for those 8 weeks and you should see him back to his best. If anything changes or you're not seeing progress, your vet will have the full picture of his history — but I'd expect a positive result given how well he responded to the same approach before.