Rescued Corgi with Damaged Coat

I have 'rescued' a 5 year old female corgi, whom I've named Melly. The people who owned her shaved her down to her skin for at least a couple of years(she'd spent all her life with them). The last time she was shaved was last June. Her undercoat is slowly coming back (still short and a bit sparse) and the outer hairs are thin and about an inch long. When I picked her up about 2 months ago, she was covered with fleas, had flea dermatitis and had licked most of the hair off her underparts/belly. That hair is slowly coming back; I've got the flea situation handled. I'm feeding her good food and a supplement to aid her skin. I've bathed her with a mild oatmeal shampoo and last week had her professionally groomed, with an oil treatment. That seemed to help a bit.

Does anyone have any suggestions for anything else I might do for her? She's a very sweet little thing. I'm very pleased she's come to live with me. I certainly don't want to bathe her all that much. I've actually never bathed my other two, 5 year old Dexter and 4 year old Zoe. Melly has that doggie odor, something my other corgis never do (Melly is my sixth corgi); I'm hoping that once her coat and skin become balanced, the odor will dissipate. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Kitty Kirwin on January 21, 2011 at 5:56pm

Maybe fish oil in her diet. She sounds so sweet. I would buy her a tee shirt, I get Gwenie shirts from Target in the child dept,at 29 pounds she wears a 5 toddler. Just love will help her most I think. Gwenie gets a bath every 3 weeks,helps with her shedding & she likes it. The hair dryer is her favorite bit. Good Luck ;)

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Permalink Reply by Dee Dee Rypka on January 21, 2011 at 9:29pm

Melly likes the dryer, too! I thought it was because she had been to a groomer so much, but I guess some dogs just like it.

I've actually got a coat--a friend gave me one. When it was really cold here, Melly wore it several times. That was a surprise, too, because I've never been able to keep anything on any other corgi I've lived with. But she slept in it, so she must have been comfortable.