The Gut-Skin Connection: How Digestion Affects Your Dog’s Skin, Coat & Allergies

If your dog is constantly itchy, chewing their paws, or suffering from dull fur and flaky skin, it might not just be a surface issue. Many common skin and coat problems actually start deeper — in the gut.

Your dog’s skin is a mirror of their internal health, and one of the biggest influences is their digestive system. An imbalanced gut can lead to inflammation, immune overreaction, and poor nutrient absorption — all of which show up through the skin and coat.

Let’s explore how your dog’s gut and skin are connected, and how you can support both naturally, from the inside out.

How the Gut Affects the Skin

A huge portion of your dog’s immune system lives in their gut — around 70%. That means if their gut is under stress or out of balance, their immune system may become hypersensitive, leading to issues like:

• Itchy or flaky skin
• Bald patches or excessive moulting
• Red, inflamed paws
• Hot spots or dry, scaly areas
• Recurring ear infections or yeast problems
• Dull or brittle coat

These symptoms are often mistaken for “allergies,” but they can actually be signs of poor gut health or a weakened skin barrier caused by digestive imbalance.

What Causes Gut-Driven Skin Issues?

Several everyday factors can contribute to poor gut and skin health, including:

• Highly processed food or low-quality ingredients
• Food intolerances (such as wheat, chicken, or beef)
• Antibiotic use or chemical wormers/flea treatments
• Stress or anxiety
• Lack of prebiotics, fibre, or natural anti-inflammatory nutrients in the diet

Over time, these can damage the gut lining, upset the balance of good bacteria, and allow toxins to “leak” into the bloodstream — which the immune system then tries to fight off, often through the skin.

Natural Ways to Support Skin from the Inside Out

1. Support the Gut with Daily Digestive Care

Start by supporting digestion. A supplement like Tummy Tastic contains everything your dog needs to help soothe the gut lining, restore microbial balance, and reduce internal inflammation — including flax fibre, probiotics, slippery elm and nettle.

A healthy gut leads to better nutrient absorption, less itching, and stronger immune function — all of which support skin recovery.

2. Add Targeted Skin Support

To directly nourish the skin and coat, we recommend Proflax Skin & Coat — a 100% natural blend of cold-pressed flaxseed oil and herbal tinctures.

It’s designed to help with:

• Fur loss, excessive moulting, or dull, brittle coats
• Dry, flaky, or irritated skin
• Hot spots and pigmentation loss
• Persistent itching or licking

It contains natural anti-histamine and steroid-like properties to calm reactions and reduce irritation — with no harsh chemicals.

Tummy Tastic and Skin & Coat work beautifully together — one supports the gut, the other nourishes the skin directly.

3. Feed Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Add ingredients that fight inflammation from within — such as oily fish (sardines), chia seeds, or flaxseed oil. These help hydrate the skin and reduce flare-ups naturally.

4. Identify Triggers (and Avoid Them)

Try to keep a diary of flare-ups. Do they coincide with certain proteins or treats? Environmental changes? An elimination diet or allergy test can help narrow down what’s aggravating the gut and skin.

5. Keep It Consistent

Skin health is best supported through a steady routine. Daily supplementation, a clean diet, and awareness of triggers all play a role in keeping your dog’s gut and skin in balance. Stick with natural solutions and avoid chopping and changing too frequently, as the body thrives on predictability.

Happy Skin Starts with a Healthy Gut

Your dog’s skin issues might seem like a surface problem, but in many cases, the real solution lies within. By nourishing the gut and calming the immune system, you give your dog the best chance at clear skin, a glossy coat, and less itching.

For best results, combine Tummy Tastic to support digestion with Skin & Coat to target the skin directly — the perfect natural pair for dogs with allergies, sensitivities or chronic flare-ups.

Because real skin health starts in the tummy.