Summer Spa Bundle: Flea and Tick Shampoo, Coconut Oil and Salmon Oil

Summer brings the coat problems all at once: the heavy moult, the itching, and the passengers picked up in long grass. This bundle covers the three jobs that follow, in the order they need doing. Wash the coat, look after the skin underneath it, and then feed the coat from the inside, which is the part most people skip because it takes six weeks before anything shows.

The shampoo handles bath day and the insects sitting on the coat at the time. The coconut oil goes on afterwards and sparingly, worked into dry patches, bare elbows and cracked nose leather rather than slathered over a whole dog. The salmon oil goes in the food bowl: the omega-3 fatty acids in it are what genuinely change coat condition over a couple of months, and they are the same fats vets have in mind when they suggest fish oil for stiff older joints.

• Three-part summer grooming bundle
• Flea and tick shampoo for bath-day treatment
• Coconut oil for dry skin, elbows and nose leather
• Salmon oil to add to food for coat condition
• Covers washing, topical care and diet in one order
• Built around a routine rather than an emergency

Be clear about what the shampoo does. It kills what is on the coat on the day and nothing more. It does not break the flea life cycle, and the great majority of any infestation is eggs and larvae sitting in your carpets and the dog's bedding rather than on the dog, so if fleas are in the house you still need a vet-supplied treatment and a hot wash of the bedding. Start the salmon oil at a small dose and build up, as it is pure fat and going straight in at full dose loosens some dogs.

Who it's for: dogs who come back from summer walks scratching, heavy moulters in June, and owners who would rather run a routine than deal with an emergency.