<p>I have to start my dog on a “food elimination diet” by giving him only a certain specified food and certain treats that don’t include products that are likely to cause skin allergies in dogs. After 8 weeks, if his itching and scratching stop, it is assumed that a food caused the itching, and I can add into his diet one new food at a time and monitor if the itching returns. It isn’t too onerous, but I’m wondering if anyone has had success in this? By success, I mean has anyone actually discovered a food allergy using this?</p>
<p>We tried it with our dog but never could determine the actual allergy. Another thing our vet told us to do was to feed him only out of stainless steel bowls because plastic bowls can absorb elements contained in other dog foods. Our dog takes Prednisone for his allergies now.</p>
<p>A friend had the same prob. with her dog. They put the dog on some sort of dog food that was made of fish and potatoes (or some weird combo like that) and it took care of the allergy prob. That special food is pretty expensive though.</p>
<p>Not all itching and scratching is caused by food allergies, so while food elimination may find a cause, don’t get hung up if it doesn’t.</p>
<p>We had a wonderful Portugese Water Dog for 12 years who itched almost his entire life. We went through changing foods right down to putting him on a rice and ground turkey (we made it ourselves) diet. Nothing changed. We (along with the vet) eventually chalked it up to an autoimmune issue (similar to psoriasis). </p>
<p>While the dog was always itchy, it never kept his spirits down as dogs do live in the moment. However, he did play favorites in the house for those who scratched him the best. 
In the end, the skin condition was not the cause of his demise, so if nothing else an itchy skin condition, while dismaying for the owner is not generally fatal to the dog.</p>
<p>I wish you and your dog some relief.</p>
<p>Thanks for advice re: bowls. My dogs are currently using plastic bowls. </p>
<p>That is right, the food is expensive (although much less expensive than doing scratch tests). Luckily, I can just get it at the pet store here and don’t have to make a trip to the vet’s office. </p>
<p>My dog had been on prednisone on and off for a few years because of allergies, but that isn’t good for the dog long term. That is why we are taking a different approach and willing to try this.</p>
<p>The problem with the allergies is that while the scratching is annoying to him, and to us when he wakes us during the night when we hear him, he tends to develop yeast infections in his paws and ears which the vet thinks is secondary to the basic skin allergies. So we are for the third time treating the yeast infection and starting on the food elimination diet.</p>
<p>Yes, we have gone through this. We basically put her on a no wheat, no corn, no dairy, no eggs diet. She eats California Natural lamb and rice, or fish and sweet potato. It did improve her itchiness. However, seasonally, she will become very itchy even on this diet. At those times, we have to use prednisone. My feeling is that it is the wheat and/or corn that she is allergic to, but we avoid the other items also.</p>
<p>Now, the fleas are just awful this year around here. We haven’t had a problem in about 10 years with fleas (ticks, yes) and this year is horrible. Make sure that isn’t part of the problem.</p>
<p>When we adopted our bichon, the rescue group told us that the breed is often allergic to chicken, which is probably the most common ingredient in dog food. The pet supply store nearby (boutique, not chain) suggested Natural Balance, as they have several varieties with no chicken. Now she mainly scratches if her ears need cleaning.</p>
<p>My friends dog had this exact problem. Somebody told her about some pills from walmart pet section, I believe they were Dr.something. (I will find out the name when I next talk to her) that contained yeast and garlic. They were to be given one pill for every 10lbs body weight. It took about two weeks, but the dog no longer scratches and has regrown its hair. She also said they were only $3.00 for a bottle of 250 pills, so for her 60 on dog was a 40 day supply.</p>
<p>Hi Odyessy,
Have done food elimination diet twice and will be starting with another dog possibly in another week. Our dogs (all lab retrievers) seem to get ear infections rather than skin reaction. After a year of on and off again ear infections (when treated they would resolve, but within a week of stopping the ear ointment, they would be back) we tried the food elimination diet. Turned out the food was the culprit in both cases. We switched both to a lamb and rice dry food and things improved greatly.
You need to be very careful not to let any other items slip in. For example, during the elimination phase, we had to change to a different Heart-Guard medication (not the beef flavor cube we had been using. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>My dog has serious allergies. Specifically, the wrong food gives her bloody diarrhea–she has irritable bowel syndrome. After treatment with prednisone to get rid of the inflammation, we went through the elimination diet series to figure out what she was allergic to. We now avoid lamb, soy, salmon, corn, dairy, wheat, venison… and a few other things. It has made a huge difference. Two years later we are still going through the process. I only try new foods every three months or so because the reaction to a “bad” food is so extreme. Next on the list is eggs.</p>
<p>Yes, I cook for the dog. I have also found the Wellness brand foods to be excellent–I feed Wellness Fish and Sweet Potato when I have to feed kibble.</p>
<p>I have known several people who add extra oils into their dogs’ diets to relieve itchiness. Flax seed oil and salmon oil (if your dog isn’t allergic to either of those) seem to work the best. (After my vet recommended flax seed oil for my dog’s joints (she also has hip dysplasia), I started taking it myself.) </p>
<p>Has your vet suggested any sort of anti-itch shampoo? My standard poodles both get itchy if they’re not bathed regularly. I wash them every two or three weeks and make VERY sure to rinse thoroughly. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>It may not be food, it may be hay fever. Whenever my husband’s hay fever acts up, the dog always has a bought of itching, licking her paws, and hot spots. Since it coincides so closely with his runny nose symptons, we were almost certain it was an airborn allergen, and the vet concurred.</p>
<p>Our golden retriever had itchy skin and ear infections for about 2 years - we went through a variety of dog foods and finally settled on a raw diet - essentially ground up raw meat with veggies. </p>
<p>Nature’s Variety is the brand we use:</p>
<p>[Nature’s</a> Variety](<a href=“Instinct Raw Pet Food | The Choice is Raw”>http://www.naturesvariety.com/)</p>
<p>It comes in frozen patties - we simply take out the next days portion every morning. Ingredients are:</p>
<p>Chicken, Raw Ground Chicken Bone, Turkey, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, Apples, Carrots, Butternut Squash, Ground Flaxseed, Chicken Eggs, Broccoli, Lettuce, Spinach, Dried Kelp, Apple Cider Vinegar, Parsley, Honey, Salmon Oil, Olive Oil, Blueberries, Alfalfa Sprouts, Persimmons, Duck Eggs, Pheasant Eggs, Quail Eggs, Inulin, Rosemary, Sage, Clove.</p>
<p>I have to say I am occasionally tempted to throw one on the grill - it essentially looks just like a hamburger patty :)</p>
<p>He has been essentially itch free for 3 years now on this diet (yes he scratches now and then - but what dog doesn’t :)</p>
<p>I did recently try special medicated shampoo, but it doesn’t help with my dog’s secondary yeast infection in ears and paws. But I will keep it in mind for later on, once we see results of food diet. I’m using a natural balance brand of sweet potato and venison, but my vet also recommended the wellness and nature’s recipe versions as well. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that my dog is allergic to chicken or cheese as he got some most every day. </p>
<p>Well, I’m optimistic now that perhaps this will work. My breaking point is when he starts to wake me during the night with his scratching and licking. Then I know I need to do something.</p>
<p>I second Tango’s suggestion of hay fever. Our cocker spaniel was very itchy, with dry, flaky, red skin, and an elimination diet was unsuccessful. The vet recommended allergy testing - very expensive, but well worth it because his scratching at night was depriving us of sleep. Turned out he was allergic to more than a dozen or so plants and trees, so we started him on allergy shots (even more expensive), which worked well. </p>
<p>If your dog requires prednisone, I suggest that you also feed him milk thistle, which is available at Whole Foods or other health food stores. This herb protects the kidneys and liver from the harmful effects of pred. You can Google it to get the dosage, but I recall that dosing at the human rate is ok.</p>
<p>The inhaled allergies are similar to hay fever and will manifest in hay fever season. For food allergies, I suggest going as simple and basic as possible. My recommended brand is California Natural. There are three varieties – Herring, Chicken and Lamb. It’s a very very simple food. Cal Nat is available at independent pet stores – not the big boxes. It’s expensive, but it’s real food. </p>
<p>Most of the grocery brands are first ingredient corn and contain byproduct meal. Many dogs will do much much better on a food without corn, wheat, soy or byproduct meals. I also have a <em>thing</em> about the fractionated grains and prefer whole grains.</p>
<p>One of the major brands with a lamb and rice formula, that is available in pet specialty including the big box stores, is having a serious price increase next month <em>and</em> cutting the bag size <em>and</em> reformulating the food. PM me if you want to know which one. I’m about to drop it from my food lineup in the shop and I will suggest Cal Nat or Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals to my customers.</p>
<p>Try going grain free and also poultry free. Also, try to get on a single protein source. Oddly, we found out that it is fairly common for dogs to be allergic to chicken. We had a similar problem as you, and after many visits to specialists - the clerk at our holistic pet food store told us how many customer have the same problem. We switched to a salmon based dry food with a small bit of salmon based can food and all the itching stopped.</p>
<p>My dog is a chronic itcher…he wakes me up nitely (since he insists on sleeping right up against me) when he scratches and his back legs are frequently bald and sometimes raw from the biting. The vet had me put him on the expensive fish and potatoes diet for 3 months. NO difference. I am convinced that he is allergic to wet grass but I don’t see how to keep him off of it. I bath him every two weeks in Allermyl or oxyderm or any hypoallergenic shampoo.</p>
<p>Thanks for all suggestions. I knew I would learn a lot here. I’ll let you all know how it turns out – in 6-8 weeks.</p>
<p>We also have a lab and after 9 years of chronic ear problems (brown, waxy, smelly, incessant itching), we switched him to Iams lamb and rice dry food. We buy the Iams lamb and rice biscuits for treats. That is ALL he eats except for the occasional bits of leftover steak. No chicken, no wheat, no corn, no crusts of bread or leftover sandwich, no cheating!</p>
<p>After two weeks on this diet, he was cured. We didn’t go beyond and try to introduce any other foods. Why mess with what works!?</p>
<p>Odyssey, Thanks for posting this topic. We are also going through this and thought I would share our experience.</p>
<p>My golden retriever started the battle against allergies 3 weeks ago. I noticed she was licking her paws and genitals. Then she had itchy red spots on her tail, legs, trunk and face. Her fur was coming out by the handful. Her skin was flacky and appeared to be a bad case of dandruff. The vet blames a food allergy. He cultured the skin, gave her an antibiotic shot and a special bath. We were sent home on a special Iams diet of herring and catfish. He also prescribed 3 oral medications: an antibiotic, antihistamine, and a fatty acid pill for her coat. He advised me not to give her anything to eat except the prescribed diet.</p>
<p>Two weeks later we returned to the vet for another medicated bath and another 2 weeks worth of antibiotics and antihistimines. The pathology results showed a staph infection, which he feels is secondary to the allergic reaction. She has two new sores, the original sores are less red, some have scabs and she is still licking her feet and genitals. He said to give it more time.</p>
<p>I feel so bad for her as she is quite miserable and is still looking for her usual treats. I read online that it can take 12 weeks of the trial diet to see improvement. At that point you can add one new food each 12 week period. So after $750. in vet bills and a very expensive special diet, I am wondering if we are on the right track. Any advice appreciated.</p>