Dog Allergies

"It is estimated that up to two million companion animals suffer from food allergies". Dr Plechner believes that the commercial pet foods are a primary cause and can contribute to a host of health problems.

Dog allergies top the list of common health issues we see on a daily basis. People come into the store looking for help with there dog that is constantly scratching, has hot spots, sneezing, coughing, etc.

Here we’ll talk about food allergies as this is the most common one we see by far. Other allergies are discussed on other pages. Please see links to those pages at the bottom of this article.

Even when people come in looking for another type of food because there dog has stopped eating what they are currently feeding we’ll ask “are they scratching a lot or licking the paws a lot?” They will usually answer yes; I did notice them scratching a lot.

There are several causes that will entice a dog to scratch a lot at himself. The most common by far that we’ve seen is caused from the grains, by-products or chemicals in there food. Another possibility that is not as common is the protein they eat. Dogs kept on one protein for an extended period of time can develop an allergy to that protein. We’ve seen that happen many times as this were an old myth. The myth was to find a food your dog will eat and keep him on it. That’s just wrong. In nature your dog would not eat the same protein all the time. This was just another myth the big grain feed companies spread. Grains and other products such as wheat, corn, soy, by-products, and chemicals are notorious for causing allergies and thus, scratching problems.

We define commercial dog foods as ones that typically carry one or more of these grains and/or chemicals. We define premium dog food as ones without wheat, corn, soy, by-products and chemicals. You will not typically find premium foods in the big box stores and certainly not in the grocery stores. They mostly deal with mass distribution companies that sell them other products and buy the shelf space.

There are several types of allergies that are the most common we see. These include food, inhalant, contact and flea.

This is what started us out in dog nutrition. Our husky hybrid Molaki was a young vibrant healthy male. The breeder we got him from suggested feeding nothing but dry food. We didn’t question that sad statement because we didn’t know any better. We did give him and our malamute occasional canned food as well.

We fed a very common national brand dog food. After several years of being on this food we started noticing Molaki scratching severely. He eventually developed hot spots and was miserable. Several trips to the vets office gained us a little time while the cortisone was in effect. Our vet is a friend of ours and did make a suggestion that we look at his food. We knew he couldn’t continue like this.

Molaki was suffering. We watched him deteriorate in front of our eyes. His hot spots were getting worse and spreading. His tail had little fur left on it. He could hardly get any sleep.

For the first time we looked at the ingredient list of the dry food. Wheat was one of the top ingredients. I did a little research and found that to be one of the top three dog allergy producers. We looked at the biscuits we were giving as treats. They were full of wheat as well.

Reading on we discovered how beneficial raw food could be for a dog. That was all I needed. I went out and bought some hamburger and fed him. He loved it. We took away his dry food and treats and placed him on raw and a grain-free dry food we found at a health store. We found treats that were grain-free as well and slowly introduced him to those.

We went to a natural pet food store and talked to the owner about his hot spots. He suggested using a 50/50 mixture of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and water and soak him with it.

It was a warm sunny day when we tried it. We soaked him good with water and then the mixture. We let that sit on him for 5-10 minutes and rinsed him off.

That was what he needed. He got immediate relief. He went to lie down and was able to sleep for hours.

There are other things that can cause allergies in dogs. They can be sensitive to a shampoo or something else they come into contact with outdoors or that gets on them like fleas. This is a contact allergy.

Pollens are a form of inhaled type allergy. You would probably notice this type of dog allergy in various times of the year when pollens are active. See our article on bee pollen for a great natural relief from airborne type allergies.

Whatever type of allergy your dog may be experiencing, you must undertake the process of elimination to find the source.

Click on one of the links below to find out more about each dog allergy.

Dog Food Allergies

Dog Contact Allergies

Dog Flea Allergies

Dog Airborne Allergies