# Food allergies?



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I have had dogs with both food and environmental allergies that were helped by eating grain free. Wheat, corn & soy are all considered 'hot' grains for most allergic dogs. If only for the fact that these grains are usually just used as cheap fillers, I would go grain free. Also poops become smaller and less stinky. It's even better if you feed at least a part raw diet if you can't go raw all the way! 
I feed raw in the a.m. and then leave a measured amount of grain free kibble in her bowl. We have used Blue Buffalo, Solid Gold, Evangers, Instict Raw Boost, Halo, Precise Holistic and Canyon Creek! Molly has no problem changing foods so we try what ever is the deal of the month!LOL! All grain free of course. She has not shown any signs of food allergies but I still stay away from the hot grains because of past problems with dogs!


----------



## Debra J (Dec 8, 2012)

My mpoo has food allergies but does not lick her feet. To determine what they are allergic to you have to put them on a single source protein diet for about three weeks to see if symptoms go away. I went through 5 different types of food until I tried rabbit which did the trick. Also you have to be careful thy they do not get any other food or treats - not even a bit because that is enough to mess them up. One of my spoos Khyber licks his feet from stress. He never does any damage he just can't stop licking. I usually redirect him by calling him to me and asking him to sit or down then giving him a lot of praise. I'll even take him for a walk which will break his cycle. By the way I'm not sure why sometimes he is feeling stressed we live a very calm life. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Cailin77 (Jul 21, 2012)

Do you have any suggestions for brands with single source protein options? I've been on Dog Food Advisor for hours looking at different brands! Luckily, there are a lot of options within my budget (absolutely can't afford the $11 per pound foods I saw!), but weeding through the ingredients is difficult. 

I think I'm going to start off trying grain free, as it is honestly the easiest option. (Other than telling everyone they can't give him treats, that's going to be a pain.) It seems like multiple protein sources is extremely common in foods! With pet owners becoming more aware of allergies, I would think that more food companies would cater towards that market. 

As to raw diet- I may get there eventually, but right now I can't bring myself to do it! I've been a vegetarian for a really long time and I really don't like handling meat. Especially during a stage where I'm trying different foods to test for allergies, I think raw would make it harder. 

Of course, maybe he doesn't have allergies at all, and I'm just being crazy!


----------



## dlearyous (Jul 25, 2009)

Cailin,

What did you end up going with? I just spent a whole day on dogfoodadvisor last week too. The three I am looking at are Authority Grain Free, California Natural Grain Free, and Innova Prime Grain Free. These seemed to be the best yet the cheapest (where I am at).


----------



## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

Stella was getting a allergy shot every other month before I got her. When she came to me she was so itchy it was sad to even look at her. I switched her to Wellness Core Grain Free Ocean , and Raw. She is completely better now! At first she continued to lick her feet, I found if I washed her every week and poured apple cider on her feet it really helped. I don't need to do that anymore. Wellness is a 5 star food and I have heard that Honest Kitchen is great for dogs with allergies as well. I put a couple of tablespoons on her dry and she really likes it. It is Grain Free as well. I have had Stella 6 months.


----------



## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Our Lab has had ear infections off and on his entire life. He has also had episodes of licking his feet. Last spring, he developed a hot spot on his head, which got so bad that he had to have repeated courses of cortisone, antibiotics, and debridement. Took months to heal, and I really wasn't sure he'd recover. We changed vets last fall. The new vet suggested a grain-free diet, specifically TOTW. No ear infections, no hot spots, no foot-licking, and his coat is better than it's ever been, thick, soft, and minimal shedding, although it does look like he might be almost ready to start the spring snowstorm of Lab hair. ( I wore a pair of black slacks last night, so I'm fairly sure of this.) We put Jazz on a grain-free kibble as soon as we got her, and I'm switching both of them to raw now. No grains. Ever.


----------



## Harrymummy (Aug 27, 2012)

Carley's Mom said:


> Stella was getting a allergy shot every other month before I got her. When she came to me she was so itchy it was sad to even look at her. I switched her to Wellness Core Grain Free Ocean , and Raw. She is completely better now! At first she continued to lick her feet, I found if I washed her every week and poured apple cider on her feet it really helped. I don't need to do that anymore. Wellness is a 5 star food and I have heard that Honest Kitchen is great for dogs with allergies as well. I put a couple of tablespoons on her dry and she really likes it. It is Grain Free as well. I have had Stella 6 months.


Are the wellness ocean grain free kibble size big? Harry is a mini and only eats mini size kibbles. (He is on canine caviar at the moment). Am thinking of switching. 

Also what us the purpose of the cedar vinegar foot bath?

Harry constantly licks his feet. Assumed its normal behaviour. No? He had licked his back bit and front knee bit too much as had little hair. Vet did suggest Omega 3 so he gets that every so often. And she did suggest wellness too

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Rhett'smom (Sep 23, 2012)

The apple cider vinegar changes the ph which reduces bacteria and fungus growth. Soothes irritated skin and deters them from licking due to the taste. Unless they like the taste. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

The Wellness is small. My mom has 11 lb Boston and he eats it with ease. The question about the Cider Vinager has already been answered. Also, my vet told me that licking the feet is most often food allergies.


----------



## Cailin77 (Jul 21, 2012)

Currently, Brody is on Nature's Balance grain free chicken. I started him on it about 3 weeks ago, right before going to visit my mom for a few days. That was a mistake, as my brother fed him corn chips, and he got into one of the other dog's food. 

Back at my apt, he is very talented at finding dropped pieces of cat food! I actually had the cats on grain free (Merrick's) but my older cat was having trouble eating the tiny pieces it came in. I may try again, if I can find a brand with larger kibble size, but for the moment the cats get Nutro. (I know it is not the ideal, thus why I switched, but after seriously upset tummies from trying Canyon Creek GF I just needed to get something I knew would work for them.) 

Oh, and yesterday Brody managed to steal a loaf of bread off my kitchen table! The table is 30 inches tall, and he's about 12 inches. There were no chairs around the table, so I have no clue how he did it. 

So, in short, I am not yet any closer to finding out if Brody has allergies! It's been about a week since he's gotten into anything with corn in it, so hopefully I can keep that up for another couple weeks to see how he does. I think a corn allergy is the most likely culprit. And corn free is much easier than completely grain free! Honestly, GF food isn't that expensive, but GF treats are just crazy expensive! If anyone has GF treat recipes I would love to hear them!


----------



## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

I found a recipe for Good Girl Gizzards in Feeding Your Best Friend Better, by Rick Woodford. He has a whole chapter of treat recipes, many grain-free. These treats are very small and crunchy. Both my dogs love them.

5 cups water
1 pound chicken gizzards
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I used about half this much the second time I made these, because it seemed very strong, but the dogs loved it either way.)

Simmer the gizzards in the water, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Drain and cool gizzards.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cut gizzards into 1/4 inch pieces. Toss pieces with oil and garlic powder. 
Bake for 1 hour, tossing 2 or 3 times.
Turn off oven and leave gizzards in oven for 1 hour.
Store in fridge for up to 3 weeks or in freezer for up to 3 months.


----------



## dlearyous (Jul 25, 2009)

Oh Cailin, that must be so frustrating! I was worried about the amount of time it takes to determine an allergy. We have a bully mix house guest we are considering adopting from a rescue but she seems to have an allergy problem (licking feet, elbows, belly) and one evening shook her head constantly for a good while. She is so well behaved and a darling though, I'm sure we'll overlook this problem and continue to try and find something that helps her. I haven't even started thinking about treats, sounds like additional frustration heading my way!


----------



## Cailin77 (Jul 21, 2012)

Yup, food allergies are super frustrating! I wonder if Brody does have any allergy to all grain... will I really be able to avoid it all? In his meals and treats, sure. But what about a piece of ice cream cone he finds on the sidewalk? Or cracker crumbs I dropped?


----------



## Harrymummy (Aug 27, 2012)

Am thinking that harry may have an allergy...or maybe is is licking himself due to stress. Am out at work a lot at the moment and not sure if this us upsetting him. Any thoughts?

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

We (my daughter) have a bull dog. When rescued he had terrible skin due to allergies. We finally found that the only food he can eat is Salmon and sweet potato. The fewer other ingredients the better. His skin is great now, though he still has seasonal allergies making his eyes get goopy every year at this time. He has to wear a cone of shame and get drops in his eyes several times a day!


----------



## MrsKaia (Dec 3, 2011)

Yuki still has some yeast problems on her hind feet, but compared to the amount of rusty colored spots she had a couple of months ago, she is doing sooo much better. I started out feeding her Grain Free Merrick. Then I switched to home cooked, and now both my dogs are on raw. I still soak Yuki's hind feet in a Betadine/water solution. And I bathe her every week, ending with an apple cider vinegar rinse. It's a slow process, if you don't want to go the path of antibiotics and what not, but I think it's worth it.

I also found that she reacts to chicken meat. Cooked, as well as raw. She gets gunky eyes when I feed her chicken. Makes me reluctant to try turkey too...


----------



## Cailin77 (Jul 21, 2012)

Today Brody found the remains of a piece of toast while we were walking. I managed to get most of it out of his mouth (literally scraping bread crumbs off his tongue with my fingers! He won't drop a tasty treat on command), but I didn't get all of it. Once again, we're back at square one!!! Short of putting him in a box muzzle during our walks, I don't know how to make this grain free thing work! So frustrated!!!!


----------



## frankgrimes (Nov 28, 2011)

Ralph's allergic to grains, chicken, turkey and environment things. He's on Acana Ranchlands which has protein sourced from Lamb, fish, eggs. He's doing great on it. When he eats something he's allergic to he gets soft poo, goopy eyes, itchy ears.


----------



## pinkteaji (Dec 7, 2012)

Weird thing for Shelton was that we found out that Shelton was allergic to fish (salmon) which we found out by accident. My sister accidentally bought the Pacific recipe for TOTW that had salmon in it, and we didn't want to go return it so we thought he'd be okay. After a week or so on it, he started going crazy. He would start rubbing his head on the carpet and with his paws as if there was something in his eyes or something itchy in his brain, he licked/chewed his back feet like crazy till the point of being raw and red (any time he has something weird going on, he goes for his back feet first. strange boy). After I brought him to the lab, who just treated him for only the feet and not the source of his itching/licking, my sister and I figured out maybe it was the food, which was strange, at least in my view, because most dogs are allergic to grain and chicken and usually move onto fish based diets. After we switched him off from that to back his usual one (TOTW Wetlands Formula with Duck), he's been fine since.


----------



## MaryEdwards (Oct 29, 2012)

In going to a new groomer last Friday, she suggested Natures Recipe. It is made by Del Monte and she said had never had a recall. They use people food in it. Natures Recipe Lamb and Rice Adult. She did such a nice summer trim on Bentley too. Will add pictures later


----------



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Nature's Recipe contains soy and brewer's yeast which are both consider "hot' if you have a food allergy dog! Advise you to go to dogfoodadvisor and pick something better!


----------

