Hi.. Food Allergies have been mentioned before, but at what age do they
seem to crop up, and what are some of the first signs?
What foods are hypoallergic..was it lamb?

thanks for asking a great question. i also hear a lot about allergies, but have no idea what to look for. what are some tell tale signs? my Marta sometimes has 'dandruff' is this an allergy or really just dandruff?

Dandruff is probably just dandruff, unless it is yellow and not white -- then it might be a sign of a skin infection.
Food allergy symptoms include repeated ear infections, paw-licking, irritated skin, and lethargy. A dog many not have lethargy, as I am not sure that all dogs with allergies have that problem. But, these are also all signs of other kinds of allergies, too.

For us it's yeasty ears, chewing of the back legs or paws, face rubbing, eye goop..they can show up in many different ways..it all depends on the dog and the allergy.

Ah, finally a post I can answer with some knowledge and experience.

Trust me, you will know if your dog has allergies. It is not subtle. (Although I guess for some it may be.) Daisy has food allergy and seasonal (not confirmed - suspected). I have not had her tested as it will cost $800 plus just for test/serums which have a low success rate (I was told only about 30% of dogs respond). I am going to fight this fight with a better diet and possibly more homeopathic ways.

She has had ear infections (yeast and bacterial) and ear irritations (not infected, just red hot itchy yeasty) and anal gland problems, skin problems (bacterial infection from scratching so much), she scratches her chin, underside, and face, she licks/bites her paws and inside of her legs.....this is daily. Some days are worse than others. On the bad days I give her antihistimine prescribed by vet. Her ears have cleared since switching her kibble and cutting out all GRAIN (wheat, corn etc.) I also have an arsenal of ear drops, topical sprays and supplements etc. The top of my fridge looks like a Pharmacy.

For us it was constant scratching and started when this dog was 2 years old.

I got it under control holistically - still not knowing what the cause was.

Then one day when she was 4 1/2 she got a hold of an ear of feed corn and ate it. Within 24 hours she had a major flair up and I immediately checked her food to confirm it had corn in it - I never fed corn again.

However, when she was 14 1/2 she was diagnosed with kidney failure and needed a low phosphorous food and the only decent one I could find had corn in it and she never had a flair up. Tells me dogs can outgrow allergies just like humans.

So if you suspect an allergy, and food might be the first thing to change,
you want a food with NO grains? Not even the good grains? Also, should
it be lamb based or chicken? Cole scratches, and has been shedding quite
heavily lately, but we also have been going to the dog park and it is
wood chips and dirt and the dogs kick up the dust. I hose him down with
just water every time we get home to get any drool or dirt off him.
He does not scratch a whole lot, but here and there. He also is on Frontline
so I sure hope it isn't flea related.
I am looking now for a new food, he is turning 1 next week.but I am still doing the research. He is on Innova Lg. breed puppy now and since we got him
at 8 weeks.

There is no definitive answer to these questions because every dog is affected differently. One of my dogs has both food and environmental allergies. When I first got him at 8 weeks, I could never get a solid stool from him. I tried several different foods, nothing ever worked. And this was watery, explosive diarrhea. This went on for a year. I would take stool samples into my vet and they would tell me no parasites, but lots of bacteria. Give me metronidazole and send me on my way. The meds worked, but only while he was on them. As soon as they were gone, the diarrhea came back. He eventually started showing more symptoms - face rubbing, itching, chronic ear infections and foot chewing. I finally started doing my own research and came to the conclusion that he could very well have allergies, so I insisted that my vet do an allergy test. It came back positive for several different food ingredients as well as various trees, grasses, weeds, even household dust. Once I put him on a food with none of his identifed allergens in it, the diarrhea went away and the rest of his symptoms lessened, although they haven't gone away completely. He's now on a raw diet and while the environmental allergies still give him fits every now and then, he's doing very well overall.

As far as hypoallergenic foods, that depends on the individual dog. There are common allergens, such as corn and wheat, that many dogs are allergic to. But the protein source of the food can also be the culprit. My dog is allergic to pork, wheat, eggs, oat and flax. Many dogs are allergic to chicken. Usually, if a protein source that they've never had before is introduced, they do better. That's why you see so many foods cropping up where the protein is venison, duck or fish. Lamb based foods are becoming so popular and commonplace that they are no longer considered allergy formulas.

Also, there is no magic age at which allergies normally crop up. They can do so at any time. This is why allergies are often misdiagnosed. A dog can be on a particular food for years without showing any symptoms and then all of a sudden, they have problems. Many people don't connect that with an allergy because the dog has been on the food for so long. But it happens.

Thank you for openning Pandora's box.. Have a nice day!

Allergies can happen at anytime in a dogs life.. Food based "allergies" are usually intolerances to an ingredient or a mixture of them.. Technically, there is NO hypoallergenic food.. And if there is.. it's probably chemically created so I am not certain it could be called food..

Isoalting food allergies can be exceedingly difficult.. There are some usual suspects... Corn, wheat and soy are the top offenders.. My current lab is allergic to lamb.. oh.. and rice! Beef was a culprit for my last lab.. as was wheat.

Your best bet for narrowing down potentially intolerant ingredients would be to a) choose 1 food source and 1 treat source.. b) document the ingredients, percentages and order of them for each food source. If, by chance, limiting your dogs food to just these items "cures" or deminishes the symptoms, then a lot of your battle has been won.. You'll need to keep this diet for 12 weeks.. If by the end of 12 weeks, there is little to no change, change the food source. Prior to changing.. note potentially offending ingredients against "known" allergens and purchase next food with lesser amounts of the offending allergens OR with a completely different, single protien source. Continue for 12 weeks.. Wash.. Rinse.. Repeat..

The more you document, the more you will find the "intersection" of ingredients. The more foods you try, the more similarities will pop up.. The percentage of those similarities, along with the percentage of quantity of that ingredient in that food (based on hard numbers or soft analysis (ingredient order)), you can come to the conclusion of what items are less than ideal for your pooch... Now, this can become more difficult if your dog happens to be allergic to multiple ingredients.. Either way, it's a long, laborious process..

Food allergy symptoms can include, but not limited to (and in no particular order): hair loss (total or patchy), skin infections (yeast and bacterial), eye infections, ear infection, vomiting, das hershey squirts, lethargy, lack of appitite, constant scratching, paw chewing, anal gland infections, depression (yes.. depression, side effect from above), sleep deprivation (side effect from above symptoms), aggrivation (side effect), grass eating...

Any how.. I'm not a doctor and I don't even play one on T.V...

Good luck.. YMMV

p.s. - notice, I didn't mention anything about environmental allergies.. that's a whole 'nuther diatribe!

My golden retrivever may be allergic to wheat (not sure yet - still testing different foods)
He started having fits at 6 months old (maybee a bit younger) and the last bad episode was 6 weeks ago where he had 4 fits in 1 day (3 small fits and 1 big full out on the floor fit!)
We immediatly read up about it and binned all of his dog food. We are now feeding him raw minced meat & fish (chicken, duck, lamb etc) with brown rice & veggies.
It has now been 6 weeks with no fits (fingers crossed). If we get to 2 months then I think we can safely say that the dog food may be triggering fits.
ps, he is a different dog now, much more outgoing and confident whereas he was a bit of a nervous nelly before!

Julie (Buddy the golden & Dobby the doberman)

My ES Hamish is 2 1/2 and just started the licking, chewing, scratching, biting fur, rubbing face, etc. He was on a RAW diet which was based on raw chicken. Well, wouldn't you know, he shows a sensitivity to chicken so I have discontinued RAW, it also was a PITA to feed when going to dog shows, and started him on a single protein, single carb food, GO Natural Salmon & Oatmeal.

So far the allergy symptoms have slowed down quite a bit and he is actually able to take a nap and sleep through the night without scratching, scratching, scratching.

You probably want to know how we, his vet & I, decided it was a food sensitivity and not contact or inhalant allergies...well...he was on Temaril P for three weeks, which is a strong antihistamine with predinisone, and his symptoms never stopped. Thus the vet suspects a food allergy and suggested we look for a *novel* protein source which is why I chose a food based on salmon.

I just posted similar info in another thread, but good info here as well. Shiner's little body had been on Muenster with us then was switched to Euk premium Performance - Sporting when she went to Summer Camp (aka bird dog training). Within a couple of weeks, her hair got very thin, she itched, her hair felt matted, and she had what appeared to be hives all over her belly and ears. Believe you me ... you KNOWN when an allergy is to blame.

We took some Muenster back out to the breeder and within a week, she had hair growing back, no itching, no hives and less daily consuption of food with a gain of about a pound and she has more energy than before. The trainer said she is more alert and attentive.

Ernie is sensitive to wheat and chicken fat.

Ernie was constantly itching. His coat was flat and he had dandruft. After numerous vet vists and tests I took him off dry food.

He came right and looks great. If I gaave him kibble with wheat or chicken he would get a dusty coat and then itch.

I am not advocating raw. Each to their own. I use kibble as necessary.

I also feed a can of fish in natural oil 2-3 times a week for his coat.

http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL888/1996104/3861130/114547237.jpg

I just posted similar info in another thread, but good info here as well. Shiner's little body had been on Muenster with us then was switched to Euk premium Performance - Sporting when she went to Summer Camp (aka bird dog training). Within a couple of weeks, her hair got very thin, she itched, her hair felt matted, and she had what appeared to be hives all over her belly and ears. Believe you me ... you KNOWN when an allergy is to blame.

We took some Muenster back out to the breeder and within a week, she had hair growing back, no itching, no hives and less daily consuption of food with a gain of about a pound and she has more energy than before. The trainer said she is more alert and attentive.

Just wondering why you would send your dog out for training and let the trainer switch foods when your dog did so well on the food you were feeding? Why would the trainer not tell you to supply the food when boarding the dog for training?

When I take my pups in for board if the owner is not feeding the same food as me they have to bring their own food.

Just wondering why you would send your dog out for training and let the trainer switch foods when your dog did so well on the food you were feeding? Why would the trainer not tell you to supply the food when boarding the dog for training?

When I take my pups in for board if the owner is not feeding the same food as me they have to bring their own food.

He did tell me. We actually switched her to the food to what he feeds before she went out to him full time. it is the food his personal dogs get as well. His dogs (her daddy and grand daddy amoung others) do really well on it ... shiney coats, etc. Shiner just didn't do as well on it. We took him a bog to try and she improved. So now our monthly training cost is a bit less because he is not providing food. Seems fair to me.

He did tell me. We actually switched her to the food to what he feeds before she went out to him full time. it is the food his personal dogs get as well. His dogs (her daddy and grand daddy amoung others) do really well on it ... shiney coats, etc. Shiner just didn't do as well on it. We took him a bog to try and she improved. So now our monthly training cost is a bit less because he is not providing food. Seems fair to me.

Gottcha. And yes it seems fair.