NEED HELP WITH FOOD

Question
I have a 6 month old boxer who just doesnt want to eat anything i give her. When I got her she was on Royal Canin. I tried switching her to Solid Gold but that gave her diarrhea. I just tried Natures Variety Instinct the rabbit formula and she seems to not be interested at all. She is very itchy. The vet told me to put her on Chlor-trimeton so that is what I have been doing. She ended up getting a staph infection and I think that may be due to at one point she was scratching SOOOOOO bad!! But everything I give her she has no interest in. There are so may dog foods out there that I dont know what to give her. Should I try an allergy formula? Please help She isnt skinny or anything but I just need for her to enjoy her food. Please help!!!!

Answer
Did they vet say why she was itchy?  Antihistamines can suppress the symptoms, but you do need to figure out the root of the problem if you haven't already.

If she's not skinny then she's getting enough to eat; from your message I'm guessing that she'll eat, she just doesn't seem very enthused about it?  Part of that might be the way you feed her - some dogs will pick all day at food if it's available all day, but if you switch to putting the food down for 15 minutes, and if they don't eat they have to wait for the next meal time, many dogs will start eating everything in the bowl when it's given to them.  Boxers are very good at training their owners to 'doctor up' their food, adding extras like cottage cheese, broth, hamburger, etc. - none of which is necessarily bad in limited amounts, but they should not be given solely to entice the dog to eat.

You mentioned Solid Gold gave her diarrhea - if it happened right when you changed foods, it might have been from the switch; some dogs need longer than the standard two weeks to fully change to a new food.  Given the itching, if you don't have a known cause, I would probably stick with the grain free formulas (though some feel the higher-protein ones are inappropriate for puppies; the moderate-protein, 34-36% or so, are generally considered less of an issue).  There is a line of dehydrated foods called The Honest Kitchen which most dogs are quite happy to eat, so that might something to try.  (www.thehonestkitchen.com) Home-prepared or raw diets are options, as well, depending on your ability and comfort level with these types of foods.