recommended food for itchy 8 year old Standard

Question
I have an 8 year old Standard. She has been itching a lot lately and I would like a recommended diet for her.

Answer
Hello Joe,
For dogs with skin and coat issues, I recommend a homemade diet that I have made up.  You add it to a dogs dry food and feed as their regular diet.  The dry food mixture should be one that works best with your dog.  If your dog seems to be sensitive to the food you are using now, you might try switching to a Lamb and Rice formula.  I like Nutro Natural Choice L&R food.  

Here is the diet I recommend.

1 lb Lamb burger, cooked and most of the fat drained off.
1 can Salmon
1 can Sardines in Olive Oil
1 cup Spinach blended with the oil of the sardines
1 egg scrambled
1 1/2 cup Special K or Total Cereal
1 Apple Blended (or you can use 1/2 cup of Applesauce)
1/8 tsp Garlic powder
1 grated carrot
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked using chicken broth for better flavor
1/2 Tablespoon Cottage Cheese, this is optional and can be added per feeding rather than made up in advance.
You can also add fruits or veggies that your dog likes, or take out things that you think your dog will turn her nose up at.
This recipe is for a large dog, but if you think this is more than you would use in a week, it freezes nicely.  It has vitamins and minerals that are good for a dogs coat and skin.

I would keep your dog on this diet for at least a month to see if the change will help her coat and skin.  You might also let your Vet know about her itching and see what they recommend.  Dogs can get allergies just like people and they tend to itch or bite their skin and their eyes run rather than them sneezing or having a runny nose.  If you think that your dog could have allergies, you can give her a Benedryl tablet at night to help.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me about this or other Poodle questions in general, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim