allergies

Question
I just acquired a 7year old intact male golden retriever/irish setter mix.  His owner tells me he is allergic to whole grain, whole egg, cooked corn, potato, and barley.. any ideas as to what dog food I can buy? The previous owner has him on Ol'Roy, which has corn as the first ingredient.  He has sores from scratching because the food is full of what he is allergic to. i have him on benedryl 24/7 but i cant switch his food until i figure out what to buy.

Answer
First of all, I encourage you to learn to read dog food labels and the list of priority ingredients--if you don't already know about this. It is so critical to KNOW what you are putting into a dog's digestive tract and why 99% of commercial dog goods, including the SUPPOSEDLY high end foods, are loaded with synthetics and fillers.

First of all this pooch is obviously allergic to wheat products so his issue is definitely--DIET. you must get him on a single protein or novel protein diet for a while to try and eliminate what is causing his allergic reaction which you didn't state--probably itching. Sorry you DID say he had sores from itching. Question: Aside from food, how many vaccinations has this dog had? When was the last time he was vaccinated and was he ever TITERED instead of just vaccinated because the vet's card arrived in the mail?? This problem is rampant in dogs and it IS DIET RELATED but unfortunately finding the right combo is so darned hard. You didn't say what food you are feeding but did mention his foods that make him have a reaction. How does the owner know specifically what this dog is allergic to? Did she have him tested? This is just such a classic scenario that it breaks my heart.

Anyway, there are lots of reasons that that this dog could be having these problems but usually DIET IS THE CULPRIT. I won't go there right now though, I will focus on diet for the moment. At this point, I would chuck convenience and all commercial foods and begin to 'cook' for him. When we do cook however, we should never cook well-done as all of the nutrients are then cooked out. At any rate, the diet MUST CHANGE AND theh reason I do not want you using ANY COMMERCIAL FOODS is because there are just too MANY INGREDIENTS IN ALL OF THEM FOR A COMPROMISED DOG TO DIGEST AND ABSORB PROPERELY--not to mention the synthetic ingredients that you will never figure out as far as WHICH one is causing the problem.

I will assume he is eating either chicken or beef? Commercial dog food? This should stop. Find a novel protein that she has NEVER TASTED OR EATEN such as duck or venision (Wellness and Natural Balance put out limited ingredient foods if you REALLY DO NOT WANT TO OR CANNOT COOK FOR HIM)and STICK TO THIS. You cannot let him eat one other thing, NO TREATS AT ALL (these are the worst cuprits in bad diets--people refuse to stop giving treats), NOTHING. Once you start this diet that HE HAS NEVER TASTED IN HIS LIFE then you cannot give her one other morsel of anything else or you have negated the entire effort at trying to eliminate. If you must give her 'treats' make the treats the very food that you are feeding him. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING HIM NOTHING ELSE BUT THE NOVEL PROTEIN FOOD (wet or dry) you are using to try and eliminate what is causing her grief. And please, stop that benedryl..it's killing his liver. 24/7 is going to really make this dog sicker than he is now. Wean him off it as you feed him the novel/single protein diet but get him OFF IT. If you stop too abruptly the itching will return ten fold.

Having said the above, you really must get him on Probiotics and a good digestive enzyme. And these have to be real food supplements. I can give you more info if you like. Also, as the allergy symptoms lessen you should begin to puree or pulverize organic veggies to mix with his food? (squash, cucumbers etc.?). But he needs a very high PROBIOTIC NOW!!! Allergies are symptoms of a shot immune system which the benedryl is helping to delete so you need to put back GOOD BACTERIA TO give this dog a fighting chance of getting rid of those symptoms (sores, scratching)The Benedryl is wiping out his natural immunity to everything so a probiotic is a must (acidophilus but not just any old probiotic either--contact me for more info) Do not buy the probiotics at a Walgreens or even some  health food stores. If you are interested in a really good, but rather pricey probiotic, ask me. I do represent a company that sells this product and I only got involved with them when I saw what a huge help this probiotic was to my sick Yorkie. This is your choice as I am not here to push any products--just letting you know that they exist and that I have access to the finest quality supplements around. Regardless of what I just said, please get him on a decent probiotic--go to your health food store and look for New Chapter or DDS Plus and give these 15 minutes before she eats. It is important to give it before she eats.

This is getting too long winded. I have so much information but cannot give it all here. Let me know how it goes, ask me questions if you like and I will do my best to respond. If you want the link to my website where I get the supplements for my dogs, let me know. I wish you well and I hope you start and continue a really wholesome, organic and SIMPLE diet for this dog. Getting rid of commercial dog foods would be a great start. But if time is truly a factor then try the two I mentioned in the beginning. But above all, GIVE THIS DOG A SINGLE PROTEIN DIET...AS IN STEAMED OR BOILED CHICKEN ONLY. NOTHING ELSE...AND I MEAN NOTHING. But remember it has to be something the dog has NEver TASTED BEFORE. Then from here you watch and wait. As the dog improves (it will take a couple of weeks to see any results at all) you will begin to be able to add more. If you use a commercial diet, BE CAREFUL BUT DON'T BE SURPRISED IF THE ALLERGIES DON'T DISAPPEAR. It probably IS A WHEAT AND CORN ALLERGY but since I doubt if the previous owner had allergy tests done then you don't know for sure. This is why I am recommending SIMPLIFYING IN ORDER TO ELIMINATE PROBLEMS, OK?? Please let me know...Susan