Daschund with Skin Irritation and Has Seen a Vet!

Question
I have a 3 year old (?) rescued Dauschund who has had a skin irritation off and on for the past few months. We have seen his veterinarian and through bloodwork we ruled out skin conditions and thyroid problems. It was suggested by them that his collar could be irritating his neck (thats the only place he has this.) I've since switched to a different material collar that I only put on him when outside and or on walks because our landlord requires dogs have a collar on with a leash when outside. I've also been using a harness for walks as we thought that maybe the collar was rubbing when he pulled on the leash. His trainer also suggested that he could be reacting to the metal from the tags and the collar because of hair loss around his neck. He is currently on FROMM Gold but could it also be possible that he's reacting to the food? I've also been told that he could still be adjusting because he went from a not good situation to a good one when I got him in December of last year.

Answer
Yes, indeed, it could be from the food, although Fromm is a pretty good food. Dogs can, however, react to certain items in foods differently. It is, however, unusual that food would cause a reaction in only one spot; it should cause a reaction all over the dog, not just around the neck.... which leads me to also thinking that it has something to do with the collar. If the collar has been breaking or wearing off hair on the neck, it does take several weeks/a couple months for that hair to grow long enough to be visible again.

If this continues, I would change collars again and try a different fabric/type. There are rolled or flat leather collars, nylon collars, metal (training) collars... although the last should never be left on a dog, but could be used when going for walks, etc. where there is supervision. I think I would try a rolled leather collar as that should cause the least amount of hair damage.