Our Rescue Pug

Question
Hello.  My husband and I adopted a wonderful rescue pug about a month ago.  Upon picking him up, we were told he had allergies to whole grains and would need special food.  We purchased the special all natural food that was recommended, as well as the all natural grain free treats.

Since he moved in with us, his allergies have gotten worse.  We took him to the vet.  We told the vet he was already on special dog food because he was allergic to whole grains.  (I think he is allergic to something else as well).  Our Vet insisted that we give our dog special vet food (at $60 a bag).  We purchased the food.  The first 2 days our dog would not eat that food.  During which he was aggressive and moody (I think because he was starving)

He has eating it for two days and now he is having accidents around the house.  He pooped in the house (Which he has never done) and peed last night.  (Or maybe it was throw up, we are not sure, it was really bright yellow, and we found it this morning.)  Overall, his personality has become very aggressive and edgy since introducing the new food. (It's rabbit and potato)

What do you suggest?  Should we go back to the food he was eating, or continue with the food the vet gave us?  Is he having an allergic reaction to the new food? Is this normal when you switch foods?  HELP

Answer
Hi Sunny,

Your dog's aggressive demeanor is not a symptom of a food allergy. It's not unusual for a recently adopted dog to "hide" his true personality until he feels more settled in his surroundings. It may be, that your dog is an "edgy" fellow, and is only now showing his true colors. However, if your dog isn't feeling well, that can certainly make him more edgy than he'd feel if he was feeling better.

It's only been a couple of days since you've begun the new prescription diet. Give it the some time to see if it works. Giving into a dog's whims when he holds out for something better to eat (as your dog is doing) will teach your dog to be finicky, and that "holding out" works!

You can try grating a little hard boiled egg into your dog's prescription diet, in an effort to get him to eat. If your dog's allergy is responding to the new diet, then it's something you should stick with, even though your dog is showing his displeasure in this choice of diet.

If after about a month of feeding your dog the prescription diet you don't see any improvement, then you could try gradually switching your dog back to his original diet over a period of 5-7 days, or trying another grain free food. Just arriving in a new home is very stressful to a dog, it could be that the stress of being re-homed put him over the edge, so to speak. You might find that he does well on the food he started with.

There are several grain free dog foods available these days, if you're looking for an "over the counter" dog food option. Wellness makes the CORE line of dog foods that are all 100% grain free. EVO and Canidae are two other brands that makes a grain free formula. Many times it's a matter of trial and error in finding a food a dog will both eat, and also tolerate. Sometimes getting a dog to eat a specialty diet is as simple as choosing the canned version, over the dry food of the same brand.

It's also true that a dog can develop an intolerance to a food he was previously doing well on. Treating a dog with a skin condition/allergy is never easy.

It might be helpful to have your dog examined by a veterinarian who specializes in allergies and skin conditions. If you could pin point what your dog is allergic to, you'd know what you should feed him, and what you should avoid. Your current vet can probably give you a recommendation to a veterinary dermatologist, or you can locate one here:

http://www.avma.org/education/abvs/specialty_orgs/default.asp

As far as your dog's recent house training accidents. Don't give him the run of your home when you aren't available to supervise him. At night and when you're not home, either crate him (if he's crate trained) or contain him to one room with the help of a child-gate or two. Laying newspaper over the entire floor will make clean ups easier, if he has an accident. If he continues to be disagreeable or aggressive you should consider having a dog behaviorist evaluate him at your home. That behavior isn't related to his allergies, and needs to be addressed, or it can get worse.

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti