Eskies with allergies

[Rachelle]

Of those of you who have dogs prone to skin breakouts/allergies and have changed foods in an attempt to combat it and it improved, what food did you come from and go to?

Any other advice/info on skin allergies is welcome, too.  Thanks!

[taltolson]

Sara has some sort of allergy, it's fairly mild, doesn't bother her much, but it bugs me.  Manifests as but rubbing on any and all surfaces - grass, carpet, concrete, gravel!  Vet said it's not the anal glands, its an allergy. 

It's not any of the obvious culprits: corn, wheat, soy, rice.... still haven't isolated it. I switched her this summer from the Nutripet she'd been on for the last 8 years to Darwin's Natural (frozen raw diet) in part because it has a much shorter ingredient list (20 items vs the 40-50 in most 4 or 5 star dog foods). I figured shorter list had better chance of eliminating the culprit. (And I'd been interested in raw, Darwins had good reviews, they had a special going so I got to try it on the cheap, I liked the Higher protein content, pricing was reasonable, etc etc).  I figured if we found out what it wasn't then we could start adding things back in.

Her symptoms are significantly reduced, almost eliminated (previously the rubbing was 2-4xper week, may be 1-2xper month now).  I think we've eliminated the allergen from her primary food but she's still getting a couple of different treats and I think the issue is the treats. And I think it's something like peas, kelp, cranberries, rosemary or possibly one of the vitamins.  I've done a comparison of the ingredients of the nutripet she had been on, the Orijen I have for treats and those are the common denominators which are NOT in the Darwin's she's on now.

I happy with what she's on now and her symptoms are mild and reduced enough I'm not too worried about the treats.  I think the occasion flare up occurs on days when she gets lots of treats (grooming, nail grinding, day scary person delivers new dish washer...)

[delta]

Delta has some pretty moderate allergies. She has flea, seasonal and food allergies. Thankfully, her allergies are pretty common. I put her on a grain free diet and she eats Nature's Variety Instinct. This has reduced the itching and eliminated the chronic ear infections. To help with seasonal allergies I use DERMagic to control anything else that comes my way. I know in the fall and spring her skin will be at its worst so I also have a vet prescribed antihistamine that I give her so she will at least have some comfort during that time as well.