Treating Dog Allergies
"Oh no! I think my dog has allergies!"
It’s never fun to watch your dog be uncomfortable with allergies, but there are many things that we can do to help find something that brings relief. To work through dog allergies at home takes time. It takes time because the body may be slow to show signs of relief. It will also take an attitude of investigation and taking notice of details in your dog and in the ingredients and environmental factors that your dog is around. If you dog has severe allergies, you may need to consult a vet. There are allergy tests that can be done, if you need to know the answer right away. Most of the time allergies may be annoying but not life threatening, and so we tend to tinker with our dogs food and supplements until we find what makes their body happy. We hope you find one or more of these suggestions helpful to you and we welcome you to contact us if you’ve had success with one, or if you come across a particular solution that we can add to the ever growing list.
Like humans, our bodies are all very different. The same allergy symptom may not all have the same solution. It is also very dependent on the environment, food, stress level, and gut health.
Want to dig further than what we provide here? Advance Holistic Dog Nutrition may be a great facebook group to join.
***DISCLAIMER- This is not medical advice. We are not vets. We have collected information over the years from other breeders, vets and our use and complied a list here for easy reference. Use at your own risk. Consult a vet when you feel it is needed.
Gut Health & Supplements
- A good probiotic will help strengthen your dogs gut bacteria.
- There are many good supplements on the market. We use NuVet supplements. We start our puppies on them and recommend they stay on them. It helps their bodies deal with stress and keep their systems going strong. To order through NuVet, you need an approved breeder’s referral code. Go to NuVet’s Webpage and Use code: 594897
- Colloidal silver may be a great addition to their water.
- We recognize that this may be a controversial recommendation, but in our family, we use it for everything and wouldn’t want to be without it. A Tbsp or two in their water can help give their body an extra boost. Colloidal silver is acts as a natural antibiotic. It may provide a little extra umph to their system without any negative side effects. This can be especially helpful for skin irritations and can be sprayed directly onto the skin.
- Add coconut oil to their food daily.
- Add Salmon oil to their food daily.
- Add a raw egg to their food daily.
- Omegas 3-6-9 helps with fur and skin (bonus – also helps with joints and heart!)
- Apoquel – a prescription item, but can help give immediate relief. However, this may hide symptoms. If you are trying to discover what is causing your dogs allergies, this may not be a good pill to start with. However, we realize sometimes immediate relief is necessary.
- Cryptopoint – an injectiable that targets itch at the source to assist in the relief of atopic dermatitis (eczema) signs with a single injection.
Food
There are SO many food options and this is generally where the issue lies. Discovering your dog’s allergies may lay solely in their food. This is where most of the investigation will take place. We recommend making an excel sheet and listing the ingredients of each food that you try to try and eliminate different ingredients. Many people swear that eliminating chicken really helped their dog. This may be caused by a few reasons….. 1. Chicken and chicken meal is in SO many products, their body may just be yelling “ENOUGH ALREADY!” Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. It could also be different chemicals or additives that they add to the chicken while processing it. Whatever the case may be, finding a food without chicken is often the solution. Be careful! – Just because it says beef, it may also have chicken as an additive.
Common food allergies are chicken, beef, dairy, eggs, meat by-products, soy, corn, wheat and rice.
Many people who have dogs with allergies or illness have had remarkable results with home cooked dog food and raw dog food. There are a lot of online resources, Facebook groups and subscription programs ranging in options and price. I highly recommend that you look into this.
Here are some foods that we use or have used, in no particular order. Our puppies and adult dogs are currently using the first one listed with great success. Have you tried a food that your allergy dog has done well on? We’d love to hear about it!
We have never dealt with allergies here at Green Acres with our dogs, but we truly love the dog food we use for our adults and puppies. Their poop does not stink! That means their body is using up the majority of the ingredients – that’s a great sign of an excellent food! Our mamma’s also rebound faster on this food, which is always great to see.
Meunster Pork
Environment
- Don’t over vaccinate. We provide our puppy families with our vaccination recommendations. Research your state’s mandated vaccinations and go from there in deciding which shots are best for your dog.
- Provide enough mental stimulation for your dog, to keep them from chewing on themselves.
- Household Cleaners and Scents are HUGE FACTORS in how their body processes allergens. Things to consider:
- Candles, Scentsy, Aromatherapy Oils, plugins, etc – Yes, even natural oils can may be the problem, be sure to research which scents are safe for dogs. Items that carry the word “Perfume” is typically a chemically made smell and can be hazardous (to you too!).
- Cleaners – the most common places for your dog to visit and come in contact with household cleaners are the floor and the toilet. The residue of hte cleaners on the floor get on their paws and can seep into their body as well as be licked off. The toilet should be no surprise, as this is often their favorite drinking place. Toilet bowl cleaners are extremely hazardous.
- Don’t forget about your other household cleaners like counter sprays, bathroom cleaners and dusting sprays. While your dog may not be coming into direct contact with these items, they are in the air.
- SOLUTION: find natural cleaners. My favorite is Norwex. I have been a consultant for 8 years and haven’t had a nasty chemical in my home since then. If you would like some more information about how Norwex works and what it looks like using it in your home, I have some short information videos HERE.
- Shampoos & Conditioners – look for a hypoallergenic shampoo and conditioner that won’t carry the additives that irritate the skin.
