My boy has been itching since he was a pup. He is 3 now. I started him on a raw diet over a year ago and the itching seemed to let up till this winter.

Food allergies aren't seasonal.


He gets 1500 mg cod liver oil

This is the amount I would give a 15-pound dog, and NOT fish liver oil. You want fish body oil. (It won't say that, but you'll know because it doesn't say "liver oil" on the front label.) You'll see many many threads here (term: fish) about how much to use and why not to use fish liver oil. Also, the dog needs to receive Vitamin E with fish oil supplements (not the tiny amount used in the fish oil supplement as a preservative.)



...his ears are good .... No sign of yeast infection.

You mean no sign of yeast in the ears? Yeast overgrowth can be anyplace yeast can be (which is everyplace).


and myself and the vet have checked him for fleas. (no sign of them) ..... He licks his paws, sometimes the base of his tail, and sometimes the rear of his back.

This is CLASSIC flea behavior. If you look an any chart of itch-geography on a derm site or in a small-animal derm handbook, the base of the tail and the back are the top flea spots. And the flea-hypersensitive dog will almost always have concomitant paw itching.

You are describing symptoms of external parasites (flea hypersensitivity) or, second guess, atopy, IMO. JMO, of course. You're not describing any of the body geography typical with a food allergy (except paws, which span all three top allergies).

On top of the atopy threads I directed you to, I would add this one:

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=29702&page=1

(Also, check the date, or time of year, on it .... posted April last year, itching started in late winter.)

You'll want to read the whole thread .... not just the O.P.


ETA:
This one, too:
http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=31107&page=8



Edited by Connie Sutherland (03/30/2012 05:18 PM)
Edit reason: ETA

One other thought is to read up on is vaccinosis; this is a good start:
http://leerburg.com/vaccinosis.htm

My own dogs were given puppy shots at 5 weeks and again at 8 weeks and at 12 weeks at 16 weeks etc. Both have exhibited signs of itching very early in life. One has pretty bad inhalant allergies and now seeing similar issues with my male. I believe these allergies stem from giving too many shots too young.
Also familiarize yourself on the new vaccine protocols:

http://www.dogs4dogs.com/puppy-shots.htm


Just food for thought. Educate yourself before you continue to vaccinate.

Can you tell me what kibble you switch too with the brown rice.?
I switched to Acana which is an excellent food but it seems to be too rich for my boys. Loose stools.
Thanks for you imput.

Thanks to everyone for all the imput on allergies, vaccines and fleas. Looks like I have a lot of reading to do.

Thanks Connie,

I started to read some of the post that are recommended and a few people have said that they use garlic and acv. Other people have said they think garlic is toxic. Your thoughts on this.
I'm seriously looking into the flea issue now. Probably a dog derm vet. also if we can not get his itching under control.
I also had him on frontline and I am switching to Advantage with the tick protection.

 Quote: Geri Gill

Thanks Connie,

I started to read some of the post that are recommended and a few people have said that they use garlic and acv. Other people have said they think garlic is toxic. Your thoughts on this.

You mean for fleas? I personally don't give members of the allium family to dogs, but here's a discussion of that:

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=28637&page=1#311739

BTW, you could get a non-liver fish oil and natural vitamin E and make adjustments to that right away.

What's the dog's weight?

Just my opinion...but I wouldn't trust flea protection to garlic, especially with a dog that you suspect has flea allergy issues.

Fleas have just gotten too pernicious for anything but a full-frontal assault with some kind of chemical insecticide regimine. And even those are loosing effectiveness.

I was hinky about the chemicals too...right up until my pack came down with fleas and I saw the misery they could cause a dog with flea allergies. Even one or two fleas that you never see can set off a chain of nightmares. Talk to your vet about a proven flea treatment/prevention protocol and never look back.

I was actually giving him leerburg salmon oil. Two squirts twice a day. He has been on the salmon oil for two years.just ran out and started the cod liver oil. weight is 110. -He is also getting Vit E. I'LL be going back to the salmon oil.
Something else that just started this week is he has scabie crusty spots mosty on his chest. They are not bleeding or open sores. I'm going to try the witch hazel & if that does not help I'll see the vet Mon
I also bought a flea comb today and I'll be checking that out.
ALso I'll be doing a lot of reading of these links for allergies.

Thanks again.