I'm new to the forum so bear with me as I am a novice on how to post. My 1yr old male GSD has been itching a lot and I'm wondering if it's related to his BARF diet and what I might do to alter it to relieve the itching. I give him fish oil, olive oil and Vit E oil on a regular basis with his food.
He's an indoor/outdoor dog and I know the heat in the house is probably part of the problem, but just wondered if others had suggestions on diet modifications or other things that might help.
I've actually been "encouraging" him not to scratch, by simply telling him "no scratch" which actually works when I catch him at it...at least temporarily---
He's not scratching anything raw, but is obviously uncomfortable.
Any suggestions?

 Quote: martha regula

I'm new to the forum so bear with me as I am a novice on how to post. My 1yr old male GSD has been itching a lot and I'm wondering if it's related to his BARF diet and what I might do to alter it to relieve the itching. I give him fish oil, olive oil and Vit E oil on a regular basis with his food.
He's an indoor/outdoor dog and I know the heat in the house is probably part of the problem, but just wondered if others had suggestions on diet modifications or other things that might help.
I've actually been "encouraging" him not to scratch, by simply telling him "no scratch" which actually works when I catch him at it...at least temporarily---
He's not scratching anything raw, but is obviously uncomfortable.
Any suggestions?

Hi, Martha, and welcome,

"No scratch" commands generally produce a dog who does it in private...... no improvement, and even worse, because you cannot gauge how much and when he is doing it.

Is the itch along the spine or the base of the tail? Or the groin/armpits? Or the paws?

Is any itchy part red? Any rash? Any odor? Are his ears clear and uninflamed inside?

Was it worse in summer?

What age did it start?

What (exactly) is in his diet? (BTW, the probability of it being raw-diet-related is very slim; food allergies are VERY low on the most-likely list of canine allergies.)

How much fish oil do you give? What size E capsules?

oh I'm not really stopping him at all from sratching! It only lasts a minute. To answer your questions:
mostly scratches behind the ears, armpits and paws, no redness, no irritation, no odor--his ears are clear--was recently at the vet, he couldn't see any sign of skin problem that was visible, no fleas or anything like that.
I give him 1200mg fish oil and 400E 2x per day.
I've only had him 6 months and he always scratched too much I thought (but this is my first dog) and it's gotten worse since winter.
I feed him mostly chicken parts, muscle meat, ground beef, eggs and healthy kitchen dehydrated veggie mix--also some yogurt, beef & chicken liver and some pork w/bones. In addition I suppliment with Vit C and glucosamine chondroitin also 2x per day.
Thanks for the response. Does this help with any ideas?

I feel better just knowing that others with GSD's have the same problem. Sometimes I wonder if it's not just nervous energy (he has a TON of energy although I keep him as active as possible).
He's really been doing it since I first got him 6 mos ago.
I do notice that sometimes even when he's resting he just suddenly perks up from a sleep and has to scratch for a minute or even when he's distracted playing ball or whatever he'll stop to scratch.

oh, and okay, I'll lose the no scratch command. You're right, better to know what's going on. I have been trying to research but OMG there's so much......I know there's never a simple solution..but thought maybe the diet was a place to start and best to find out from others with more experience with GSD's.

one last answer. He's been on raw food pretty much since I got him. Started with part kibble for several months and then eliminated it when the boyfriend who insisted on giving it to him left.....but then that's another story..ha!

How much does he weigh? 1200 mg of fish oil is a daily therapeutic dose for a twelve-pound dog. ;-)

" healthy kitchen dehydrated" -- Honest Kitchen? The no-meat one? Has that been all along, or only since the kibble stopped?

Does he have joint problems? Why glucosamine at age 1? (Just curious.) Also, which form are you giving? (Check the label.)

This itching is waking him up?

Are you 100% positive that there is no flea problem? One exposure can drive a dog with flea hypersensitivity crazy.

Paws, however, sound more like environmental/inhalant allergies.

Have you done any antihistamine trials?

Do you bathe him? Is there any change after a bath?

YES, we will have suggestions. :>

These questions really are necessary.

(Oh, and you could adjust the fish oil dose right away...... I do a gram - 1000 mg - per ten pounds of dog weight, daily. Liquid is cheaper than capsules when you are giving a sufficient dose.)

P.S. The breed is pretty irrelevant, except for saying that GSDs are in the 30 or so more-prone breeds. Since the vet saw no sign of mites, mange, etc., allergies are pretty likely to be the problem. But nothing we will suggest will do any harm in the event that it's not allergies.

When did the kibble stop, BTW? And what was it?

He weighed in last vet trip 2 weeks ago at 78lbs. So I should give him LOTS more fish oil?
He's had the Embark dehydrated turkey and vegetable one mixed together (he doesn't like just the veggie alone so I mix it--something about the smell I think)since the beginning.
As for fleas???well the vet can't see any, I can't see either, but was doing the "drop" on the back flea treatment in summer. Thought it was too cold now--maybe that's wrong though. So, no, I'm not 100% on that.
Haven't done antihistamine trials. Don't even know what that is
In my ignorance I just thought Glucosamine couldn't hurt and I think I read somewhere it was a good suppliment. Don't know what I'm looking for on the label regarding "form"
No regarding bathing, he's only had one bath in his life here. Again in my ignorance I thought it would only dry his skin and perhaps make it worse. BTW--he hated that bath !
The kibble was Canidae (sp?)
Yep, sometimes it wakes him up (which does seem to me like something is biting him).
But, he also does something else that I think is strange. Everytime he follows me to the basement, he goes to the middle of the floor and scratches. It's almost as if he associates that place with scratching--like it's partly in his mind--not just necessary.
Interesting that you say "inhalant". If this is relevant, he breathes very heavily sometimes.
Any other info you need, ask away. I really appreciate your help.