Hi folks,
I lurk here a lot but don't post much. I've read EVERYTHING about raw feeding on this site and Ed's site in general and really trust his advice. For over 6 months now we've been eliminating from Ed's suggested raw food diet for a 65-pound female GSD (which is what we've got). Nothing works - the dog is still itchy like hell. She has no fleas or parasites and has been vet-checked. Other than the skin, she's in good shape.
I took Connie's advice on here and totally checked out her environment as well. In fact, we even had her sleep outside for a few weeks in case it was something in the house. ** Mod note: This is a misreading of something. **

Still itchy.

I did NOT know about vaccinations when I got this pup (who's now 2) and fell for the breeder's advice and got a whole set of vaccines. That could be it, I suppose.

The dog was not itchy when we first put her on the raw diet, back last summer. However our butcher went out of business, and then we started getting chicken backs, liver and mixed red meat in 1-lb squares marked "pet quality chop".

Okay...sorry this is so long....then we got a new puppy a month ago and she was on an all-organic premixed raw food diet from the breeder (QUITE expensive). We kept giving her that, but one day I gave the pup a little chicken neck (from the other dog's supply) and the PUPPY got itchy spots on her belly. I never did that again!

SOOOOOOOOOO...I switched the 2-yr. old to the puppy's expensive premixed raw diet. A month has gone by and the dog is as itchy as ever. This food is called
COMMON SENSE DOG FOOD and it's been formulated by our breeder supposedly with joint health in mind - she's had a government grant and worked with dieticians and several generations of x-rays.

I dunno.

It sounds great but I have two problems with it: 1) I don't like feeding my dog mush...it's just no fun. 2) Unlike Ed's raw diet, the dogs now poop about 3 times a day - as opposed to one little poop every day.

AND...my dog is still itchy!

Any wisdom?

I should add a couple of things: the itchies are little red bumps that form scabs on the skin. She chews and chews - but they don't bleed or get huge or ugly or infected. Her ears are often bright red.
Also...some foods clearly make her more itchy than others.

We tried all kinds of alternatives when eliminating: bison, ostrich, rabbit, lamb. Cost us a fortune. Still itch, itch, itch.

1. "I took Connie's advice on here and totally checked out her environment as well. In fact, we even had her sleep outside for a few weeks in case it was something in the house. Still itchy." When did I ever say that?

3. Why do you think it's food, which is the least likely allergen?

3. Have you read the allergy threads here? (Not in the diet section.)

I have a broken right hand at the moment, but this board has a wealth of info.

"Environmental/inhalant" means allergies to pollen or grasses or dust or leaves or any number of environmental allergens.

Dammit, I keep starting to type the whole long list of rinsing, antihistamines, fish oil and E, and so on, and I can't. AARRGGHH!

But #1, is this dog on fish oil and E, and do you smell any yeasty odor or see any waxy/greasy pruritis?

OK, I "searched" ...

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/171915/page/0/fpart/1

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/dosearch/topic/0/Searchpage/1

This will give you a solid overview.

Yes, I've read all those threads, as I said.

Also tried basically everything suggested. Including antihistamines from the vet (which didn't work).

The bumps are all over her chest and legs. Also the tummy. Some on the top of the back at the rear, but none on the middle of her back or her sides. Her ears are ok but go red when she eats - the fish and fish oil was the worst for inflaming her ears. Her ears are clean, btw. Her armpits and groin doesn't particularly smell (not "yeasty" anyway)

She gets less itchy when we bath her, as we scratch off a lot of the scabs and they float all around the tub -it's nuts how many there are.

I'd get a referral to a derm vet. The scabs sound like bites. But I feel sure your regular vet tested, right? And you are sure there's no flea problem at all (remembering that flea hypersensitivity doesn't need a big infestation to make the dog crazy)? The areas involved sure sound like bites.

Fish oil and fish are different categories because true food allergies are to proteins.

Which antihistamines were tried, and what did the vet think was wrong?

The vet is stumped about it and keeps telling us it's food.
There are no fleas in our area whatsoever - no dogs or cats in our town have any fleas and we've lived here 30 years. That notwithstanding, yes, we've had her vet-checked for fleas or mites or mange. The thing is, the bumps and scabbies come and go. Sometimes they're horrible and other times they're not bad. We can make no connection to food or environment at these times.

I hear what you're saying about the fish/fish oil. My son-in-law is a biologist and is always speculating about what's the dog's problem!

The other thing is that her nipples up on the chest are so nasty they turn black. But when it's not so bad, they're just red and swollen.

I didn't know about vet-dermatologists. What a good idea!
I'll look into that. Thanks.

Oh...not sure about the antihistamines - they were little pink pills. I could ask.

Did the vet do a comprehensive allergy test? We did that with our dog, and he has been getting allergy shots for a little over a year now and we have a list of all the food and environmental allergies. His symptoms have cleared up.