IMHO, I would change the diet to a all natural (raw) diet or an all natural kibble with no grains and stop all meds. Including the Sentinel.

Nothing major with the raw diet at first.....chicken backs or necks, salmon oil, vitamin E and some plain yogurt (probiotic) to start.

There are more experienced raw feeders who will add to this, which is great. I am playing it safe with what I suggested.
Connie is actually the guru that I rely on when I have questions.

Blue, white and red coloured APBTs seem to be prone to open sores especially on the back of the neck and shoulders. I pretty much guarantee you that if you switch to a raw diet and take away the chemicals and meds, your dogs immune system will kick up and you'll have a new dog. Look into having a second vet look at your dog, read as much info on here about allergies as you can and create a good diet. A good, natural shampoo with tea tree oil or something similar will help to clean and heal the sores. Let us know how it goes

My wife really appreciates all of your input. I guess it's time for us to start researching a raw diet.

For years I had been feeding my dogs Eukanuba thinking that I was doing a good thing going with a premium food. Once I finally got a little educated and read the label, I was not impressed with it. I started to feed the Exceed from Sam's, as the ingredients on the label looked to be decent. My rottie and GSD seem to do well on the food. My wife would sometimes pick up Pedigree for her pit, as it was convenient and reasonably priced. No matter the dry food she has always added some canned stuff to entice the dog to eat.

As I said earlier, Sentinel has never seemed to cause me a problem and seems effective for the heartworms and fleas with no other products used to supplement for those purposes.

My two concerns with the raw diet are the convenience and cost. For the chicken backs and necks do you have to buy a whole chicken? I guess I'm off to other threads to start reading and learning about raw.

Funny, the more I learn the more I realize how much I don't know.

Eric,

I'm in Florida as well, and down here fleas are the #1 allergy problem, followed by inhalant allergies, then food. It only takes one flea bite on a sensitive dog to cause a body-wide reaction. And to quote my vet, "Advantage isn't a force field!"

In Florida, we have a much greater variety of inhalant allergies than most other parts of the country, and of course our allergy season is 12 months long.

I have an excellent derm vet in Jacksonville, if that's not far away for you. Will be happy to give you the contact info, if you like.

Regards,

Anita

 Quote: anitagard

Eric,

I'm in Florida as well, and down here fleas are the #1 allergy problem, followed by inhalant allergies, then food. It only takes one flea bite on a sensitive dog to cause a body-wide reaction. And to quote my vet, "Advantage isn't a force field!"

In Florida, we have a much greater variety of inhalant allergies than most other parts of the country, and of course our allergy season is 12 months long.

I have an excellent derm vet in Jacksonville, if that's not far away for you. Will be happy to give you the contact info, if you like.

Regards,

Anita

Eric, I want to say that if you do have a chance to consult with the derm vet Anita uses, I would say to go for it. I followed her thread about doing allergy testing with that guy, and everything he said and did was so amazingly up-to-the-minute, from everything I have studied about canine allergies, that I was wishing I could get him to California.

 Quote: Eric Eschmann

My two concerns with the raw diet are the convenience and cost. For the chicken backs and necks do you have to buy a whole chicken? I guess I'm off to other threads to start reading and learning about raw.

http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm

http://www.leerburg.com/diet2.htm

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

...I was wishing I could get him to California.

Don't you dare!

My wife has been getting some helpful PMs as well.
Thank you all

I have an American Bulldog that is skin sensitive to beef or chicken based kibble...he would develop a staph infection....he does fine on raw but it gets pretty expensive........I have been feeding him FROMM, White Fish and Salmon, and his skin & coat has been "perfect" ever since. Its a small company out of California http://www.frommfamily.com/


here is the direct link where I purchase it http://www.petfooddirect.com

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf%5Fid=20110209&dept%5Fid=1&brand%5Fid=87&Page=

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf%5Fid=20110212&dept%5Fid=1&brand%5Fid=87&Page=

I usually order three bags at a time, click the instant 5% savings coupon and have it on my doorstep in a few days for a few dollars less, shipping included, than what I would pay for it from the local pet store that carries it.

Hope this helps

Almost forgot, prior to switching his FOOD, I stopped his meds and give him echinacea (tabs or capsules) for ONLY two weeks (Not healthy and useless if you administer it longer than two weeks). This helped his immune system. Dr. Brigniac, a derm vet in Palm Beach gave me this advice and it worked like a charm along with switching his food. good luck