Connie,

It sound like you were on the same path as I am with my GSD, Magnus. He scratches mostly on his back sides, base of tail and has recenlty began to bite on his paws and scracth at his ears.

More frequent scratching began a few months ago and has worsened recently. I started with my general vet, who noticed some evidence of flea dirt and started the frontline treatment along with a shot to control the itching. The problem persisted and worsened, even through the cold months in St. Louis, MO. I took the dog to a skin specialist who noticed evidence of staph sores around his less hairy belly section. The vet started antibiotics and the hydroxyzine, and started the elimination diet. So far the has been no relief.

He was put on a five day cycle of Prednisone with good results relative to the itching, but the problem came right back when the medication was gone.

I really don't feel the food is the source of the allergy and think that something house related(dust, etc.), may be the culprit. In any case it is a frustrating situation and is difficult to see the dog bothered with the persistent itching.

Aside from the Happy Jack remedy, which I will try I would appreciate any other remdies someone may have come acrossed.

Hi, Chris,

You're right that food is not as likely as either flea or environmental/inhalant alleries.

I can tell you, though, that excellent food makes a difference. Allergy is an immune response, and appropriate food supports the immune system (not in some vague, "maybe" way -- but directly, IMO). So starting my 33-allergy dog on fresh raw food with no grains back when I was learning about nutrition and allergies was a huge step in the right direction.

Does the skin vet do scratch tests? The allergy blood tests are not stellar in their accuracy rate (although I have used them and I did get some helpful info), but the skin tests ("scratch" tests) are the gold standard, with a 70%+ degree of accuracy. When the lab IDs the allergens for the individual dog, they then prepare a desensitizing injection (for the individual dog), which is administered on a gradually decreasing schedule. I learned how to do the injections myself (easy). The food allergens she tested positive for (many dogs have mixed food and environmental), I simply eliminated from her diet forever.

We walked a tightrope between using as little Pred as possible, experimenting with RX antihistamines, of course giving fish oil and E, and trying to make her quality of life as good as possible until the desensitizing injections started to work.

Within a few weeks, they did start to work. It's true that they do not always work, but I have gone that route three times now with adopted allergic dogs (surrendered because of their chronic ailments secondary to allergies) and had enough success each time to be worth it.

Unfortunately, it's expensive, and generally only dermatological vets do the tests. It takes the better part of a day, too, and results in a temporarily baldish dog.

OTOH, I have also had allergic dogs (I have one now) who responded well to the RX antihistamine plus fish oil and E, the fresh food, cleaning off pollen and grasses from the paws and undercarriage after every walk on grass, and keeping the bedding, etc., clean of tracked-in matter.

I also keep topical stuff around (like "Relief" spray).

I have learned that you just use everything that helps. Allergies can't be cured (yet), but they can be controlled.

P.S. Give the elimination diet some time; I've noticed that it can take a month or more before any food allergens have left the body completely.

Chris,

I'm in the same boat as you with my GSD. Trying to find a solution can be a long, frustrating and inexact process. I posted in this thread about 2 weeks ago about the progress with my elimination diet, which was, essentially, no progress.

Update:
I may not have given the elimination diet enough time, but I quit after about 4 weeks (only Bravo ground beef, a little ground lamb, salmon oil) I think the scratching/biting was actually a little worse during that period. I don't think the problem is food related anyway. I went back to her previous diet of chicken (mostly backs), veggie glop, salmon oil, vitamin E, cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, and a few other occasion treats. I couldn't find the Happy Jack stuff out here in So. Calif., but I tried Sulfodene medicated shampoo w/ coal tar and sulpher, so far with only one bath. That seems to provide a little longer relief than other shampoos I've used.

She still has some fairly minor scratching and chewing, but a single dose of 2-3mg of pred no more than once a day knocks it down right away. I'm o.k. with using this small dose while I look for other solutions. I expect to continue with this regimen and try introducing the antihistamines to see if I can find one to replace the pred. Tried Benedryl in the past, with no relief. Next. . . hydroxyzine.

Mike

Allergy dogs can and usually do have both environmental and food allergies and they can be allergic to just about anything and this includes the ingredients in shampoos and food supplements like salmon oil. The trick is to try to eliminate as many of the allergens as possible from all sources so you can get the total exposure level below the allergic threshold level. Doing this isn't easy.

You can wash the dog regularly, assuming the dog isn't reacting to the shampoo, to remove as many of the skin allergens as possible. The bad part is that this can be very drying, especially in the winter and then it's hard to tell if the dog is scratching because of allergies or because of dry skin.

You can keep your house spotless, frequently wash the dog's bedding in hot water, and have your air ducts cleaned. These are great ways of removing airborne allergens and things like dust mites. I don't know about you folks, but cleaning isn't my strong point.

For those of you trying the elimination diet, you really need to eliminate all supplements and feed only a novel protein, not a pre-mix, and for those that want to feed carbs, a novel carb. Dogs that have had allergies for any length of time need at least 8 weeks of the novel foods in order to give the allergen response in the dog time to back down.

I wish I had know about elimination diets when my dog first developed allergies. I had tried every allergy drug and shot over the years with no relief, except for pred which did terrible things to him. I didn't find out about these diets until he was an old dog and by then, I don't think there was anything he wasn't allergic to. I did start him on one, but was unable to really control everything he put in his mouth. He would snack on whatever my bird would throw out of his cage and he would eat my other dogs' poop. I wasn't able to do a very good diet and then he got osteosarc and died last summer.

People that do a good job with a very strict elimination diet, regularly wash their dog, and keep the bedding clean, seem to get the best results. Dealing with allergies is so hard, but it can be done with a lot of time and effort.

Has anyone ever heard of allergies that only cause red eyes?

I ask because my dog has had red eyes for some time now. He's been checked out by the vet and has been through a course of both BNP+Dex drops and Terramyacin (sp?) and the OTC medication, Chlorphenramine (sp?). They were very slightly better on meds but they remained red. No goop or discharge at all.

His coat is beautiful and healthy and there is no itching, biting, or scratching. The vets think it's environmental allergies and I shouldn't worry but I still think it's wrong for his eyes to be red all the time.

Any advice or suggestions?

It could be allergies, infection, or even something like pano. I would take my dog to an opthamologist and find out what it really is.

Oops, I meant possibly pannus not pano.

 Quote: elaine matthys

People that do a good job with a very strict elimination diet, regularly wash their dog, and keep the bedding clean, seem to get the best results.

Elaine,

Can you clarify?

1) Do you mean wash the dog w/regular shampoo or medicated?
2) By "regularly wash their dog" do you mean once a week, once every two weeks, once a month?
3) What part of the dog gets washed frequently? His entire body or only his legs and undercarriage?

I'm not sure what he's allergic to, therefore, washing his whole body might be more than needed. On the other hand, because I don't know what the offending agent is, maybe that's exactly why his whole body should get washed??

Thank you.

Good suggestions, Elaine.

Eliminating supplements is a good plan with an elimination diet.

However, as we know, most food allergies are to a protein (grain, meat, dairy, whatever), or (much less often) to a chemical.

MUCH less often is the allergy to a fat (although some dogs are allergic to flaxseed and also flax oil, it's true).

So since the efficacy of RX antihistamines (as I posted here a few months ago about the 2005 Tufts research) is based on giving the antihistamine in conjunction with fish oil (apparently the marine-source Omega 3s work with the antihistamine), I would not recommend to anyone undertaking an elimination diet that they stop fish oil without discussing it with the vet.

I personally consider marine-based Omega 3s to be a huge weapon in the allergy arsenal.

Judy, you need to wash as much of the dog as you can and weekly if possible. It all depends on how well your dog tolerates it. As for shampoo, medicated is better, but if you don't have access to that, you could use the most mild shampoo you can find with the least amount of fragrance and other things in it. As you have no way to know initially if your dog has problems with the shampoo itself, you could try washing by itself before anything else to see if he gets better or worse or no change. Definitely don't continue if he gets worse. It is really hard to be good about washing the whole dog all the time, so you just have to do the best you can and sometimes that means just the feet or the feet and belly.

Connie, dogs can be and frequently are allergic to salmon oil. Most people take their dogs off of everything including the supplements on an elimination diet and, if possible, off the antihistamines too. If you don't, there is no way to tell how your dog is reacting to what you are trying. If you choose to continue the salmon oil, you certainly can, but know your dog can be having a problem with it and you might never get a good response to the diet. Dogs can be without it for awhile without a problem and if you really like salmon oil, let that be the first ingredient you add back into your diet after the 8 weeks. The whole point of this diet is to find out what the dog is reacting to so he doesn't need antihistamines or steroids.