When we would give the injections she would turn very red and itched like crazy. So on top of the injections we were giving 3 benadryl 3x's a day. Also her allergies are so bad she will break out with staff infection between her toes. I didn't think the injections were working, maybe I was expecting an immediate reaction and didn't give it enough time. Were at the point now we don't know who to trust when it comes to Vet's. And do they have your pets best interest in mind or just making money. So I was concerned with being fleeced by the Dermatologist. Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs by Lew Olson suggest adding yogurt and cottage cheese. We bought plan yogurt it doesn't say anything about active or live cultures, It says cultured in a cup.
About the reactions to the allergen-specific immunotherapy: You reported all-over reactions to the derm vet and s/he said to use antihistamines? (BTW, Benadryl is not historically the most effective for dogs, although that doesn't much matter if the individual dog reacts well to it. It's a very individual thing, but more dogs benefit from hydroxyzine and chlorpheniramine. Still, some dogs derive no little or benefit from antihistamines.) That might have triggered my request for a reformulation at a slightly lower concentration. Unless you mean the normal itchiness and redness at the site, which is short-lived?
And yes, it took a little over a year before we were able to end the injections with the dog who had the best outcome, and eight months with the other. But I wasn't giving a formulation that was triggering an all-over response like I think you're describing.
And with both, I was also doing all the rinsing, fish oil and probiotics, etc. Always, for life.
I understand your issues now. But no, it's a desensitizing process and it takes time. It slowly, over time, builds up a resistance to the specific dog's allergens. And besides removing the allergens from the dog's environment (obviously best, although not usually possible for all, sometimes any, of them), it's the gold standard at this point. (Stem cells for severe allergies are probably on a future horizon, though.)
Staph on her feet is not uncommon with uncontrolled allergies. Have you read any of the allergy threads here in an "advanced search" (upper right on your screen)? There is a ton of advice about keeping allergens as much as possible out of the dog's environment, and knowing what they are (and not having house dust among them) is a HUGE advantage.
There was a very recent post (maybe two days ago) describing the info on the board about atopy. I'll dig it up and paste it in here to save typing.
About the yogurt: That sounds like Cascade Fresh Cup. If so, yes, somewhere on it, it says "active 8." That's eight live cultures. Cascade actually has more than many brands (8 is fairly unusual). My question is the Cup form. Does that come in plain, unsweetened? I know regular one-quart Cascade does (I buy it), but I've never seen the cups in plain. (Cup form would be prohibitively expensive for two big dogs, too, unless you meant just as a taste-test.)
You can skip the cottage cheese if you add yogurt, IMO. Everything in cottage cheese is there but better in the much-more-fermented yogurt (and no salt added to yogurt). But don't get me wrong: there is almost nothing I ever disagree with, with Lew Olson!
She and Mary Strauss are the epitome of canine nutrition researchers today, IMO. And cottage cheese in the no-salt-added version is a pretty good protein variety item for a dog who tolerates fresh milk products. (Most dogs tolerate yogurt and kefir very well; not all dogs tolerate fresher, less fermented cow's milk products.)
Re: Raw Chicken
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