Koda had to go to the vet recently because his eye was all puffy and red and his ear was all inflamed. The vet said allergies. He gave him a shot and some ear drops. Well, the shot worked on his for about 1.5 weeks and now it's back again(his red eye). His ear is getting better, it's almost back to normal. Does anyone elses GSD have allergies and if so what do you do for them. Would it be safe to give him a little benadryl? I plan on calling the vet today to see what his suggestions are, but would like to know all my opitions. Thanks in advance

Chris

Unfortunetly, I have dealt a lot with allergies. Some good things, some bad things. I am guessing that the shot was a steriod? Do you have any idea what the allergy is from? My dog is allergic to just about everything. What finally worked for my GSD was a couple of things. 1. He gets allergy shots every week. I wish there was a way around this, but there wasn't. It is better than steriods. 2. We switched his diet. It took some time, but we found a food that works great for him, it is Wellness fish and potatoe formula. He is much less itchy and his coat looks great. We work hard to keep our house free of excess dust and dirt also. Vacuuming 3-4 times a week. Washing his bedding often. Since we switched his food, he has not had any flare ups. As far as your question about Benedryl, my vet told me that it was safe to use. However, I did not try it. Do not know if this helps. There is a lot of info on this board about allergies and feeding an all natural or raw diet. Hopefully you can get some info there that will help.

Sorry to hear about your dogs allergies. Even though I have a Pitbull, allergies, are still allergies. First, make sure your vet is OK with you giving Benadryl. It works great on my dog during the spring and fall. Ask about dosage before you give meds. Benadryl is resonably cheap compared to perscription meds and basically does the same thing. Also , try not to walk your dog in the morning. I've noticed this makes things worse. good luck, Nick

Sorry to sound like a FNG, what are the affect of theses allergies? Is it ichting, sneezing or breathing problems??

My Rottie/Pit has a problem with the shampoo I use, I think. After a washing she will scracht and bite the hair off her hind side, by the end of week. I rinse her the same way I do the Shepherd he seems to be pretty resistance to skin and hair problems.

Any reason why the R/P bitch bites her rearend raw? This is Flea and Tick conditioner shampoo.

Steroid shots are a bad idea. Giving pred. pills is a whole lot better, but not as convenient or profitable so most vets don't mention it. With the pills you can adjust the dose and give every other day for fewer side effects. Allergy shots are a good idea if you aren't intimidated by the price or giving shots at home.

You can give benadryl, but I can't remember the dose. You can look it up in the online Merck Veterinary Manual.

Don, if it doesn't work quit using it! Flea and tick shampoos are a really bad idea. They are usually very drying and have lots of chemicals. Buy a gentle hypoallergenic shampoo. I've had great results with Kenic products for my animals, and they are safe to use with Advantage. The oatmeal shampoo works well, but I havent tried avocado to see if it is better for flaky skin.

When I had my 55 pound Keeshond the vet told me to give 1 Benadryl capsule twice a day. I don't know if it helped but it didn't seem to bother him any.

The shot Koda received was cortizone (Sp). His eye was all red, that dosen't seem to bother him, his ear was all red, itchy, and oozing. It's under control with the ear drops. I have no clue what the allergies are from. I vacuum my house daily (I have 3 kids and 2 dogs...it's a must) He has no blanket in his crate, I've tried but it just pushes it to the other end of the crate and lays on the cool part. My vet wasn't in yesterday, naturally, so I will try him today. Sounds like allergies are more common than I thought. My next step would be allergy tests???

Thanks everyone

Chris

We did not do the allergy test until we exhausted everything else. Is this the first outbreak from allergies? Did anything recently change in Koda's environment? Did you changes clothes washing detergents? Maybe turn on the air conditioner? Most vets will run through a list of questions before they go to the allergy tests. They will also likely try to make sure it is not any kind of food allergy before they run the tests. This is just based on what I had to do with my dog. We went for about six-nine months with different food. We also realized during this time, weather changes and the season changes and noticed that he was much itchier and got ear infections around the same time of the year each year which is why we finally went for the tests.

if you view the dog as a whole, very often you will find a corelation between the dog's nerves, the immune system and allergies/yeast. over time, these problems can also manifest themselves in arthritis and organic disorders. i wish it were just a simple matter of a change in diet or a pill, but if you've already resorted to steroid shots, your dog probably has an auto-immune thing going on, which affects the entire dog, not just skin and hair. hope you get a handle on it asap.