This is the question I’ve got today from a reader. Although I’m not doctor, no allergy specialist and no dogs specialist whatsoever, I’ll try my best to give an answer.

Human allergy to dogs may fade with time, provided that the allergic person does not get in touch with dogs anymore. In some cases, it may be needed that the patient follows a desensitization treatment consisting of weekly vaccines administered for a long term period (years) followed by months or years of pause, then done again.

However, the biggest probability of an allergy evolution is to get accentuated in time, not to fade. It doesn’t matter if the allergy is to dogs, or to bee stings, or to pollen. Human allergy mechanism is the same, no matter what allergens trigger that violent reaction in our body.

I suppose that my reader who send the question has developed an allergy to her dog and she wants to know if ignoring the allergy and continuing keeping the dog in house will make the allergy symptoms diminish and disappear after several years have passed by.

This is false, so in case you are diagnosed with dogs allergy, you should seek for your doctor’s advice whenever to give up your dog or keep it.

Under these circumstances dog owners are thinking to bake the dog food by themselves, thus being able to select only the best ingredients, or only those ingredients their dog is not allergic to.

Duck Liver Dog Treat Helps Dogs With Food Allergies

The good news for allergic dogs in USA is that somebody thought to develop a dog treat which contains only a few ingredients: duck liver, filtered water and organic garbanzo flour. The product, called Duck Liver Cookies of Love, was developed by Barbara Lee, the owner of Waggin’ Tails Bakery in Northern California. Barbara started by cooking the food for her own dogs, then turned this into a business with nationwide distribution. Barbara also runs a Doggie Day Care and she is proud that she uses only the fines ingredients to prepare the dog food which doesn’t give allergic reactions.

In humans, allergies are mediated by IgE antibodies, but there’s no evidence that this is the same mechanism that triggers allergy in dogs, cats or other animals. Anyway, in the process of defending itself from the enemy allergens, the body develops unusual and sometimes violent reactions, one of them being the atopic dermatitis, manifested as eczema, hives, rashes, crusts, vesicles, shedding in irregular patterns, scaly areas, increased skin pigmentation or severe itching.

The causes of dogs skin allergy can be multiple. Start by suspecting a flea allergy. It is the easiest to eliminate, as a simple anti-flea treatment would also free your dog from the allergy symptoms. When you are sure your dog is flea-free, you can think of other causes for allergy such as:

• Allergy to parasites such as intestinal worms, mites or ticks. There is efficient medication against these parasites, so a simple visit to the vet would help you eliminate this cause.
• Food allergies: a dog can develop allergic reactions to proteins in foods. These are usually diagnosed by elimination diets. You need to take your dog to the vet, because you cannot do it properly at home, therefore the specialist advice is necessary.
• Contact allergies: it is possible that your dog is allergic to some household detergents you are using, especially to the floor cleaner solutions or floor and furniture polish.
• Bacterial allergies: we all have bacteria living on our skin, and usually there are no problems, it’s just a symbiotic relation. Dogs also have bacteria living on their body. Sometimes, they may develop allergies to the excretions of these bacteria, thus manifesting allergy symptoms, usually skin allergies. You can try an antibacterial shampoo for dogs, to see if the symptoms cease.
• Drug allergy: if you’ve recently given medication to your dog and you’ve noticed allergy signs immediately after the treatment started, you may suspect a drug allergy. Stop the treatment and go to the vet who prescribed it. He will know what to do, and perhaps he’ll give you an alternative drug to treat your dog’s condition without endangering his health.

Skin allergy in dogs is usually easy to notice, because of its obvious manifestations. If you see such behavior in your dogs, don’t wait until it’s too late, go to the vet and see if he can give you some skin treatment as quickly as possible. Allergies accentuate with repeated exposures to allergens, so you may end up with severe health problems in your dog.

Most Common Allergens for Dogs

Likewise humans, dogs can get allergic to pretty much everything, they can suffer from airborne allergies, food allergies or contact allergies. Finding an allergy relief in the case of dogs is not that simple. Dog allergy is not mediated by histamine, like in the case of human allergies. Therefore, please do not attempt to treat your dog’s allergy with antihistamine medication, because it is not working, and in the happiest case it won’t have any effect on your dog.
After talking to several persons, dog owners whose dogs have shown allergy symptoms to various substances, here’s the list: pampas grass, birch pollen, bee venom, peanut butter, dog food, flea.

The simplest to treat is the flea allergy: just get your dog an anti-flea treatments and the symptoms should be gone. Repeat the treatment regularly, so you make sure the dog doesn’t get in contact with flea ever again.

The dog food allergy needs detailed examination, to actually find the ingredient which is responsible for triggering the allergic reaction. Ask your vet, he can teach you how to do that and he will supervise the process of finding the allergen. After that, you need to make sure your dog’s food does not contain that ingredient.

Don’t forget that dogs can develop an allergy to virtually anything they come in contact with, so go to the vet at the first allergy symptoms you notice, like itching, rashes, vomiting or diarrhea.

• Facial itching
• Feet or limbs chewing
• Belly itching
• Recurrent ear infections
• Vomiting
• Skin rashes or hairs falling in big quantities
• Diarrhea or increased bowel movements

You have to be aware that in most cases the only symptom of a dog food allergy is itching.

Before suspecting your dog of a food allergy, eliminate the possibility of a flea allergy, by making sure the pet is flea-free. You can give it an anti-flea treatment. If symptoms continue, then you can suspect other kind of allergies, including dog food allergy.

How to diagnose a dog food allergy

Diagnosing a food allergy in pets is not as simple as in humans. Blood tests and prick tests can be also done on dogs, but vet specialists say that such tests are not reliable, so the better way to go is to choose the elimination diet.

This is what Dr. Gortel says regarding dog food allergies:

“Veterinarians prefer to do a restrictive diet trial,” says Dr. Gortel. “This consists of taking away your pet’s normal diet-including treats, chewables, and flavored vitamins-and switching your pet to a diet containing proteins and carbohydrates completely novel to your pet.” When possible, Dr. Gortel has the owners home-cook for their pet during the diagnosis period. “Then we know for sure that the diet doesn’t have additives or preservatives and hasn’t gone through a feedmill or processing plant that might contaminate food with proteins your pet has been exposed to. It doesn’t take much to set your pet off if he is allergic to something.”

(Source: vetmed.illinois.edu)

There is another issue Dr. Gortel warns about: during the test diet, you have to keep your pet indoors, otherwise he may chase rats or birds, or even eat from garbage, thus making the elimination test irrelevant.

If during the home-cooked food period you dog is feeling well and the symptoms fade to disappearance, the vet would switch the dog back on the old diet, to see if symptoms appear again. However, there are cases when dog owners refuse to take their dog back to the itchy stage, thus keeping the home-made diet as permanent. As you can see, having a dog is a serious issue, involving a lot of responsibility, therefore think well before buying that Beagle pet that you loved so much at the last dog show.

Can dog food allergy be diagnosed at home?

You’d say it is no big deal giving your dog elimination diets and seeing which food provokes him the allergic reactions. Yet, there are dangers, which Dr. Gortel puts into discussion, with the conclusion that the most advisable would be that the veterinarian prescribes and supervises your dog’s trial diet:

“When owners try to do food trials themselves, the diagnosis becomes more difficult,” explains Dr. Gortel. When your pet is itching, switching them randomly from food to food exposes your pet to a number of protein sources. This makes it hard for veterinarians to find a new protein source to suggest for home-cooking. “Sometimes owners find food trials tedious or they cannot stand the fact that their pet cannot have a treat. They quit halfway and then the veterinarians’ dilemma is how to convince clients to do the trial again for the pet’s sake.”

It’s not yet proven that a natural allergy relief such as the nettles in case of human would give results in the case of our canine friends. As a conclusion, dog owners shouldn’t neglect any symptom like the ones described above, as they may incriminate a dog food allergy, which, left untreated may lead to severe symptoms and even to death.

What Can Dogs Be Allergic To

Dogs can be allergic to any of the above, plus one, which is specific for pets: flea allergy. Flea allergy is the easiest to diagnose, because fleas leave tiny dots of black dirt on the animal’s fur, so the owner can usually spot them and give the pet an anti-flea treatment. After the dog is flea-free, if the allergy symptoms stop, then you’ll know that the dog has allergy to flea, therefore you need to take care of him not getting infested again. If allergic reactions continue, even after removing the fleas, you can suspect some other allergen. In this case, you can take the dog to the vet, where you can have him tested for the most common allergens. The vet is the only one who can indicate you the most suitable dog allergy relief that can keep your fury friend allergy-free.

Dog allergy refers to both sides of this issue: the human allergy to dogs and the allergy developed by dogs to certain substances or foods. Yes, dogs can develop allergies, too. Their manifest symptoms can be very similar to the ones experienced by humans such as teary eyes, itching, running nose, or skin rashes.

We aim to provide you as much information on dog allergy as we can find. This site is not a medical resource, so you should not take it as such. Always seek for specialized help when you suspect a disease your dog might be suffering from. After all, you wouldn’t try to find a cure for yeast infection in dogs by yourself, would you? Only doctors can tell if your dog is really suffering from an allergy, or from other kind of condition. Correct diagnosis involves lots of medical tests, so make sure you treat your dog well and take it to the vet at the slightest symptoms which seem abnormal.