Canella's allergies are getting worst...

It's likely more than one type of allergy.  It may be food, but it's FAR more likely given the time of the year that it's simply atopic.  And you can't just plug off the outdoors.  Food allergies do exist but often they are more secondary -- but when every lungful of air is full of allergens, then food may simply "worsen" it but not allerviate much if omitted.

Chicken can be an allergen (and there's not much food value in it compared to other meats) but the real problem is it tends to be an inflammatory thing (so can rice be inflammatory). 

HOnestly I have found TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine) FAR more helpful for dog allergies than regular allopathic medicine.  There are several Chinese herbs that really help not only the skin breakouts but also the intense itching.

If you go to http://www.tcvm.com there is a locator on the left.  If you want to email me I can help you figure who might be helpful for youj.

It also might be beneficial to keep sun tea around and draw a little bowl before she comes in from outside -- swish each paw in it and blot dry with a towel.  It can help remove external pollens and it also helps neutralize the effects. 

If she were mine, I'd take her to your vet and get an opinion and some treatment advice.   I don't know how expensive the allergy testing is but if she's suffering this much, it might be something to consider.   It's pretty easy for them to get a staph infection if they're scratching themselves raw and that would need some antibiotics to clear up.   Your vet is probably seeing a lot of dogs if the pollen is very high in your area and he or she probably has some good options for you. 

    I'm so sorry your girl is suffering so much; sounds just like Jessie when she was younger. I finally ended up getting her tested for environmental allergies when she was six years old. The test told exactly which grass, weed, and tree pollens she was allergic to; she tested highly positive to many of them. She is also allergic to house dust mites and storage mites. She's been on allergen immunotherapy for the past six and a half years and it has helped tremendously. Most vets offer the test; they send some blood to a lab that does the testing. The cost for the test varies, so you need to ask your vet what he charges. The serum costs me about $160 a year. If the testing indicates that your dog needs this therapy, you can do the shots yourself or have your vet do them. I tried to do the shots myself but wasn't successful ( I was too slow at putting the needle through her skin and she could feel it). My vet does them for me. He even keeps the serum at the clinic, and only charges $6 a shot. She gets one shot a month.

  I also did an elimination diet, which is the only accurate way to test for food allergies. Jessie is allergic to chicken, fish, and white and sweet potatoes, but not allergic to any grains. The clue to the potatoes was when she was on a rabbit and potato diet and got severe ear infections that took six weeks to clear up.

      Resicort is the rinse my vet recommended.  You can wet the fur and apply it between baths if needed;  

    Virbac Animal Health | United States – Allergic Dermatitis Lotions

   Amazon may be the cheapest place to get it.

    Nusal-T shampoo may be better than what you're using for soothing the skin. It's important to leave it on according to the directions before rinsing;

Nusal-T Shampoo 

    Giving Benedryl and fish oil often helps, but it may take several weeks to notice a difference;  

 "In some animals, fatty acids alone can decrease pruritus or inflammation to an acceptable level. More often, fatty acids are used in conjunction with other therapies. Fatty acids have a synergistic effect with both antihistamines and glucocorticoids. By using fatty acid supplements, we can often decrease the dose of glucocorticoids by 50% or even eliminate them in animals with allergic pruritus."

calliecritturs

Food allergies do exist but often they are more secondary -- but when every lungful of air is full of allergens, then food may simply "worsen" it but not allerviate much if omitted.

For me personally it was the other way around.  I had a huge food allergy base that I could handle most of the time with antihistamines.  Seasonally allergies in addition to that really did me in.  When I eliminated the offending foods, my seasonal allergies became tolerable.

I hope you can relieve Canella's symptoms soon!

MysteryTheMorab

now she is scratching herself raw.

Gold Bond Powder can really help with hot spots!

Thank you all.  So Jessie's Mom it seems your dog is allergic to foods and the environment?  I think that may be happening here as in the winter we worked on getting her food stabilized (we use Wellness lamb and I 'was' adding chicken to it plus supplements) and she was not scratching at all.  She came to us eating cheap puppy food and was scratching.  It was only this spring and the abnormal wet / growth season that spurred the bad reaction and made her scratch out of control.

 Last night I gave her a nice warm bath with antibacterial shampoo and a rinse with hydrocortisone conditioner.  Her scabs are off and no new hotspots.  The one on the side of the face I treated first with triple antilbacterial stuff humans use; then when that had absorbed I am using the tea tree oil / aloe vera spray.  She had a good night with no scratching, this morning it was calm and light, no more raw red.

 I have her now just on the Wellness, no chicken at all and just bought raw buffalo to use as a topper to her Wellness kibble instead of chicken.  I will start it out very slowly.   I really don't want to put her and Angelina on a all raw diet at this stage for various reasons.

So, we will see if she starts scratching again.  I found a homopathic Vet close to me and will take her in if it starts again.  I don't want to do it unless she starts up again as I've had so many expenses with my horse lately and need to catch up on my bills.

I'm hoping this is not permanant....but is a reaction from being a purely city dog the first 18 months of her life and then being exposed so much to the country that her body needs to to adjust.  But I know that may not be realistic.   Thank you all for your help and advice. K

P.S. Resicort is what I used from fosterandsmilth

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=18832

Man - lucky dogs.  London Broil? Yum!!