Itchy dog...is it the food?

  Hello and welcome to the forum.  Congratulations on your new dog.!!! There are many reasons for a dog to be itchy. It could be fleas; they can still be a problem in the winter because they live indoors all year. Do you know when your dog was last treated for fleas (with a topical like Advantage or Frontline)? Is he losing any hair; that's a sign of mange and it's something he can get from being in the shelter. It could also be environmental allergies, especially if you live in the southern part of the U.S.

   A lot of people are going to say to put your dog on a grain free food because grains are the main source of food allergies. Well, my dog is allergic to sweet and white potatoes and does fine on foods with grains. If something in the food is causing your dog to itch, there's no way to know which ingredient(s) it is. Besides potatoes, Jessie is also allergic to fish, chicken, pork, and yeast, which is why I would recommend a very simple food with one protein and one carb source, like one of the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient diets. You need to choose a food with a different protein and carb source than the Merrick has. If your dog still itches after being on the new food for a few weeks, then you know he probably doesn't have a food allergy.

  Good luck; I really hope you find out why he's itching. 

jessies_mom

 If something in the food is causing your dog to itch, there's no way to know which ingredient(s) it is. Besides potatoes, Jessie is also allergic to fish, chicken, pork, and yeast, which is why I would recommend a very simple food with one protein and one carb source, like one of the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient diets. You need to choose a food with a different protein and carb source than the Merrick has. If your dog still itches after being on the new food for a few weeks, then you know he probably doesn't have a food allergy.

  Good luck; I really hope you find out why he's itching. 

This is really over-simplifying things imo.

Yes, there's ways to know what the dog is allergic to if it's food. You do an elimination diet. Even low ingredient foods have oils and other ingred's added to them, so you need to take that in to account as well. Keep track of the ingred's on the different foods you try and by process of elimination you figure out what may be causing the allergy. Also, keep in mind that there have been studies that dogs on low ingredient diets often develop taurine deficiency. You may need to add taurine to the dogs diet to prevent this if you go that route (as well as other supplements)

If it's an environmental allergy, there are vet tests for those - that often are quite pricey. I have a dog with environmental allergies and some food allergies but it's not worth it to me to run expensive tests. My dog is not that bad off. A little benedryl, some oatmeal shampoo, wiping her off after we're out hiking, etc. does the trick. For her food allergies, I figured it out when we recently switched foods and there was one ingred she had never had before. I switched to a food without and and voila - no more itchiness.

 For a new dog that you do not know the history of, I'd have it checked out for fleas first.  Dogs often itch around their necks when they are getting used to new collars. Itching can also be a stress - displacement behavior too.

Thanks...we'll keep an eye on him with the new food, and I'll check the ingredients on both.  I've checked fairly closely for fleas and didn't see any.  Stress could actually explain it.  Although he's doing great now, it was a stressful transition for him I'm sure since we have two young children.  He also pants a lot (it is winter here) which I know is a sign of stress at times too.

Jewlieee

jessies_mom

 If something in the food is causing your dog to itch, there's no way to know which ingredient(s) it is. Besides potatoes, Jessie is also allergic to fish, chicken, pork, and yeast, which is why I would recommend a very simple food with one protein and one carb source, like one of the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient diets. You need to choose a food with a different protein and carb source than the Merrick has. If your dog still itches after being on the new food for a few weeks, then you know he probably doesn't have a food allergy.

  Good luck; I really hope you find out why he's itching. 

 

This is really over-simplifying things imo.

Yes, there's ways to know what the dog is allergic to if it's food. You do an elimination diet. Even low ingredient foods have oils and other ingred's added to them, so you need to take that in to account as well. Keep track of the ingred's on the different foods you try and by process of elimination you figure out what may be causing the allergy. Also, keep in mind that there have been studies that dogs on low ingredient diets often develop taurine deficiency. You may need to add taurine to the dogs diet to prevent this if you go that route (as well as other supplements)

    If you have a dog like Jessie, who is allergic to so many ingredients in foods (I left out barley and spinach), trying different brands and keeping track of ingredients really doesn't work. I tried it for awhile but was frustrated because she was constantly having ear infections and chewing her feet. At the advice of a dermatologist, I put her on an Hill's ultra allergen z/d. After she was on it for 8 weeks, I introduced different foods, one at a time, starting with beef, and kept records of what she reacted to and what she tolerated. Sometimes she would react to a new food within a day or so, other times it took a week. If she didn't react after 2 weeks, I stopped adding that particular food and introduced something else. This took about a year. There was no worries about her being deficient of anything since she was on a balanced diet (z/d).

 Just a little FYI, Merrick is notorious for QC issues. Blue Buffalo, is a good food. Good luck with the switch and the itchies.