Well, mid grade for me I think...

yes, it is frustrating.  I did the same thing trying all the super prem. foods and we had itching and diahrrea.
 
Now we are on pro plan selects turkey as base kibble and it is really working out for them.  I do add a little premium canned food or cooked leftovers.

What does your vet say? And, BTW, welcome to the hades of dog food.
 

Thanks! What does my vet say?  Science Diet of course.  They don't know, They want to drain my funds for testing. I can just go back to CS and save my money.  Uggh...  When I picked up Koda (in my avatar) from the shelter his ears were a disgusting yeasty mess.  I changed to a better food worked on his immune system and wala haven't had an ear thing in years.  Now this mouth thing has me baffled.  I thought it was a raw bone thing for a while until it showed up without chewing on the bones.  Lately it's been only the right side of his mouth...if I continued to feed the culprit, he will start losing hair slowly around his eye. 
 
I like that the ultra is 26% protien.  But if I have to, I can add eggs and oil to the CS...
 
Oh joy.
 

You might consider trying Nature's Variety kibble. Also try a salmon oil supplement with the CS.

Welcome, you are not alone, I know many who have experienced the same thing, Many people have had successs with Nutro, Pro Plan and I really like the Royal Canin foods, or there Sensible Choice line.

Abby's Dad has been down the same road as you, so his advice is worth listening to. I didn't go through a bunch of "premiums." I tried Innova once, it cause an allergic reaction for two weeks, and I put him back on Nutro. According to some, my experience doesn't really count because I stick with what works, rather than trying to find out if another premium brand will work better, so, you might not want to listen to me.

As Stacita mentioned you could try Nature's Variety, perhaps their frozen raw line...or the grain free Instinct mixed with canned and rotate with freeze dried.  Or, another suggestion would be to try Natura's California Natural foods..it's a bland food and will allow you to really pinpoint what is triggering a reaction in your dog, most likely a Carb or grain in the foods...or there are many home prepared allergy diets you could try as well for 8 weeks to see what is going on.
 
Working with dogs daily at a grooming shop/kennel we have seen major improvements in dogs when switched to California Naturals food or a raw diet.  Plus, the Vets we rent space from for our grooming shop are now sending their clients who have dogs suffering skin problems and allergies out to buy Natura's California Naturals.  The vets are recommending this over the foods they keep in stock such as Science Diet, Medi-Cal etc.  Which I think shows these vets care more about the dogs than their pocket books[]  
Stacita also mentioned giving fish oil which I also recommend plus natural Vitamin E supplement as fish oil depleted vit E stores.

You also may want to try astragalus to help moderate your dogs immune system.  

I second the recommendation of California Natural.  Very simple ingredients, so less chance your dog will react to something.

you may want to watch out for sunflower oil and flaxseed--both cal nat and nutro ultra include these.

I tried Ca Natural it didn't agree with him. That's the flowery bag right?  I don't want to compromise protien though, so I'd like it at least 25% protien.  That limits the options also. I tried the grain free kibbles and the raw kibble like evo and instincs also and although they did fine, My pocketbook did not..at over 2$ per lb, I'd rather go with fresh raw for cheaper.  I work 12hr days and I know me...I wouldn't be able to do that exclusively given my schedule and no freezer.  I do however whip them up fresh stuff while I'm off.
 
The innova is so calorie dense that at 60 lbs 10 pieces would sustain him...he is an EASY keeper, so I have to watch that too.  He could afford to lose 4-5 lbs.
 
I thought about trying  the sensible choice but I think I have to special order a smaller bag..I'd rather not trial the 40lb bag...lol  
I'll see how he does on the Nutro and if her does well, I can add it to the rotation with CS and see how they do on the Sens. choice after that.  One good thing, both my dogs have tummies of steel and rotating foods don't bather them at all. Phew!
 
 
I don't remember if I tried the Natures variety reg.  I did pick up a bag of the raw instincts when it was on sale...I will usually feed that when they slash the price.
 
Ron, I'm an old idogger...I understand. Of course your opinion counts.
 
Cally, everytime I see your picture, it reminds me of my newfie that I lost in 04'  (the initial reason I came to idog.)  Those faces are something aren't they?  I sure miss Jamie.
 
One thing I should do more often is add canned...they are just so overpriced that I usually feed the canned mackerel, sardines in water, or salmon instead.   
 

Try Nutro and see how it works out.  If you are still looking, I would try California Natural or Nature's Variety []

Edit* -I saw you said you already tried California Natural (but as an aside, if you wanted a higher protein content you could always use the Cal. Natural puppy @ 26%CP [])

Have you tried Solid Gold?

I think I would probably stick with Chicken Soup and add the fish oil to help the coat. CS is a perfectly decent food, any reason you don't want to stay on it other than the coat issues?

ORIGINAL: jones

I think I would probably stick with Chicken Soup and add the fish oil to help the coat. CS is a perfectly decent food, any reason you don't want to stay on it other than the coat issues?

 
Not really, I'm always in search of the perfect food.  I think there MUST be something that he will agree with AND make him look awesome to boot...um, there's gotta be...right?
 
At least I know I do have a food to fall back on...I guess I think I haven't tried all my options yet and if not, then I'm not being fair to my boy.  Does that sound silly?

ORIGINAL: jones

I think I would probably stick with Chicken Soup and add the fish oil to help the coat. CS is a perfectly decent food, any reason you don't want to stay on it other than the coat issues?

 
Maybe it's not the Chicken Soup that is causing the dull coat and shedding.  Maybe he just needs more fatty acids that you can supplement him with?