# Any advice on food allergies you can give me?



## beckyc (Oct 18, 2010)

Hello everyone, I'm new to the board. I found it researching food allergies. My Gonzo is a boxer mix, his father was full boxer and momma was a australian shepherd mix. His is absolutely a joy but the poor guy has the boxer tummy issues! Not knowing and doing my research before I listened to a friend and put him on Purina One. At first I thought maybe he was getting bug bites. He has alot of redness under his front "arm pits" and in the creases of his back legs also, and also he chews his feet up. By morning he looks normal, then by evening his redness is back. I'm just wondering where to go from here. I'm planning a Petsmart trip this evening, so hoping on some good healthy food ideas!

Thanks!


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Is he still on Purina One? I would get him on a better food asap. Purina One is one of the lower end kibbles and contains tons of inappropriate ingredients. I would look into a grain free kibble. 

Check out this link and look for a better kibble:
Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

I always recommend Champion brand kibbles, Acana and Orijen.

Also read through the forum posts. You will learn a lot that way.

Another option is to feed a raw diet. If this is something that interests you, come on over to the raw section and post! :smile:


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## trooperchick (Oct 11, 2010)

I have similiar issues with my Black Lab mix. I had him on Benaful before realizing that corn was most likely the cause. I have now switched him to Taste of the Wild (had him on Buffalo blue but they just had a recall). It's not that expensive and the 15ish pound bag lasts me at least 4 if not 5 weeks.

I'm now slowly getting ready to switch to Raw for my boys but I'm sure he will feel better as soon as he is on better food.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

I sent you a PM.
I've had alot of practice with food allergies, check out some of my posts, and let me know if you need anything else.
Happy to help

Gina & Khan


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

For allergy plagued dogs I always recommend limited ingredient diets. Whether you choose kibble or homecooked or raw...the least amount of ingredients the better. 

Kibbles by far have the most ingredients in them, making it nearly impossible to know what exactly is causing the issues (for some reason meats are always the ones blamed...not sure why).

Homecooked diets have the next fewer ingredients as a whole but usually use inappropriate ingredients that are still known to cause allergy symptoms in dogs.

Raw is by far the best diet you can put an allergy prone dog on. Its the most limited ingredient diet you can provide...being that its just raw meat, raw bones and raw organs.

Hope this helps!


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## beckyc (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks everyone, I am slowly reading through all the posts. He goes to the vet tomorrow and I'll discuss it with her and I'm also reading all your wonderful ideas. He is still very happy and playful, but his skin looks horrible in his creases like I mentioned, and his paws looked cracked. I noticed on some posts people mention ear issues, he just had a small ear infection over a month ago. I guess all of this ties in together. Really enjoying reading some of the posts, esp the food related ones. He is my crazy boy, lol! I also have a swiss mountain dog mix and he is quite opposite he is my calm sweet one.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Unless you go to a holistic vet...your vet probably NOT support a raw diet. Most vets don't know a single thing GOOD about a raw diet because of all the negative hype about them. If you want to know if they know what a raw diet is...ask if they know about raw. If they don't...I wouldn't tell them you're looking into it because they will tell you you're going to kill your dog. Which is so NOT true but it will scare you.

Both of my dogs had horrible ear infections on a regular basis on kibble and in the past two years on raw they have had ZERO ear infections.


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## k9capture_16 (Aug 23, 2010)

If your vet is like many traditional vets out there, they will probably recommend Science Diet, Medi-cal, Iams, Eukanuba or Purina...all of said foods are garbage.

Why not try Blue Buffalo Basics or Natural Balance?


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## Eurobox (May 17, 2010)

It sounds like a yeast infection. I would switch to a grain free food, because yeast will feed on the sugars from the grain. You can try applying a 50/50 mixture of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and water. Put this on his feet twice a day for a week. I would also apply it any where else you see the redness, but be careful not to put it on any open wounds. 

Do not let your vet put your dog on antibiotics until you have tried a better food and the ACV (apple cider vinegar). Vets will prescribe antibiotics way too often, and they make the situation worse by killing off all the good bacteria in the gut.


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## k9capture_16 (Aug 23, 2010)

Also, I would try to stay away from prednisone as my vet loves to prescribe that for any allergy related issue. I can vouch for the ACV, it works.


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