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possible allergy and food change

1K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Elfie 
#1 ·
My dog has been shedding massively for too long now. His hair keeps growing back, but he loses it again so quickly that it's now thin in places.

I thought this could be an allergy, so I have switched him to chicken-free, grain-free food and treats. How long should I wait to see if the new food helps? If it doesn't then we will go to the vet.
 
#2 ·
well, if your dog is one of the rare ones that has a food allergy, then maybe some ingredient elimination could be helpful... but honestly, food allergies are WAY overblown on this site -only 10% or less of all allergic dogs have ANY food allergy problems- the rest are itchy for other reasons -Atopy (environmental allergies) by far the most common cause aside from fleas, with mites being a distant third... about tied with food allergies. Grain free is a fad which is turning out, at least in some cases, to be a very bad choice (some grain free foods end up being deficient in some essential nutrients). No evidence whatsoever that there is anything good about grain free, unless, as already touched upon above, your pet happens to have an allergy to one of them (meat protein allergies far more common, though).
 
#3 ·
Although I agree with you that grain free is a fad and not all grain free foods are created equal, I have to say that food sensitivities are most certainly a thing. Generally from eating over processed food. So if the op was feeding a low quality food and switched to a better quality food, they may see a difference.

Op, you should see a difference in 4 weeks generally if its food related.
 
#6 ·
Definitely the best for all dogs with skin allergies are raw bones with meat. Just find some cheaper local store to afford it. It works really good - offer nothing else bur raw meat and beef bones, and just water. Nothing else, no treats either.

The results for our dogs started to show in just one week! It is like going back to very old times.
 
#7 ·
Feed your dog only raw meat and beef bones and you will end up with a dog that is nutritionally deficient. You need to offer organs along with the raw meat and bones. You also need to be careful with beef bones, large weight bearing bones can crack a dogs tooth.

The general guidelines for a prey model raw (PMR) diet is 80% meat, 10% organs, and 10% bones.
 
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