My Dog Is Allergic, Now What?

Imagine spending years with itchy skin and bloodshot eyes without any way of making it go away. It bothers you during the day when you try to have fun and is relentless at night when you try to sleep. You try to show your master that you’re miserable, but they don’t understand and simply want to play.

My Chocolate Labrador, Shadow, is almost a year old. Last weekend, we woke up to find him with a swollen eye and red, inflamed skin over different areas of his body. Shadow was rubbing his face on just about anything he could find and scratching at several places to make the itching go away. After a trip to the vet, we found out that Shadow has allergies. Some puppies start demonstrating canine allergy symptoms when they get to be around a year old.

Most of us (humans) take for granted that we can take medicines to make our allergies go away, at least temporarily. However, our canine friends are not so lucky. It is easy to miss the symptoms and your dog can’t tell you he feels terrible.

This world is full of potential allergens for dogs. They can be anywhere, causing your dog to suffer for months if not years. These allergens can be environmental like plants, grasses, molds, or dust. They can also be in dog foods, caused by fleas, or even in the plastic and rubber in your dog’s toys.

The result of these allergens can make your dog miserable! The symptoms can be dry skin with red, irritated hot spots where the dog may scratch almost constantly, to hair loss, skin lesions and infections of the skin, anal itching and vomiting.

You can bring them relief

When starting to search for these allergens, the symptoms can help point you in the right direction.

Fleas are a great place to start as they cause skin swelling and redness near the area where the dog was bitten and can sometimes last more for than a week. You can look for these spots, fleas or flea dirt.  Fleas are a common allergen and can usually be removed with medicine from your veterinarian.

Inhalant allergens, like grasses, molds, and dust can cause itching in the face, flank, groin, and arm folds. Where appropriate, these allergens should be removed from your dog’s surroundings.

Other allergens could be in your dog’s food. Food allergies can cause diarrhea, anal itching, and occasionally vomiting. Has the food changed recently? If this is the case, you may want to try some of the non-allergenic dog foods on the market.

Plants can also be the culprit. CyberCanine has a list of plants that are toxic to animals.  You should make sure that none of these are in your dog’s living or play areas.

Helping ease symptoms

One way to alleviate a lot of itchy skin symptoms is to use an oatmeal shampoo. Topical sprays can be used after the bath for continued relief. I would also recommend washing your dog’s bedding with a scent free soap.

Something I want to try is an Omega 3 and 6 fatty acid supplement. It can improve the quality of your dog’s skin and coat and may reduce allergy symptoms as well. A friend of mine has used fatty acid supplements for years and commented on how many people asked how he got his dog’s coats to be so beautiful.

My veterinarian recommended we use an antihistamine with Shadow. This has provided some relief. Please make sure you speak with your vet to get the appropriate dosage for the size of your dog.

If none of the items above help, you may want to ask your veterinarian about intradermal testing to determine exactly which allergens your dog is allergic to.

With diligent effort, you can help your dog live a happier, itch-free life.