Raw food thoughts? Or best foods for allergies?

[StriRy]

We have had Riley for 5 months. We have learned a few things about through our own trial and errors. 1. He is allergic to flea bites. Broke in a awful rash and was just miserable (for some front line plus and he hasn't had a problem since) 2. He is allergic to doggie diapers. On our quest to prevent accidents when we leave him we discovered another allergy.
Third.. I think he has an allergy to certain foods.

You see all of this rash around his tail (diaper), rash on his belly (fleas) and the constant biting at his laws and rolling on his back to aid an itch has happened around the same time. Once we got him a good bath and flea medicine the belly rash went away. Once we quit using diapers, the rash around his tail went away. Yet he is still biting at his paws to the point on paw on the top is losing fur. A lite bare paw. So that only leaves one other change, food.

Originally we were feeding him wellness. Never noticed any scratching on his part. Problem was, we were bit with rough Times during the summer (I didn't have an income until a few weeks ago) so we had to change his food for the summer.. Knowing he had eaten beneful before we got him we bought some just to make it through summer. The scratching began. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. I feel bad enough my poor pup ate that garbage until I could find some work. Thankfully a neighbor had some blue buffalo she gave us to use some so he did get a few weeks of decent food.

So now the question I've come across, for a dog with who obviously prone to allergies what is the best food for him? I've read raves about raw diet but I have also read there is no scientific proof of its benefits? Most would say just go back to wellness, the thing is though he really didn't like it. Didn't eat it much or well at all. He just didn't like the taste.

So thoughts in raw diet? If not raw, good food recommendations for a dog prone to allergies?

[pstinard]

I don't have any experience with raw food, but I feed my Yorkie Blue Buffalo and she is thriving. How did Riley do on Blue Buffalo? Did he like it, and did the itchy paws go away? The obvious choice (as you mentioned) is to go back to Wellness, but it sounds like you are concerned that he isn't eating enough...

[StriRy]

That is the concern, i woild feed him in the morning and sometimes his bowl would still ba s 90% of his breakfast left in it come bed time :-/ He ate better than he did Wellness. He was still fighting the flea problems while he ate it though so I can't really say if it helped. I have considered getting blue buffalo for him. I believe my neighbor told me it was chicken and brown rice freedom. So I may get that for him

[pstinard]

Here are a couple of good articles from the Dogfoodadvisor website:

Dog Food Allergies | Frequently Asked Questions

Hypoallergenic Dog Foods

They give a list of food ingredients that dogs are most commonly allergic to, as well as a list of dog food brands that are hypoallergenic. That said, almost anything is better than Beneful, so if were me, I'd get a small bag of the Blue Buffalo first to see if it helps, and if not, try some of the hypoallergenic brands.

[mimimomo]

Has he been to the vet for his excessive paw licking? Does his paws smell like fritos @ all? It could be yeasty bacteria, it's incredibly itchy. A simple skin scrape w/cytology will tell the vet what it is.

Depending on what the diagnosis is, if it is yeast, you must eliminate all sugary foods. No potatoes, no tapioca, no grains, no treats containing molasses, brown sugar, honey, etc.
Eating These Foods Can Cause Dog Yeast Infection

[StriRy]

You're right mimimomo! His paws and ears have a much stronger smell than the rest of his body. I just read the link you posted And I will give his paws a soak and disinfect his ears tomorrow morning also make sense bc this all started around the time summer started as well. Which as I read tends to be the worst time for yeast for dogs.
I will probably go back to feeding him wellness core, add some chicken broth for flavoring to help him eat it better.
Thanks everyone for your help

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by StriRy

You're right mimimomo! His paws and ears have a much stronger smell than the rest of his body. I just read the link you posted And I will give his paws a soak and disinfect his ears tomorrow morning also make sense bc this all started around the time summer started as well. Which as I read tends to be the worst time for yeast for dogs.
I will probably go back to feeding him wellness core, add some chicken broth for flavoring to help him eat it better.
Thanks everyone for your help

You need to pick a food w/no potatoes & grain free, also stop all treats w/sugary food in it. I used to feed Wellness Core grain free version but it had potato in it. They're eating Canine Caviar now, picked it bc it has no potatoes & grain free formula. There are other grain free no potato, no tapioca foods, like Nutrisca if you can't get Canine Caviar near you. You can always order it online.
Princess had stinky yeasty ears & it would fill up w/brown gunk, I had to clean it out every other day. She would scratch it so much that her ears bled. I took her to the vet numerous x's & all they said was that it's yeast & to clean it out. I saw Dr.Becker's video that I linked bc someone shared it here & it saved my Princess from suffering. The brown gunk is miraculously gone & she doesn't scratch her ears anymore. Momo used to be the excessive paw licker, always smelled of fritos...no more & best of all no more itchies for them. I also wash their paws every night after we come back from their evening walk.

[StriRy]

Oye yep I'm reading the ingredients. I can't find either of those brands near me :-( do you happen to know any other brands that are grain and potato free?
If the yeast isn't all over does it have to be totally potato free? Just thinking if we can eliminate everything but that one ingredient maybe it'll still help? Ill keep searching for another brand that I can get.

Riley started using paws to brush his ears, we thought it was just a cute new thing he was doing but now I know it's bc they were itchy. Poor pup. I didn't even know these was something dogs got!

[StriRy]

Evo salmon and herring dry food is grain and potato free. I never gave him a fish flavored food before but he acts like a wild man if he smells me opening a can of tuna so I can assume he would like it? Lol the other evos are grain free but still have potatos. Only salmon and herring one is potato free

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by StriRy

Oye yep I'm reading the ingredients. I can't find either of those brands near me :-( do you happen to know any other brands that are grain and potato free?
If the yeast isn't all over does it have to be totally potato free? Just thinking if we can eliminate everything but that one ingredient maybe it'll still help? Ill keep searching for another brand that I can get.

Riley started using paws to brush his ears, we thought it was just a cute new thing he was doing but now I know it's bc they were itchy. Poor pup. I didn't even know these was something dogs got!

There are other skin problems not caused by yeast, so you'll want to take him to the vet to confirm it is yeast. The skin cytology doesn't cost much, around $30.
If it is yeast, yes you need to eliminate potato from his diet, it's a sugary food, food for the yeast. A lot of the grain free kibbles have potato in it, so there's not many choices. Nutrisca was one I remembered from the top of my head. You might need to find a feed store or a boutique near you that sells it or order online.
If Riley has normal blood panel results & BATs (bile acid test), then he should do great on raw food.