[Vinniedoggy]

I adopted Alex, a little yorkie, this past weekend from a local rescue group. He was given up by his last family because of a bad skin yeast/allergy issue. He has lost most of the hair on his belly and neck and scratches a lot under his arms and belly. He has been through about 6 homes (including his foster placements) in barely 4 years. The last family adopted him from the same rescue but then dumped him off at the pound when his skin yeast infection did not improve (the rescue managed to get him back). However, I was told this family fed him low-end Kibble. The family did apparently take him for some allergy testing (that came back positive for black ant; Botrytis, Fusarium, and penicillum n. mold; Cedar and Sycamore trees; Johnson, KY Blue, and Orchard grasses; and kochia, pigweed, and yellow dock weeds).

Despite his skin issues, Alex is the sweetest, most well-mannered little guy I have ever met! He's perfectly house-broken, eats like a champ, and loves to cuddle. He's also an energetic little walker. Part of the reason I opted to adopt him is because I really feel that he can be helped through better nutrition (and you can't help but feel bad for a dog like him). I've only had him three days, but have already seen a huge improvement in his itching using the following regimen:

1. Raw Diet - Alex gets raw or lightly cooked meat (rotate between raw spareribs, sauteed chicken livers, raw chicken, beef heart, and fish), boiled egg, plain high-fat yogurt, and pumpkin.

2. Supplements - I am giving Alex acidophillus, a green-food supplement (Nu-Pet Canine chewable wafers), and salmon oil with every meal.

3. Skin care - each day, I bathe Alex in colloidal oatmeal. After he is completely dry, I dress him in a cotton onsie (the kind you buy for babies) to prevent him from scratching his skin to the point of being raw. I've noticed that when he's wearing the onsie, he barely scratches at all. When we come in for a walk, I lightly spray him with a diluted mixture of apple cider vinegar.

I've been following this regimen for just three days and the improvements are already apparent. He's not itching nearly as much and the raw patches have already disappeared. He definitely has TONS of energy and sleeps through the night. When he's walking, I remove the onsie and he doesn't itch at all.

My questions are as follows:

1. Does it make sense that this regimen is working? Even though his allergies were found to be environmental, does it make sense that a better diet and strict natural skin-care regimen will help cure his problem?

2. Is there anything I'm missing? Is his diet balanced and is there anything else I should be doing? I'm aiming for a very low-glycemic diet to ensure that any skin yeast is not made worse.

3. The allergist he saw had recommended allergy shots. Is this something I should pursue?

4. What role does stress and lots of change play in skin allergy issues? Given the number of homes this little guy has been through and possibly poor care in his last home, could stress have caused some of this?

We have a consultation appointment with my vet on Friday and I am curious to hear her response to what I'm doing. If anyone has answers to my questions above or can share their own experience dealing with this issue, I would really appreciate to hear from you!!

Thanks.