I'm so happy that you are able to figure out how to help your little one!!! I too, am in the same situation, but with a chihuahua. He has environmental allergies, it also took me a while to figure this out and admit to myself that he was going to be a high maintenance chihuahua
. He use to itch himself until he'd bleed all over. He chews off all the hair that he can reach. When I put him in shirts he would scratch until there were holes. I couldn't sleep at night, because all I heard was scratch, scratch, scratch, never ending scratch.
He is currently on Allegra, he refuses to eat benadryl, claritin and zyrtec he's smart enough to know that after he takes these pills they make him drowsy, he eats the Allegra like it's candy. He also takes probiotics. He get's soaked in a baking soda bath once or twice a week, depending on his condition. The only steroid the vet and I will give him is a lotion, Resicort hydrocortisone, I only use it if he has a very serious flare up (April this year). I use Dermagic Hot spot Salve for serious areas and everyday I use California Baby Calendula Cream. He loves the outdoors so He wears clothing almost everyday. He gets sweaters on days when the itches are bad. He gets only real meat for treats. He is fed Partial Raw and Orijen Regional Red. Every morning when I wake up I can tell if it's going to be a bad day or a good day by how swollen his eyes are.