What Are Dog Allergies And How To Spot Them

Allergies from various causes can be found in many dogs which is why the numbers in dog food allergies treatment can seem alarming. Upsetting though this may be, the good thing is that most are quite easy to cure. Dog food allergies are more common than most people realize, and true allergies generally produce skin irritations and problems rather than digestive upsets. Symptoms of food allergies in dogs can appear within a short time of eating a particular food, or take weeks, months or even years to develop.

Unknown to many people, their dogs can develop food allergies from the very same food they have been so happily eating for the past few years and not from something new that has been fed. Three quarters of dog food allergies are caused by food that the dog has been eating for over two years. Most times, the allergic reaction only shows on the second or third intake of food.

Some dogs suffer from intolerance to certain foods, and some owners mistake this as being a food allergy. Intolerance to food and food allergy are not the same. Skin itching and irritation are usually caused by allergies as is usually the case with dog dander allergy symptoms. In comparison, food intolerance would cause diarrhea and stomach upsets instead.

It is a mistake to think that by feeding your dog uncommon food such as lamb and rice, you can keep allergies away. While they may seem to provide a short term solution, that is only because the dogs have not, in the past, eaten a diet containing these ingredients. The allergies merely have not yet been developed. If dogs continue to eat lamb and rice, there will likely be cases of allergies from these foods.

The simple answer to treating both food allergy and food intolerance is to provide your dog with a diet that is totally free of the food items that cause the problems through an elimination diet. This involves eliminating any food ingredient your dog has eaten and replacing his food with an entirely new diet then reintroducing ingredients one at a time to look for reactions.

It can take more than a month to know for sure that a food is causing the allergy. It takes that long for any remaining allergens from previous foods to leave your dogs system.

The best thing, ultimately, is to let the vet examine your dog as he is a specialist who is most qualified to assess the health of your dog. As a dog owner, you should learn more about the different types of dog allergies that could afflict your dog.