Dealing With My Allergic Dog

• Well, for one, some can be genetic, and after talking to the breeder we found out that another puppy in the same litter also had developed allergies. Our dog was also one of two puppies that had a urinary infection at 7 weeks old, so her immune system was probably little weak from the beginning.
  
  
• Environment plays a big role also, exposure to chemicals can also weaken the immune system and influence the endocrine system. We moved into our house the day after the owners moved out and they were chemical freaks. I found toxic chemicals in every bathroom cabinet, pantry and in the cabinet under the sink. The garage was full of chemicals to kill of weeds, fire ants, scorpions and toxic spiders. Of course I can't confirm that she reacted to any of the chemicals but it is logical to assume that she got exposed when she was playing outside, from the carpet,  or laying in the grass.
  
  
• According to Alfred J Pletchner, DVM, endocrine immune imbalance is the real cause of most chronic illnesses in pets. He has seen cases of cortisol deficiencies after the pets have been exposed to environmental chemical such as pesticides. If the pet already has an endocrine-immune imbalance  when it is exposed, it is of course even more sensitive to  toxins. It is possible that our dog already had an endocrine-immune imbalance since she was a tiny puppy .  So if you can't control your dog's allergies I suggest that you investigate the dog's cortisol level since it is an obvious connection between allergies and cortisol deficiencies.
  
  
• The stress of moving from one state to another most likely affected her too.
  
  
• The food connection. Even though it seemed like it was the cedar pollen that the dog reacted mostly to we had to take a closer look at the food we were giving her. A dog with a weakened immune system  often has multiple allergies and is sensitive to more than one thing. We decided to remove things that increase the mucus formation, which in her case was the grain that was in her dehydrated raw food blend.
  
  
• Gut issues. Yeast overgrowth and  leaky gut syndrome is most likely the underlying cause of allergies.
  
  We soon realized that in order to really figure out what she is sensitive to we had to put her on an elimination diet with more uncommon meat. Beef, chicken, turkey and lamb are  known to cause allergies in sensitive dogs so it is best to avoid those for a while. We used to add raw turkey, chicken, beef and lamb to her food and now we had to brainstorm to come up with something else.
  
  First we discovered Nature's Variety Raw meat patties which she seems to handle very well as long as we stick with bison, venison and rabbit. Nature's Variety gets expensive when you have an 70 pound dog that is eating to catch up after a few weeks of not having any appetite. We got the advice to try Natural Balance Pet Food from the Pet Shop and the breeder, so we decided to buy a few rolls so the dog can put on some pounds again.
  
  I like to make my own food so of course it didn't take long before I bought a whole duck and cooked it instead. This is by no means a complete meal, it is used as an elimination diet. For best result you should try an elimination diet for 6 weeks, it gives the dog a chance recover and enough time to see how the dog react.
  
  Other things we did

After I took off the wings and gave to the dog for lunch, I put the duck in the crock pot with potatoes and sweet potatoes.

I mixed it all in the food processor.

I added the raw giblets, liver and heart to the mix.

I strained it very well so that no bones fell in the mix. Raw bones are fine but cooked bones should not be given to dogs. I used the juice to moisture the mixture and I froze the leftover juice to use as flavoring for other meals.

Yummy, Prancer really enjoyed eating the neck as a snack!

So here it is! Homemade duck with potatoes, sweet potatoes and a few teaspoons of unsulphured molasses. She gets homemade duck mixture, Nature's Variety Venison patties and Natural Balance potato and duck food roll. She is doing real well on this diet.

Natural Balance also has canned food and kibbles in their allergy formula.

Nature's Variety is a very good brand and the dog responds well to the diet, her skin became so soft when she started to eat the patties.

We giver her Cellfood which is an amazing blend, it contains minerals, enzymes, amino acids and electrolytes. It is so easy to add to the drinking water. We give her pantothenic acid, kelp, and alfalfa also. We have the homeopathic cold remedy at home but we haven't used it in a while. Of course we are still giving her omega 3 essential fatty acids.
Update August: The last couple of months we have  included a protocol for leaky gut and yeast overgrowth even though she was constantly improving on her protocol. she seemed to have periods when she was getting worse on some days, which increased once it became hot and humid here in Texas. We are happy to see that she is responding well.

Update 2012:  Now a more than a year later since this post was originally written, my dog can handle a lot more food than she could not eat last year. We moved to California last summer and she has not had  any problems for several months. We still giver her supplements but only for maintenance and we don't need any specific remedies for allergies or yeast problems.  It is such a relief that she doesn't have any symptoms anymore. Prancer is still grain free but we have been able to re-introduce chicken and beef into her diet. She doesn't suffer from any anxiety problems anymore either.

Frankincense was life saver when she panicked and couldn't breath! Other things we have done is giving her bath with added apple cider vinegar, calendula, chamomile, lavender and tea tree. I also made a spray with different essential oils, herbals, enzymes and glycerine to spray her with.