This article is not intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary advice.*

Dogs Allergies

Three ways to resolve dog allergies

Dog allergy symptoms are some of the most common problems afflicting dogs. Many cats also suffer from allergy symptoms in the U.S. Dog allergy symptoms can range from skin problems, running nose and eyes, loss of hair, excessive itching and related infections, general canine misery, and even serious digestive problems.

To treat dog allergies, veterinarians often prescribe Prednisone, a synthetic corticosteroid drug that is particularly effective as an immunosuppressant. An immunosuppressant is a drug that inhibits or prevents activity of the immune system. (Wait a minute, shouldn’t we be encouraging our dogs’ immune systems rather than suppressing them?)

Prednisone has many negative side effects and may cause very serious illness in dogs who take it for an extended period of time. It does not cure your dog of allergy symptoms; it only treats them with a drug that causes side effects.

To get to the core of dog allergies, it is best to treat your dog holistically, or to look at his whole body and support the body so the body can rid itself of adverse allergy symptoms.

Dog Allergies and Grains

Don't feed your dog food with grains. Corn, wheat and soy are some of the biggest dog allergy (and cat allergy) offenders. If you buy grocery store dog food, read the label. You’re likely to find that all of them use lots of grains in the content of their dog food. Many dog foods list corn, wheat or other grain as their first ingredient! Although dogs are meat-eaters, grains are common in dog food because they are an inexpensive ingredient for pet food manufacturers to use.

Feed your dog meat or good dog food

Dogs and cats are carnivores and feeding them meat is the right thing to do. Yet, in our modern societies many of our most-loved companions are eating foods with other ingredients, like we humans are. There are frozen raw meat dog foods available and there are premium canned dog foods. Or, you can make your own real meat dog food. If you don’t make your own dog food, choose natural dog food. Artificial colorings are used in many commercially available dog foods. Artificial colors, for example, entice owners to purchase a dog food that looks good, but artificial colors have no nutritional value and may be responsible for allergic reactions. Avoid giving your dog foods that contain synthetic additives such as colors or flavors. Never serve your dog food that contains preservatives such as BHT (short for Butylated Hydroxytoluene. Sounds yummy, doesn’t it?), Ethoxyquin (a food preservative and pesticide) and potassium sorbate.

Practice Natural Flea Control

Many commercial flea control products contain toxic chemicals that can further depress your pet's immune system and make her less able to fight off allergies. At our store we offer a Ark Natural Flea Protect Spray and Azmira Organic Neem Spray, natural flea and tick sprays, to effectively treat fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and flies that is easy to use and effective.

In our store we also offer several herbal allergy treatments that can help support your dog’s immune system and/or treat allergy symptoms.

Keep your dog clean

Like we humans, dog allergy symptoms can increase with more exposure to allergens. Their hair can attract and retain mold spores, dust, pollen and other allergens that can affect not only them, but you, too. Keeping clean is a good way to support good skin health, but be sure to avoid cheap commercial shampoos and detanglers, they may make dog allergies even worse.