Itchy Dogs, Allergies and Intolerances

This is, without a doubt, one of our most frequently asked about issues in our group.

All allergies and intolerances are essentially a malfunction of the immune system, and this is what needs to be addressed. The immune system needs to be modulated and the gut healed, as until you have done this, your dog will continue to react to pretty much anything and everything.

70-80% of our dog's immunity lies within the gut, so keeping the microbiota strong and healthy is imperative if you want a healthy dog.

Food

It’s extremely important to feed ALL dogs a fresh, natural diet. Your dog's microbiota can’t be fully functional and healthy if fed ultra-processed, high-carbohydrate foods that are laden with toxins. An elimination diet will be needed, which involves feeding single protein foods, ideally novel proteins your dog hasn’t had before. Cut out chicken, beef, and tripe initially, as well as plant matter. Remember, changing food alone in many cases isn’t enough; you must heal the gut too.

Toxins Around The Home & Garden It’s very important to remove as many toxins as possible from your dog's life. Remove all chemical floor cleaners, plug-ins, scented candles, sprays, and fabric softeners. Use natural products around the home, use a steam mop instead, and look at Lucca cleaning products. Don’t use any chemical treatments on your lawn and gardens. All of the above have a detrimental effect on the microbiota, which in turn can lead to leaky gut and sensitivities and allergies.

Chemical Flea And Worm Treatments

Not only are these unnecessary, but they are extremely dangerous to our dogs as they are known to cause neurological issues like ataxia, seizures, and even death! These flea treatments are powerful toxic pesticides. They are damaging to the microbiota, and the one-cell epithelial that regulates stomach acid is also damaged, which then allows bad bacteria and yeasts to flourish. Then we end up with leaky gut. Once you have leaky gut, you have allergies, intolerances, acid reflux, and IBS symptoms along with many other issues.

Check out our guides on natural parasite prevention.

Vaccinations

Vaccines contain adjuvants that stimulate the immune system so the vaccination works. As already explained, all allergies are essentially a malfunction of the immune system. You don’t want to overstimulate an already over-reactive/driven immune response further. WSAVA clearly states that vaccinations should not be given needlessly. They also state that core vaccinations can last up to the lifetime of the pet from just their puppy vaccinations. Giving boosters if your dog already has immunity is not only pointless but extremely detrimental to your dog's health. It is impossible to “boost” the immunity of an already immune dog. All that will happen is the dog’s antibodies will block the vaccination from working, BUT you are still putting all the unnecessary adjuvants into your dog's body and overstimulating the immune system.

ALWAYS TITER TEST!

Check out our guide on vaccinations and immunity.

Water

It’s really important to use filtered water to remove chlorine and ideally fluoride, as these damage the microbiota. We recommend ideally OxyPet Nano bubble oxygen water; if not, bottled water or filtered.

Testing

Blood testing is quite reliable for environmental issues, but food testing, whether it's blood, hair, or saliva, is inconclusive. Ultimately, whether it’s environmental allergies or food sensitivities or allergies, what is important is to strengthen and modulate the immune response and heal the gut. The best way to figure out what your dog has an issue with is through the process of elimination.

Working On The Gut

The integrity of the gut is key! You need to help to heal, soothe, and replenish the gut. A good place to start is with a quality soil-based probiotic and a demulcent like slippery elm or marshmallow root powder.

Mites

With itchy dogs, it’s important to rule out mites. A skin scrape is needed for this. Make sure the skin scrape is done in several places, not just one, so it’s more reliable.

Vets

In my experience, many conventional vet treatments can cause and make allergies much worse! They recommend horrendous, highly processed “food,” over-vaccinate, and routinely chemically flea and worm our dogs! Then, when a dog presents with allergies, they are often sent off with shampoos, antibiotics, steroids, and/or other immune suppressant drugs! In some cases, these are needed, and in the short term, this will work, BUT it will not solve the issue, and it does not address the root cause and will only make the issues worse long term.

In their defence, they know no other. They do not have a full understanding of allergies and the immune system. They know only what they are taught in vet school, which consists of pharmaceuticals and processed foods. So, if your dog has signs of allergies, do not rely on your regular vet to fix them.

In very, very rare cases, drugs are the only option to give some quality of life, BUT they should only be used as a very last resort. Often people feel they have tried everything: different foods, topical options, and multiple vet visits. But unless you have seen holistic vets and/or qualified practitioners that specialize in allergies and the immune system, then there is always another option. Even if your dog has environmental allergies, nutritional therapy is still very important alongside healing the gut and modulating the immune response, so don’t feel there is no other route than drugs.

We recommend having a consultation with mypetnutritionist.com or a holistic vet if you can’t get on top of the issues.

© Karla Pearson, written for NO BULL Just Natural Health for Dogs.