Caring for dogs with skin allergies is no easy task, as you may already know. It's hard to see your dog struggle with uncomfortable skin, and there's a lot required of pet parents who want to keep their dogs' allergic dermatitis (skin allergies) under control.
Most allergies in dogs manifest themselves on the skin, especially those that are environmental or food-related. Allergies, other canine skin conditions, and their symptoms often overlap and create a vicious cycle.
When it comes to skin allergies in dogs, the important thing to know is that symptoms can always be treated to some degree, and your dog's allergies don't have to seriously lessen their quality of life when managed properly.
- How to Know if Your Dog Has a Skin Allergy
- How to Help Canine Skin Allergies at Home
- How to Keep Your Dog Comfortable at Home as You Treat Their Skin Allergies
- How Your Vet Can Help Your Dog's Skin Allergy Symptoms
- Strengthening Your Dog's Immune System to Reduce Skin Allergy Reactions
- Final Thoughts: Managing Your Dog's Skin Allergies for a Happier Pet
How to Know if Your Dog Has a Skin Allergy
Dogs with skin allergies show a variety of symptoms, stemming from multiple allergens. Note that dogs can show the following symptoms temporarily and not be suffering from significant allergies.
Persistent, recurrent, or worsening symptoms in the list below most likely mean that your dog has a skin allergy:
- Scooting (to relieve discomfort near the anal gland)
- Rolling or Rubbing on Back (to relieve itching)
- Watery Eyes (airborne allergens irritate the tear ducts)
- Redness around Eyes or Muzzle (usually airborne contact with allergens)
- Licking Paws or Limbs (most often from walking on allergens)
- Localized Bumps (response in the area of contact, or the spot your dog is licking/scratching most)
- Hair Loss (usually from licking and scratching, occasionally caused by a secondary infection)
- Ear Infections, Head Shaking (ears often react first in allergic reactions)
- Scratching or Chewing on Skin (most common could be due to any number of allergies, infections, parasite, pain, boredom, autoimmune issues)
If your dog has one or more of these symptoms, and you're not sure what they're allergic to, it's time to take a trip to the vet. Your veterinarian will most likely be able to diagnose the allergen or tell you if a parasite is responsible for the symptoms.
It's important to take steps quickly because itching, scratching, and biting can quickly lead to secondary infections, especially when the skin is broken. This can make allergy symptoms even worse, and open up the possibility of deeper issues.
How to Help Canine Skin Allergies at Home
Unfortunately, diagnosing skin allergies in dogs can be challenging and expensive in many cases. The result is that many dogs are given anti inflammatory steroids when symptoms worsen, and antibiotics when things get to the point of infection.
These are methods for treating allergies when symptoms worsen or lead to secondary infections, but you don't want that to be the life your dog is resolved to. If you haven't had success so far, or you're determined to start taking matters into your own hands, here are some things you can do to get your dog the allergy relief they need.
1. Use a Comprehensive Allergy Elimination Plan
The most common skin allergies in dogs are flea & tick, environmental, and dietary allergies. Many of these allergies have the same symptoms, which makes it very difficult to diagnose unless you start to use the elimination method.
Elimination methods involve removing possible allergens from your dog's diet or environment, waiting 2-8 weeks to see if symptoms improve, then reintroducing possible allergens one by one until you see the symptoms return. When symptoms return after reintroduction of a possible allergen, you have found the cause.
Naturally you can't remove all allergens from your dog's life, especially environmental ones. Still, you can substantially limit the risk of serious exposure to environmental allergens as well as dietary ones, give symptoms time to go away, then start reintroducing things smartly.
First, Establish an Elimination Diet
Start the process by switching your dog over to a completely new, ingredient-limited diet. The most important change to make is the protein. Find a dog food with a protein source your dog has not had before.
- Rabbit, venison, salmon, and duck are less likely to produce an allergic reaction in dogs, so try one of these first.
Dairy, beef, chicken, & eggs are the most common protein allergens for dogs, so avoid these when you switch to a new diet. You should also find a carbohydrate other than wheat, as wheat is the most common carbohydrate allergen for dogs.
- Alternative options like corn, barley, or rice are less likely to produce an allergic reaction in dogs, so try one of these first.
Lastly, if you're not sure what your dog's food contained in the past, start with a hydrolyzed dog food. Hydrolyzed dog food is very unlikely to prompt an allergic reaction in dogs, so it's often recommended as a temporary food while you undergo an elimination diet with your dog. Hydrolyzed diets are not recommended for long-term feeding, however, because they don't provide a complete and balanced diet dogs need.
Next, Take 4 Measures to Limit Environmental Exposure
Over the course of your dog's 8-week elimination process (it may be shorter, depending on how your dog responds), you'll want to take the following four steps to reduce their exposure to environmental allergens.
First, use a pollen count tracker. Simply Google "pollen count tracker" and you will have reliable local results. Check pollen counts daily, and keep your dog indoors during high pollen times of day, or days that pollen is spiking.
Second, wipe your dog's paws and belly after taking walks. You can take this even more seriously by having your dog wear booties and a shirt that covers their torso on walks. Still, you'll want to wipe your dog down with a damp cloth or hypoallergenic pet wipes.
Third, bathe your dog more frequently. Aim to bathe your dog 1-2 times each week with a hypoallergenic shampoo, or a medicated shampoo. This helps to remove allergens picked up on walks, relieves some symptoms, and reduces the odds of a secondary infection occurring.
Fourth, use a home-air purifier and keep it running to reduce the presence of any possible allergens in your home's air.
Taking all of these measures, in addition to the dietary change, should either eliminate or significantly reduce your dog's allergies. It will likely take 2-8 weeks for your dog's symptoms to slow down, especially if they're actively licking or itching.
Once the symptoms go away, you can take your dog out of their cones and booties.
2. Reintroduce Allergens Intentionally (least-to-most common)
You want to reintroduce allergens in order of least to most common because you can rule out the most allergens with the highest level of confidence. If you start with common allergens, it's you may get false positives from flare ups of the more common allergens.
As you go, it may be useful to keep a daily log of symptoms and subtle improvements.
Start Reintroducing Your Dog's Carbohydrates (2 Weeks)
Switch your dog's carbohydrate to the one they were eating previously. So, if your dog was eating a Beef formula that used wheat as a carbohydrate and they're now eating a different formula, give them a novel protein formula that includes wheat.
For example, you could start with a rabbit dog food formula that uses wheat as a carbohydrate.
Reintroduce Your Dog's Protein (2 Weeks)
Next, switch your dog's food over to what it was previously. At this point, if you switch their food back and they have an allergic response, you can be fairly confident of two things:
- Your dog has a food allergy
- They are allergic to the protein in their current food
It's important to remember that your dog may have other allergies, too. Switch them over to a food with a different protein, and make sure that they don't have another reaction.
When your dog's symptoms are gone and they're eating a food that agrees with them, you can move onto the next phase of the elimination - environmental allergies.
Reintroduce Walking without Booties or Clothes (1 Week)
Continue avoiding pollen-heavy days, but allow your dog to go outside and walk in the grass without booties or sweaters. Stop wiping them off after your walks as well.
If, after a week of walking on grass without belly or paw coverings, you can move onto the next step. Alternatively, if your dog has a reaction, notice where they're scratching or licking.
If they're licking the belly or paws, respectively, return to covering their skin on walks until symptoms subside, then test walks without booties for a week. If symptoms return, the allergy is most likely a contact-paw allergy to grass.
Repeat the process of covering until symptoms diminish, then try going on a walk with only booties and not a body covering. If symptoms return, they're likely allergic to an airborne pollen and you should continue putting coverings on them during walks.
Get to the point where your dog is no longer showing symptoms again so you can continue onto the next step of reintroduction.
Return to Walks on High Pollen Days (1 Week)
Walk your dog on days when pollen counts are high, and see how they react. Returning symptoms indicate an airborne pollen allergy. If this is the case, you should continue being cautious about pollen when walking, wearing booties, and covering your dog's skin while outside.
You should also take steps to bathe them frequently and reduce the pollen count in your home with air-purifiers.
How to Keep Your Dog Comfortable at Home as You Treat Their Skin Allergies
The first step, unfortunately for your dog, is to use a cone. A cone prevents your dog from licking and biting the affected areas, and this all-but-eliminates the chance that your dog will make things worse.
Licking and biting are a one-two punch of moisture and broken skin, and that sets the stage for a bacterial infection. So, a cone is a must if your dog is licking and scratching.
To eliminate scratching, you may want to invest in some booties that cover your dog's paws. Your dog may still attempt to rub the area, which isn't a positive thing, but at least their ability to break the skin is eliminated.
The second step is to apply a soothing balm or ointment to the irritated areas of your dog's skin. This will significantly reduce the discomfort as well as the desire to itch and scratch.
Balms and ointments are very effective in most cases, and they ensure that your dog is comfortable. This greatly improves your dog's quality of life during this period of elimination. You can also bathe them frequently with medicated or soothing shampoos during this time.
How Your Vet Can Help Your Dog's Skin Allergy Symptoms
Your veterinarian can prescribe itch-relief medications like steroids, Apoquel, and Cytopoint. They can also treat secondary infections with antibiotics and antifungals. Finally, they can give you great recommendations on regular antihistamines and medicated shampoos to relieve symptoms.
Once you've identified your dog's allergen, these day-to-day management options can make a massive difference in your dog's quality of life. Your veterinarian can also help guide you through an elimination process and offer support and guidance for how to move forward.
Strengthening Your Dog's Immune System to Reduce Skin Allergy Reactions
Strengthening your dog's immune system is not a solution to skin allergies, but it's an excellent idea if you want to reduce your dog's symptoms and improve their resilience over the course of their lives.
A stronger immune system may not eliminate skin allergy symptoms, but it could reduce reactions and ward off smaller reactions that your dog could exacerbate with itching, licking, and biting.
The best immune-boosters for dogs include:
-
Omega-3s: Healthier inflammatory response, skin barrier health
- Probiotics: Balance the gut biome, improved immune response and food allergy defense
- Medicinal Mushrooms: (dog-safe such as reishi, turkey tail, and lion's mane) Modulate immune response with beta-glucans
Each of these supplements work on a different area of the immune system (inflammatory response, gut health, immune response), so incorporating a little bit of each could be an excellent way to support your dog's overall health for years to come.
Ensure that you're using dog-save, vet-formulated options and not trying home-made solutions, as these can contain ingredients and dosage levels that are unsafe for dogs.
Final Thoughts: Managing Your Dog's Skin Allergies for a Happier Pet
Handling skin allergies in dogs can be very frustrating, mostly because you want to see your dog improve and feel good again. Hearing the sound of them licking their paws can almost make you feel that you've failed them somehow, but don't worry.
Taking the steps listed in this article can send your dog on their way to living with far less discomfort, if any at all. Stay consistent with your approach, take close notes, and keep working on identifying and treating your dog's allergies until they're doing well again.
While you may not eliminate their allergies completely, you can certainly manage their symptoms with some hard work and the help of your veterinarian.
