I've got a German Shepherd with bad allergies. His belly and sides are red, itchy, and scabbed over in places. We've had him to 2 different vets over the past year or so, we've tried 2 different steroid shots, benedryl, numerous shampoos and one or 2 medications.

Changing food is something we should have tried sooner, but since none of these brands can be found in stores anywhere near us, we have to order online. Which is very inconvenient. My question: Has anybody tried any of these foods for their dogs? I know a few people on here have dogs with skin allergies- which brand do you recommend?

Innova Natural
California Natural
Nutro Ultra (or Max)
Natures Variety Kibble, Instinct, and/or Raw

My mother in law has a young boxer who was allergic to many foods. What ended up working for her (and recommended by our dog vet) was Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance - Duck and Potato Formula.

We feed our dog the Nutro Natural and she does great on it, and it's been highly recommended to us by other people - but she has no allergies or food problems that we've encountered.

Camille, I totally recommend California Natural. It's what I fed my allergic Bulldogs. Innova is the same company but they have alot of ingredients in that one. CAl Nat is the way to go, kibble not canned the can has flax in it a high allergen. My Spunky couldnt eat the canned his eyes puffed up in minutes.

Nutro - no it has alot of fractionalized grains, not really great.

Another option is Solid Gold if you have a PetValu near you they carry it there. It has alot of ingredients but novel grains. It's good for weight building type dogs not small, it put 10 lbs on my 45 lb bulldog in a month.

Once you go the steriod route its' tough. I suggest you also watch the environment, no carpet cleaners, hypo allergenic laundry detergent, wipe the floors with a vinegar and water rinse after cleaning. If you can, wash his paws when he comes in. An elimination diet but for the environment....

I battled allergies for years in my bulldogs and never found a better processed food than Cal Nat that's the one I pushed for everydog in my pet store. Except Great Danes needed the cals of the Solid Gold.

Also dont give any stuff like skin supplements such as Missing Link, they're jam packed with allergens.

You want ideally, a novel grain and novel protein like buffalo. Absent that, go with the Cal Nat kibble. If you want to supplement food go with green beans, a neutral and maybe a meat product. Raw if you have the nerve lol.

This is the worst time of year, so it may not be reversable but every improvement you make will reduce his allergic load so his immune system can fight of the unavoidable allergens instead of battling everything that's bothering him, if you know what I mean.

You may be able to find a canned meat only product too, I sold Evangers and Wysong canned meat and water only no other additives. Watch though, if he's not used to it there can be gi issues.

Convert slowly adding a bit at a time over 5-10-15 days depending on his gi. I'm guessing he may be sensitive in that area since he's a GSD.

It may be flea or gnat bites from your description. Are his ears clear or always bad? I believe you use Frontline so that should avoid insect bites but if he's rolling around in it you never know...same with fields of stuff or ivy etc....

Yes if the dog has a grain or specific meat problem or even a mystery ingredient alot of the novel ones work. It's individual by allergy. Thats why I push cal nat only three ingredients.

The Dick Van Patton is popular too and a big improvement. Only the flaxseed and lecithin are bad, lecithin is a soy derivitave. And the mystery ingredient "Natural Flavor". I never like that one it could be possom, or anything LOL.:

Potatoes, Duck Meal, Duck, Canola Oil (preserved with natural mixed tocopherols), Potato Fiber, Natural Flavor, Salmon Oil, Flaxseed, Lecithin,

But that may be easier to locate near you.

His ears are fine. The problem is limited to his belly, chest, backs of his hind legs, and slightly up his sides. His head, neck, back, and majority of his sides are perfectly fine. Because of the location we thought it was something he was laying in. However, we've had over a year to observe this problem and he doesn't go anywhere that our 3 other dogs don't go. None of them have any skin problems. All of them are on Frontline. (At our vet's suggestion we've tried switching to K9 Advantix, and even eliminating both- neither had any effect on his skin condition).

I've heard good things about California Natural, so I think we'll try that first. Thanks for the suggestion Sarah, I'll add that to my list of potential foods.

Camille I forgot to say I wouldnt get any vaccinations that he doesnt "need". They give alot that overlap when the one you got is still good for years. That lowers the immune system alot.

And ask about Safeheart for heartworm it's just as effective according to the freedom of information studies but much lower and again, helps the immune system.

B12 and probiotics you could ask about too, if he's got a funny gi.

I'd agree that would sound like mostly environmental but still, eliminating all the extra diet stuff never hurts. Hope it helps!

And yep Natura company (the mfr) was my FAVORITE supplier to deal with in my store. A very clean company and never snuck crappy stuff in the food especially without telling you. They had no problems with the contamination thing this year either as far as I know.

Which is better, Chicken or Lamb?

Usually they say lamb since most dogs might not have eaten lamb before so it makes it "novel". For weight building the lamb is better the chicken is probably lower cals. But I dont think it makes a huge difference. Basically you hope the one you pick they arent allergic to (like if they've been eating chicken all along you pick something else like lamb...alot of dogs have a chicken allergy now)

Also some are coming up allergic to rice which you wouldnt normally think of...

My vote is for California Naturals.Butt is very allergy prone,Tub only slightly and California Naturals is the only thing that has worked for both of them. And they both vote for the chicken flavor only.I have tired all the varities of Claifornia Naturals with them and that is the one they don't turn their nose up to.

I belong to this Big Dog group and you can get a wealth of info on their about diet and allergies and the people are always so helpful. http://www.bigpawsonly.com/index.php