Allergies in German shepherds can be a frustrating problem. Depending upon the severity, they can mean misery for the dog and challenging to get under control. Yet, despite the difficulty, there are some things you can do to help.
Just like people, dogs can be allergic to almost anything. This can make their triggers hard to narrow down. One of the first things many owners do is switch the protein in their food or try a grain-free diet in hopes it will ease their dog’s symptoms.
Sometimes they get lucky and this works. However, most often it doesn’t. There are many reasons for this including cross-contamination of ingredients, processing methods, and the fact that environmental allergies are more common than food allergies and that proteins are more common allergens than grains. Allergies can also be seasonal meaning symptoms can come and go so sometimes the food gets blamed.
Some common environmental allergens include:
• Pollen
• Molds
• Insect bites
• Fleas and ticks
• Dust and dust mites
• Cleaning products
• Grass and weeds
Some common food allergens include:
• Chicken
• Beef
• Eggs
• Dairy
• Wheat
• Corn
• Soy
A dog can become sensitized or allergic to any type of protein and occasionally carbohydrates. They may even be allergic to more than one type of food. Or they can be sensitive to an ingredient used in making the food.
To make matters more complicated, food allergies can present like environmental allergies. Vomiting or diarrhea is not always caused by food allergies, although they can be. Some common allergy symptoms include:
• Skin infections
• Ear infections
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Itchy body
• Red, itchy paws
• Hot spots
• Itchy eyes
• Runny nose
• Sneezing
• Wheezing
• Hives
When a dog has allergies, one of the first things a vet will usually suggest is a food elimination trial. In the trial, the dog will usually eat a prescription diet consisting of a protein they haven’t eaten before for about 8 weeks.
During this time, the dog cannot eat any non-approved treats or commercial foods to prevent them from ingesting what is triggering their allergies. Since most commercial foods are manufactured in such a way that they cross-contaminate proteins, it’s best to stick with the prescription diet, except when feeding a homemade recipe from the vet.
Depending on how the dog does by the end of 8 weeks, the vet may have the dog continue to eat the diet while slowly reintroducing specific ingredients one at a time to see if there is a flare-up. If there’s no improvement during the food trial, the dog may have environmental allergies and skin allergy testing may be the next step.
Environmental allergies are triggered when the sensitized dog comes in contact with something they are sensitized to. This causes their immune system to react to something in the environment that would otherwise be harmless. This contact triggers the allergic reaction, itching, redness, ear infection, and so on.
Although it may be impossible to eliminate all environmental allergy triggers, there are some things you can do to help support the immune system, ease their symptoms, and improve the quality of their life, including:
Feed a high-quality balanced diet to prevent deficiencies
Feed a high-quality diet for the life stage of your dog. Even if your dog doesn’t improve during a food trial, you may want to try a different type of diet to see if there is improvement. For example, some dogs just do better eating a particular brand or eating a diet that is manufactured differently, such as a sensitive skin and stomach formula, wet, freeze-dried, or fresh diet.
Add toppers to support the immune system
You can also add fresh seasonal foods into their diet to help reduce inflammation, such as gently cooked or pureed carrots, sweet mini peppers, sweet potatoes, broccoli, pumpkin, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, and spinach. A small amount of fruits, such as blueberries, apples, cranberries, cantaloupe, etc. Homemade no sodium bone broth, no sodium sardines in water, and eggs. A good rule of thumb when feeding toppers is to keep calories from around 10-15% of their daily caloric intake.