Hey,

I was out walking my dog the other day and saw a young couple, a woman and a man, coming towards us in the opposite direction. 

The man sneezed. 

Then he sneezed again. And again. And again...

In total, he sneezed eight times, in quick succession. 

I have never sneezed more than twice in a row, so for a moment I thought he might never stop sneezing. Mercifully, he did. 

I made the assumption that this minor attack on the nostrils was caused by allergies. I'm no expert, but it seemed the most likely reason.

Many of you will have dogs with allergies. Most of you will be aware of this, while some may not — sneezing eight times is unlikely to be a symptom.

These allergies usually show themselves either through skin-related symptoms, such as rashes, itching, licking or paw-biting, or gut-related symptoms, such as vomiting and diarrhea.

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Allergies are a result of the dog’s immune system mistakenly seeing something as harmful. This can often be an ingredient in their food. They can also be intolerant to an ingredient, which means a dog can’t properly digest that food, rather than having an immune response to it. This can cause gas, bloating, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

Annoyingly, some of the ingredients most likely to cause an allergic reaction are among the most common in dog food: beef, chicken, lamb, fish, corn, wheat, soy and yeast.

If your dog is having a suspected allergic reaction, there are some things you need to remember:

• It’s not necessarily their food causing it. Food is only the third largest trigger of allergies.
• If it is the food, it’s not a quality issue. If your dog is allergic to chicken, they’re allergic to the best chicken on Earth.
• Speak to a veterinarian, don’t just consult Prof. Google or Dr. Internet-Forum.

If your dog has allergies, there are steps you can take. The most obvious is to avoid that ingredient. You can also opt for one of two types of dog food: ‘hypoallergenic’ or ‘limited-ingredient’.

Hypoallergenic dog foods are made with “hydrolyzed” protein, which can make the allergen virtually invisible to your dog’s immune system.

Limited-ingredient foods, as you can guess, contain fewer foodstuffs. This helps narrow down the cause of an allergy, and also benefits dogs with multiple allergies. 

You can check out our Best Dog Foods for Allergies for suggestions and advice. And you can read more here about dogs and allergies.

I leave you with my sincerest hope that you and your dog are allergy- or symptom-free.

Until next time,

Andrew

Editor
The Dog Food Advisor
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