This is one of the most common questions I get asked.

My first question is… What are you feeding your dog?  To some people this seems like a strange question.  They are asking about skin (the outside) of their dog and I’m talking about food (the inside) of their dog.

Here’s how it is related…  The immune system (your dogs and yours) protects the body from intruders.  A large portion of the immune system is located in the lining of the digestive system.  It is there to protect the body from intruders trying to enter the body through the digestive system.  When the animal is eating food that irritates the immune system, then the immune response in the rest of the body can be elevated.  In other words, the animal is less able to deal with irritants to their skin when their gut is being irritated as well.

Generally, the dog is put on a steroid or an anti-histimine.  These may stop the symptoms, but they are not clearing up the underlying issue.  An analogy that I love, is the itchy skin is like a fire alarm.  Using a steroid or anti-histimine is like pulling the batteries out.  The fire is still going on. Continue reading →