Food Allergies & Your GSDs

                              Food Allergies & Your GSD

An incorrect diet could affect your dog’s health, behavior and nervous system, possibly making a normal dog an aggressive one. The result of a good or bad diet is most visible in a dog’s skin and coat, but internal organs are affected, too.

Dogs are allergic to many foods that are popular and recommended by breeders. Changing the brand of food may not eliminate the problem if the ingredient to which your dog is allergic is contained in the new brand.
Recognizing a food allergy can be difficult. Dogs do not usually develop rashes, but they react the same way they do to an airborne or bite allergy; they itch, scratch and bite. While pollen allergies and parasite bites are usually seasonal, food allergies are year round problems. Diagnosis of a food allergy is based on a two to four week dietary trial with a home cooked diet, excluding all other foods.
The diet should consist of boiled rice or potato with a source of protein that your GSD has never eaten before, such as fresh or frozen fish. You must find a diet that does not stress your dog’s skin. Start with a commercially available hypoallergenic food or the homemade diet that your Vet has recommended.  Food intolerance is the inability to completely digest certain foods. This occurs because the dog does not have the enzymes necessary to digest some foodstuffs. Example: All puppies have the enzymes needed to digest canine milk, but some dogs do not have the enzymes to digest cow milk, resulting in loose bowels, stomach pains and flatulence.
Remember to consult your veterinarian before changing your dog’s diet and/or if you suspect food allergies.