# Best food and supplements for itchy goldens?



## goldenmom58 (Jan 14, 2010)

Can you give me some advice on itchy skin? It is not fleas. I take my goldens to a dog park about 4 times a week...could it be outside allergies?\or is it their food? what are the best supplements?


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Although it's somewhat controversial, I had my Shadow tested for food allergies. It was a blood test. We know he has environmental allergies, too. The Vet said if we could keep the food allergies at bay then the environmental allergies might not be so bad. Shadow was tested many years ago and at the age of 7, he's doing pretty well. The only issue he still has is his yeasty ears.


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## MGMF (May 13, 2009)

My one dog had bad ears. It seemed to be hard to control. It was worse during the summer which is when she swam a lot so that could have been a factor. I don't have skin problems or hot spots with my dogs it just seemed to be ears. I did get a older girl back at 10 with terrible skin. Itchy and flaky with scabs and smelt terrible. She was on the worst diet and 20lbs over weight. I put her on the grain free diet with my others. We use Canidae Grain Free ALS for the past year or two. The skin problem cleared on our older gal and I have not had any ear problems since. This is my second summer and ears are clear and they swim a couple days a week. At this point I am going to say it is their diet because they really do look fantastic with no problems. I would look into a grain free diet...stick with it for a while and see if it makes a difference. The grain free diet has to include the treats as well as anything else you feed them. There are many of them on the market. I am very pleased with Canidae and I won't change what isn't broke. I can't tell you the difference it made on our 11 year old. It is a different dog. The only change I made with her was her diet.


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## MILLIESMOM (Aug 13, 2006)

Our Golden Millie had allergy problems. She would get bad ear infections, her face would itch and her girl parts would itch. My vet suggested to switch to California Natural Herring & Sweet Potato. It worked for her, the only time she would have a break out is if she got a treat that had the ingredient that she was allergic to.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Food can be almost as individual as the dogs themselves. What one may thrive on may be awful for another. However, one supplement that is wonderful for many issues, including coat and skin are omega 3's found in fish body oil ( not liver oil). Personally, I use the same fish oil for the puppers as DH and I use. The important thing is to get enough DHA & EPA. One well respected vet recommends 300 mg of combined EPA/DHA per 10 lbs of body weight. For our crew that means 1800-2000 mg of EPA/DHA per day. Also really good for heart and joints.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

My Ike had the itchies since we brought him home from the Breeder. Each Vet check found no reason for this and his ears, though itchy, were always clean and clear. He eventually developed ear infections from all the head shaking and scratching due to the itching. He was on antibiotics and prescription ear meds for months on end without clearing up. A Vet tech suggested that he might have allergies, food and/or seasonal, and to try the elimination diet to figure out which foods affected him. Rather than take the time needed for the elimination diet, I switched him to a food that had none of the same ingredients of the food that he was then on. Almost immediately, the ears cleared, he stopped itching, and he looked and smelled better. I have since learned that he's allergic to corn, chicken, and soy. If he eats a treat or another dog's food with either of these ingredients, he starts itching. You might try switching foods and giving him benadryl to help with the itching until he's feeling better. For seasonal allergy flare ups, I give Ike benadryl also. Ike's bothered by pine tree pollen in the Winter and grasses in the Fall. This past Spring he was a little more bothered than usual by the tree pollen, but we had an unusually high pollen Spring.

The foods I switched to are Merrick's Wilderness Blend and The Honest Kitchen's Preference formula. Ike prefers THK, but it's expensive as a stand alone food, so we switch off.

Also, I give Ike fish oil and kelp supplements. I had to switch to a fish oil pump because the gel capsule form I was feeding had soy in the gel coating. Be sure to watch for this if you've determined your dog is allergic to soy.


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## Kaye (Aug 23, 2013)

I changed to a raw food diet and all the itching went away.


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## cartersgma (Mar 31, 2014)

Hi
I wrote about my experience in the thread food allergies. 
Some useful information from everyone (thanks), which I hope I will NOT need this summer. But feeding raw for a while seemed a turning point.
His breeder only feeds raw, I am not sure what I think of a raw diet I have a few concerns, but would feed it again for a few months if needed.

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